his grief, Hester could not but respect it. It was so much better
than gross selfishness and carelessness, that she could pity and almost
honour it. She felt that Mr Walcot was as far superior to the quacks
who were making a market of the credulity of the suffering people, as
her husband, with his professional decision, his manly composure, and
his forgetfulness of the injuries of his foes in their hour of
suffering, was above Mr Walcot. The poor young man drank in, as if
they were direct from Heaven, the suggestions contained in the
preacher's plain sermon on the duties of the time. Plain it was
indeed,--familiarly practical to an unexampled degree; so that most of
his hearers quitted the church with a far clearer notion of their
business as nurses and neighbours than they had ever before had. The
effect was visible as they left their seats, in the brightening of their
countenances, and the increased activity of their step as they walked.

"There, go," said Hester, kindly, to her companion. "Many must be
wanting you: but you have lost no time by coming here."

"No, indeed. But Mr Hope--"

"Rely upon him. He will do his duty. Go and do yours."

"God bless you!" cried Walcot, squeezing her hand affectionately.

Mrs Rowland saw this, as she always saw everything. She beckoned to
Mr Walcot, with her most engaging smile, and whispered him with an air
of the most intimate confidence, till she saw that her presence was
wanted elsewhere, when she let him go.

Mr Rowland, followed by Philip, slipped out of his pew as Hester
passed, and walked down the aisle with her. He was glad to see her
there; he hoped it was a proof that all her household were well in this
sickly time. Philip bent forward to hear the answer. Mr Rowland went
on to say how still and dull the village was. The shutters up, or the
blinds down, at all the Greys' windows, looked quite sad; and he never
saw any of his friends from the corner-house in the shrubbery now. They
had too many painful duties, he feared, to allow of their permitting
themselves such pleasures: but his friends must take care not to
overstrain their powers. They and he must be very thankful that their
respective households were thus far unvisited by the disease; and they
should all, in his opinion, favour their health by the indulgence of a
little rational cheerfulness. Hester smiled, aware that never had their
household been more cheerful than now.

Whether it was tha