increased. He was conscious to a
most remarkable degree that he had them, and yet they seemed quite
foreign members of his body which he could not control.

"Well, ma'am, I think I must be going. I'll bid you good-bye."

"I have finished my errand, Mr. Furze, and I must be going too."

"Oh, pray, do not go yet," said Mrs. Furze, hoping, in the absence of her
husband, to establish some further intimacy. Mr. Furze shook Mrs.
Colston's hand with its lemon-coloured glove and departed. Catharine
noticed that Mrs. Colston looked at the glove--for the ironmonger had
left a mark on it--and that she wiped it with her pocket-handkerchief.

"I wish to ask," said Mrs. Furze, in her mad anxiety to secure Mrs.
Colston, "if you do not think a new altar-cloth would be acceptable. I
should be so happy--I will not say to give one myself, but to undertake
the responsibility, and to contribute my share. The old altar-cloth will
look rather out of place."

"Thank you, Mrs. Furze; I am sure I can answer at once. It will be most
acceptable. You will not, I presume, object to adopting the design of
the committee! We will send you a correct pattern. We have thought
about the matter for some time, but had at last determined to wait
indefinitely on the ground of the expense."

The expense! Poor Mrs. Furze had made her proposal on the spur of the
moment. She, in her ignorance, had not thought an altar-cloth a very
costly affair, and now she remembered that she had no friends who were
not Dissenters. Moreover, to be on the committee was the object of her
ambition, and it was clear that not only had nobody thought of putting
her on it, but that she was to pay and take its directions.

"I believe," continued Mrs. Colston, "that the altar-cloth which we had
provisionally adopted can be had in London for 20 pounds."

A ring at the front bell during this interesting conversation had not
been noticed. The charwoman, still busy with broom and pail outside,
knocked at the door with a knock which might have been given with the
broom-handle and announced another visitor.

"Mrs. Bellamy, mum."

Catharine leaped up, rushed to meet her friend, caught her round the
neck, and kissed her eagerly.

"Well, Miss Catharine, glad to see you looking so well; still kept the
colour of Chapel Farm. This is the first time I've seen you in your new
house, Mrs. Furze. I had to come over to Eastthorpe along with Bellamy,
and I said I _must_ go and s