"I haven't had a good
night's rest for a week--I can't sleep after eight o'clock in the
morning like you do, and I've got a woman to deal with to-morrow.
You don't want to lose the shooting and the hunting down at Apsley,
do you?"
"No--rather not--of course I don't."
"Then let me get a good night's rest."
One admires the woman who sees her plan of action and takes it like
a sword in the hand. Certainly, there was a possibility that she might
be wrong. There well might be no woman. But in her mind, she was
confident, and this was the only method of defence. She did not
hesitate to accept it, difficult though it were. The woman might be
any one--a creature whose touch would be contamination. She placed
no trust in her brother where women were concerned. He would not
actually disgrace her; she could be certain of that. A calculation
on the presence of Mrs. Butterick, the housekeeper, who was always
left in charge of the Manor, would be bound to act as a certain
restraint. But what he expected to present a quotient of
respectability to Mrs. Butterick and the gardener if he happened to
be about the grounds, might well represent sordid vulgarity to her.
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