Marion laughed till all her dimples came into view. "To whom, in the name of wonder?" "To a clergyman, a country parson." "Just like you. I might have known no other man would have dared aspire. Well, tell me all about it. You'll ask me to the wedding, of course. Is he presentable, in person, I mean?" "You shall have a chance to judge for yourself, Doctor. I will tell you one thing about him. He has recently declined a call to a large church in London, with a generous salary, preferring to remain with his country flock; and when they offered to make the support received from them equal to the other rather than to lose him, he declined that, too, insisting that there would be so many calls for money in connection with church work that he preferred they would give that way." The Doctor laughed. "I see he has found out the method to gain your confidence. Where is the parish? I shall expect an invitation to visit you and hear your parson preach." "When I have a home of my own, Doctor, you will always be welcome." "Thank you. You are a good girl; and if you can say my old friend, Dexter Howard, would approve this new arrangement, I must give my consent. I wish you weren't going out of the city, though. What will all your poor people do? By the way, I'm forgetting in my astonishment at the news what I came for. Did you know Mr. Lambert was sick, confined to his room?" "I'm very sorry to hear it." "That isn't the worst of it. He charges you with being the cause." "Charges me? What have I done? I have not even seen him for weeks, and supposed him out of the city." "He has been in bed. He is hollow-eyed and nervous to a degree— that is not particularly agreeable to his household, I imagine. I can't make out whether the man is out of his mind, or what is the matter with him. When he had berated you as much as I thought prudent, I apologized in your name; was sure you had no intention, and so forth; but he only grumbled the worse. He was sure you did mean it; and if you saw him you would do it again. I couldn't make out what you had done, except that he said you had hurt his feelings." "Oh, I know now!" exclaimed Marion, with a breath of relief. "I'm so glad, so very glad!" "Glad? He said you would be, but I indignantly denied it." "May I go and see him, Doctor? Please let me." "I don't believe he would admit you." "Yes, he would. I must go, dear Doctor. So you may as well say yes." The physician looked her keenly in the face, as though considering, when she interrupted him by a burst of feeling, eyes moist, lips tremulous, as she exclaimed,— "I'm so glad! It's just what I've been praying for." "Hem! Well, I hope you'll continue to be glad when you see him." "Oh, Doctor, you've lived in New York a long time. Do you know anything about his early history?"