eather would sit in the garden to read it.
It happened that on the Tuesday after the first time of asking of the
banns, he sat beneath a full-leaved, distorted old cherry-tree, gravely
reading "Our Paris Correspondence," when his eye fell upon an item
of news or fancy which startled him and then set him a-thinking. "All
Paris," said our correspondent, "was delightfully fluttered by the
approaching marriage of the Marquis of B. and Madame De X. Madame De
X. was a reigning beauty in the days of the Consul Plancus. It would be
unfair to reveal her precise age even if one knew it. The Marquis of B.
was turned seventy. The two had been lovers in their youth, and had been
separated by a misunderstanding. The lady had married, but the gentleman
for her sake had kept single. Monsieur X. had lived with his bride for
but a year, and had then succumbed to an attack of phthisis. Now, after
a separation of forty years, the two lovers had met again, the ancient
misunderstanding had been romantically explained, and they had decided
to spend the winter of their days together. Paris was charmed, Paris was
touched by this picture of a life-long devotion presented by the Marquis
of B."

Ezra, rising from his seat, laid the paper upon it and walked soberly
about the garden. Then he took up the journal, surrounded the paragraph
which related to the devotion of the Marquis of B. with heavy ink-marks,
waited patiently until the lines dried, folded up the paper, put it in
his pocket, and walked into the road. There he turned to the left, and
went straight on to Miss Blythe's cottage. There in the garden was Miss
Blythe herself, in a cottage bonnet and long gloves, busily hoeing
with little pecks at a raised flower-bed of the size of a tea-tray. She
looked up when Ezra paused at the gate, nodded with brisk preciseness in
answer to his salutation, and then went on industriously pecking at the
flower-bed.

"My weekly paper has just arrived, Miss Blythe," said Ezra. "It appears
to contain an unusual amount of interestin' matter, and I thought I'd
ask you in passing if you'd care to have a look at it."

"You are remarkably obliging, Mr. Gold," said Rachel. "I thank you
extremely." She took the newspaper from his hand and retired into the
house with it. Ezra lingered, and she returned to resume her occupation.

"It is beautiful weather," said Ezra.

"It is beautiful weather, indeed," said Rachel. Ezra lingered on, but
rather hopelessly, for she