It was some days before the rumour reached his ears.

Since the passage of arms with Serena, he had held aloof from Mrs.Mumbray's drawing-room, and his personality did not invite the confidence of ordinary scandal-mongers.

When at length his curate hinted to him what was being said, he had so clearly formulated his own theory of Mrs.Quarrier's death that only the strongest evidence would have led him to reconsider it.

Obstinacy and intellectual conceit forbade him to indulge his disposition to paint an enemy's character in the darkest colours.
"No, Mr.Blenkinsop," he replied to the submissive curate, standing on his hearth-rug at full height and regarding the cornice as his habit was when he began to monologize--"no, I find it impossible to entertain such an accusation.

I have little reason to think well of Mr.Quarrier; he is intemperate, in many senses of the word, and intemperance, it is true, connects closely with the most odious crimes.