My story has grown to a greater length than I intended, so I will finish it as briefly as possible. Lawrence told me that after I left the farm, he found out which room I had occupied, through seeing it undergoing the process of scouring and scrubbing, which invariably followed the departure of a visitor. He asked to see the room, in case he should bring another friend to Hailsby-le-Beck, and thus took the bearings of the porch. By putting two and two together, he judged that I must have heard the talk between him and Mr. Winn, and that my flight was the consequence of it. About my address at Hillstowe, he had no difficulty. People who write little, exercise their memories more than those who do, and both Mr. and Mrs. Jennings remembered the name of the vicarage under whose roof I lived. Then Lawrence knew that I must be his cousin's teacher, and having talked matters over with his mother, they joined in inquiries about my family and personal history, which satisfied them. The result was the little plot by which we all met at High Lea, and into which Mr. and Mrs. Baxendell had heartily entered, Mary Baxendell being the only member of the family who knew nothing of her aunt's intended Christmas gift. There was no question about my teaching again. When I left High Lea it was in Mrs. Marsden's company. I stayed with her at Nethercourt during her son's absence, for a previous arrangement took him—much against his will—to the Continent for a couple of months. In the summer, Lawrence and I met again at Mrs. Baxendell's, then I stayed for some weeks, first with my friend Mrs. Goulding, and lastly with the Barrs, their rectory having been enlarged in the meanwhile. I was not married until the following autumn, for I wanted Lawrence and his mother to be better acquainted with me before I became connected with them by the closest ties. During the interval, I paid many visits, including one to my old nurse at the lodge, and one, in Mrs. Marsden's company, to Roundtree Farm. I do not speak of Lawrence's companionship. It goes without saying that where I was, he was also to be found as often as possible, the maternal wing being extended over me in loving fashion. In this respect, Mrs. Marsden anticipated the relationship, and was as a true mother to me from the day she bestowed her Christmas gift in such a whimsical way. She always declares that it was my running away from her son that won her heart, and that if I had not shown Lawrence that I must be sought and wooed before I was won, he might not have been so eager to follow. We were married at Hillstowe Church, Mr. Barr officiating, and Dot, my erewhile baby, acting as the very smallest of a troop of young bridesmaids, led by Mary Baxendell. Mrs. Marsden herself gave me away, on the principle that by so doing she should give public effect to that which she did in private, when she bestowed Lawrence upon me.