The meeting between Eleanor and her father was not so stormy as that described in the last chapter, but it was hardly more successful. On her return from Bold’s house she found her father in a strange state. He was not sorrowful and silent as he had been on that memorable day when his son-in-law lectured him as to all that he owed to his order; nor was he in his usual quiet mood. When Eleanor reached the hospital, he was walking to and fro upon the lawn, and she soon saw that he was much excited.

‘I am going to London, my dear,’ he said as soon as he saw her.

‘London, papa!’

‘Yes, my dear, to London; I will have this matter settled some way; there are some things, Eleanor, which I cannot bear.’

‘Oh, papa, what is it?’ said she, leading him by the arm into the house. ‘I had such good news for you, and now you make me fear I am too late. And then, before he could let her know what had caused this sudden resolve, or could point to the fatal paper which lay on the table, she told him that the lawsuit was over, that Bold had commissioned her to assure her father in his name that it would be abandoned — that there was no further cause for misery, that the whole matter might be looked on as though it had never been discussed. She did not tell him with what determined vehemence she had obtained this concession in his favour, nor did she mention the price she was to pay for it.

The warden did not express himself peculiarly gratified at this intelligence, and Eleanor, though she had not worked for thanks, and was by no means disposed to magnify her own good offices, felt hurt at the manner in which her news was received. ‘Mr Bold can act as he thinks proper, my love,’ said he; ‘if Mr Bold thinks he has been wrong, of course he will discontinue what he is doing; but that cannot change my purpose.’

‘Oh, papa!’ she exclaimed, all but crying with vexation; ‘I thought you would have been so happy — I thought all would have been right now.’

‘Mr Bold,’ continued he, ‘has set great people to work — so great that I doubt they are now beyond his control. Read that, my dear.’ The warden, doubling up a number of The Jupiter, pointed to the peculiar article which she was to read. It was to the last of the three leaders, which are generally furnished daily for the support of the nation, that Mr Harding directed her attention. It dealt some heavy blows on various clerical delinquents; on families who received their tens of thousands yearly for doing nothing; on men who, as the article stated, rolled in wealth which they had neither earned nor inherited, and which was in fact stolen from the poorer clergy. It named some sons of bishops, and grandsons of archbishops; men great in their way, who had redeemed their disgrace in the eyes of many by the enormity of their plunder; and then, having disposed of these leviathans, it descended to Mr Harding.

‘We alluded some weeks since to an instance of similar injustice, though in a more humble scale, in which the warden of an almshouse at Barchester has become possessed of the income of the greater part of the whole institution. Why an almshouse should have a warden we cannot pretend to explain, nor can we say what special need twelve old men can have for the services of a separate clergyman, seeing that they have twelve reserved seats for themselves in Barchester Cathedral. But be this as it may, let the gentleman call himself warden or precentor, or what he will, let him be never so scrupulous in exacting religious duties from his twelve dependents, or never so negligent as regards the services of the cathedral, it appears palpably clear that he can be entitled to no portion of the revenue of the hospital, excepting that which the founder set apart for him; and it is equally clear that the founder did not intend that three-fifths of his charity should be so consumed.

‘The case is certainly a paltry one after the tens of thousands with which we have been dealing, for the warden’s income is after all but a poor eight hundred a year: eight hundred a year is not magnificent preferment of itself, and the warden may, for anything we know, be worth much more to the church; but if so, let the church pay him out of funds justly at its own disposal.

‘We allude to the question of the Barchester almshouse at the present moment, because we understand that a plea has been set up which will be peculiarly revolting to the minds of English churchmen. An action has been taken against Mr Warden Harding, on behalf of the almsmen, by a gentleman acting solely on public grounds, and it is to be argued that Mr Harding takes nothing but what he received as a servant of the hospital, and that he is not himself responsible for the amount of stipend given to him for his work. Such a plea would doubtless be fair, if anyone questioned the daily wages of a bricklayer employed on the building, or the fee of the charwoman who cleans it; but we cannot envy the feeling of a clergyman of the Church of England who could allow such an argument to be put in his mouth.

‘If this plea be put forward we trust Mr Harding will be forced as a witness to state the nature of his employment; the amount of work that he does; the income which he receives; and the source from whence he obtained his appointment. We do not think he will receive much public sympathy to atone for the annoyance of such an examination.’

As Eleanor read the article her face flushed with indignation, and when she had finished it, she almost feared to look up at her father.

‘Well, my dear,’ said he, ‘what do you think of that — is it worth while to be a warden at that price?’

‘Oh, papa; — dear papa!’

‘Mr Bold can’t un-write that, my dear — Mr Bold can’t say that that sha’n’t be read by every clergyman at Oxford; nay, by every gentleman in the land’: and then he walked up and down the room, while Eleanor in mute despair followed him with her eyes. ‘And I’ll tell you what, my dear,’ he continued, speaking now very calmly, and in a forced manner very unlike himself; ‘Mr Bold can’t dispute the truth of every word in that article you have just read — nor can I.’ Eleanor stared at him, as though she scarcely understood the words he was speaking. ‘Nor can I, Eleanor: that’s the worst of all, or would be so if there were no remedy. I have thought much of all this since we were together last night’; and he came and sat beside her, and put his arm round her waist as he had done then. ‘I have thought much of what the archdeacon has said, and of what this paper says; and I do believe I have no right to be here.’

‘No right to be warden of the hospital, papa?’

‘No right to be warden with eight hundred a year; no right to be warden with such a house as this; no right to spend in luxury money that was intended for charity. Mr Bold may do as he pleases about his suit, but I hope he will not abandon it for my sake.’

Poor Eleanor! this was hard upon her. Was it for this she had made her great resolve! For this that she had laid aside her quiet demeanour............