"I see," answered Mrs. Goddard. "I suppose they will never decide now." "Probably not for some time." "It must be a very pretty place. Can one go in, do you think? I am so fond of trees--what a beautiful garden you have yourself, Mrs. Ambrose." "Would you like to see it?" asked the vicar's wife, anxious to bring the visit to a conclusion. "Oh, thank you--of all things!" exclaimed Mrs. Goddard. "Would not you like to run about the garden, Nellie?" The little girl nodded slowly and stared at Mrs. Ambrose. "My husband is a very good gardener," said the latter, leading the way out to the hall. "And so was John Short, but he has left us, you know." "Who was John Short?" asked Mrs. Goddard rather absently, as she watched Mrs. Ambrose who was wrapping herself in a huge blue waterproof cloak and tying a sort of worsted hood over her head. "He was one of the boys Mr. Ambrose prepared for college--such a good fellow. You may have seen him when you came last June, Mrs. Goddard?" "Had he very bright blue eyes--a nice face?" "Yes--that is, it might have been Mr. Angleside--Lord Scatterbeigh's son--he was here, too." "Oh," said Mrs. Goddard, "perhaps it was." "Mamma," asked little Nellie, "what is Laws Catterbay?" "A peer, darling." "Like the one at Brighton, mamma, with a band?" "No, child," answered the mother laughing. "P, double E, R, peer--a rich gentleman." "Like poor papa then?" inquired the irrepressible Eleanor. Mrs. Goddard turned pale and pressed the little girl close to her side, leaning down to whisper in her ear. "You must not ask foolish questions, darling--I will tell you by and by." "Papa was a rich gentleman," objected the child. Mrs. Goddard looked at Mrs. Ambrose, and the ready tears came into her eyes. The vicar's wife smiled kindly and took little Nellie by the hand. "Come, dear," she said in the motherly tone that was natural to her when she was not receiving visitors. "Come and see the garden and you can play with Carlo." "Can't I see Laws Catterbay, too?" asked the little girl rather wistfully. "Carlo is a great, big, brown dog," said Mrs. Ambrose, leading the child out into the garden, while Mrs. Goddard followed close behind. Before they had gone far they came upon the vicar, arrayed in an old coat, his hands thrust into a pair of gigantic gardening gloves and a battered old felt hat upon his head. Mrs. Goddard had felt rather uncomfortable in the impressive society of Mrs. Ambrose and the sight of the vicar's genial face was reassuring in the extreme. She was not disappointed, for he immediately relieved the situation by asking all manner of kindly questions, interspersed with remarks upon his garden, while Mrs. Ambrose introduced little Nellie to the acquaintance of Carlo who had not seen so pretty a little girl for many a day, and capered and wagged his feathery tail in a manner most unseemly for so clerical a dog.