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At last she had picked up her pieces, and turned to go.

"Nay, not so fast," said the Parson, "I see thee so seldom that when I see thee I must examine thee. Art so old that thou hast forgotten thy Catechism?"

She shook her head.

"Come then, let's hear some of it. What is thy duty towards thy neighbour?"

"My duty to'rds my neighbour is to love 'un as myself and do t'all men as I would they do me to love honest and sucker my father and mother honest and obey the King and all or-orthumbrity under 'un . . ."

"La! La! La!" cried Gervase—"that isn't the English tongue. Where hast thou lost the good English tongue and learned to speak like a hob?"

"She can speak well enough," said Exalted, "but now she's sullen."

"Nay, she isn't sullen. Begin again, child—'my duty towards my neighbour' . . ."

But she would say no more, and when he pressed her, she turned from him and ran out of the room.

"Already reprobate," said Exalted calmly.

"Say rather, timid. She's timid as a jenny-wren. I sometimes wonder, friend, if your good wife isn't over-shrewd with her."