 that he should have no chance of
speaking to Mary, when Mr. Farebrother said -
    »Fred, help me to carry these drawers back into my study - you have never
seen my fine new study. Pray come too, Miss Garth. I want you to see a
stupendous spider I found this morning.«
    Mary at once saw the Vicar's intention. He had never since the memorable
evening deviated from his old pastoral kindness towards her, and her momentary
wonder and doubt had quite gone to sleep. Mary was accustomed to think rather
rigorously of what was probable, and if a belief flattered her vanity she felt
warned to dismiss it as ridiculous, having early had much exercise in such
dismissals. It was as she had foreseen: when Fred had been asked to admire the
fittings of the study, and she had been asked to admire the spider, Mr.
Farebrother said -
    »Wait here a minute or two. I am going to look out an engraving which Fred
is tall enough to hang for me. I shall be back in a few minutes.« And then he
went out. Nevertheless, the first word Fred said to Mary was -
    »It is of no use, whatever I do, Mary. You are sure to marry Farebrother at
last.« There was some rage in his tone.
    »What do you mean, Fred?« Mary exclaimed indignantly, blushing deeply, and
surprised out of all her readiness in reply.
    »It is impossible that you should not see it all clearly enough - you who
see everything.«
    »I only see that you are behaving very ill, Fred, in speaking so of Mr.
Farebrother after he has pleaded your cause in every way. How can you have taken
up such an idea?«
    Fred was rather deep, in spite of his irritation. If Mary had really been
unsuspicious, there was no good in telling her what Mrs. Garth had said.
    »It follows as a matter of course,« he replied. »When you are continually
seeing a man who beats me in everything, and whom you set up above everybody, I
can have no fair chance.«
    »You are very ungrateful, Fred,« said Mary. »I wish I had never told Mr.
Farebrother that I cared for you in the least.«
    »No, I am not ungrateful; I should be the happiest fellow in the world if it
were not for this. I told your father everything, and he was very kind; he
treated me as if I were his son. I could go at the
