Youwilltrustme，won’tyou？’andturningtoRogershesaidtohimwithtearsinhereyes，—’PleasesayyouknowIshallnottell。’’Wecan’thelpit，’saidOsborne，gloomily。’OnlyRoger，whoknewofwhatimportanceitwas，oughttohavelookedroundhimbeforespeaking。’’SoIshould，’saidRoger。’I’mmorevexedwithmyselfthanyoucanconceive。
NotbutwhatI’msureofyouasofmyself，’continuedhe，turningtoMolly。’Yes；but，’saidOsborne，’youseehowmanychancestherearethateventhebest—meaningpersonsmayletoutwhatitisofsuchconsequencetometokeepsecret。’’Iknowyouthinkitso，’saidRoger。’Well，don’tletusbeginthatolddiscussionagain—atanyrate，notbeforeathirdperson。’Mollyhadhadhardworkallthistimetokeepfromcrying。Nowthatshewasalludedtoasthethirdpersonbeforewhomconversationwastoberestrained，shesaid，—’I’mgoingaway。PerhapsIoughtnottohavebeenhere。I’mverysorry—very。ButIwilltryandforgetwhatI’veheard。’’Youcan’tdothat，’saidOsborne，stillungraciously。’Butwillyoupromisemenevertospeakaboutittoanyone—noteventome，ortoRoger？Willyoutrytoactandspeakasifyouhadneverheardit？I’msure，fromwhatRogerhastoldmeaboutyou，thatifyougivemethispromiseImayrelyuponit。’’Yes；Iwillpromise，’saidMolly，puttingoutherhandasakindofpledge。
Osbornetookit，butratherasiftheactionwassuperfluous。Sheadded，’IthinkIshouldhavedoneso，evenwithoutapromise。Butitis，perhaps，bettertobindoneself。Iwillgoawaynow。IwishI’dnevercomeintothisroom。’Sheputdownherbookonthetableverysoftly，andturnedtoleavetheroom，chokingdownhertearsuntilshewasinthesolitudeofherownchamber。
ButRogerwasatthedoorbeforeher，holdingitopenforher，andreading—shefeltthathewasreading—herface。Heheldouthisbandforhers，andhisfirmgraspexpressedbothsympathyandregretforwhathadoccurred。Shecouldhardlykeepbackhersobstillshereachedherbedroom。Herfeelingshadbeenoverwroughtforsometimepast，withoutfindingthenaturalventinaction。TheleavingHamleyHallhadseemedsosadbefore；andnowshewastroubledwithhavingtobearawayasecretwhichsheoughtnevertohaveknown，andtheknowledgeofwhichhadbroughtoutaveryuncomfortableresponsibility。ThentherewouldariseaverynaturalwonderastowhowasOsborne’swife。MollyhadnotstayedsolongandsointimatelyintheHamleyfamilywithoutbeingwellawareofthemannerinwhichthefutureladyofHamleywasplannedfor。Thesquire，forinstance，partlyinordertoshowthatOsborne，hisheir，wasabovethereachofMollyGibson，thedoctor’sdaughter，intheearlydaysbeforeheknewMollywell，hadoftenalludedtothegrand，thehigh，andthewealthymarriagewhichHamleyofHamley，asrepresentedbyhisclever，brilliant，handsomesonOsborne，mightbeexpectedtomake。MrsHamley，too，unconsciouslyonherpart，showedtheprojectsthatshewasconstantlydevisingforthereceptionoftheunknowndaughter—in—lawthatwastobe。’Thedrawing—roommustberefurnishedwhenOsbornemarries’—or’Osborne’swifewillliketohavethewestsuiteofroomstoherself；itwillperhapsbeatrialtohertolivewiththeoldcouple；butwemustarrangeitsothatshewillfeelitaslittleaspossible’—’Ofcourse，whenMrsOsbornecomeswemusttryandgiveheranewcarriage；theoldonedoeswellenoughforus’—these，andsimilarspeecheshadgivenMollytheimpressionofthefutureMrsOsborneasofsomebeautifulgrandyounglady，whoseverypresencewouldmaketheoldHallintoastately，formalmansion，insteadofthepleasant，unceremonioushomethatitwasatpresent。Osborne，too，whohadspokenwithsuchlanguidcriticismtoMrsGibsonaboutvariouscountrybelles，andeveninhisownhomewasapttogivehimselfairs—
onlyathomehisairswerepoeticallyfastidious，whilewithMrsGibsontheyhadbeensociallyfastidious—whatunspeakablyelegantbeautyhadhechosenforhiswife？Whohadsatisfiedhim；andyetsatisfyinghim，hadtohaveher，marriagekeptinconcealmentfromhisparents？AtlengthMollytoreherselfupfromherwanderings。Itwasofnouse：shecouldnotfindout；shemightnoteventry。Theblankwallofherpromiseblockeduptheway。Perhapsitwasnotevenrighttowonder，andendeavourtorememberslightspeeches，casualmentionsofaname，soastopiecethemtogetherintosomethingcoherent。Mollydreadedseeingeitherofthebrothersagain；