'All right, Sunday evening then, at the usual time,' said the squire
cordially as the curate left him, and, as he looked after him, he
criticised him as a busy fellow, not likely to set the Thames on fire
perhaps, but essentially the right man in the right place.

His own progress was a good deal slower; not that he found the hill too
steep, for, in spite of his fifty years, he was still perfectly sound of
wind and limb, as was shown by his athletic movements, the fresh healthy
colour on his cheeks, and the clear blue of his eyes, but rather because
he seemed loth to tear himself away from 'The Retreat' and his new
tenant. Even when he had reached the little post office that crowned the
summit, he did not turn off towards his own place till he had spent
another five minutes contemplating the stack of chimney-pots sending out
thick puffs of white smoke into the quiet evening sky, and listening
attentively to the cheerful sound of a tinkling piano blended with the
gentle lowing of the cattle on the marsh below. After all, he told
himself, he was very glad Seaton had called, for apart from his duty as
a clergyman it was only a kind and neighbourly thing to do.

It was a pity that there were not more of his kind in the neighbourhood,
for in spite of his own preference for the country, he could imagine
that a woman coming to it fresh from London at such a season might find
it dull and a little depressing. He wondered if Mrs Menzies, of Hither
Hall, would call if he asked her to do so. Of course she would in a
moment if he put it on personal grounds, but that was not the point. All
he wished was to be kind and hospitable to a stranger; and Mrs Menzies,
much as he respected and admired her, had never been known to err on the
side of tolerance, nor did one meet in her drawing-room anyone whose
pedigree would not bear a thorough investigation. Yes, there was no
doubt about it, though the laws that governed social intercourse were on
the whole excellent and had to be kept, there were here, as everywhere
else in life, exceptions to the rule, occasions when anyone of a kindly
disposition must feel tempted to break them. And Mrs Menzies was
certainly a little stiff: witness her behaviour in the case of Captain
Clinton's widow and the fuss she had made because the unfortunate lady
had forgotten to tell her of her relationship to the Eglinton Clintons
and had only vouchsafed the fact that her father's people had been in
trade. Why,