I wonder that obnoxious parson has not made himself
more disagreeable already. I didn't go to church last Sunday afternoon,
because I felt a conviction that he was going to be personal in his
sermon."
The major laughed his hard, unpleasant laugh. "Don't let that idea
disturb your devotions another time. He is not likely to bite or even to
bark very loud: he don't get my muzzle off in a hurry."
Indeed, it was profoundly true that since the disclosure the chaplain's
reticence had become remarkable. When his own wife questioned him on the
subject (very naturally), he checked her with some asperity, and read
her a lecture on feminine curiosity that moved the poor woman, even to
weeping. Mrs. Danvers was greatly surprised and disconcerted by the
decision with which Mr. Fullarton rejected her suggestion, that he
should aid and abet in thwarting Keene's supposed designs. "He had
thought it right," he said, "to make Miss Tresilyan and others aware of
the real state of the case; but he did not conceive that farther
interference lay within the sphere of his duty." It was odd how that
same once arbitrarily elastic sphere had contracted since the prophet
met the lion in the pathway! Dick Tresilyan--the only other person much
interested in the progress of affairs--did not seem to trouble himself
much about them.
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