Meanwhile the Arlington affair had got about the village. The twins
in all probability had been unable to keep their secret. Jane, the
dismissed, had looked in to give Mrs. Muldoon her version of
Thursday night's scene in the Arlington kitchen, and Mrs. Muldoon,
with a sense of things impending, may unconsciously have dropped
hints.
The Marigolds met the Arlingtons on Sunday, after morning service,
and heard all about it. That is to say, they met Mr. Arlington and
the other children; Mrs. Arlington, with the two elder girls, having
already attended early communion at seven. Mrs. Marigold was a
pretty, fluffy, engaging little woman, ten years younger than her
husband. She could not have been altogether a fool, or she would
not have known it. Marigold, rising politician, ought, of course,
to have married a woman able to help him; but seems to have fallen
in love with her a few miles out of Brussels, over a convent wall.
Mr. Arlington was not a regular church-goer, but felt on this
occasion that he owed it to his Maker. He was still in love with
his new wife. But not blindly. Later on a guiding hand might be
necessary. But first let the new seed get firmly rooted.
Marigold's engagements necessitated his returning to town on Sunday
afternoon, and Mrs.
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