inches high, thin, unsteady on his legs,
smooth-faced, unwholesome, and silly. He had been taken into his
father's business because there was nothing else for him, and he was a
mere shadow in it, despised by every cask-washer. There was nothing
wicked recorded against him; he did not drink, he did not gamble, he
cared nothing for horses or dogs; but Eastthorpe thought none the better
of him for these negative virtues. He was not known to be immoral, but
he was for ever playing with this girl or the other, smiling, mincing,
toying, and it all came to nothing. A very unpleasant creature was Mr.
Charlie Colston, a byword with women in Eastthorpe, even amongst the
nursery-maids. Mrs. Furze knew all about his youth; but she brought out
her philosopher's stone and used it with effect. She did not intend to
mate Catharine with a fool, and make her miserable. If she could not
have persuaded herself that the young man was everything that could be
desired she would have thought no more about him. The whole alchemical
operation, however, of changing him into purest gold occupied only a few
minutes, and the one thought now was how to drop the bait. It did cross
her mind that Catharine herself might object; but she was convinced that
if her daughter could have a distinct offer made to her, all opposition
might somehow be quenched.

Fate came to her assistance, as it does always to those who watch
persistently and with patience. One Sunday evening at church it suddenly
began to rain. The Furze family had not provided themselves with
umbrellas, but Mrs. Furze knew that Mr. Charlie Colston never went out
without one. Her strategy, when the service was over, was worthy of
Napoleon, and, with all the genius of a great commander, she brought her
forces into exact position at the proper moment. She herself and Mr.
Furze detained the elder Mr. Colston and his wife, and kept them in check
a little way behind, so that Catharine and their son were side by side
when the entrance was reached. Of course he could do nothing but offer
Catharine his umbrella, and his company on the way homewards, but to his
utter amazement, and the confusion of Mrs. Furze, who watched intently
the result of her manoeuvres, Catharine somewhat curtly declined, and
turned back to wait for her parents. Mr. Charlie rejoined his father and
mother, who naturally forsook the Furzes at the earliest possible moment
in such a public place as a church porch. In