no--he seemed
much as usual--his face was indeed reddened a little by his brisk walk
in the chill air, and his voice was as cheery as ever. Biddy gave a
loud, most audible sigh of relief. Mr. Vane started and interrupted
himself in the middle of a lively account of the adventures he and
Randolph had met with in their walk.

'My dear Biddy,' he said. 'What _can_ you have to sigh about in that
appalling way?'

Bridget opened her mouth as if to speak, but Rosalys, trembling as to
what she might not be going to say, interrupted.

'Please, papa, don't ask her just now,' she said; 'do go on telling us
about what sort of a place Seacove is,' and she added in a whisper, as
she gave a little private tug to his sleeve, 'Biddy's been
rather--tiresome, and if she begins to cry----'

CHAPTER IV

BIDDY HAS SOME NEW THOUGHTS

'O, children take long to grow.'
JEAN INGELOW.

Mr. Vane nodded in token of comprehending Alie's hint.

'You must walk to Seacove to-morrow and see it for yourselves,' he said.

'That is to say if it is fine,' said Mrs. Vane. 'Doesn't it look stormy
to-night?'

'The wind is getting up, but that one must expect at this time of the
year, and a good blow now and then won't hurt the girls. I feel ever so
much the better for the touch of it we had this afternoon. I'm certain
it is a very healthy place.'

Mrs. Vane smiled a little.

'I have noticed that that is generally said of places that have nothing
else to recommend them. But no,' she went on, 'I must not begin by
finding fault. If it proves to us a health-giving place I certainly
shall like it, whatever else it is or is not. Did you go into the church
this afternoon?'

'Just for a moment. Rough wanted to glance at it,' Mr. Vane replied, his
tone sounding rather less cheerful.

'It looked very dingy and dismal,' Randolph said. 'It's all high pews
and high-up windows, you know, mamma. Papa says it must have been built
at the very ugliest time for churches, before they began to improve at
all.'

'And there is nothing to be done to it,' said Mr. Vane. 'Even if we
could attempt it and had the money, there would be endless difficulties
in the way of prejudice and old associations to overcome.'

'And it is not as if we were really settled here,' said the children's
mother. 'You must not take the church to heart, Bernard; you could
scarcely expect anything better in a place like this.'

'No--it will be