“Yes, I have heard of him,” said Juliet.  “Is he a nice man?”

He made an almost imperceptible movement of the shoulders.  “I am very much indebted to him,” he said.

“I see,” said Juliet.

They reached the cottage-gate that led to the blacksmith’s humble abode, and a smell of rank tobacco, floating forth, announced the fact that he was smoking his pipe in the porch.

Juliet paused and held out her hand.  “Good-bye!” she said.

His grasp was strong and very steady.  “Good-bye,” he said, “I hope you’ll find what you’re looking for.”

He stooped to pat Columbus, then opened the gate for her.

Instantly there was a stir in the porch as of some large animal awaking. 
“That you, Mr. Green?” called a deep bass voice.  “Come in!  Come in!”

But Green remained outside.  “Not to-night, thanks,” he called back.  “I’ve got some work to do.  Good-night!”

The gate closed behind her, and Juliet walked up the path with Columbus trotting sedately by her side.  She heard her escort’s departing footsteps as she went, and wondered when they would meet again.

CHAPTER V

THE GREAT MAN

The church at Little Shale was very ancient and picturesque.  It stood almost opposite to the lodge-gates of Shale Court, the abode of the great Mr. Fielding.  Two cracked bells hung in its crumbling square tower, disturbing once a week the jackdaws that built in the ivy.  Just once a week ever since the Dark Ages, was Juliet’s reflection as she dutifully obeyed the somewhat querulous-sounding summons on the following day.  She could not picture their ringing for any bridal festivity, though it seemed possible that they might sometimes toll for the dead.

Two incredibly old yew-trees mounted guard on each side of the gate and another of immense size overhung the porch.  The path was lined by grave-stones that all looked as if they were tottering to a fall.

An old clergyman in a cassock that was brown with age hurried past her as she walked up the path.  She thought he matched his surroundings as he disappeared at a trot round the corner of the church.  Then from behind her came the hoot of a motor-horn, and she glanced back to see a closed car that glittered at every angle swoop through the open gates and swerve round to the churchyard.  She wanted to stop and see its occupants alight, but decorum prompted her to pass on, and she entered the church, which smelt of the mould of centuries, and paused inside.

It was a plain little place with plastered walls, and green glass windows, and one large square pew under the pulpit.  The other pews were modern and very bare, occupied sparsely by villagers who all had their faces turned over their shoulders and were craning to watch the door.

No one looked at her, however, and Juliet, after brief hesitation, sat down in a chair close to the porch.  The entrance of the Court party was evidently something of an event, and she determined to get a good view.