'Is it not strange that we should meet again at Lichbury after all these years?' she began. I have often thought of you, and often felt sorry.' She paused and sighed. One does not expect men to take things so seriously-generally, you know, it is the men who forget, and the women who suffer; but I suppose you are different. And I have spoilt your life!'

The Professor smiled. He was thinking that most people would hardly describe his life as having been a spoilt one; he was thinking, too, that the Julia who had caused him so much mental anguish in years gone by was quite another person from the complacent little lady who was trying to make apologies for her. rather wished she would drop the subject; but he said nothing, and Mrs. Annesley resumed:

'You ought to hate me-I quite feel that; but doesn't some clever person say somewhere that we never hate those who have injured us, only those whom we have injured? I have injured you dreadfully; but for all that, I want to make friends-and to ask a favour of you into the bargain.' She concluded her sentence with a little laugh and a side glance from eyes which had done much execution in their day.

'I am sure I shall be very glad if I can serve you in any way,' said the Professor simply; and I think we may very well agree to let bygones be bygones. It was something about your son, you said?'

Ah, yes, poor fellow!' sighed Mrs. Annesley; I can't tell you how anxious and distressed I am about him. He is quartered here with his regiment, the 27th Lancers, and he absolutely refuses to leave the service; though, as of course you know, he succeeded to a very large property when he came of age.'

'He is still very young,' remarked the Professor. I should think another year or two of soldiering would do him no harm.'

I

'But it is absurd for a man with three large country houses to live in barracks. I want him to marry and settle down. want him-only this is strictly between ourselves-to marry Violet Cecil. She is such a charming girl, and so pretty-don't you think so?"

'Is she?' asked the Professor. 'I scarcely know her.'

'But you and Mr. Cecil were always such great friends, I thought.'

'We had not met for many years until I came down here, and I have only seen Miss Cecil once. I did not notice her particularly.'

'How funny of you! But I remember that you were never very observant. Well, I was going to tell you about poor Boboh! there he is. I should like so much to introduce him to you.' 'He introduced himself to me this morning,' observed the Professor, smiling.

Oh, did he? Well, I could not introduce him now, at any rate,' said Mrs. Annesley, meaningly.

The Professor adjusted his glasses, and following the direction of her gaze, made out his visitor of the morning, who had exchanged his uniform for a suit of cricketing flannels, and who was pacing along by the side of a tall, fine-looking woman with dark hair. The young man wore a downcast look, and his evident unwillingness to raise his eyes seemed to show that he was conscious of his mother's vicinity.

'Oh, I see!' said the Professor, with a perspicacity which did him credit.

'Yes; isn't it dreadful? What any man can find to admire in such a woman I can't conceive.'

'She is handsome and-very well dressed,' hazarded the Professor, after another survey of the lady's retreating form.

'Well dressed!' ejaculated Mrs. Annesley, throwing up her hands. If you can say that, you would say anything. Pale blue satin and imitation lace-good gracious! But of course you don't understand these things.'

Certainly, the Professor agreed, 'I am no judge of such matters. But who is this lady?'

Ah, who indeed? That is exactly what nobody knows. She is a Mrs. Harrington-at least, that is what she calls herself; and I believe she is one of those dreadful harpies who follow regiments about all over the world and ruin poor young men-or rather, rich young men. She is not exactly disreputable, I am told; I only wish she were!-No, I didn't mean that I forgot you were a clergyman. I beg your pardon, I'm sure.'

'Don't mind me,' said the Professor. 'And so you are afraid that she will marry your son?'

'I can't bear to say so; but it does look terribly like it, and I am so powerless. I have no influence over Bob, and it is impossible for me to remain down here; I have all my other children to look after, you know. Of course it would never do to breathe a word to the Cecils; otherwise they might be able to save him, for I am sure he is really fond of Violet. It struck me that perhaps you might give me a helping hand.'

6

'I will most gladly, if I can,' replied the Professor; but I confess I don't at present see what I can do.'

'I am sure you could influence him in a quiet way; and then you might try to throw him as much as possible with the Cecils. You will have plenty of opportunities of doing that, if you look for them. And perhaps you would be very kind and write me a line every now and then to tell me how matters are going.'

The Professor shook his head, and said he feared Mrs. Annesley was leaning upon a broken reed. Nevertheless, he promised to do his best; and promises with him always meant a good deal. For the sake of old days he was willing to do Mrs. Annesley a kindness; for the young man's own sake he would gladly have disappointed the harpy; finally, he thought he would be rendering no small service to his friend Cecil if he could bring about a marriage between the daughter of that not very wealthy country gentleman and one of the richest bachelors in England. The only question was how to set about achieving so desirable a result. He debated this problem for some time after Mrs. Annesley had been called away from his side by other acquaintances, and he was still standing with his hands behind his back, frowning meditatively, when Mr. Cecil, a fresh-coloured squire, who lived within a few miles of Lichbury, caught sight of him and greeted him warmly. 'Hollo, Stanwick! who'd have thought of seeing you on the cricket-ground? This is an unexpected honour for the club.'

'I didn't come here to look at the cricket; I came to see a very old friend of yours and mine-Mrs. Annesley,' the Professor explained.

'Ah, to be sure! How time does go on! Do you remember what a pretty girl she was, and how desperately in love we all were with her? You were as hard hit as any of us, if I recollect rightly. In fact, I believe she was engaged to you in a sort of a way, wasn't she?'

'In a sort of a way-yes.'

'And then she threw you over because she wanted to be rich and fashionable and all that. Well, well! she has had her reward. Have you seen her often since those days?'

'Never until yesterday.'

'You don't say so! You can hardly have recognised one another, did you? Both you and she have got on in life and got on in the world since you parted. Julia is a leader of society, and mixes freely with duchesses, which satisfies her soul; and you are

one of the celebrities of the day. It now only remains for me to get a prize for my pig, and then we shall all three have reached the highest distinctions attainable in our respective walks in life.'

'Yes, yes,' murmured the Professor dreamily; and presently he quoted in an undertone, 'What shadows we are, and what shadows we pursue!'

'I'll be hanged if anybody shall call my pig a shadow!' returned Mr. Cecil, laughing, as he walked away. And then the Professor strolled slowly back to the quiet Precincts and The Rise of the Papacy.'

MAN may be a learned historian and a dignitary of the Church, and yet retain a good deal of that diffidence

which is more becoming

than common among his ju

niors. Canon Stanwick, for one, carried modesty almost to the dimensions of a vice. He was very shy of young men ; he did not know what to say to them; he felt convinced-possibly not without reason- that they must find him an old bore; and how to ingratiate himself with a dashing young cavalry officer was a puzzle beyond the compass of his imagination to solve. However, he had pledged his word that he would do this, and accordingly, on the day after the cricket match, he asked a few friends to dinner, and invited Mr. Annesley to join the party.

The young man came, and made himself so agreeable to the old ladies and gentlemen whom he met that they were delighted with him, and allowed him to monopolise the lion's share of the conversation. Which thing they would assuredly not have permitted in the case of any ordinary lancer or hussar; for in Lichbury the Church is disposed to look a trifle askance at the Army, and to stand upon its dignity with the representatives of

the latter, who are overmuch given to riot and unseemly pranks. But about this particular lancer there was a perfect simplicity of thought and language which, combined with a touch of military swagger, was quite irresistible; and so it came to pass that Canon Stanwick's first dinner party proved the merriest that had been given in the Precincts for many a long day. As for the Professor, he began to feel a quasi-fatherly interest in the son of his former flame, and when the rest of the guests had departed, ventured to detain him.

'Do you ever-er-smoke a cigar before you go to bed?' he asked hesitatingly.

'I should be precious sorry to go to bed without smoking a cigar,' answered the other, laughing.

Oh,' said the Professor. Well, I have formed the same habit myself, and if you had nothing better to do, and cared to keep me company for half an hour in my study, I could offer you a tolerably good cigar, I think; and-and I believe you'll find some soda-water and brandy on the table.'

So presently this oddly matched pair were seated opposite to one another in the spacious room which served its present owner as library and study, the busts of Roman emperors and Greek philosophers looking down upon them from above the bookcases with an air of grave surprise. The Professor was a little timid and awkward at first, but the younger man soon set him at his ease, and when he had received a good deal of amusing information about the inhabitants of Lichbury and its neighbourhood, he thought he might feel his way towards the subject which he was determined to broach.

'I know very few people in these parts,' he remarked; ‘I have not been here long, and am generally much occupied. But I have a long-standing acquaintance with the Cecils, who I think are also friends of yours.'

'Oh, rather!' responded the young man heartily. Known them all my life. Awfully jolly people- awfully good old chap, old Cecil. And Mrs. Cecil-she's awfully jolly too.'

Bob Annesley's vocabulary of adjectives made up in emphasis what it lacked in variety.

'And Miss Cecil?' the Professor said. 'I have only been fortunate enough to meet her once, but I am told that she is a singularly beautiful and charming young lady.'

This leading observation elicited a somewhat less cordial assent