'The money, my dear, must go somewhere. What excuse does he give when
you tell him you want this and that--all the common necessaries of
life, that you have always been used to?'

'He gives no excuse; sometimes he says the family is so large.'

'Nonsense! Girls cost nothing; there's only Frank, and he can't have
cost anything yet. Can he be saving money to buy back Boxall Hill?'

'Oh no!' said the Lady Arabella, quickly. 'He is not saving anything;
he never did, and never will save, though he is so stingy to me. He is
hard pushed for money, I know that.'

'Then where has it gone?' said the Countess de Courcy, with a look of
stern decision.

'Heaven only knows! Now, Augusta is to be married. I must of course
have a few hundred pounds. You should have heard how he groaned when I
asked him for it. Heaven only knows where the money goes!' And the
injured wife wiped a piteous tear from her eye with her fine dress
cambric handkerchief. 'I have all the sufferings and privations of a
poor man's wife, but I have none of the consolations. He has no
confidence in me; he never tells me anything; he never talks to me
about his affairs. If he talks to any one it is to that horrid
doctor.'

'What, Dr Thorne?' Now the Countess de Courcy hated Dr Thorne with a
holy hatred.