an ass he had been not to have remembered himself and to have been collected,—­not to have bethought himself on the occasion of all that might be due to Adolphus Crosbie!  And then the idea came upon him whether he had not altogether made himself an ass in this matter.  And as he gave his arm to Lily outside the church-door, he shrugged his shoulders while making that reflection.  “It is too late now,” he said to himself; and than turned round and made some sweet little loving speech to her.  Adolphus Crosbie was a clever man; and he meant also to be a true man,—­if only the temptations to falsehood might not be too great for him.

“Lily,” he said to her, “will you walk in the fields after lunch?”

Walk in the fields with him!  Of course she would.  There were only three days left, and would she not give up to him every moment of her time, if he would accept of all her moments?  And then they lunched at the Small House, Mrs Dale having promised to join the dinner-party at the squire’s table.  The squire did not eat any lunch, excusing himself on the plea that lunch in itself was a bad thing.  “He can eat lunch at his own house,” Mrs Dale afterwards said to Bell.  “And I’ve often seen him take a glass of sherry.”  While thinking of this, Mrs Dale made her own dinner.  If her brother-in-law would not eat at her board, neither would she eat at his.

And then in a few minutes Lily had on her hat, in place of that decorous, church-going bonnet which Crosbie was wont to abuse with a lover’s privilege, feeling well assured that he might say what he liked of the bonnet as long as he would praise the hat.  “Only three days,” she said, as she walked down with him across the lawn at a quick pace.  But she said it in a voice which made no complaint,—­which seemed to say simply this,—­that as the good time was to be so short, they must make the most of it.  And what compliment could be paid to a man so sweet as that?  What flattery could be more gratifying?  All my earthly heaven is with you; and now, for the delight of these immediately present months or so, there are left to me but three days of this heaven!  Come, then; I will make the most of what happiness is given to me.  Crosbie felt it all as she felt it, and recognised the extent of the debt he owed her.  “I’ll come down to them for a day at Christmas, though it be only for a day,” he said to himself.  Then he reflected that as such was his intention, it might be well for him to open his present conversation with a promise to that effect.

“Yes, Lily; there are only three days left now.  But I wonder whether—­I suppose you’ll all be at home at Christmas?”

“At home at Christmas?—­of course we shall be at home.  You don’t mean to say you’ll come to us!”

“Well; I think I will, if you’ll have me.”

“Oh! that will make such a difference.  Let me see.  That will only be three months.  And to have you here on Christmas Day!  I would sooner have you then than on any other day in the year.”