It hardly need be added that the result
was not at all flattering to the latter. Rangely possessed a very
pretty gift of sarcasm, and it was his humor to consider that in
attacking the sculptor he was to a certain degree settling scores with
Mrs. Staggchase for her change in attitude toward him after Miss
Merrivale came. He served up the unlucky statue and its more unlucky
maker with a piquancy and a zest which made his article town talk for a
month. The sculptor sheltered himself, so far as he could, by keeping
out of sight, while Peter Calvin, unable to endure the jibes and
laughter which everywhere met him, abandoned the cause of his _protege_
and the town together, by starting two months earlier than he had
intended on a trip to Europe.
Rangely was angry with himself for having been persuaded by Mrs.
Staggchase to write an article sustaining Stanton's claims in the first
place, and not having signed it, he endeavored to give to this
criticism a tone which should indicate, without its being specifically
stated, that he had not written the former paper. He understood
perfectly well that Mrs. Staggchase would regard his position as a
declaration of independence, and indeed when the lady read the
_Observer_ that morning she smiled with an air of comprehension.
"That's an end to that," she said to herself. "When you've known a man
as long as I have Fred Rangely, he's like a book that's been read;
you've got all the good there is in him.
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