A charge of so serious a nature
should never have been made a subject of common report without my
being offered a chance to defend myself. As for Mrs. Grimes, I can't
readily understand how she fell into the error she did. But she
never would have fallen into it if she had not been more willing to
think evil than good of her friends. I do not say this to hurt her;
but to state a truth that it may be well for her, and perhaps some
of the rest of us, to lay to heart. It is a serious thing to speak
evil of another, and should never be done except on the most
unequivocal evidence. It never occurred to me to say to Mrs. Grimes
that I would pay for the lawn; that I supposed she or any one else
would have inferred, when I said I would keep it."
A great deal was said by all parties, and many apologies were made.
Mrs. Grimes was particularly humble, and begged all present to
forgive and forget what was past. She knew, she said, that she was
apt to talk; it was a failing with her which she would try to
correct. But that she didn't mean to do any one harm.
As to the latter averment, it can be believed or not as suits every
one's fancy.
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