He had not seen fit to acquaint the house of Aubrey-Blythe with his intentions; being disposed, quite irrationally, to lay the fact of Jane's flight at its door. Mr. Towle was an exceedingly calm not to say mild-tempered man, a fact which very few persons intimidated by his stern eyes and boldly modeled chin ever found out; but upon occasions he could be severely implacable in his slowly acquired opinions. With a sagacity more than masculine he suspected that the failure of his matrimonial plans and the subsequent disappearance of Jane might be traced to Lady Agatha Aubrey-Blythe, and he actually had the temerity to tax that noble lady with both in her own drawing-room. Lady Agatha's righteous indignation was kept in leash for some moments by her knowledge of Mr. Towle's wealth and the hope that his elderly fancy on matrimony bent might yet be guided toward the unattractive Gwendolen; but it burst its bonds when the full import of his deliberate utterances finally penetrated her intrenched understanding. She turned white with fury as she focused her light-blue stare upon the audacious Mr. Towle. "Do you mean to _intimate_ that you think it _my_ fault that my husband's niece has _disgraced_ herself and the family by running away like a governess in a cheap romance?" she demanded, in unequivocal English. "Hum--ah," said Mr. Towle, quite unabashed. "I--er--beg your pardon, Lady Agatha, if I appear rude, but did you not say some rather nasty things to Jane the day before she left? I--er--fancy, don't you know, that it might make me run away to be told that I was absolutely unattractive, not at all clever, and--ah--dependent upon others for the bread that I ate." "Did the shameless girl tell you that?" cried Lady Agatha, more enraged by the Honorable Wipplinger's uncompromising manner than by his words. "And after _all_ that we have done for her, too!" "Just--er--_what_ have you done for her, if I may inquire?" "What have we done for Jane Blythe? How can you ask such a question! The girl was left on our hands with scarcely a penny to her name when she was a mere infant. We have done everything--_everything_, and this is the way she rewards our kindness--our Christian charity! I trust I may never see the ungrateful creature again." "If there is anything," said the Hon. Wipplinger Towle, with exceeding deliberation, "which I despise on earth, it is the--er--damnable sentiment miscalled Christian charity. It has ruined more persons than gin, in my humble opinion." After which he took his leave with scant ceremony, Lady Agatha remaining stock still in her chair in a state of semipetrifaction.