Rupert took as much pains to argue away this fancy as he had done to argue away the fancy of Titus Ark. But Dorinda was quite as stubborn in her belief that evil fortune was coming to prevent the marriage, as the sexton was that Leigh was alive. Finally, because Rupert laughed at her, she parted from him rather irritated at the corner, where he branched off to the station road. She would not even look back when her lover went away, and Rupert walked on to meet Carrington with the reflection that women were kittle cattle, as the Scotch say. As a rule, Dorinda was amiable and calm, so it seemed strange that she should be so easily annoyed this morning. But there was a reasonable excuse after all, as Hendle concluded, since the girl, always having been markedly friendly with the vicar, the poor man's violent death naturally shocked and upset her greatly. Moreover, the heartless comments which Mallien the cynic was more than likely to make, assuredly would add to Dorinda's distress. By the time he reached the station, Rupert had explained away to his own satisfaction the unusual emotion of the girl. True to his promise Carrington arrived by the midday train and hopped out onto the platform as lively as a cricket. In gray flannels, a straw hat and brown shoes, the barrister looked handsome, well-bred and very much alive. The sight of his keen face and intelligent dark eyes comforted Hendle, as he knew that Carrington, if anyone, would be helpful in the matter of the vicar's mysterious murder. "Here you are and here I am, Hendle," cried the new arrival briskly, as he gave up his ticket and walked out of the station along with the Squire. "I say, old chap, you're worrying considerably over this will business. There's a drawn, tired look on your face, which shows that you haven't slept a wink." "Well, I didn't have a particularly restful night," admitted the other with a sigh. "And what has happened this morning doesn't help to make me feel any happier, Carrington." "Eh, what?" the barrister stopped. "Then Leigh has found the will and----" "Leigh is dead," Hendle informed him abruptly. "Dead!" Carrington stared. "Dead! What are you talking about?" "About what has happened," replied the other heavily. "Leigh was found dead in his study this morning." Carrington looked at Hendle doubtfully. "You're pulling my leg," he said, in a disbelieving tone. "I don't pull people's legs over such a serious matter. I tell you positively that the vicar is dead. All the village is in commotion." "Dead!" repeated Carrington once more as they moved on toward Barship. "The unexpected has happened with a vengeance. Well, well, he wasn't young, and looked like a delicate man, who would pop off at any moment." "This death has nothing to do with delicacy, Carrington. Leigh has been murdered." "Oh, Lord!" Man of the world as he was, Carrington received a shock. "Poor old chap. Murdered! What a beastly thing to happen! Who murdered him?"