But the minutes passed on, and while trying to keep up a desultory conversation with his hostess, and with the young lady at the tea-table, to whom he was not introduced, Mr. Barron was all the while angrily conscious of the conversation going on between the Rector and Manvers. There seemed to be something personally offensive and humiliating to himself in the knowledge displayed by these two men--men who had deserted or were now betraying the Church--of the literature of Anglican apologetics, and of the thought of the great Anglican bishop. Why this parade of useless learning and hypocritical enthusiasm? What was Bishop Butler to them? He could hardy sit patiently through it, and it was with most evident relief that he rose to his feet when his carriage was announced. * * * * * "How pretty Mrs. Flaxman is!" said his daughter as they drove away. "Yet I'm sure she's forty, papa." Her face still reflected the innocent pleasure that Rose Flaxman's kindness had given her. It was not often that the world troubled itself much about her. Her father, however, took no notice. He sat absent and pondering, and soon he stretched out a peremptory hand and lowered the window which his daughter had raised against an east wind to protect a delicate ear and throat which had been the torment of her life. It was done with no conscious unkindness; far from it. He was merely absorbed in the planning of his campaign. The next all-important point was the selection of the Commission of Inquiry. No effort must be spared by the Church party to obtain the right men. Meanwhile, in the drawing-room which he had left, there was silence for a moment after his departure. Then Meynell said: "I am afraid I frightened him away. I beg your pardon, Mrs. Flaxman." Rose laughed, and glanced at the girl sitting hidden behind the tea-table. "Oh, I had had quite enough of Mr. Barron. Mr. Meynell, have I ever introduced you to my niece?" "Oh, but we know each other!" said Meynell, eagerly. "We met first at Miss Puttenham's, a week ago--and since then--Miss Elsmere has been visiting a woman I know." "Indeed?" "A woman who lost her husband some days since--a terrible case. We are all so grateful to Miss Elsmere." He looked toward her with a smile and a sigh; then as he saw the shy discomfort in the girl's face, he changed the subject at once.