about
religion ain't what we want. It's like the crackling of thorns under the
pot. Let us see you at the Deanery before long; make my compliments to
your good father and Mrs. Falconer." And then the Dean ambled away, his
thin, black-stockinged legs beneath the decanal coat and apron giving
him the appearance of a black stork.

Joyce now hastened towards the Vicar's Close, where her aunt, her
father's only sister, lived.

The Vicar's Close at Wells is a sight to delight the heart of the
antiquary and the lover of ancient buildings and olden times.

It is entered from the north end of the cathedral by a wide, low
gateway, and on either side of a fairly broad footway stands a row of
small, picturesque houses with twisted chimneys and low doorways, round
which the clematis and honeysuckle climb at their own sweet will. The
Vicar's Close, at the further end, is closed in by a small chapel, which
entirely blocks the entrance, for any but foot passengers, who obtain
egress into the North Liberty by some uneven stone steps at the side of
the chapel, leading into the road a few feet above the level of the
Close.

If Wells is quiet outside the Vicar's Close, it is quiet indeed within
it. Since the summer day when Joyce went into the little garden before a
house half-way up on the right side, the hand of the modern Wells
builder and plasterer may have marred the complete effect, with stucco
and sash-windows; but for the most part the houses in the second decade
of the century were guiltless of plate glass and white-wash, and their
antique frontage was, even more than now, one of the most picturesque
features of the city of Wells.

Joyce had scarcely touched the bright brass handle of the bell when the
door opened, and a girl of two or three and twenty sprang out.

"Oh, Joyce, how glad I am to see you! Come in Aunt Letitia, here is
Joyce."

Miss Falconer was in the parlour on the right-hand side of the little,
low-roofed lobby, and rose somewhat feebly from her chair by the wide
grate, which was gay with pots of flowers and evergreens.

"Well, my child, welcome. Have you come to Wells with your father?"

"Yes, auntie; and I am come here for dinner, and after dinner may
Charlotte come and do some shopping with me? I have a long list of
commissions at the china shop and at Wilmott's."

"Charlotte will be pleased to accompany you, dear child; and when you
have taken off your bonnet, come and tell me home news."

There