'I am sorry to be obliged to refuse you a favour, Mary, but I must stand
by Steadman,' said her ladyship. 'When I gave Steadman permission to
shelter his aged kinsman in my house, I made it a condition that the old
man should be kept in the strictest care by himself and his wife, and
that nobody in this establishment should be troubled by him. This
condition has been so scrupulously adhered to that the old man's
existence is known to no one in this house except you and me; and you
have discovered the fact only by accident. I must beg you to keep this
secret to yourself. Steadman has particular reasons for wishing to
conceal the fact of his uncle's residence here. The old man is not
actually a lunatic. If he were we should be violating the law by keeping
him here. He is only imbecile from extreme old age; the body has
outlived the mind, that is all. But should any officious functionary
come down upon Fellside, this imbecility might be called madness, and
the poor old creature whom you regard so compassionately, and whose case
you think so pitiable here, would be carried off to a pauper lunatic
asylum, which I can assure you would be a much worse imprisonment than
Fellside Manor.
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