On reaching London, towards the end of August, Lord Lovel found that the Solicitor-General was out of town. Sir William had gone down to Somersetshire with the intention of saying some comforting words to his constituents. Mr. Flick knew nothing of his movements; but his clerk was found, and his clerk did not expect him back in London till October. But, in answer to Lord Lovel's letter, Sir William undertook to come up for one day. Sir William was a man who quite recognised the importance of the case he had in hand. "Engaged to the tailor,--is she?" he said; not, however, with any look of surprise. "But, Sir William,--you will not repeat this, even to Mr. Flick, or to Mr. Hardy. I have promised Lady Anna that it shall not go beyond you." "If she sticks to her bargain, it cannot be kept secret very long;--nor would she wish it. It's just what we might have expected, you know." "You wouldn't say so if you knew her." "H--m. I'm older than you, Lord Lovel. You see, she had nobody else near her. A girl must cotton to somebody, and who was there? We ought not to be angry with her." "But it shocks me so." "Well, yes. As far as I can learn his father and he have stood by them very closely;--and did so, too, when there seemed to be but little hope. But they might be paid for all they did at a less rate than that. If she sticks to him nobody can beat him out of it. What I mean is, that it was all fair game. He ran his chance, and did it in a manly fashion." The Earl did not quite understand Sir William, who seemed to take almost a favourable view of these monstrous betrothals. "What I mean is, that nobody can touch him, or find fault with him. He has not carried her away, and got up a marriage before she was of age. He hasn't kept her from going out among her friends. He hasn't--wronged her, I suppose?" "I think he has wronged her frightfully." "Ah,--well. We mean different things. I am obliged to look at it as the world will look at it." "Think of the disgrace of such a marriage;--to a tailor." "Whose father had advanced her mother some five or six thousand pounds to help her to win back her position. That's about the truth of it. We must look at it all round, you know." "You think, then, that nothing should be done?"