"It must lie on Mrs. Parr's table for a month first," she replied. "I
promised to let her pretend to read it."

"I call that a wicked speech," he reproved. "Where is that charity
which your father has striven to inculcate in your heart?"

She slipped the book into a large Satsuma vase, with a sidelong glance
at Leigh. Cardington accepted the act with a meek acquiescence that
rested comically upon him and proclaimed his chains.

Had Leigh been asked subsequently to give a description of the dishes
of which he partook that evening, he would have made a sorry showing,
for he was conscious only of his hostess, and intoxicated by a
divination of her consciousness of him. Cardington and the bishop were
the chief talkers, and as the conversation presently turned to purely
local affairs, of which Leigh had as yet scant knowledge, he was rather
pleased than otherwise to become a listener and observer. In this
divided attitude of mind his observation was chiefly engaged. He noted
particularly the string of gold beads which Miss Wycliffe wore, and
their reflection against her throat reminded him of a children's game,
which consisted in holding a buttercup beneath the chin of a companion.

Distracted by the furtive contemplation of such minutiae, he gradually
became aware of the fact that the talk between Cardington and the
bishop had lost the tone of suavity that characterized its beginning.

"No other engagement shall interfere with my voting on that day," the
bishop declared, with grim emphasis. "We must dispose of this fellow's
pretensions once for all. It is preposterous that a professional