"On our first appearance at the public table we noticed a remarkable air of depression among the ladies.Had some adventurous gentleman tried to climb a mountain,and failed?Had disastrous political news arrived from England;a defeat of the Conservatives,for instance?Had a revolution in the fashions broken out in Paris,and had all our best dresses become of no earthly value to us?I applied for information to the only lady present who shone on the company with a cheerful face--my friend Doris,of course."'What day was yesterday?'she asked.
"'Sunday,'I answered.
"'Of all melancholy Sundays,'she continued,the most melancholy in the calendar.Mr.Miles Mirabel preached his farewell sermon,in our temporary chapel upstairs.'
"'And you have not recovered it yet?'
"'We are all heart-broken,Miss Wyvil.'
"This naturally interested me.I asked what sort of sermons Mr.
Mirabel preached.Lady Janeaway said:'Come up to our room after dinner.The subject is too distressing to be discussed in public.'
"She began by making me personally acquainted with the reverend gentleman--that is to say,she showed me the photographic portraits of him.They were two in number.One only presented his face.The other exhibited him at full length,adorned in his surplice.Every lady in the congregation had received the two photographs as a farewell present.'My portraits,'Lady Doris remarked,'are the only complete specimens.The others have been irretrievably ruined by tears.'
"You will now expect a personal deion of this fascinating man.What the photographs failed to tell me,my friend was so kind as to complete from the resources of her own experience.
Here is the result presented to the best of my ability.
"He is young--not yet thirty years of age.His complexion is fair;his features are delicate,his eyes are clear blue.He has pretty hands,and rings prettier still.And such a voice,and such manners!You will say there are plen ty of pet parsons who answer to this deion.Wait a little--I have kept his chief distinction till the last.His beautiful light hair flows in profusion over his shoulders;and his glossy beard waves,at apostolic length,down to the lower buttons of his waistcoat.
"What do you think of the Reverend Miles Mirabel now?
"The life and adventures of our charming young clergyman,bear eloquent testimony to the saintly patience of his disposition,under trials which would have overwhelmed an ordinary man.(Lady Doris,please notice,quotes in this place the language of his admirers;and I report Lady Doris.)"He has been clerk in a lawyer's office--unjustly dismissed.He has given readings from Shakespeare--infamously neglected .He has been secretary to a promenade concert company--deceived by a penniless manager.He has been employed in negotiations for making foreign railways--repudiated by an unprincipled Government.He has been translator to a publishing house--declared incapable by envious newspapers and reviews.He has taken refuge in dramatic criticism--dismissed by a corrupt editor.Through all these means of purification for the priestly career,he passed at last into the one sphere that was worthy of him:he entered the Church,under the protection of influential friends.Oh,happy change!From that moment his labors have been blessed.Twice already he has been presented with silver tea-pots filled with sovereigns.Go where he may,precious sympathies environ him;and domestic affection places his knife and fork at innumerable family tables.After a continental career,which will leave undying recollections,he is now recalled to England--at the suggestion of a person of distinction in the Church,who prefers a mild climate.It will now be his valued privilege to represent an absent rector in a country living;remote from cities,secluded in pastoral solitude,among simple breeders of sheep.May the shepherd prove worthy of the flock!
"Here again,my dear,I must give the merit where the merit is due.This memoir of Mr.Mirabel is not of my writing.It formed part of his farewell sermon,preserved in the memory of Lady Doris--and it shows (once more in the language of his admirers)that the truest humility may be found in the character of the most gifted man.
"Let me only add,that you will have opportunities of seeing and hearing this popular preacher,when circumstances permit him to address congregations in the large towns.I am at the end of my news;and I begin to feel--after this long,long letter--that it is time to go to bed.Need I say that I have often spoken of you to Doris,and that she entreats you to be her friend as well as mine,when we meet again in England?
"Good-by,darling,for the present.With fondest love,Your CECILIA.""P.S.--I have formed a new habit.In case of feeling hungry in the night,I keep a box of chocolate under the pillow.You have no idea what a comfort it is.If I ever meet with the man who fulfills my ideal,I shall make it a condition of the marriage settlement,that I am to have chocolate under the pillow."
