For a while her fingers plied nimbly; but there came a pause,--an exclamation of amazement, and her work (it was a bit of embroidery for poor Adele) was dashed upon the floor. "Benjamin, this is monstrous! The French hussy! Reuben, indeed!" The Doctor returned composedly to his reading. "No, brother, I want to hear no more. What a wretch this Maverick must be!" "A sinner, doubtless, Eliza; yet not a sinner before all others." The spinster was now striding up and down the room in a state of extraordinary excitement. With a strange inconsequence, she seized the letter from the Doctor's hands, and read it through to the end. "I am bewildered, Benjamin. To think that the Johns' name should be associated with such shame and guilt!" "Whosoever exalteth himself shall be abased," murmured the Doctor. But the spinster was in no mood for listening to Scriptural applications. "And that he should dare to ask us to cloak for him this great scandal!" continued she, wrathfully. "For the child's sake, Eliza,--for poor Adaly." "While I am mistress of your household, brother, I shall try to maintain its dignity and respectability. Do you consider, Benjamin, how much these are necessary to your influence?" "Without doubt, Eliza; yet I cannot perceive how these would suffer by dealing gently with this unfortunate child. A very tender affection for her has grown upon me, Eliza; it would sadden me grievously, if she were to go out from among us bearing unkind thoughts." "And is your affection strong enough, Benjamin, to make you forget all social proprieties, and the honorable name of our family, and to wish her stay here as the wife of Reuben?" The Doctor may have winced a little at this; and possibly a touch of worldly pride entered into his reply. "In this matter, Eliza, I think the wish of Maverick is to be respected." "Pah! For my part, I respect much more the Johns' name." As the spinster retired to her room, after being overheated in the discussion, in which the calmness of the Doctor, and the news he had communicated, contributed almost equally to her frenzy, she cast a look, in passing, upon the bed-chamber of Adele. There were all the delicate fixtures, in which she had taken such a motherly pride,--the spotless curtains, the cherished vases, and certain toilette adornments,--her gifts,--by each one of which she had hoped to win a point in the accomplishment of her ambitious project. In the flush of her disappointment she could almost have torn down the neatly adjusted drapery, and put to confusion this triumph of her housewifely skill. But cooler thoughts succeeded; and, passing on into her own chamber, she threw herself into her familiar rocking-chair and entered upon a long train of reflections, whose result will very likely have their bearing upon the development of our story. XLIV.