For a brie. time he perhaps talked not quite so much.  When his ‘set’ was formed, the currents of argument and rhetoric had once more free course, but they were beginning to flow less turbidly.  His nature, as we know, was not merely vehement; he had the instincts of a philosophical inquirer, and his intellect speedily outgrew the stage of callowness.  When he came down for his first ‘long’ the change in him was so marked that it astonished all who met him; that he appeared wholly unconscious of the ripening he had undergone only made his development more impressive.  He had gone away a boy, and returned a man.  He talked no less than ever, but in a markedly improved tone.  He was graver, more seemly in the buoyant outbreaks in which he still occasionally indulged.  One reason of his rapid maturing no doubt lay in the fact that he was already working too hard; his sprightliness was in a measure subdued by wear of tissue.  His father was shrewd enough to suspect something of this, but it was difficult to interfere in any way.  A month in Switzerland seemed to set things right.  On the present more serious occasion, it had been deemed better not to set forth on a journey forthwith; perfect repose at the house in Surrey was all that was advised in the first instance.  But it was clear that Wilfrid must have some one to talk with.  A succession of visits from such friends as were available was speedily arranged.  By the end of the first week, Wilfrid had accommodated himself to his circumstances.  His fretting at the regulations imposed for his health almost ceased.  At first this change was viewed with suspicion, especially when he became more absorbed in reflectiveness, and seemed to have less taste for conversation.  However, he was perfectly cheerful; there were no further symptoms to excite alarm.  Nor did the brooding period last very long.  The only permanent change was that he ceased to grumble at his hard lot, and appeared to find his position very tolerable.

‘It is the physical reaction,’ observed Mr. Athel to his sister.  ’The body is indulging itself; recovery of health absorbs his energies.’

Opportunities for anything like sustained converse with Miss Hood, Wilfrid found very few and far between; only once before the long talk in the hollow had he been able to gratify his curiosity—­perhaps already some other feeling—­in a dialogue of any intimacy.  In a situation such as this, delicacy prescribed a very rigid discretion; Emily, moreover, was not facile of approach.  Throughout the day she was scarcely away from the children; of course he could and did often exchange words with her in the presence of. the twins, but he felt himself held at a distance by a tact which was perfect; without undue reserve, without a shadow of unrefined manoeuvring, Emily limited their intercourse in precisely the way that Mr. Athel or Mrs. Rossall would have deemed becoming.  Then there were almost always guests at the house.  With prudent regard to the character of these visitors,