With this lively companion did Lord Spoonbill journey towards Smatterton; and as his lordship wished to be left to his own thoughts, his friend was not unwilling to indulge him; and thus did the hereditary legislator enjoy the pleasure of silently congratulating himself on the dexterity with which he had managed this affair; and more especially was he delighted at the fortunate circumstance of having removed Nick Muggins far away from the danger of being tempted or terrified into confession of his unfaithfulness. It did not enter, nor was it likely to enter into the mind of Lord Spoonbill, that Nick Muggins had already impeached, and that Robert Darnley was in possession of all the facts of the case. There was something else also in the transactions of that day unknown to and unsuspected by his lordship. That other matter to which we here allude, was the visit which Robert Darnley had paid to Mr and Miss Primrose. At the close of the preceding chapter we related that Mr Darnley and the letter-carrier parted after their interview, and we have accompanied Nick back to his home, and have narrated what took place there. We may now therefore return to Robert Darnley, and accompany him also in his visit to Smatterton. After he had ascertained from Muggins the truth of the matter concerning the suppressed letter, he no longer heeded the anonymous communication which he had received; and instead of passing through the park as he had designed, he proceeded immediately to the rectory. He was most happy in the thought that now all doubts and perplexities were removed from his mind, and he was much better able and far more willing to believe that Penelope still remained pure, honorable, and affectionate, than to give credence to the foul calumnies which had been circulated concerning her. There are individuals in the world of whom it is, ordinarily speaking, almost impossible to think ill. Such was the character of Penelope Primrose to those well acquainted with her. But the elder Mr Darnley being a mightily pompous and grand sort of man, looked at almost every one from an awful distance. Discrimination of character was by no means his forte. He thought that the whole mass of mankind was divisible into two classes, the good and the bad. He considered that the good must do as he did, and think as he thought; and that the bad were those that opposed him. It was his notion that it required only a simple volition for the good to become bad and for the bad to become good. And when he heard that Miss Primrose had transgressed, he forthwith believed the tale and renounced her.