hat she was discussing him with his mother; he had wanted her
support in his third attempt to win Lucy; he wanted to feel that others,
no matter who they were, agreed with him, and so he had asked their
permission. Mrs. Honeychurch had been civil, but obtuse in essentials,
while as for Freddy--"He is only a boy," he reflected. "I represent all
that he despises. Why should he want me for a brother-in-law?"

The Honeychurches were a worthy family, but he began to realize
that Lucy was of another clay; and perhaps--he did not put it very
definitely--he ought to introduce her into more congenial circles as
soon as possible.

"Mr. Beebe!" said the maid, and the new rector of Summer Street was
shown in; he had at once started on friendly relations, owing to Lucy's
praise of him in her letters from Florence.

Cecil greeted him rather critically.

"I've come for tea, Mr. Vyse. Do you suppose that I shall get it?"

"I should say so. Food is the thing one does get here--Don't sit in that
chair; young Honeychurch has left a bone in it."

"Pfui!"

"I know," said Cecil. "I know. I can't think why Mrs. Honeychurch allows
it."

For Cecil considered the bone and the Maples' furniture separately; he
did not realize that, taken together, they kindled the room into the
life that he desired.

"I've come for tea and for gossip. Isn't this news?"

"News? I don't understand you," said Cecil. "News?"

Mr. Beebe, whose news was of a very different nature, prattled forward.

"I met Sir Harry Otway as I came up; I have every reason to hope that I
am first in the field. He has bought Cissie and Albert from Mr. Flack!"

"Has he indeed?" said Cecil, trying to recover himself. Into what a
grotesque mistake had he fallen! Was it likely that a clergyman and a
gentleman would refer to his engagement in a manner so flippant? But his
stiffness remained, and, though he asked who Cissie and Albert might be,
he still thought Mr. Beebe rather a bounder.

"Unpardonable question! To have stopped a week at Windy Corner and not
to have met Cissie and Albert, the semi-detached villas that have been
run up opposite the church! I'll set Mrs. Honeychurch after you."

"I'm shockingly stupid over local affairs," said the young man
languidly. "I can't even remember the difference between a Parish
Council and a Local Government Board. Perhaps there is no difference, or
perhaps those aren't the right names. I only go into the country to see
my friends an