"Of course he is. Haven't you heard it? it's all over town." And indeed it would have been strange if the story had not permeated all those parts of the town which Mr. Tidd visited, as he himself had laboured energetically for its circulation. "It's all over town--O, a horrible thing! horrible thing!" Bowker looked across at Charley Potts, who said, "What do you mean by a horrible thing, Tidd? Speak out and tell us; don't be hinting in that way." "Well, then, Ludlow's going to marry some dreadful bad woman. O, it's a fact; I know all about it. Ludlow was coming home from a dinner-party one night, and he saw this woman, who was drunk, nearly run over by an omnibus at the Regent Circus. He rushed into the road, and pulled her out; and finding she was so drunk she couldn't speak, he got a room for her at Flexor's and took her there, and has been to see her every day since; and at last he's so madly in love with her that he's going to marry her." "Ah!" said Mr. Bowker; "who is she? Where did she come from?" "Nobody knows where she came from; but she's a reg'lar bad 'un,--as common as dirt. Pity too, ain't it? for Ive heard Ludlow's mother is a nice old lady, and Ive seen his sister, who's stunnin'!" and Mr. Tidd winked his eye. This last proceeding finished Charley Potts, and caused his wrath, which had been long simmering, to boil over. "Look here, Mr. Tidd!" he burst forth; "that story about Geoff Ludlow is all lies--all lies, do you hear! And if I find that you're going about spreading it, or if you ever mention Miss Ludlow as you did just now, I'll break your infernal neck for you!" "Mr. Potts!" said Tidd,--"Mr. Potts, such language! Mr. Bowker, did you hear what he said?" "I did," growled old Bowker over his pipe; "and from what I know of him, I should think he was deuced likely to do it." Mr. Tidd seemed to be of the same opinion, for he moved towards the door, and slunk out, muttering ominously. "There's a scoundrel for you!" said Charley, when the door shut behind the retreating Tidd; "there's a ruffian for you! Ive not the least doubt that vagabond got a sort of foundation smattering from that blabbing Flexor, and invented all that about the omnibus and the drunken state and the rest of it himself. If that story gets noised about, it will do Geoff harm." "Of course it will," said Bowker; "and that's just what Tidd wants. However, I think your threat of breaking his neck has stopped that little brute's tongue. There are some fellows, by Jove! who'll go on lying and libelling you, and who are only checked by the idea of getting a licking, when they shut up like telescopes. I don't know what's to be done about Geoff. He seems thoroughly determined and infatuated." "I can't understand it."