Life's Little Ironies

t come out from morning service, and the whole conversation was of the new curate,

ce for a century seemed ended at last. They repeated the text to each other as a refrain: 'O Lord, be thou my helper!' Not within living memory till to-day had the subject of the se

and maidens, middle-aged and old people, who had attended church that morning, recurred as by a fascination to what Halborough had said, they did so mor

d had charge of their souls, was the effect of Halborough's address upon the occupants of the manor-house pew, including the owner of the estate. These thought they knew how t

led an inactive existence in the seclusion of the parish; a lack of motive seemed to leave him listless. He had gladly reinstated his mother in the gloomy house, and his main occupation now lay in stewarding his estate, which was not large. Mrs. Fellmer, who had sat beside him under Halborough this morning,

hey waited a few moments till he came out of the vestry, to walk down the churchyard-path with him. Mrs. Fellmer spo

he had obtained very fair lodgings in th

ey would see a good deal of him. When would he dine with them? Could he not come

, who has just returned from Brussels, and who felt, as you do, that I should be rather dismal by myself, has accompanied me hither to stay a

all be delighted to know her. How I wish I had been aware!

would be decided by him, Rosa having an almost filial respect for his wishes. But he was uncertain as to the state of her wardrobe, and had determined that sh

fortable parish, where he would exercise almost sole supervision, the rector being infirm. He had made a deep impression at starting, and the absence of a hood seemed to have done him no

! you should have gone to chur

church as a rule that even your preaching was u

an English girl brings home from abroad, and loses again after a few months of native life. Joshua was the reverse of playful; the

made fit to wear all on the hop like this. You didn't, of course,

aught napping in those matters. 'Yes, I did,'

Then off we

her satin shoes under her arm. Joshua would not let her wait till she got indoors before changing them, as she proposed, but insisted on her performing that operation under a tree, so that they might

led. She had looked forward to a Dorcas, or Martha, or Rhoda at the outside, and a shade of misgiving crossed her face. It was po

of being suddenly aroused to an unforeseen thing. When they had sat down to table he at first talked to Rosa somewhat with the air of a ruler in the land; but the woman lurking in the acquaintance soon brought him to his l

uire had become so unpractised, had dropped so far into the shade during the last year or so of his life, that he had almost forgotten what the world contained till

ter Rosa as a slight, bright thing to be helped into notice by his abilities; but it now began to dawn upon him that the physical gifts of nature to her m

cipated début of Rosa at the manor-house. The next post brought him a reply of congratulation, dashed with the counteracting intellige

hronic trouble-latterly screened by distance. But it now returned upon him; he saw more in this