"You don't mean, my dear Miss Garth, that you are glad to hear of a

young man giving up the Church for which he was educated: you only mean

that things being so, you are glad that he should be under an excellent

man like your father."

"No, really, Mrs. Farebrother, I am glad of both, I fear," said Mary,

cleverly getting rid of one rebellious tear. "I have a dreadfully

secular mind. I never liked any clergyman except the Vicar of

Wakefield and Mr. Farebrother."

"Now why, my dear?" said Mrs. Farebrother, pausing on her large wooden

knitting-needles and looking at Mary. "You have always a good reason

for your opinions, but this astonishes me. Of course I put out of the

question those who preach new doctrine. But why should you dislike

clergymen?"

"Oh dear," said Mary, her face breaking into merriment as she seemed to

consider a moment, "I don't like their neckcloths."

"Why, you don't like Camden's, then," said Miss Winifred, in some

anxiety.

"Yes, I do," said Mary. "I don't like the other clergymen's

neckcloths, because it is they who wear them."

"How very puzzling!" said Miss Noble, feeling that her own intellect

was probably deficient.

"My dear, you are joking. You would have better reasons than these for

slighting so respectable a class of men," said Mrs. Farebrother,

majestically.

"Miss Garth has such severe notions of what people should be that it is

difficult to satisfy her," said Fred.

"Well, I am glad at least that she makes an exception in favor of my

son," said the old lady.

Mary was wondering at Fred's piqued tone, when Mr. Farebrother came in

and had to hear the news about the engagement under Mr. Garth. At the

end he said with quiet satisfaction, "_That_ is right;" and then bent

to look at Mary's labels and praise her handwriting. Fred felt

horribly jealous--was glad, of course, that Mr. Farebrother was so

estimable, but wished that he had been ugly and fat as men at forty

sometimes are. It was clear what the end would be, since Mary openly

placed Farebrother above everybody, and these women were all evidently

encouraging the affair. He, was feeling sure that he should have no

chance of speaking to Mary, when Mr. Farebrother said--

"Fred, help me to carry these drawers back into my study--you have

never seen my fine new study. Pray come too, Miss Garth. I want you

to see a stupendous spider I found this morning."

Mary at once saw the Vicar's intention. He had never since the

memorable evening deviated from his old pastoral kindness towards her,

and her momentary wonder and doubt had quite gone to sleep. Mary was

accustomed to think rather rigorously of what was probable, and if a

belief flattered her vanity she felt warned to dismiss it as

ridiculous, having early had much exercise in such dismissals. It was

as she had foreseen: when Fred had been asked to admire the fittings of

the study, and she had been asked to admire the spider, Mr. Farebrother

said--




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