Litchfield enquirer., 1878-09-05
Iealled upon hlm th. .next daz. and.sent iu

 see me; it was the ese of St. BungaY the El- der, who, it seemed, was his patron saint, on the anniversary of whose martyrdom he was bound to be ''in retreat" for twenty four hours. He accepted, however, the invitation carried to him from my aunt, to dine with us on. Wednesday and renew his acquaintance With his old college friend; and at the hour ap- pointed he arrived.
 His hostess received hlm as though he had been a prince of the blood royal who had ta- ken holy orders from conscientious convictions and set before him, I must needs confess, a much better dinner than she had hitherto thought it worth while tn provide for her nephew. Perhaps was piqued at this, but his mode of receiving my welcome when we first met had not pleased me; it had not been frank, and had suggested apprehension as though it was just possible might have told some stories of his career before the blessed St. Bungay the Elder hadtaken him under his snmediate protection. { His conversation at dinner was confined to the two graces (by which I mean of course, ais benedictions) and the new painted window h St. Ethelburga's which Lady Gergoyle was !bntting up. in memory of her late husband; which combined with the way in which he put aside, with gentle sigh, any allusion to our college days I confess, exasperated me. l felt like Hotspur, when the courier met hIm He made me mad, to see him shine so brisk
 and smell so sweet,
 And talk so like waiting gentlewoman.
 When my aunt left the room, said, rather cnrtly, .Now Pyx, have cigar This is one of the old brands you used to like so."
 Thank you, no" he answered gently. II have quite given up smoking"
 ''You don't object to ether people doing it, hepe?' It was clear by the look he cast at Ais long silk waistcoat that he did; but I had already lit my regalia, which I was glad to think distributed fine full flavor of tobacco smoke such as no incense would readily take away from that garment. "And billiards :" continued '1 suppose you never touch a cue now"
 He shook his head with a sad smile T should hardly know which end to strike with"
 sAnd yet, what dab you used to be at pool, Pyx! Do you remember how you used to laugh at Jones flor putting his trust in Providence" as he called it, when he used te go in for 1uke?"
 'tI am thankful to say that have for gotten those matters" said he, taking sip of port tsWhat noble character is your dear aunt !'
 'Yes: she's a jolly good old woman" said l cheerfully. II hope you are not thinking of marrying her."
 q? My good friend!" he answered, smil- ing 'I have wife already"
 f"The deuce you have!' exclaimed..l with as- tonishment. "That's not generally known, IS it?"
 s'You mistake me-" said he. q mean that I am already welded to the Church" z ''Oh, 1 see; you go in for celibacy of the clergy ?"
 'sMost certainly I do. A priest should be vowed to Heaven. Perhaps you have not read my little work upon that subject?"
 s'No; but should like to readit immensely. hope it has a portrait of the author for 8 frontispiece"
 ssWell, yes, it has," said he, with an imper- tnrbable gravity; ''it was by desire of my con gregation that it was inserted" 2 If he had not been sitting at my own table, Ithink I must have burst out laughing as it was, only said, ''Well, that was rather hard upon the ladies, Pyx. It appears to me that they adore you-as indeed they always did" ! A roseate flush spread over my companions features. ''Let us recall, my friend, no humil- iAsing aateeedeats. -.4.-- He was thinking, knew, of the milliner in the High street whom he certainly would have married at college, only, as he had frankly owned, he had not the money to pay for a special license, and to have put up the banns would have been ruin.
 I felt that, though Pyx was humbug, it would still be inhospitable to roast him fur ther, so I hastened to assure him that nothing l had known to his disadvantage in his salad days would ever pass my lips, and then turn ed the conversation to his parish.
 And so we parted good friends.
 Six months after my return to town 1 had a letter from my aunt, which contained the fol- lowing postscript: ''We have all been great ly distressed here by the conduct of your friend Mir. Theodore Pyx; it will be sad blow, 1 fear, to the cause with which he has been so unhappily identified. You doubtless saw yes- terday's Post"
 had seen nothing about Pyx in the paper in question, and rushed down to the club at once to look at it. There was nothing about him in the Police reports, nor yet in the pro- ceedings of the Divorce Court, which my eye sought in the first instance What could he have done? At last found it un- der special heading, "Maariage in High Lite." The Rev. Theodore Pyx had been united in the bands of wedlcck (with full choral service) to Emily, relict of the late Sir Anthony Gergoyle, K. c. B., formerly Cover nor of Patagonia,
 It was not without some difficulty, for was interrupted by several paroxysms of laughter, that could write the required letter of sym pathy and condolement to my aunt upon the backsliding of her favorite divine. l said I blushed for him as though 1 were the painted window put up by Lady Gergeyle to the mem- ory of her late husband a metaphor which pleased my respected relative very much, by the way, and gave her higher opinion of my intelligence than she had been hitherto pleased to entertain.
 neither saw nor heard anything of Pyx un- til last Derby Day, which found me- for the second time in my life, upon Epson Downs. It is no matter why 1 revisited an entertain ment so unsuited to my own respectable hab- it's. 1 disdain to protest that I patronized it because the institution tends to improve the breed of horses; suffice it to say that was there, and that there I met Theodore Pyx- once more upon drag-his own drag-and in very pleasant company. He had red silk tie, which entrusted with we'll cut waist coat, that set off his appearance to a great ad- vantage, but certainly distracted from it in an ecclesiastical point of view.
 In answer, however, to my astonished stare, he at once informed me that he had ''cut the Church," to the health of which, nevertheless, and to show that there was no ill-feeling, he would be very happy to drink a glass of champaigne with me.
 'tBnt where," says I, lis Mrs. Pyx2"
 eHush she retains her maiden-I mean her curtesy title; Lady Gergoyle is inside" And he introduced me to her through the open win dow accordingly.
 She was a fine woman but older than her present husband. I should say five-and-twen- ty years older, She had some cold chicken and salad on her lap, and tankard of claret- cup in her hand, and seemed to be enjoying herself exceedingly.
 .You must come down to our house in the country" she said, land stay a week with your old college friend"
 ''There's capital billiard table, "added Pyx, land you will find me in pretty good practice again"
 And he winked unutterable things felt myself in quite false position, for it was evi- dent, not only that Pyx had been playing his late ecclesiastical game for something like the very thing he had gained by it, but also that he thought 1t one which all sensible persons, including myself, must sympathise with and admire.
 "You offered me weed the last time I saw you, my good fellow," he said; ''now take one of mine;" and he gave me one of the longest cigars I ever saw, except the one he had Tn his own mouth, which was it's twin hrafhar