perplexing." "Oh, dear!" said the little woman, "I think I'll go into the convent after all." "That settles the difficulty as far as you're concerned. Do you think they'd admit me?"[Pg 141] [Pg 141] "Don't talk nonsense. What do the others say?" "Oh, they say a good many things, but nothing practical, so I came to you for advice." "Well, to speak frankly," she replied, "if I were you, I'd drop us all and run away home. It's much the easiest solution of the difficulty." "Excuse me," he said. "I'm a gentleman, and besides—" "Well, what?" "Besides," he continued, thinking it better to be discreet, "I doubt if I should be welcome. I've a letter from the governor in my pocket, which I haven't yet had courage to open. I dare say it won't be pleasant reading; besides which, it's been chasing me round the country for the last five or six weeks, and must be rather ancient history." "Look at it and see," she advised. "They may be ready to kill the fatted calf for you, after all." "I'm afraid they do regard me rather in the light of a prodigal," he admitted. "However,[Pg 142] here goes." And breaking the seal of the envelope, he read the letter aloud: [Pg 142] "The Palace, Blanford. "The Palace, Blanford. The Palace, Blanford "My dear Son: My dear Son "Do you realise that it is nearly a year since your Aunt Matilda and I have received news of you? This has been a source of great grief and pain to both of us, but it has not moved me to anger. It has rather caused me to devote such hours as I could spare from the preparation of my series of sermons on the miracle of Jonah to personal introspection, in the endeavour to discover, if possible, whether the cause of our estrangement lay
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