separated from his wife before he became a bishop--and that those writers
who record the birth of St. Gregory during the episcopate of his father
were altogether mistaken."

"At any rate, I really don't see how it helps us!" said Augustina.

Father Bowles looked a little crestfallen.

"There is one other case that occurs to me," he said timidly. "It is that
of St. Amator, Bishop of Auxerre. He was desired by his parents to marry
Martha, a rich young lady of his neighbourhood. But he took her aside,
and pressed upon her the claims of the ascetic life with such fervour
that she instantly consented to renounce the world with him. She
therefore went into a convent; and he received the tonsure, and was in
due time made Bishop of Auxerre."

"Well, I assure you, I should be satisfied with a good deal less than
that in Laura's case!" said Augustina, half angry, half laughing.

Father Bowles said no more. His mind was a curious medley of scraps from
many quarters--from a small shelf of books that held a humble place in
his little parlour, from the newspapers, and from the few recollections
still left to him of his seminary training. He was one of the most
complacently ignorant of men; and it had ceased to trouble him that even
with Augustina he was no longer of importance.

Mrs. Fountain made him welcome, indeed, not only because he was one of
the chief gossips of the neighbourhood, but because she was able to
assume towards him certain little airs of superiority that no other human
being allowed her. With him, she was the widow of a Cambridge scholar,