r his own,
that he should for a while be relieved from his duties; but he is
an obstinate man, a very obstinate man. I made the attempt with all
consideration for his feelings."

"He is hard put to it, my lord. I know the man and his pride. The
dean has spoken of him to me more than once, and nobody knows him so
well as the dean. If I might venture to offer an opinion--"

"Good morning, Mr. Chadwick," said Mrs. Proudie, coming into the room
and taking her accustomed seat. "No thank you, no; I will stay away
from the fire, if you please. His lordship has spoken to you no doubt
about this unfortunate, wretched man?"

"We are speaking of him now, my dear."

"Something must of course be done to put a stop to the crying
disgrace of having such a man preaching from a pulpit in this
diocese. When I think of the souls of the people in that poor
village, my hair literally stands on end. And then he is
disobedient!"

"That is the worst of it," said the bishop. "It would have been so
much better for himself if he would have allowed me to provide
quietly for the services till the trial be over."

"I could have told you, my lord, that he would not do that, from what
I knew of him," said Mr. Chadwick.

"But he must do it," said Mrs. Proudie. "He must be made to do it."

"His lordship will find it difficult," said Mr. Chadwick.

"I can issue a commission, you know, to the rural dean," said the
bishop mildly.

"Yes, you can do that. And Dr. Tempest in two months' time will have
named his assessors--"

"Dr. Tempest must not name them; the bishop must name them," said Mrs
Proudie.

"It is customary to leave that to the rural dean," said Mr. Chadwick.
"The bishop no doubt can object to any one named."

"And can specially select any clergyman he pleases from the
archdeaconry," said the bishop. "I have known it done."

"The rural dean in such case has probably been an old man, and not
active," said the lawyer.

"And Dr. Tempest is a very old man," said Mrs. Proudie, "and in such a
matter not at all trustworthy. He was one of the magistrates who took
bail."

"His lordship could hardly set him aside," said the lawyer. "At any
rate I would not recommend him to try. I think you might suggest a
commission of five, and propose two of the number yourself. I do not
think that in such a case Dr. Tempest would raise any question."

At last it was settled in this way. Mr. Chadwick was to prepare a
letter to Dr. Tempest, for the