lives in the parish. She will put
the younger children to bed, and--and--but it's no use troubling you
with all that. There was a young lady talked of coming, but no doubt
she has found it too inconvenient. It will be better as it is."

"You mean Miss Robarts; she will be here directly; I passed her as
I came here;" and as Dr. Arabin was yet speaking, the noise of the
carriage wheels was heard upon the road.

"I will go in now," said Mr. Crawley, "and see if she still sleeps;"
and then he entered the house, leaving the dean at the door still
seated upon his horse. "He will be afraid of the infection, and I
will not ask him to come in," said Mr. Crawley to himself.

"I shall seem to be prying into his poverty, if I enter unasked,"
said the dean to himself. And so he remained there till Puck, now
acquainted with the locality, stopped at the door.

"Have you not been in?" said Robarts.

"No; Crawley has been at the door talking to me; he will be here
directly, I suppose;" and then Mark Robarts also prepared himself to
wait till the master of the house should reappear. But Lucy had no
such punctilious misgivings; she did not much care now whether she
offended Mr. Crawley or no. Her idea was to place herself by the sick
woman's bedside, and to send the four children away;--with their
father's consent if it might be; but certainly without it if that
consent were withheld. So she got down from the carriage, and taking
certain packages in her hand made her way direct into the house.

"There's a big bundle under the seat, Mark," she said; "I'll come and
fetch it directly, if you'll drag it out." For some five minutes the
two dignitaries of the Church remained at the door, one on his cob
and the other in his low carriage, saying a few words to each other
and waiting till some one should again appear from the house. "It is
all arranged, indeed it is," were the first words which reached their
ears, and these came from Lucy. "There will be no trouble at all, and
no expense, and they shall all come back as soon as Mrs. Crawley is
able to get out of bed."

"But, Miss Robarts, I can assure--" That was Mr. Crawley's voice,
heard from him as he followed Miss Robarts to the door; but one of
the elder children had then called him into the sick room, and Lucy
was left to do her worst.

"Are you going to take the children back with you?" said the dean.

"Yes; Mrs. Robarts has prepared for them."

"You can take greater liberties