reassuringly.

"I'm afraid I haven't much excuse to offer," she said ingenuously. "I
was out late, and I tired myself; and then I heard Sir Timothy had
come back, so I went to see him. And then I made haste to change my
dress, and it took a long time--and that's all."

The three gentlemen laughed forgivingly at this explanation, and the
two ladies exchanged shocked glances.

"Our cousin John did his best to entertain us, and we him," said Lady
Belstone, stiffly.

"His best--and how good that must be!" said Lady Mary, with pretty
spirit. "The great counsel whose eloquence is listened to with
breathless attention in crowded courts, and read at every
breakfast-table in England."

"That is a very delightful picture of the life of a briefless
barrister," said John Crewys, smiling.

"Mary," said Miss Crewys, in lowered tones of reproof, "I understood
that _divorce_ cases, unhappily, occupied the greater part of our
cousin John's attention."

"We've heard of you, nevertheless--we've heard of you, Mr. Crewys,"
said the canon, nervously interposing, "even in this out-of-the-way
corner of the west."

"But there is one breakfast-table, at least, in England, where