Aware of these things, Lilian never felt
able to speak harshly against the old Tory. In theory she
acknowledged that the relief of a few families could not weigh
against principles which enslaved a whole population (thus Quarrier
put it), but her heart pleaded for the man who allayed suffering at
his gates; and could Mr. Chown have heard the admissions she made to
Welwyn-Baker's advocates, he would have charged her with criminal
weakness, if not with secret treachery. She herself had as yet been
able to do very little for the poor of the town; with the clergy she
had no intimate relations (church-going was for her and Denzil only
a politic conformity); and Polterham was not large enough to call
for the organization of special efforts. But her face invited the
necessitous; in the by-ways she had been appealed to for charity,
with results which became known among people inclined to beg. So it
happened that she was one day led on a benevolent mission into the
poorest part of the town, and had an opportunity of indulging her
helpful instincts.
This was in the afternoon. Between nine and ten that evening, as
Denzil and she sat together in the library (for once they were alone
and at peace), a servant informed her that Mrs. Wade wished to speak
for a moment on urgent business. She went out and found her friend
in the drawing-room.
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