was spoken against the suitor who had on that day returned to London
with a full conviction that now at least he was relieved from his
engagement. "Patty, my darling child," he said, "may God grant that it
be for the best!

"It is for the best," she answered stoutly. "For this place I am fit;
and I much doubt whether I am fit for any other."

On that day she did not see Miss Le Smyrger, but on the following
morning, knowing that Captain Broughton had gone off, having heard the
wheels of the carriage as they passed by the parsonage gate on his way
to the station,--she walked up to the Combe.

"He has told you, I suppose?" said she.

"Yes," said Miss Le Smyrger. "And I will never see him again unless he
asks your pardon on his knees. I have told him so. I would not even
give him my hand as he went."

"But why so, thou kindest one? The fault was mine more than his."

"I understand. I have eyes in my head," said the old maid. "I have
watched him for the last four or five days. If you could have kept the
truth to yourself and bade him keep off from you, he would have been at
your feet now, licking the dust from your shoes."

"But, dear friend, I do not want a man to lick dust from my shoes."

"Ah, you are a fool. You do not know the value of your own wealth."