y she should have been so upset by the
discovery?"

"Well, she was very fond of your uncle, and she has cherished quite
romantically the memory of his affection for her. I think--for that
is Angela's way--that he means much more to her dead than he did
living--and this, she says, has blackened the image."

"But even then it seems incomprehensible that it should have made her
really so ill."

"Oh, you don't know her yet, Jonathan. I remember your uncle used to say
that she was more like a flower than a woman, and he was always starting
alarms about her health. We lived in a continual panic about her for
several years, and it was her weakness, as much as her beauty, that gave
her her tremendous power over him. He was like wax in her hands, though
of course he never suspected it."

The tread of Mr. Mullen was heard softly on the staircase, and he
entered with his hand outstretched from the starched cuff that showed
beneath the sleeve of his black broadcloth coat. Pausing on the rug, he
glanced from Kesiah to Jonathan with a grave and capable look, as
though he wished them to understand that, having settled everything
with perfect satisfaction in the mind of Mrs. Gay, he was now ready to
perform a similar office for the rest of the household.

"I am thankful to say that I left your dear mother resting peacefully,"
he observed in a whisper. "You must have had a distressing journey, Mr.
Gay?"

"I was very much alarmed," replied Gay, with a nervous gesture as if he
were pushing aside a disagreeable responsibility. "The note took three
days to find me, and I didn't know until I got here whether she was
alive or dead."

"It is easy to understand your feelings," returned the rector, still
whispering though Gay had spoken in his natural voice. "Such a mother
as yours deserves the most careful cherishing that you can give her. To
know her has been an inspiration, and I am never tired of repeating that
her presence in the parish, and occasional attendance at church, are
privileges for which we should not forget to be thankful. It is not
possible, I believe, for any woman to approach more closely the perfect
example of her sex."

"Perhaps I had better go up to her at once. We are deeply grateful to
you, Mr. Mullen, for your sympathy."

"Who would not have felt?" rejoined the other, and taking up his hat
from the table, he went out, still treading softly as though he were
walking upon something he feared to hurt.

"Poor