He had been dragged with difficulty from his books and the society of his children, and was doubtful whether a cigar in a nunnery garden might not be counted sacrilege.

With them was a wonderful person--an English priest: it was thus he described himself--whom Lady Geoghegan had met in Yorkshire.

His charming manners and good Church principles had won her favour and earned him the holiday he was enjoying at Clogher House.

He was arrayed in a pair of gray trousers, a white shirt, and a blazer with the arms of Brazenose College embroidered on the pocket, his sacerdotal character being marked only by his collar.

He leaped gaily from the car which brought them from the station, and, as he assisted his hostess to alight, amazed the little crowd around the gate by chaffing the driver in an entirely unknown tongue.