Lord Lufton had told the lawyer that the thing must be done at once, adding that his friend Robarts would have explained the whole affair to his mother.

And then the lawyer had written to Lady Lufton, as indeed was necessary; but unfortunately Lady Lufton had not hitherto heard a word of the matter.

In her eyes the sale of family property was horrible; the fact that a young man with some fifteen or twenty thousand a year should require subsidiary money was horrible; that her own son should have not written to her himself was horrible; and it was also horrible that her own pet, the clergyman whom she had brought there to be her son's friend, should be mixed up in the matter; should be cognizant of it while she was not cognizant; should be employed in it as a go-between and agent in her son's bad courses.
It was all horrible, and Lady Lufton was sitting there with a black brow and an uneasy heart.

As regarded our poor parson, we may say that in this matter he was blameless, except that he had hitherto lacked the courage to execute his friend's commission.
"What is it, Fanny ?" said Lady Lufton, as soon as the door was opened; "I should have been down in half an hour, if you wanted me, Justinia." "Fanny has received a letter which makes her wish to speak to you at once," said Lady Meredith.
"What letter, Fanny ?" Poor Fanny's heart was in her mouth; she held it in her hand, but had not yet quite made up her mind whether she would show it bodily to Lady Lufton.

"From Mr.Robarts," she said.
"Well; I suppose he is going to stay another week at Chaldicotes.