and it was quite as well that he should be told at once.

"That bit of ground they've built the chapel on at Bullhampton, turns
out to be--glebe," said the Marquis. Lord St. George whistled. "Of
course, Mr. Fenwick knew it all along," said the Marquis.

"I should hardly think that," said his son.

"You read his letter. Mr. Boothby, will you be so good as to show
Lord St. George the letter? You never read such a production.
Impudent scoundrel! Of course he knew it all the time."

Lord St. George read the letter. "He is very impudent, whether he be
a scoundrel or not."

"Impudent is no word for it."

"Perhaps he has had some provocation, my lord."

"Not from me, St. George;--not from me. I have done nothing to him.
Of course the chapel must be--removed."

"Don't you think the question might stand over for a while?"
suggested Mr. Boothby. "Matters would become smoother in a month or
two."

"Not for an hour," said the Marquis.

Lord St. George walked about the room with the letter in his hand,
meditating. "The truth is," he said, at last, "we have made a
mistake, and we must get out of it as best we can. I think my father
is a little wrong about this clergyman's character."

"St. George! Have you read his letter? Is that a proper letter to
come from a clergyman of the Church of England to--to--to--" the
Marquis longed to say to the Marquis of Trowbridge; but he did not
dare so to express himself before his son,--"to the landlord of his
parish?"

"A red-brick chapel, just close to your lodge, isn't nice, you know."

"He has got no lodge," said the Marquis.

"And so we thought we'd build him one. Let me manage this. I'll see
him, and I'll see the minister, and I'll endeavour to throw some oil
upon the waters."

"I don't want to throw oil upon the waters."

"Lord St. George is in the right, my lord," said the attorney; "he
really is. It is a case in which we must throw a little oil upon the
waters. We've made a mistake, and when we've done that we should
always throw oil upon the waters. I've no doubt Lord St. George
will find a way out of it." Then the father and the son went away
together, and before they had reached the Houses of Parliament Lord
St. George had persuaded his father to place the matter of the
Bullhampton chapel in his hands. "And as for the letter," said St.
George, "do not you notice it."

"I have not the slightest intention of noticing it," said the
Marquis, haughtily.

CHAPT