nt, but with the natural silence that comes of reflection,
not the silence of embarrassment. Maud, I could see, was strangely
moved. He rose up to greet me, a tall, thin figure, dressed in a rough
grey suit. There was little sign of physical ill-health about him. He
had a shock of thick, strong hair, perfectly white. His face was that
of a man who lived much in the open air, clear and ascetic of
complexion. He was not at all what would be called handsome; he had
rather heavy features, big, white eyebrows, and a white moustache. His
manner was sedate and extremely unaffected, not hearty, but kindly, and
he gave me a quick glance, out of his blue eyes, which seemed to take
swift stock of me. "It is very kind of you to come and see me," he said
in a measured tone. "Of course I ought to have paid my respects first,
but I ventured to take the privilege of age; and moreover I am the
obedient property of a very vigilant guardian, whose orders I
implicitly obey--'Do this, and he doeth it.'" He smiled at his niece as
he said it, and she said, "Yes, you would hardly believe how peremptory
I can be; and I am going to show it by taking Mrs. ---- away, to show
her the garden; and in twenty minutes I must take Mr. ---- away too, if
he will be so kind as help me to sustain my authority."

The old man sate down again, smiling, and pointed me to a chair. The
other two left us; and there followed what was to me a very memorable
conversation. "We must make the best use of our time, you see," he
said, "though I hope that this will not be the last time we shall meet.
You will confer a very great obligation on me, if you can sometimes
come to see me--and perhaps we may get a walk together occasionally. So
we won't waste our time in conventional remarks," he added; "I will
only say that I am heartily glad you have come to live here, and I am
sure you will find it a beautiful place--you are wise enough to prefer
the country to the town, I gather." Then he went on: "I have read all
your books--I did not read them," he added with a smile, "that I might
talk to you about them, but because they have interested me. May I say
that each book has been stronger and better than the last, except in
one case"--he mentioned the name of a book of mine--"in which you
seemed to me to be republishing earlier work." "Yes," I said, "you are
quite right; I was tempted by a publisher and I fell." "Well," he said,
"the book was a good one--and there is something tha