'I am not speaking to you out of any interest in Ferrari.
Are you aware that he is married?'
'I pity his wife,' said Mrs. Rolland.
'She is naturally in great grief about him,' Agnes proceeded.
'She ought to thank God she is rid of him,' Mrs. Rolland interposed.
Agnes still persisted. 'I have known Mrs. Ferrari from her childhood,
and I am sincerely anxious to help her in this matter. Did you
notice anything, while you were at Venice, that would account for
her husband's extraordinary disappearance? On what sort of terms,
for instance, did he live with his master and mistress?'
'On terms of familiarity with his mistress,' said Mrs. Rolland,
'which were simply sickening to a respectable English servant.
She used to encourage him to talk to her about all his affairs--
how he got on with his wife, and how pressed he was for money,
and such like--just as if they were equals. Contemptible--that's what I
call it.'
'And his master?' Agnes continued. 'How did Ferrari get
on with Lord Montbarry?'
'My lord used to live shut up with his studies and his sorrows,'
Mrs.
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