did it for the best," said Miss Dora, with a doleful countenance; and the Perpetual Curate knew that his doom was sealed. He put the best face he could upon the matter, having sufficient doubts of his own wisdom to subdue the high temper of the Wentworths for that moment at least. "What was it you did for the best?" said the Curate of St. Roque's. "I suppose, after all, it was no such great matter hearing me as you thought; but I told you I was not an ambitious preacher. This is a day for worship, not for talk." PART II.CHAPTER IV. minded ringlets limp with tears, came tremuMR. WENTWORTH's sermon on Easter Sun-lous to the altar-rails. When the service was day was one which he himself long remem- over, and the young priest was disrobing bered, though it is doubtful whether any of himself, she came to him and gave a spashis congregation had memories as faithful. modic, sympathetic, half-reproachful, presTo tell the truth, the young man put a black sure to his hand. "O Frank, my dear, I cross upon it with his blackest ink, a memorial of meaning unknown to anybody but himself. It was a curious little sermon, such as may still be heard in some Anglican pulpits. Though he had heart and mind enough to conceive something of those natural depths of divine significance and human interest, which are the very essence of the Easter festival, it was not into these that Mr. Wentworth entered in his sermon. He spoke, in very choice little sentences, of the beneficence of the Church in appointing such a feast, and of all the beautiful arrangements she had made for the keeping of it. But even in the speaking, in the excited state of mind he was in, it occurred to the young man to see, by a sudden flash of illumination, how much higher, how much more catholic, after all his teaching would have been, could he but have once ignored the Church, and gone direct, as nature bade, to that empty grave in which all the hopes of humanity had been entombed. He saw it by gleams of that perverse light which seemed more satanic than heavenly in the moments it chose for shining, while he was preaching his little sermon about the Church and her beautiful institution of Easter, just as he had seen the non-importance of his lilly-wreath and surplices as he was about to suffer martyrdon for them. All these circumstances were hard upon the young man. Looking down straight into the severe iron-grey eyes of his Aunt Leonora, he could not of course so much as modify a single sentence of the discourse he was uttering, no more than he could permit himself to slur over a single monotone of the service; but that sudden bewildering perception that he could have done so much better-that the loftiest High-Churchism of all might have been consistent enough with Skelmersdale, had he but gone into the heart of the matter -gave a bitterness to the deeper, unseen current of the curate's thoughts. "Ah! yes," said Miss Dora, "but O Frank, my dear, it is hard upon me after all my expectations. It would have been so nice to have had you at Skelmersdale. I hoped you would marry Julia Trench, and we should all have been so happy; and perhaps if I had not begged Leonora to come just now, thinking it would be so nice to take you just in your usual way-but she must have known sooner or later," said poor Aunt Dora, looking wistfully into his face. "O Frank I hope you don't think I'm to blame." "I never should have married Julia Trench," said the curate gloomily. He did not enter into the question of Miss Dora's guilt or innocence—he gave a glance at the lilies on the altar, and a sigh. The chances were he would never marry anybody, but loyalty to Lucy demanded instant repudiation of any other possible bride. "Where are you going Aunt Dora; back to the Blue Boar? or will you come with me?" he said as they stood together at the door of St. Roque's. Mr. Wentworth felt as if he had caught the beginning threads of a good many different lines of thought, which he would be glad to be alone to work out. "You'll come back with me to the inn to lunch?" said Miss Dora. "O Frank, my dear remember your Christian feelings, and don't make a breach in the family. It will Besides, it was terrible to feel that he could be bad enough to face your poor dear father, not abstract himself from personal concerns after he knows what Leonora means to do; even in the most sacred duties. He was con- and I do so want to talk to you," said the scious that the two elder sisters went away, poor woman, eagerly clinging to his arm. and that only poor Aunt Dora, her weak-"You always were fond of your poor Aunt Dora, Frank; when you were quite a little trot you used always to like me best; and in the holiday times, when you came down from Harrow, I used always to hear all your troubles. If you would only have confidence in me now." "But what if I have no troubles to confide?" said Mr. Wentworth; "a man and a boy are very different things. Come, Aunt Dora, I'll see you safe to your inn. What should I have to grumble about? I have plenty to do, and it is Easter; and few men can have everything their own way.” "You wont acknowledge that you're vexed," said Aunt Dora, almost crying under her veil, "but I can see it all the same. You always were such a true Wentworth; but if you only would give in, and say that you are disappointed and angry with us all, I could bear it better, Frank. I would not feel then that you thought it my fault! And O Frank, dear, you don't consider how disappointed your poor dear Aunt Leanora was! It's just as hard upon us," she continued pressing his arm in her eagerness, as it is upon you. We had all so set our hearts on having you at Skelmersdale. Don't you think, if you were giving your mind to it, you might see things in a different light?" with another pressure of his arm. "O Frank, what does it matter, after all, if the heart is right, whether you read the service in your natural voice, or give that little quaver at the end? sure for my part 66 I am 66 My dear aunt," said Mr. Wentworth, naturally incensed by this manner of description, "I must be allowed to say that my convictions are fixed, and not likely to be altered. I am a priest and you are-a woman." He stopped short, with perhaps a little bitterness. It was very true she was a woman, unqualified to teach, but yet she and her sisters were absolute in Skelmersdale. He made a little gulp of his momentary irritation, and walked on in silence, with Miss Dora's kind wistful hand clinging to his arm. never at all a ritualist-even Leonora thought you such a pious boy; and I am sure your good sense must teach you" faltered Aunt Dora, trying her sister's grand tone. “ Hush, hush; I can't have you begin to argue with me; you are not my Aunt Leonora," said the curate, half amused in spite of himself. This encouraged the anxious woman, and, clasping his arm closer than ever she poured out all her heart. "O Frank, if you could only modify your views a little! It is not that there is any difference between your views and ours, except just in words, my dear. Flowers are very pretty decorations, and I know you look very nice in your surplice; and I am sure, for my part, I should not mind-but then that is not carrying the Word of God to the people, as Leonora says. If the heart is right, what does it matter about the altar?” said Aunt Dora, unconsciously falling upon the very argument that had occurred to her nephew's perplexed mind in the pulpit. "Even though I was in such trouble, I can't tell you what a happiness it was to take the sacrament from your hands, my dear, dear boy; and but for these flowers and things that could do nobody any good, poor dear Leonora, who is very fond of you, though perhaps you don't think it, could have had that happiness too. O Frank, don't you think you could give up these things that don't matter? If you were just to tell Leonora that you have been thinking it over, and that you see you've made a mistake, and that in future "You don't mean to insult me?" said the young man. "Hush-hush; you don't know what you are saying. Not to be made Archbishop of Canterbury, instead of Vicar of Skelmersdale. I don't understand how you could suggest such a thing to me. Miss Dora's veil, which she had partly lifted, here fell over her face, as it had kept doing all the time she was speaking—but this time she did not put it back. She was no longer able to contain herself, but wept "But, dear Frank, among us Protestants, hot tears of distress and vexation, under the you know, there is no sacerdotal caste," said flimsy covering of lace. "No, of course, you Miss Dora, opportunely recollecting some will not do it you will far rather be haughty, scrap of an Exeter Hall speech. We are all and say it is my fault," said poor Miss Dora. kings and priests to God. O Frank it is "We have all so much pride, we WentGerald's example that has led you away. I worths-and you never think of our disapam sure, before you went to Oxford you were pointment, and how we all calculated upon having you at Skelmersdale, and how happy | are like the old ascetics-they try to make a we were to be, and that you were to marry Julia Trench merit of Christianity by calling it hard and terrible; but there are some sweet souls in the world, to whom it comes natural as sunshine in May." And the young Anglican, with a glance behind him from the corner of his eye, followed the fair figure, which he believed he was never, with a clear conscience, to accompany any more. Now, here is your inn," he said, after a little pause. They met full in" Wharfside is a district, where I am going presently to conduct service, and the little Burrowses are a set of little heathens, to whom I am to administer holy baptism this Easter Sunday. Good-bye just now." It was just at this moment that the two reached the corner of Prickett's Lane. Lucy Wodehouse had been down there seeing the sick woman. She had, indeed, been carrying her dinner to that poor creature, and was just turning into Grange Lane, with her blue ribbons hidden under the gray cloak, and a little basket in her hand. the face at this corner, and Miss Dora's words reached Lucy's ears, and went through and through her with a little nervous thrill. She had not time to think whether it was pain or only surprise that moved her, and was not even self-possessed enough to observe the tremulous pressure of the curate's hand, as he shook hands with her, and introduced his aunt. "I have just been to see the poor woman at No. 10," said Lucy. "She is very ill to-day. If you had time, it would be kind of you to see her. I think she has something on her mind." "I will go there before I go to Wharfside," said Mr. Wentworth. "Are you coming down to the service this afternoon? I am afraid it will be a long service, for there are all these little Burrowses, you know 66 Yes, I am godmother," said Lucy, and smiled and gave him her hand again as she passed him, while Aunt Dora looked on with curious eyes. The poor curate heaved a mighty sigh as he looked after the gray cloak. Not his the privilege now, to walk with her to the green door, to take her basket from the soft hand of the merciful sister. On the contrary, he had to turn his back upon Lucy, and walk on with Aunt Dora to the inn-at this moment a symbolical action which seemed to embody his fate. "Where is Wharfside? and who are the little Burrowses? and what does the young lady mean by being godmother?" said Aunt Dora. "She looks very sweet and nice; but what is the meaning of that gray cloak? O Frank, I hope you don't approve of nunneries, and that sort of thing. It is such foolishness. My dear, the Christian life is very hard, as your Aunt Leonora always says. She says she can't bear to see people playing at Christianity" "People should not speak of things they don't understand," said the Perpetual Curate. "Your Exeter Hall men, Aunt Dora, 66 "O Frank, my dear, just come in for a moment and tell Leonorait will show her how wrong she is," said poor Aunt Dora, clinging to his arm. 66 He 'Right or wrong, I am not going into any controversy. My Aunt Leonora knows perfectly well what she is doing," said the curate, with the best smile he could muster; and so shook hands with her resolutely, and walked back again all the way down Grange Lane, past the green door to his own house. Nobody was about the green door at that particular moment to ask him in to luncheon, as sometimes happened. He walked down all the way to Mrs. Hadwin's with something of the sensations of a man who has just gone through a dreadful operation, and feels with a kind of dull surprise after, that everything around him is just the same as before. had come through a fiery trial, though nobody knew of it; and, just at this moment, when he wanted all his strength, how strange to feel that haunting sense of an unnecessary sacrifice that troubled new vein of thought which would be worked out, and which concerned matters more important than Skelmersdale, weighty as that was. He took his sermon out of his pocket when he got home, and marked a cross upon it, as we have already said; but, being still a young man, he was thankful to snatch a morsel of lunch, and hasten out again to his duty, instead of staying to argue the question with himself. He went to No. 10 Prickett's Lane, and was a long time with the sick woman, listening to all the woeful tale of a troubled life, which the poor sick creature had been contemplating for days and days, in her solitude, through those strange exaggerated death-gleams which Miss Leonora Wentworth would have called CHAPTER V. Next day the Miss Wentworths made a solemn call at the Rectory, having known an aunt of Mrs. Morgan at some period of their history, and being much disposed, besides, with natural curiosity, to ascertain all about their nephew's circumstances. Their entrance interrupted a consultation between the rector and his wife. Mr. Morgan was slightly heated, and had evidently been talking about something that excited him; while she, poor lady looked just sufficiently sympathetic and indignant to withdraw her mind from that first idea which usually suggested itself on the entrance of visitors-which was, what could they possibly think of her if they supposed the carpet, etc., to be her own choice? Mrs. Morgan cast her eyes with a troubled look upon the big card which had been brought to her-Miss Wentworth, Miss Leonora Wentworth, Miss Dora Wentworth. "the light of eternity." She remembered was so usual; and, after all, they were going all sorts of sins, great and small, which filled the same way. But it was a very silent walk, her with nervous terror; and it was not till to the wonder of the elder sister, who could close upon the hour for the Wharfside ser- not understand what it meant. "The Wharfvice, that the curate could leave his tremu-side service always does me good," said Mr. lous penitent. The schoolroom, was particu- Wentworth, with a sigh. "And me, too,” larly full that day. Easter, perhaps, had said Lucy; and then they talked a little about touched the hearts-it certainly had refreshed the poor woman in No. 10. But that Easter the toilettes of the bargemen's wives and Sunday was not like other Sundays, though daughters. Some of them felt an inward Miss Wodehouse could not tell why. conviction that their new ribbons were undoubtedly owing to the clergyman's influence, and that Tom and Jim would have bestowed the money otherwise before the Church planted her pickets in this corner of the enemy's camp; and the conviction, though not of an elevated description, was a great deal better than no conviction at all. Mr. Wentworth's little sermon to them was a great improvement upon his sermon at St. Roque's. He told them about the empty grave of Christ, and how he called the weeping woman by her name, and showed her the earnest of the end of all sorrows. There were some people who cried, thinking of the dead who were still waiting for Easter, which, was more than anybody did when Mr. Wentworth discoursed upon the beautiful institutions of the Church's year; and a great many of the congregation stayed to see Tom Burrows's six children come up for baptism, preceded by the new baby, whose infant claims to Christianity the curate had so strongly insisted upon, to the awakening of a fatherly conscience in the honest bargemen. Lucy Wodehouse, without her gray cloak, stood at the font, holding that last tiny applicant for saving grace, while all the other little heathens were signed with the sacred cross. And, strangely enough, when the young priest and the young woman stood so near each other, solemnly pledging, one after another, each little sunbrowned, round-eyed pagan to be Christ's faithful servant and soldier, the cloud passed away from the firmament of both. Neither of them, perhaps, was of a very enlightened character of soul. They believed they were doing a great work for Tom Burrows's six children, calling God to his promise on their behalf, and setting the little feet straight for the gates of the eternal city; and in their young love and faith their hearts rose. Perhaps it was foolish of Mr. Wentworth to suffer himself to walk home again thereafter, as of old, with the Miss Wodehouses-but it Sisters of his, I suppose, William," she said in an undertone; "now do be civil, dear." There was no time for anything more before the three ladies sailed in. Miss Leonora took the initiative, as was natural. "You don't remember us, I dare say," she said, taking Mrs. Morgan's hands; we used to know your Aunt Sidney when she lived at the Hermitage. Don't you recollect the Miss Wentworths of Skelmersdale? Charlie Sidney spent part of his furlough with us last summer, and Ada writes about you often. We could not be in Carlingford without coming to see the relation of such a dear friend." "I am so glad to see anybody who knows my Aunt Sidney," said Mrs. Morgan, with modified enthusiasm. "Mr. Morgan, Miss Wentworth. It was such a dear little house that Hermitage. I spent some very happy days there. Oh, yes, I recollect Skelmersdale perfectly; but to tell the truth, there is one of the clergy in Carlingford called Went worth, and I thought it might be some rela- | sionary institution, that is my idea. tions of his coming to call." "Just so," said Miss Wentworth, settling herself in the nearest easy-chair. "And so it is," cried Miss Dora; "we are his aunts, dear boy-we are very fond of him. We came on purpose to see him. We are so glad to hear that he is liked in Carlingford." "Oh-yes," said the rector's wife, and nobody else took any notice of Miss Dora's little outburst. As for Mr. Morgan, he addressed Miss Leonora, as if she had done something particularly naughty, and he had a great mind to give her an imposition. "You have not been very long in Carlingford, I suppose," said the rector, as if that were a sin. "I beg your pardon. I quite decline interfering with Mr. Wentworth; he is not at all under my jurisdiction. Indeed," said the rector, with a smile of anger, "I might be more truly said to be under his, for he is good enough to help in my parish without consulting me; but that is not to the purpose. I would not for the world attempt to interfere with St. Roque's." "Dear, I am sure Mr. Wentworth is very nice, and everything we have seen of him in private we have liked very much," said Mrs. Morgan, with an anxious look at her husband. She was a good-natured woman, and the handsome curate had impressed her favorably, notwithstanding his misdoings. "As for a little too much of the rubric, I think that is not a bad fault in a young man. It gets softened down with a little experience; and I do like proper solemnity in the services of the Church." "I don't call intoning proper solemnity," said Miss Leonora. "The Church is a mis Unless you are really bringing in the perishing and saving souls, what is the good? and souls will never be saved by Easter decorations. I don't know what my nephew may have done to offend you, Mr. Morgan; but it is very sad to us who have very strong convictions on the subject, to see him wasting his time so. I dare say there is plenty of heathenism in Carlingford which might be attacked in the first place." "I prefer not to discuss the subject," said the rector. "So long as Mr. Wentworth, or any other clergyman, keeps to his own sphere of duty, I should be the last in the world to interfere with him," "You are offended with Frank," said Miss Leonora, fixing her iron-gray eyes upon Mr. Morgan. " So am I ; but I should be glad if you would tell me all about it. I have particular reasons for wishing to know. After all, he is only a young man, "she continued with that instinct of kindred which dislikes to hear censure from any lips but its own. "I don't think there can be anything more than inadvertence in it. I should be glad if you would tell me what you object to in him. I think it is probable that he may remain a long time in Carlingford," said Miss Leonora, with charming candor, "and it would be pleasant if we could help to set him right. Your advice and experience might be of so much use to him." She was not aware of the covert sarcasm of her speech. She did not know that the rector's actual experience, though he was half as old again as her nephew, bore no comparison to that of the Perpetual Curate. She spoke in good faith and good nature, not moved in her own convictions of what must be done in respect to Skelmersdale, but very willing, if that were possible, to do a good turn to Frank. "I am sure, dear, what we have seen of Mr. Wentworth in private, we have liked very much," said the rector's sensible wife, with a deprecating glance towards her husband. The rector took no notice of the glance; he grew slightly red in his serious middle-aged face, and cleared his throat several times before he began to speak. "The fact is, I have reason to be dissatisfied with Mr. Wentworth, as regards my own parish," said Mr. Morgan: "personally I have nothing to say against him- quite the |