Longcluse, I suppose, had reckoned upon Richard's throwing himself upon his sister's mercy. He thought he had done so before, and moved her as he would have wished. Longcluse, no doubt, had spoken to her, expecting to find her in a different mood. Had she yielded, what sort of husband would he have made her? Not cruel, I daresay. Proud of her, he would have been. She should have had the best diamonds in England. Jealous, violent when crossed, but with all his malice and severity, easily by Alice to have been won, had she cared to win him, to tenderness. Was Sir Richard now seconding his scheme? Sir Richard had no plan--none for escape, none for a catastrophe, none for acting upon Alice's feelings. "I am so agitated--in such despair, so stunned! If I had but one clear hour! Oh, God! if I had but one clear hour to think in!" He was now trying to persuade Alice that Longcluse had, in his rage, used exaggerated language--that it was true he was in his power, but it was for a large sum of money, for which he was his debtor. "Yes, darling," he whispered, "only be firm. I shall get away, and take you with me--only be secret, and don't mind one word he says when he is angry--he is literally a madman; there is no limit to the violence and absurdity of what he says." "Is he still in the house?" she whispered. "Not he." "Are you certain?" "Perfectly; with all his rant, he dares not stay: it would be a police-office affair. He's gone long ago." "Thank God!" she said, with a shudder. Their agitated talk continued for some time longer. At last, darkly and suddenly, as usual, he took his leave. When her brother had gone, she touched the bell for Louisa Diaper. A stranger appeared. The stranger had a great deal of pink ribbon in her cap, she looked shrewd enough, and with a pair of rather good eyes; she looked curiously and steadily on the young lady. "Who are you?" said Alice, sitting up. "I rang for my maid, Louisa Diaper." "Please, my lady," she answers, with a short curtsey, "she went into town to fetch some things here from Sir Richard's house." "How long ago?" "Just when you was getting better, please, my lady." "When she returns send her to me. What is your name?" "Phœbe Chiffinch, please 'm." "And you are here----" "In her place, please my lady." "Well, when she comes back you can assist. We shall have a great deal to do, and I like your face, Phœbe, and I'm so lonely, I think I'll get you to sit here in the window near me." And on a sudden the young lady burst into tears, and sobbed and wept bitterly. The new maid was at her side, pouring all sorts of consolation into her ear, with odd phrases--quite intelligible, I daresay, over the bar of the "Guy of Warwick"--dropping h's in all directions, and bowling down grammatic rules like nine-pins. She was wonderfully taken by the kind looks and tones of the pretty lady whom she saw in this distress, and with the silk curtains drawn back in the fading flush of evening.