Suppose an anonymous letter.

Would not Mrs.
Rossall regard that as a perfectly legitimate stratagem, if she had set her mind on resisting this marriage?
Easy, infinitely easy was it to believe this, in comparison with any other explanation of Emily's behaviour.

In his haste to seize on a credible solution of the difficulty, Wilfrid did not at first reflect that Emily was a very unlikely person to be influenced by such means, still more unlikely that she should keep such a thing secret from him.

It must be remembered, however, that the ways of treachery are manifold, and the idea had only presented it to his mind in the most indefinite form.

As it was, it drove him almost to frenzy.