To some such state of mind as this was Mr Darnley the elder brought by reflecting on the events of the morning, and by recollecting and comparing the several observations and remarks which had been made on the elopement of Miss Glossop. There came into his mind in the very first statement of the affair a thought of the very wide difference between the characters of Miss Glossop and Miss Primrose. The recollection of Penelope’s early life came back to him again with the thought of those pleasing manners which he had so much admired when she was too young to think of artifice or concealment. He recollected the time when he had thought most highly of her, and had regarded her as giving promise of many virtues, and indicating a development of strong features of moral beauty and integrity. Then also did he recollect how very plain and simple an explanation his son had given of those passages in the young lady’s history, by which the first feelings of alienation were roused. He thought also of the good understanding and good feelings of his own beloved and only son; and he could not upon serious reflection and cool deliberation think it very likely that Robert Darnley was altogether deceived. He knew that his son had discernment, and principles of decided integrity; he therefore became more willing to think that the young man’s attachment was not infatuation. Thus thinking, and thus experiencing a total revolution in his feelings towards Penelope Primrose, the reverend rector of Neverden next bethought himself that it was an act of duty on his part to avow this change of thought and feeling. Nine hundred and ninety-nine men in a thousand would have wriggled and shuffled out of this difficulty by some mean, roundabout, underhand, contemptible artifice; they would almost, if not altogether, have told many lies and have made many trumpery excuses, to avoid the acknowledgment that they had been wrong. But Mr Darnley was too proud for anything of that kind. So long as he thought that he was right, he was proudly and firmly stubborn; but when he found that he had been in an error, he was willing to retract. He thought it no degradation to acknowledge it, even to his own son. Mr Darnley therefore sent for the young man into the study, and began by saying, though with much pomp of manner and dignity of bearing, “Robert, this is a strange affair of Miss Glossop’s elopement. Had you any suspicion of any acquaintance between this young woman and Lord Spoonbill?” “I had merely heard,” replied the young man, “that Miss Glossop had been at the castle, and had met Lord Spoonbill, and that his lordship was very much struck with her beauty and accomplishments.”