frame of mind was not altogether
concealed; he seemed anxious to have it understood that in _him_ the
clerical attire inspired nothing whatever of superstitious reverence.
Reverence, in truth, was not Mr. Waltham's failing.

Mr. Wyvern, as his habit was at introductions, spoke no words, but held
the youth's hand for a few moments and looked him in the eyes. Alfred
turned his head aside uneasily, and was a trifle ruddy in the cheeks
when at length he regained his liberty.

'By-the-by,' he remarked to his mother when he had seated himself, with
crossed legs, 'Eldon has turned up at last. He passed us in a cab, or so
Adela said. I didn't catch a glimpse of the individual.'

'Really!' exclaimed Mrs. Waltham. 'He was coming from Agworth station?'

'I suppose so. There was a trunk on the four-wheeler. Adela says he
looked ill, though I don't see how she discovered so much.'

'I have no doubt she is right. He must have been ill.'

Mr. Wyvern, in contrast with his habit, was paying marked attention;
he leaned forward, with a hand on each knee. In the meanwhile the
preparations for tea had progressed, and as Mrs. Waltham rose at the
sight of the teapot being brought in, her daughter entered the room.
Adela was taller by half a head than her brother; she was slim and
graceful. The air had made her face bloom, and the smile which was added
as she drew near to the vicar enhanced the charm of a countenance at all
times charming. She was not less than ladylike in self-possession,
but Mr. Wyvern's towering sableness clearly awed her a little. For an
instant her eyes drooped, but at once she raised them and met the severe
gaze with unflinching orbs. Releasing her hand, Mr. Wyvern performed
a singular little ceremony: he laid his right palm very gently on her
nutbrown hair, and his lips moved. At the same time he all but smiled.

Alfred's face was a delightful study the while; it said so clearly,
'Confound the parson's impudence!' Mrs. Waltham, on the other hand,
looked pleased as she rustled to her place at the tea-tray.

'So Mr. Eldon has come?' she said, glancing at Adela. 'Alfred says he
looks ill.'

'Mother,' interposed the young man, 'pray be accurate. I distinctly
stated that I did not even see him, and should not have known that it
was he at all. Adela is responsible for that assertion.'

'I just saw his face,' the girl said naturally. 'I thought he looked
ill.'

Mr. Wyvern addressed to her a question about her walk