suddenly. Robert saw that she was uncertain as to his opinions,
and afraid lest she might have said something discourteous.

'It is not only the High Church influence,' he said quickly, 'it
is a mixture of influences from all sorts of quarters that has
brought about the new state of things. Some of the factors in the
change were hardly Christian at all, by name, but they have all
helped to make men think, to stir their hearts, to win them back
to the old ways.'

His voice had taken to itself a singular magnetism. Evidently the
matters they were discussing were matters in which he felt a deep
and loving interest. His young boyish face had grown grave; there
was a striking dignity and weight in his look and manner, which
suddenly aroused in Catherine the sense that she was speaking to a
man of distinction, accustomed to deal on equal terms with the large
things of life. She raised her eyes to him for a moment, and he
saw in them a beautiful, mystical light--responsive, lofty, full
of soul.

The next moment, it apparently struck her sharply that their
conversation was becoming incongruous with its surroundings. Behind
them Mrs. Thornburgh was bustling about with candies and music-stools,
preparing for a performance on the flute by Mr. Mayhew, the
black-browed vicar of Shanmoor, and the room seemed to be pervaded
by Mrs. Seaton's strident voice. Her strong natural reserve asserted
itself, and her face settled again into the slight rigidity of
expression characteristic of it. She rose and prepared to move
farther into the room.