, and for a few
minutes they conversed together. There was a fresh simplicity in Adela's
way of speaking which harmonised well with her appearance and with the
scene in which she moved. A gentle English girl, this dainty home, set
in so fair and peaceful a corner of the world, was just the abode one
would have chosen for her. Her beauty seemed a part of the burgeoning
spring-time, She was not lavish of her smiles; a timid seriousness
marked her manner to the clergyman, and she replied to his
deliberately-posed questions with a gravity respectful alike of herself
and of him.

In front of Mr. Wyvern stood a large cake, of which a portion was
already sliced. The vicar, at Adela's invitation, accepted a piece of
the cake; having eaten this, he accepted another; then yet another.
His absence had come back upon him, and he talked he continued to
eat portions of the cake, till but a small fraction of the original
structure remained on the dish. Alfred, keenly observant of what was
going on, pursed his lips from time to time and looked at his mother
with exaggerated gravity, leading her eyes to the vanishing cake. Even
Adela could not but remark the reverend gentleman's abnormal appetite,
but she steadily discouraged her brother's attempts to draw her into the
joke. At length it came to pass that Mr. Wyvern himself, stretching his
hand mechanically to the dish, became aware that he had exhibited his
appreciation of the sweet food in a degree not altogether sanctioned by
usage. He fixed his eyes on the tablecloth, and was silent for a while.

As soon as the vicar had taken his departure Alfred threw himself into a
chair, thrust out his legs, and exploded in laughter.

'By Jove!' he shouted. 'If that man doesn't experience symptoms of
disorder! Why, I should be prostrate for a week if I consumed a quarter
of what he has put out of sight.'

'Alfred, you are shockingly rude,' reproved his mother, though herself
laughing. 'Mr. Wyvern is absorbed in thought.'

'Well, he has taken the best means, I should say, to remind himself
of actualities,' rejoined the youth. 'But what a man he is! How did he
behave in church this morning?'

'You should have come to see,' said Mrs. Waltham, mildly censuring her
son's disregard of the means of grace.

'I like Mr. Wyvern,' observed Adela, who was standing at the window
looking out upon the dusking valley.

'Oh, you would like any man in parsonical livery,' scoffed her brother.

Alfred sh