Third Period Chapter 48 The Mistress and the Maid

In the correspondence secretly carried on between the mistress in
London and the maid at Passy, it was Fanny Mere's turn to write next.
She decided on delaying her reply until she had once more given careful
consideration to the first letter received from Lady Harry, announcing
her arrival in England, and a strange discovery that had attended it.

Before leaving Paris, Iris had telegraphed instructions to Mrs. Vimpany
to meet her at the terminus in London. Her first inquiries were for her
father. The answer given, with an appearance of confusion and even of
shame, was that there was no need to feel anxiety on the subject of Mr.
Henley's illness. Relieved on hearing this good news, Iris naturally
expressed some surprise at her father's rapid recovery. She asked if
the doctors had misunderstood his malady when they believed him to be
in danger. To this question Mrs. Vimpany had replied by making an
unexpected confession.

She owned that Mr. Henley's illness had been at no time of any serious
importance. A paragraph in a newspaper had informed her that he was
suffering from nothing worse than an attack of gout. It was a wicked
act to have exaggerated this report, and to have alarmed Lady Harry on
the subject of her father's health. Mrs. Vimpany had but one excuse to
offer. Fanny's letter had filled her with such unendurable doubts and
forebodings that she had taken the one way of inducing Lady Harry to
secure her own safety by at once leaving Passy--the way by a false
alarm. Deceit, so sincerely repented, so resolutely resisted, had tried
its power of temptation again, and had prevailed.