If Mrs.Dinks were willing to say that, it was because she was persuaded that it never would be true.

She had evidently discovered something.

How much had she discovered?
That was the next step.
As these reflections flashed through the mind of Miss Fanny Newt, and her cold black eye shone with a stony glitter, she was conscious that the time for some decisive action upon her part had arrived.

To be or not to be Mrs.Alfred Dinks was now the question; and even as she thought of it she felt what must be done.

She did not depreciate the ability of Mrs.
Dinks, and she feared her influence upon Alfred.