The record-union., 1896-06-07
to school, and an unwonten quiet
4 L..

/ Oh a young lduy whose manner OF SOlilS
to the altar to communicate had deeply
wounded his sense of Anglican propri-
ety. then, somewhat abruptly abbre-
waiting the ritual question, Mrs. Hep
burn remarked on a sudden, there had
been no news from the Bishop yet.
II do not suppose have been in his
Lcrdship's thoughts" Mr.. Hepburn
said, in his preoccupied. simple way.
| 'The vicar appears to think that Mr..
| Jardine will be offered East Wispers."
THAT is impossible now Mrs. Hep
burn said. quite impossible"
| The words tugged at Mr.. Hepburn's
| innocency, and brought him out of the
clouds. why do you think so?" he
faSked.
| Mr.. Jardine's chances of East Wisp
ers are at an end" This she said in a
kind of desperation. Il have effectually
| stopped his ambition in that quarter"
Caroline. you cannot have seen the
| Bishop
| II have seen him." Mrs. Hepburn re-
piled.
| ''Then-oh, Caroline, it is not possible
| that you can have betrayed Mr.. Grants
confidence in me?"
| Il spoke to the Bishop when he was
| in town last week. Yes; I mentioned
East Wispers, and explained to him
| briefly about ourselves. I gave him to
| understand that / was acting solely on
| my own initiative. He told me that the
| choice lay between you and Mr. Jar
dine. I was strongly moved to acquaint
/ him with the authorship of the anony-
nous letter in the Herald but / re-
| Trained. There was no opportunity,
and it was clear to me that more con-
vincing proof was required. Wilfrid,
can't you understand how natural it
was for me to wish to do the best for
| you? l hope 1 have been a good wife
yes, yes, Caroline; but it was unwise
| to speak to the Bishop. You cannot be-
| lieve on reflection, that it was in COM
mendable taste"
| Il have been so worried of late 1 have
not had time to reflect
And them said Mr.. Hepburn, you
seem to have done something besides.
What is it you have done, Caroline?"
| Il may as we'll tell you everything
now, Wilfrid. You will be grieved, /
dare say; but all this is a heavier burden
on my mind than imagined it would be.
| could not sleep last night. Indeed, 1
held back for two days before l could
| find courage to do it. Yet I don't say
l am ashamed; it was absolutely neces-
sary to do something, for the world is
| against us-the world in the church,
| where it expresses itself in the most
| torturing refinements of cruelty; and
after all | have done nothing worse than
/ fight it with it's own weapons
Tell me, tell me- Mr.. Hepburn
pleaded
| well, I called on Mr. Grant-you
know how devoted he is to you-and in
| duced him to obtain for me the manu-
| script of Mr.. Jardines letter to his
paper l may not, perhaps, have been
| perfectly frank with him, and of course
| l feel sorry for that, and will some day
| apologize to him, but I do not see that
l need be sorry for anything else. He
was kind enough to bring the manu-
| script to me. 1t was in Mr.. Jardine's
| handwriting, and l have sent it to the
Bishop"
| Mr.. Hepburn did not speak at once. He
seemed like a man to whom thing has
| happened beyond his comprehension.
| His chest fell in, and he sat with his
ascetic white hands on the arms of his
| chair like a copy of death. ''It was a
crime, Caroline. You tempted the
young man to commit theft"
| "Wilfrid!"
| He took what did not belong to him.
He may be sent to prison.
| But Wilfrid, the manuscript was of
no use to anyone"
| You have not put it to a dreadful
use. L do not reproach you; we are
one, Caroline; we have had many trou-
| bles, and have borne them hand in
hand. But regard this as we may, it
/ is a very, very serious breach of conf
| dence"
| Mr.. Grant would not betray me-"
| HE may not be able to help him
self. Something is sure to come of this.
The Bishops sense of'duty, his abhor-
renee of wrong doing, may prevent him
| from keeping SILENT
| ''Wilfrid, you frighten me! You
can't believe that l would sanction any
thing in the anture of a crime? Oh, I
confess I may have been reckless and
over-anxious; but it was for your sake
and the children sand he would never
| bring my name into it,"
| "The papers were not his to give to
you or to anyone. He could not have
| come by them lawfully"
| He assured me they would not be
wanted; that they would never be
missed; 1 think 1 promised to let him
have them back again; it seemed possi-
bic, somehow. They were all crum-
pied and full of holes, and covered with
black marks. I believed I told him he
was not to run any risk on my ac-
| count"
| THAT does not make his conduct the
less culpable. Should the Bishop take
action in the matter-and / do not see
how he can avoid doing so-young
Grant, who has been so good to me in
many ways, will be professionally
ruined, even if the law is not invoked"
Oh, Wilfred, you make me feel ut
terly miserable. / acted thoughtlessly,
I admit; but 1 did not think it could be
so serious as you make OUT
| when did you send the manuscript
to the Bishop"
| only last might; posted it myself
while you were at church"
| His Lordship would receive it this
morning. He may be reading it, in
amaZement and pain, at this very mo-
ment. Caroline, Caroline, this was not
| the way! We could never have been
happy at East Wispers had we gone
there by such methods. Last night, you
say; l must go to the Bishop at once.
| There is train in a few minutes. Did
did you inclose a note of your own?'
| NO; L merely put the manuscript in
an envelope and addressed it to the
Bishop at the palace. l marked the
| envelope priVate-at least think r