tt was an exception to the universal rule?--the
question might be asked, and she asked it. She had not seen him tested
in any great thing. But she had seen him tried in little bits of
everyday things, in which most people think it is no harm to dodge the
truth a little; and Betty recognised the soundness of the axiom,--'He
that is faithful in that which is least, is faithful also in much.'

CHAPTER XLII.

_THE TOWER_.

The next morning they went to inspect the Temple; Pitt and the two
ladies. Mr. Dallas preferred some other occupation. But the interest
brought to the inspection was not altogether legitimate. Mrs. Dallas
cared principally to see how comfortable her son's chambers were, and
to refresh herself with the tokens of antiquity and importance which
attached to the place and the institution to which he belonged. Betty
was no antiquarian in the best of times, and at present had all her
faculties concentrated on one subject and one question which was not of
the past. Nevertheless, it is of the nature of things that a high
strain of the mind renders it intensely receptive and sensitive for
outward impressions, even though they be not welcomed; like a taut
string, which answers to a breath breathed upon it. Betty did not care
for the Temple; had no interest in the old Templars' arms on the sides
of the gateways; and thought its medley of dull courts and lanes a very
undesirable place. What was it to her where Dr. Johnson had lived? she
did not care for Dr. Johnson at all, and as little for Oliver
Goldsmith. Pitt, she saw, cared; how odd it was! It was some comfort
that Mrs. Dallas shared her indifference.

'My dear,' she said, 'I do not care about anybody's lodgings but yours.
Dr. Johnson is not there now, I suppose. Where are _your_ rooms?'

But Pitt laughed, and took them first to the Temple church.

Here Betty could not refuse to look and be interested a little. How
little, she did not show. The beauty of the old church, its venerable
age, and the strange relics of the past in its monuments, did command
some attention. Yet Betty grudged it; and went over the Halls and the
Courts afterward with a half reluctant foot, hearing as if against her
will all that Pitt was telling her and his mother about them. Oh, what
did it matter, that one of Shakspeare's plays had been performed in the
Middle Temple Hall during its author's lifetime? and what did it
signify whether a given piece of architecture were Earl