re
a person quite out of the common."

"He always did spoil her," said Mrs. Gresley.

"He went off on a long rigmarole about her and her talent, and how vain
he and I should be if leading articles appeared in the _Spectator_ about
us as they did about her. I did not know there had been anything of the
kind, but he said every one else did. And then he went on more slowly
that Hester was under a foolish hallucination, as groundless, no doubt,
as that she had caused Regie's death, that her book was destroyed. He
said, 'It is this idea which has got firm hold of her, but which has
momentarily passed off her mind in her anxiety about Regie, which has
caused her illness.' And then he looked at me. He seemed really quite
shaky. He held on to a chair. I think his health is breaking."

"And what did you say?"

"I said the truth, that it was no hallucination but the fact, that much
as I regretted to say so Hester had written a profane and immoral book,
and that I had felt it my duty to burn it, and a very painful duty it
had been. I said he would have done the same if he had read it."

"I am glad you said that."

"Well, the awkward part was that he said he had read it, every word, and
that he considered it the finest book that had been written in his day.
And then he began to walk up and down and to become rather excited, and
to say that he could not understand how I could take upon myself such a
responsibility, or on what grounds I considered myself a judge of
literature. As if I ever did consider myself a judge! But I do know
right from wrong. We had got on all right up till then, especially when
he spoke so cordially of you and me, but directly he made a personal
matter of Hester's book, setting his opinion against mine, for he
repeated over and over again it was a magnificent book, his manner
seemed to change. He tried to speak kindly, but all the time I saw that
my considering the book bad while he thought it good, gravelled him, and
made him feel annoyed with me. The truth is, he can't bear any one to
think differently from himself."

"He always was like that," said the comforter.

"I said I supposed he thought it right to run down the clergy and hold
them up to ridicule. He said, 'Certainly not, but he did not see how
that applied to anything in Hester's book.' He said, 'She has drawn us,
without bias towards us, exactly as we appear to three-quarters of the
laity. It won't do us any harm to see ourselves for once