Outside his own front-door he whisked the atrocious beard off his face and stowed it away in his pocket. Then he proceeded, with an unwontedly brisk air, to keep the appointment for which he had telegraphed nearly three hours ago. And as he proceeded Mr. Priestley smiled abandonedly. That was on Monday, and thereafter nothing happened, as has already been said, until Thursday. Perhaps, however, in Laura’s case this statement needs a certain qualification. Something did happen to Laura, and it was Latin grammar. Latin grammar happened to Laura all day long, and in the evenings as well. No pupil less anxious to master Latin grammar could have been found in any school in the country, yet through sheer force of will-power Mr. Priestley caused Laura in two days to learn the five declensions, quite a large proportion of the four conjugations, and to have more than a nodding acquaintance with the intricacies of the adjectives and pronouns. “Regebam, regebas, regebat,” said Laura wearily on Wednesday evening, “regebamus, regebabitis——” “Regebatis,” corrected Mr. Priestley relentlessly. “Regebatis,” said Laura, “regebant.” “Yes. Now the perfect.” “Rexi, rexisti, rexit,” Laura droned, “rexeymus——” “_Rex_-imus!” “_Rex_-imus, rexistis, rexerunt.” “Excellent! That’s fifth time I’ve heard you that tense, isn’t it?” “The seventh,” said Laura colourlessly. “The seventh? Dear, dear. Well, we’ve got it right at last. And now,” said Mr. Priestley with the air of one conferring a substantial favour, “I think we might actually go on to Syntax.” “Oh?” said Laura, with the air of one wondering just where the favour lies. Mr. Priestley picked up the Kennedy and fluttered its pages lovingly. “_Vir bonus bonam uxorem habet_,” he crooned. “‘The good man has a good wife.’ _Vir bonus_ is the subject, you see, _habet_ the verb, and _bonam uxorem_ the object. A verb, of course, agrees with its subject in number and person. Just repeat that, please.” “A verb, of course, agrees with its subject in number and person.” “Yes, and an adjective, as I’ve told you already, agrees in gender, number, and case with the substantive it qualifies.” “An adjective, as you’ve told me already, agrees in gender, number, and case with the substantive it qualifies,” repeated Laura listlessly. “May I go to bed now, please, Uncle Matthew?” “Certainly not. We must master this first page of syntax before bedtime. It’s only just past ten o’clock. _Veræ amicitiæ sempiternæ sunt_. ‘True friendships are everlasting.’ That is another example of. . . .” Let us draw a veil. It was on Thursday morning that Mr. Priestley burst his bombshell.