is everything,
alas, now."

"It always was a good deal, my dear," observed the rector mildly.

"Never in my time, Herbert! Mamma would no more have let us go to such
houses! It is just one of those signs of the time which you insist on
ignoring, but which one day---- This new connection will be a great
thing for Chatty, dear Mrs. Warrender. It is such a nice thing for a
girl to come out under good auspices."

"Poor Chatty, we cannot say she is coming out," said her mother, "and
the Thynnes, I have always understood, were dull people, not fashionable
at all."

"Oh, you don't think for a moment that I meant the Thynnes! She has been
very quiet, to be sure; but now, of course, with a young husband--and I
am sure Chatty does not look more than nineteen; I always say she is the
youngest looking girl of her age. And as she has never been presented,
what is she but a girl coming out? But I do think I would wait till she
had her sister-in-law to go out with. It may be a self-denial for a
mother, but it gives a girl such an advantage!"

"But Chatty is not going to have a husband either young or old," said
Mrs. Warrender, with a laugh which was a little forced. "Ah, here is the
tea, I wish we had a fire too, Joseph, though it is against rules."

"I'll light you a fire, mum," said Joseph, "in a minute. None of us
would mind the trouble, seeing as it's only for once, and the family
going away."

"That is very good of you not to mind," said his mistress, laughing.
"Light it, then, it will make us more cheerful before we go."

"Ah, Joseph," said the rector's wife, "you may well be kind to your good
old mistress, who has always been so considerate to you. For new lords,
new laws, you know, and when the new lady comes----"

Joseph, who was on his knees lighting the fire, turned round with the
freedom of an old servant. "There ain't no new ladies but in folks'
imagination," he said. "The Warren ain't a place for nothing new."

"Joseph!" cried his mistress sharply; but she was glad of the assistance
thus afforded to her. And there was a little interval during which Mrs.
Wilberforce was occupied with her tea. She was cold and damp, and the
steaming cup was pleasant to see; but she was not to be kept in silence
even by this much-needed refreshment. "I should think," she resumed,
"that the boy would be the chief difficulty. A step-mother is a difficult
position; but a step-father, and one so young as dear Theo!"

"Step-fatherin