cle
Hubert yet? Go and kiss him, and then come back to me and I'll give you
some dessert."

The fair-haired little fellow looked smaller and shyer than Hubert
remembered him. He had very little color in his face, but his eyes
lighted up joyfully when he saw the visitor, and he put his arms around
Hubert's neck with such evident satisfaction that his uncle felt quite
flattered. But, when Dick was perched upon his father's knee, and the
singers had struck up their first florid chant, he was surprised to find
that Enid had raised her blue eyes and was steadily regarding him with a
searching yet sorrowful look, which seemed as if it would explore the
inmost recesses of his soul. For various reasons Hubert felt that he
could not long endure that gaze. The best way of stopping it was to
return it, and therefore, although with an effort which was almost
agonising, he suddenly looked back into her eyes with a composure and
resolute boldness which caused her own very speedily to sink. The color
rose to her face, she gave a slight quickly-suppressed sigh, and she did
not look up again. Puzzled, troubled, vaguely suspicious, Hubert
wondered whether his calm reception of her gaze had silenced the doubt
of him, which he was nearly sure that he read in those sad blue eyes. He
knew that Flossy was watching him and watching her, and he envied the
General his guileless enjoyment of all that was going on, and little
Dick's innocent pleasure in what was to him a great and unwonted treat.

When two songs had been sung, with much growling of the bass and a
general misconception of the functions of a tenor, with great scraping
of violin strings and much want of harmony amongst the 'cellos, the
General called the butler and told him to open the door. The dining-room
had two wide folding-doors opening into the hall, and, when they were
flung open, a motley crowd of village faces could be seen. A row of
shrill-voiced chorister boys, much muffled up in red comforters, stood
foremost; behind them came the singing men and the performers on
instruments--a diverse little crowd of men and youths. In the
background, some six or eight singing women and girls presented a
half-bold, half-shy appearance, as knowing that they were there on
sufferance only, and that the Rector had been doing his best to prevent
their going out at nights to sing with the village choir. But the
General had "backed them up;" he did not like the discontinuance of old
customs,