mother, and the Bishop was absolutely distended with seasonable
advice and edification; so that when Bella met his tentative
exhortations with the curt remark that she preferred to do her own
housecleaning unassisted, her uncle's grief at her ingratitude was
not untempered with sympathy for Mr. Clinch.

It is not surprising, therefore, that the Bishop's warmest greetings
were always reserved for Mrs. Fetherel; and on this occasion Mrs.
Clinch thought she detected, in the salutation which fell to her
share, a pronounced suggestion that her own presence was
superfluous--a hint which she took with her usual imperturbable good
humor.






II





Left alone with the Bishop, Mrs. Fetherel sought the nearest refuge
from conversation by offering him a cup of tea. The Bishop accepted
with the preoccupied air of a man to whom, for the moment, tea is but
a subordinate incident. Mrs. Fetherel's nervousness increased; and
knowing that the surest way of distracting attention from one's own
affairs is to affect an interest in those of one's companion, she