He came to me and he said
what he liked; he may have forgotten what he said, but I never shall."
"He would be the first to admit his error now."
"Perhaps; but he believed me guilty to the very end; and I utterly
refuse to see him to-night."
"Then I shall tell him so."
And the good doctor disappeared for the nonce, but was back in a couple
of minutes, full of the lawyer's expostulations. What did Mrs. Minchin
intend to do? Where did she propose to go? There were a hundred matters
for explanation and arrangement. Her solicitor said she had no friends,
and seemed himself most anxious to act in that capacity. Rachel's lips
curled at the thought.
"At least," said she, "I have the friends who guaranteed his bill, if
that has anything to say to his anxiety! But what I mean to do and where
I may go, are entirely my own affair. And as for the hundred matters he
mentions, he might have spoken of them during the week. Perhaps he
thought it would be waste of breath, but I should have appreciated the
risk."
So her solicitor was beaten off, with all the spirit which was one of
Rachel's qualities, but also with the rashness which was that quality's
defect.
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