but it must be confessed he was not a little astonished by a great deal to which he listened.  One thing, however, was clear that whatever might be the demeanour of Cadurcis to the circle in which he now moved, time, and the strange revolutions of his life, had not affected his carriage to his old friend.  It gratified the Bishop while he listened to Lady Monteagle’s details of the haughty, reserved, and melancholy demeanour of Cadurcis, which impressed every one with an idea that some superior being had, as a punishment, been obliged to visit their humble globe, to recall the apparently heartfelt cordiality with which he had resumed his old acquaintance with the former rector of Marringhurst.

And indeed, to speak truth, the amiable and unpretending behaviour of Cadurcis this day was entirely attributable to the unexpected meeting with this old friend.  In the hurry of society he could scarcely dwell upon the associations which it was calculated to call up; yet more than once he found himself quite absent, dwelling on sweet recollections of that Cherbury that he had so loved.  And ever and anon the tones of a familiar voice caught his ear, so that they almost made him start:  they were not the less striking, because, as Masham was seated on the same side of the table as Cadurcis, his eye had not become habituated to the Bishop’s presence, which sometimes he almost doubted.

He seized the first opportunity after dinner of engaging his old tutor in conversation.  He took him affectionately by the arm, and led him, as if unintentionally, to a sofa apart from the rest of the company, and seated himself by his side.  Cadurcis was agitated, for he was about to inquire of some whom he could not mention without emotion.

‘Is it long since you have seen our friends?’ said his lordship, ’if indeed I may call them mine.’

‘Lady Annabel Herbert?’ said the Bishop.

Cadurcis bowed.

‘I parted from her about two months back,’ continued the Bishop.

‘And Cherbury, dear Cherbury, is it unchanged?’

‘They have not resided there for more than two years.’

‘Indeed!’

’They have lived, of late, at Weymouth, for the benefit of the sea air.’

‘I hope neither Lady Annabel nor her daughter needs it?’ said Lord Cadurcis, in a tone of much feeling.

‘Neither now, God be praised!’ replied Masham; ’but Miss Herbert has been a great invalid.’

There was a rather awkward silence.  At length Lord Cadurcis said, ’We meet rather unexpectedly, my dear sir.’

‘Why, you have become a great man,’ said the Bishop, with a smile; ‘and one must expect to meet you.’

‘Ah! my dear friend,’ exclaimed Lord Cadurcis, with a sigh, ’I would willingly give a whole existence of a life like this for one year of happiness at Cherbury.’

‘Nay!’ said the Bishop, with a look of good-natured mockery, ’this melancholy is all very well in poetry; but I always half-suspected, and I am quite sure now, that Cherbury was not particularly adapted to you.’