will receive her and do the best they can for her; because, you see,
there she is, married hard and fast. She bears the Armour name, and is
likely to make them all very unhappy, indeed, if she determines to
retaliate upon them for any neglect."

"Yes. But how to retaliate, Mrs. Townley?" Lambert had not a suggestive
mind.

"Well, for instance, suppose they sent her away into seclusion,--with
Frank's consent, another serious question,--and she should take the
notion to fly her retirement, and appear inopportunely at some social
function clothed as she is now! I fancy her blanket would be a wet one
in such a case--if you will pardon the little joke."

Lambert sighed. "Poor Frank--poor devil!" he said, almost beneath his
breath.

"And wherefore poor Frank? Do you think he or the Armours of Greyhope
are the only ones at stake in this? What about this poor girl? Just
think why he married her, if our suspicions are right,--and then imagine
her feelings when she wakes to the truth over there, as some time she is
sure to do!"

Then Lambert began to see the matter in a different light, and his
sympathy for Francis Armour grew less as his pity for the girl increased.
In fact, the day before they got to Liverpool he swore at Armour more
than once, and was anxious concerning the reception of the heathen wife
by her white relatives.

Had he been present at a certain scene at Greyhope a day or two before,