alone with him before, except now and then for a few
minutes, but he was such a sincere and plain-spoken man that she had
always felt she genuinely knew him. To every one with whom he spoke he
gave himself as he was. This unusual sincerity in Rosamund's eyes was a
great attraction. She often said that she could never feel at home with
pretense even if the intention behind it was kindly. Perhaps, however,
she did not always detect it, although she possessed the great gift of
feminine intuition.

She arrived by the express, which reached Welsley Station in the
evening, and found Canon Wilton at the station to meet her. His greeting
was:

"The 'Wilderness,' Wesley, at the afternoon service to-morrow."

"That's good of you!" she exclaimed, with the warm and radiant
cordiality that won her so many friends. "I shall revel in my little
visit here. It's an unexpected treat."

The Canon seemed for a moment almost surprised by her buoyant
anticipation, and a look that was sad flitted across his face; but she
did not notice it.

As they drove in a fly to his house in the Precincts she looked out at
the busy provincial life in the narrow streets of the old country town,
and enjoyed the intimate concentration of it all.

"I should like to poke about here," she said. "I should feel at home as
I never do in London. I believe I'm thoroughly provincial at heart."

In the highest tower of the Cathedral, which stood in the heart of
the town, the melodious chimes lifted up their crystalline voices, and
"Great John" boomed out the hour in a voice of large authority.

"Seven o'clock," said the Canon. "Dinner is at eight. You'll be all
alone with me this evening."

"To-morrow too, I hope," Rosamund said, with a smile.

"No, to-morrow we shall be the awkward number--three. Mr. Robertson,
from Liverpool, is coming to stay with me for a few days. He preaches
here next Sunday evening."

Rosamund's thought was carried back to a foggy night in London, when she
had heard a sermon on egoism, and a quotation she had never forgotten:
_"Ego dormio et cor meum vigilat."_

"Can you manage with two clergymen?" said Canon Wilton.

"I'll try. I don't think they'll frighten me, and I've been wishing to
meet Mr. Robertson for a long time."

"He's a good man," said Canon Wilton very simply. But the statement as
he made it was like an accolade.

Rosamund enjoyed her quiet evening with the Canon in the house with the
high green gate, the elm t