'"
"I fear he is no better than he should be, Mr. Warrington," says the
Colonel, shaking his head. "I never heard the story about the deserted
children."
"How should you, O you guileless man!" cries Warrington.
"I am not in the ways of scandal-hearing myself much: but this tale I had
from Sir Barnes Newcome's own country. Mr. Batters of the Newcome
Independent is my esteemed client. I write leading articles for his
newspaper, and when he was in town last spring he favoured me with the
anecdote; and proposed to amuse the Member for Newcome by publishing it
in his journal. This kind of writing is not much in my line: and, out of
respect to you and your young one, I believe--I strove with Mr. Batters,
and--entreated him and prevailed with him, not to publish the story. That
is how I came to know it."
I sate with the Colonel in the evening, when he commented on Warrington's
story and Sir Barnes's adventures in his simple way. He said his brother
Hobson had been with him the morning after the dispute, reiterating
Barnes's defence of his conduct: and professing on his own part nothing
but goodwill towards his brother.
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