The women, those women who loved her little, would
point at her mockingly and clamor, ** Clear yourself be-
fore us and the world, or be known as an adulteress and
a liar.** They would shriek at her, these smug-mouthed
women. And whence could come the refutation ? So-
ciety would throw the gauntlet down, and who should
stoop to take the challenge up ?

363



THE SLANDERERS

Maltravers? Ay, he was the man, and thence rose
the bitterest mockery of all. His very cowardice would
condemn her, for like a false god he would not hear her
cry, and fanaticism would rend her for his silence. For
him she had risked all; for her he would venture noth-
ing. Ignominy I ignominy! What was life worth to
her that she should face such shame?

That night there was much hurrying to and fro in
the galleries of the castle. Bells rang. White-faced
servants stood gaping in the passageways, whispering
together, awed and frightened. A lamp flashed to and
fro in the stable-yard, where two grooms were saddling
and bridling a horse, Ophelia's horse, as good a beast
as ever rode to hounds. Soon there came the sparking
of hoofs on the cobbles, a scattering of pebbles along
the drive.
A woman's voice cried from the porch.
