Brethren" during these bright months. Anthony Dalaber was more
engrossed in his own studies and in his prowess at calcio (which
was the most fashionable game through that summer) than in the
religious movement which had occupied his mind before.

It was not that he had changed his opinions, or in any way drawn
back from his admiration for the men connected with this movement.
When he spoke of it sometimes with Freda his eyes would glow with
feeling, and all the old fervour and earnestness would come back
like a flood upon him; but there was nothing for the moment for him
to do. The importation of forbidden books into the country had been
temporarily checked by the vigilance of the cardinal and his
servants. The king was breaking a lance in argument with Martin
Luther, and men were watching the result with interest and
curiosity. And there was a certain awakening of spiritual light
within the church itself, and pure and enlightened spirits there
were making their voices heard; so that many (like John Clarke
himself) hoped and believed that the much-needed reformation and
purification would come from within, by her own act, rather than by
any warfare against her as from without.

So, as these happy summer days flew by, the clouds of anxiety and
apprehension seemed to disperse and roll away. The sisters were
living in a world that was something new to them. Womanhood was
awakening within them. They were learning something of its
sweetness, of its power, as also of its perplexities and pain.
There was no doubt whatever as to the fervency of Anthony Dalaber's
love for Freda; whilst Arthur Cole paid such marked attention to
Magdalen that she could not but believe him in earnest, albeit no
word of love had so far escaped his lips.

With July came a change in the situation. One of the many
pestilences so frequent in the country and so damaging to Oxford
broke out in the neighbourhood of Carfax. It had some of the
sweating-sickness symptoms, but was distinct from it in other
respects. For a while it did not penetrate into the colleges, and
the university authorities made strict rules for the undergraduates
and students, hoping that the scourge would confine itself to the
town and the families of the citizens. But it was impossible to
keep the clerks from wandering through the streets or entering
shops and taverns, and little by little cases of sickness appeared
first in the halls and then in the colleges, till it was evide