astical religion, and, having
bragged a bit about the land he had presented to the Order of St.
George, had inspired Wyon to do some bragging of what he had done for
various churches.

"If I could find happiness at Malford," Wyon had said, "I would give
them all that I possess."

Sir Charles had warned the Father Superior that he would do well to
accept Wyon as a probationer, should he propose himself; and the Father
Superior, who was by now as anxious for money as a company-promoter,
made himself as pleasant to Wyon as he knew how, flattering him
carefully and giving voice to his dreams for the great stone Abbey to be
built here in days to come.

Mark took an immediate and violent dislike to the newcomer, which, had
he been questioned about it, he would have attributed to his elaborate
choice of socks and tie, or to his habit of perpetually tightening the
leather belt he wore instead of braces, as if he would compel that
flabbiness of waist caused by soft living to vanish; but to himself he
admitted that the antipathy was deeper seated.

"It's like the odour of corruption," he murmured, though actually it was
the odour of hair washes and lotions and scents that filled the guest's
cell.

However, Aubrey Wyon became for a week a probationer, ludicrously known
as Brother Aubrey, after which he remained a postulant only a fortnight
before he was clothed as a novice, having by then taken the name of
Anthony, alleging that the inspiration to become a monk had been due to
the direct intervention of St. Anthony of Padua on June 13th.

Whether Brother Anthony turned the Father Superior's head with his
promises of what he intended to give the Order when he was professed, or
whether having once started he was unable to stop, there was continuous
building all that summer, culminating in a decision to begin the Abbey
Church.

Mark wondered why Brother George did not protest against the
expenditure, and he came to the conclusion that the Prior was as much
bewitched by ambition for his farm as the head of the Order was by his
hope of a mighty fane.

Thus things drifted during the summer, when, since the Father Superior
was not away so much, his influence was exerted more strongly over the
brethren, though at the same time he was not attracting as much money as
was now always required in ever increasing amounts.

Such preaching as he did manage later on during the autumn was by no
means so financially successful as his cam