She confided afterwards to her husband that the influence of a Christian home was likely to be most beneficial to the 'poor boy.' The Rectory displayed none of the signs of easy comfort which had charmed Hyacinth in the Quinns' house.

The floor of the square hall was covered with a cheap, well-worn oilcloth.

Its walls were damp-stained, and the only furniture consisted of a wooden chair and a somewhat rickety table.

In the middle of the wall hung a large olive-green card with silver lettering.

'Christ is the unseen Guest in this house,' Hyacinth read, 'the Sharer in every pleasure, the Listener to every conversation.' A fortnight before, he would have turned with disgust from such an advertisement, but now, since he had known the Quinns and listened to the Canon's wandering sermons, he looked at it with different eyes.