Lady Helena asked the Doctor a good many questions about Shayton, which it is quite unnecessary to report here, because the answers to them would convey no information to the reader which he does not already possess. Her ladyship inquired very minutely about the clergyman there, and whether the Doctor "liked" him. Now the verb "to like," when applied to a clergyman, is used in a special sense. Everybody knows that to like a clergyman and to like gooseberry-pie are very different things; for nobody in England eats clergyman, though the natives of New Zealand are said to appreciate cold roast missionary. But there is yet another distinction--there is a distinction between liking a clergyman and liking a layman. If you say you like a clergyman, it is understood that it gives you a peculiar pleasure to hear him preach, and that you experience feelings of gratification when he reads prayers. And in this sense could Dr. Bardly say that he liked the reverend incumbent of his parish? certainly not; so he seemed to hesitate a little--and if he said "yes" he said it as if he meant _no_, or a sort of vague, neutral answer, neither negative nor affirmative. "I mean," said Lady Helena, "do you like him as a preacher?" "Upon my word, it's so long since I heard him preach that I cannot give an opinion." "Oh! I thought you attended his church. There are other churches in Shayton, I suppose." "No, there's only one," said the imprudent and impolitic Doctor. Lady Helena began to think he was some sort of a Dissenter. She had heard of Dissenters--she knew that such people existed--but she had never been brought into contact with one, and it made her feel rather queer. She felt strongly tempted to ask what place of worship this man _did_ attend, since by his own confession he never went to his parish church; but curiosity, and the natural female tendency to be an inquisitor, were kept in check by politeness, and also, perhaps, a little restrained by the perfectly fearless aspect of the Doctor's face. If he had seemed in the least alarmed or apologetic, her ladyship would probably have assumed the functions of the inquisitor at once; but he looked so cool, and so very capable of a prolonged and vigorous resistance, that Lady Helena retired. When she began to talk about Mrs. Prigley, the Doctor knew that she was already in full retreat.