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llarton was laboring under a slight delusion in believing (which he did sincerely) that only a pure and disinterested zeal for the welfare of his flock impelled him to say, "I shall make it my business to inquire more fully into Major Keene's antecedents. I am convinced there is something discreditable in the background, and it may be well to be armed with proofs in case of need." Though _he_ may have deceived himself completely as to the nature of the spirit that possessed him, Cecil Tresilyan was more clear-sighted. She had not failed to remark a certain vicious twinkle in the speaker's eye and a deeper flush on his ruddy countenance, betokening rather a mundane resentment. Her lip began to curl. "How very disagreeable some of your duties must be. No doubt you interpret them correctly, but in this case perhaps it would be well to be _quite_ sure before acting on the offensive. If I were a man--even a clergyman--I don't think I should like to have Major Keene for my declared enemy." The text with which the chaplain enforced his reply--expressive of a determination to keep his own line at all hazards, strong in the rectitude of his cause--had better not be quoted here, especially as it was not apposite enough to "lay" the contradictory spirit that was alive in his fair opponent. (How very angry Cecil would have been if she had been told ten minutes ago that such an expression would apply to her!) The temptation to answer sharply was so powerful that she took refuge in distant coldness. "You quite misunderstand me, Mr. Fullarton. I never dreamed of offering advice; it would have been excessively presumptuous in me, especially as I have not the faintest interest in the subject we have been talking about. Need we discuss it any longer? I think Major Keene has been too highly honored already." That weary look was so manifest now on the beautiful face that even the chaplain, albeit tenacious of his position as a sea-anemone, felt that, for once, he had overstaid his time and was periling his popularity. So, after an expansive benediction, and an entreaty that they would be early at church on the morrow, he went "to his own place." With a sigh of admiration--"What an excellent man, and how well he talks!" said Bessie Danvers. With a sigh of relief--"He talks a great deal, and it is very late," said Cecil Tresilyan. CHAPTER IX. From his "coign of vantage" in the reading-desk the next morning, Mr.
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