CHAPTERXXXIII
THEPLUMSTEADFOXES
Thelettershadbeenbroughtintothebreakfast—parlouratPlumsteadRectoryonemorning，andthearchdeaconhadinspectedthemall，andthenthrownovertohiswifehershareofthespoil——aswasthecustomofthehouse。AstomostofMrsGrantly’sletters，henevermadeanyfurtherinquiry。Tolettersfromhersister，thedean’swife，hewasprofoundlyindifferent，andrarelymadeanyinquiryastothosewhichweredirectedinwritingwithwhichhewasnotfamiliar。Buttherewereothersastowhich，asMrsGrantlyknew，hewouldbesuretoaskherquestionsifshedidnotshowthem。NonoteeverreachedherfromLadyHarteltopastowhichhewasnotcurious，andyetLadyHartletop’snotesveryseldomcontainedmuchthatwasofinterest。Now，onthismorning，therecamealetterwhich，asamatterofcourse，MrsGrantlyreadatbreakfast，andwhich，sheknew，wouldnotbeallowedtodisappearwithoutinquiry。Nor，indeed，didshewishtokeeptheletterfromherhusband。Itwastooimportanttobesotreated。Butshewouldhavebeengladtogaintimetothinkinwhatspiritshewoulddiscussthecontentsoftheletter——ifonlysuchtimemightbeallowedtoher。Butthearchdeaconwouldallowhernotime。’WhatdoesHenrysay，mydear？’heasked，beforethebreakfastthingshadbeentakenaway。
’Whatdoeshesay？Well，hesays——I’llgiveyouhislettertoreadby—and—by。’
’Andwhynotnow？’