and as regards the outside world
he generally did like. His clerical neighbours, and indeed all his
neighbours, respected him yearly more and more, and would have given
Ernest sufficient cause to regret his imprudence if he had dared to hint
that he had anything, however little, to complain of. Theobald's mind
worked in this way: "Now, I know Ernest has told this boy what a
disagreeable person I am, and I will just show him that I am not
disagreeable at all, but a good old fellow, a jolly old boy, in fact a
regular old brick, and that it is Ernest who is in fault all through."

So he would behave very nicely to the boy at first, and the boy would be
delighted with him, and side with him against Ernest. Of course if
Ernest had got the boy to come to Battersby he wanted him to enjoy his
visit, and was therefore pleased that Theobald should behave so well, but
at the same time he stood so much in need of moral support that it was
painful to him to see one of his own familiar friends go over to the
enemy's camp. For no matter how well we may know a thing--how clearly we
may see a certain patch of colour, for example, as red, it shakes us and
knocks us about to find another see it, or be more than half inclined to
see it, as green.

Theobald had generally begun to get a little impatient before the end of
the visit, but the impression formed during the earlier part was the one
which the visitor had carried away with him. Theobald never discussed
any of the boys with Ernest. It was Christina who did this. Theobald
let them come, because Christina in a quiet, persistent way insisted on
it; when they did come he behaved, as I have said, civilly, but he did
not like it, whereas Christina did like it very much; she would have had
half Roughborough and half Cambridge to come and stay at Battersby if she
could have managed it, and if it would not have cost so much money: she
liked their coming, so that she might make a new acquaintance, and she
liked tearing them to pieces and flinging the bits over Ernest as soon as
she had had enough of them.

The worst of it was that she had so often proved to be right. Boys and
young men are violent in their affections, but they are seldom very
constant; it is not till they get older that they really know the kind of
friend they want; in their earlier essays young men are simply learning
to judge character. Ernest had been no exception to the general rule.
His swans had one after the