‘I’m in no hurry,’ Mrs. Mudge replied, ‘and you don’t seem to be in any. Thank you; this is not the bit I want; you needn’t trouble; I can order a paper myself.’ The next day there was a _Standard_ for Mrs. Mudge, who with some malice immediately offered it to Mr. Goacher. Mrs. Poulter glared at him, and after a little hesitation he expressed his obligation but preferred to wait, as he had a letter to write which must be dispatched immediately. Mrs. Poulter never forgot Mrs. Mudge’s spite, as she called it; the _Standard_ reminded her of it daily.
Mr. Goacher agreed with Mrs. Poulter that, for the reasons she gave, it would be desirable to remove from Russell House. He also felt that, as a clergyman, he would do wisely in leaving, for he could not ascribe the disappearance of ‘the domestic’ to anything but a consciousness of guilt.
Miss Taggart considered that Mrs. Mudge’s conduct was due to defective training. As to Helen, Miss Taggart added that ‘you never feel yourself secure against moral delinquency in the classes from which servants are drawn. They have no basis.’
‘I understand,’ said Mrs. Poulter, ‘that Helen is a Dissenter.’
Miss Taggart, as the reader has been told, was not particularly fond of Mrs. Poulter and Mr. Goacher, but to stay with Mrs. Mudge and Miss Everard was impossible. She had also once or twice received a hint from Miss Toller that perhaps she had better suit herself elsewhere, as the minute attention she demanded to her little needs, of which there were many, was trying both to mistress and servant.
Miss Toller was promptly informed that three of her lodgers were going at the end of the month.
‘I hope, Mrs. Poulter, that you are not dissatisfied. I have no doubt I shall soon be able to obtain assistance.’
_Mrs. P._ ‘Our reasons, Miss Toller, had better not be communicated; they are sufficient. Against you personally we have nothing to object.’
_Miss T._ ‘Have you searched the box which I understand has been left?’
_Miss Toller_. ‘Have you missed anything, ma’am?’
_Miss T._ ‘Not at present. I might discover my loss when it was too late.’
_Mr. G._ ‘It would be better for the protection of all of us.’
_Miss Toller_. ‘I couldn’t do it for worlds; you’ll pardon me for saying so. I’d sooner you left me without paying me a farthing. Helen may have her faults, but she is as honest as—.’ Miss Toller’s voice trembled and she could not finish the sentence.