Thank Heaven, I'm not his wife! Well, I've made an
enemy and lost my place, for of course Mrs. Saltonstall won't keep
me after this awful discovery. I'll tell her at once, for I will
have no 'little secrets' with him. No Paris either, and that's the
worst of it all! Never mind, I haven't sold my liberty for the
Fletcher diamonds, and that's a comfort. Now a short scene with my
lady and then exit governess."
But though she laughed, Christie felt troubled at the part she had
played in this affair; repented of her worldly aspirations;
confessed her vanity; accepted her mortification and disappointment
as a just punishment for her sins; and yet at the bottom of her
heart she did enjoy it mightily.
She tried to spare Mr. Fletcher in her interview with his sister,
and only betrayed her own iniquities. But, to her surprise, Mrs.
Saltonstall, though much disturbed at the discovery, valued Christie
as a governess, and respected her as a woman, so she was willing to
bury the past, she said, and still hoped Miss Devon would remain.
Then Christie was forced to tell her why it was impossible for her
to do so; and, in her secret soul, she took a naughty satisfaction
in demurely mentioning that she had refused my lord.
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