eral days; but he had told them he
must be in London, for he was a widower, with one little child, a girl
who was at school, but would be waiting for him to fetch her home for
her one week's holiday in the year.

It was evident that the vicar's guest had created a very favourable
impression on us all, for though Mrs. Marchbold looked at us rather
hard, and then pursed up her lips and looked steadily at the vicar's
sister, evidently meaning to disconcert that lady with some indication
of the thought that was in all our minds, we rather resented the
rudeness, and murmured in chorus that it was evident that Mr. De
Montfort was quite a gentleman.

"Which is just what he is not," said the lady, who bore Mrs. Marchbold's
deprecatory stare with the most complete indifference. "He is not quite
a gentleman, and my brother the vicar knows that very well; but he is a
clever, amusing man, and his reading will help on the society. On the
whole, though, I think it's quite as well he should leave before long,
for I'm certain idling about in Chewton will do him no good, especially
as he has already kept us up late two nights, because a deputation came
to ask him to be a visitor at the tradesmen's club at the George."

Further discussion of the merits or demerits of the gentleman was
prevented by his entering the room along with the vicar, who told us he
had prevailed on Mr. De Montfort to take tea with us and to read us
something from Shakespeare while we were at work. Mr. De Montfort took
tea, and talked unceasingly of London, of its streets, shops, people,
trades, and amusements. He described to us the stage of a theatre, and
told us all about how a play was performed and how the actors came on
and went off, opening the door between the parlour and the drawing-room
and hanging it with table-covers to represent the front of the stage.
Then he recited _Hamlet_ and _King Lear_; and we all left off work to
look at him; and when he wound up with a performance of legerdemain, and
brought a vase that had previously been on the mantel-piece out of Mrs.
Marchbold's work-bag, and took eggs from a pillow-case, and took four
reels of cotton out of Miss Bailey's chignon, we didn't know whether to
scream or to laugh, but we all agreed that he was the most entertaining
person we had ever met or were likely to meet again.

Mr. De Montfort had grown more familiar to the Chewton Cudley people by
that time. He had only been with them a few days, and