whether of body or mind, generally leaped over a generation.
The guilt of the parents must not be shared by the innocent offspring of
shame--oh! no--and such a child as this would be . . . She was off in one
of her reveries at once.

The child was in the act of being consecrated Archbishop of Canterbury
when Theobald came in from a visit in the parish, and was told of the
shocking discovery.

Christina said nothing about Ernest, and I believe was more than half
angry when the blame was laid upon other shoulders. She was easily
consoled, however, and fell back on the double reflection, firstly, that
her son was pure, and secondly, that she was quite sure he would not have
been so had it not been for his religious convictions which had held him
back--as, of course, it was only to be expected they would.

Theobald agreed that no time must be lost in paying Ellen her wages and
packing her off. So this was done, and less than two hours after Dr
Martin had entered the house Ellen was sitting beside John the coachman,
with her face muffled up so that it could not be seen, weeping bitterly
as she was being driven to the station.

CHAPTER XXXIX

Ernest had been out all the morning, but came in to the yard of the
Rectory from the spinney behind the house just as Ellen's things were
being put into the carriage. He thought it was Ellen whom he then saw
get into the carriage, but as her face had been hidden by her
handkerchief he had not been able to see plainly who it was, and
dismissed the idea as improbable.

He went to the back-kitchen window, at which the cook was standing
peeling the potatoes for dinner, and found her crying bitterly. Ernest
was much distressed, for he liked the cook, and, of course, wanted to
know what all the matter was, who it was that had just gone off in the
pony carriage, and why? The cook told him it was Ellen, but said that no
earthly power should make it cross her lips why it was she was going
away; when, however, Ernest took her _au pied de la lettre_ and asked no
further questions, she told him all about it after extorting the most
solemn promises of secrecy.

It took Ernest some minutes to arrive at the facts of the case, but when
he understood them he leaned against the pump, which stood near the back-
kitchen window, and mingled his tears with the cook's.

Then his blood began to boil within him. He did not see that after all
his father and mother could have done much othe