She became quite eloquent in her denunciation, but always saying that if he would only come back to Babington all would be forgiven him.

But in these days he made no visits to Babington.
Then there came a plaintive little note from Mrs.Shand.Of course they wished him joy if it were true.

But could it be true?
Men were very fickle, certainly; but this change seemed to have been very, very sudden! And there was a word or two, prettily written in another hand, on a small slip of paper--'Perhaps you had better send back the book'; and Caldigate, as he read it, thought that he could discern the almost-obliterated smudge of a wiped-up tear.

He wrote a cheerful letter to Mrs.Shand, in which he told her that though he had not been absolutely engaged to marry Hester Bolton before he started for Australia,--and consequently before he had ever been at Pollington,--yet his mind had been quite made up to do so; and that therefore he regarded himself as being abnormally constant rather than fickle.

'And tell your daughter, with my kindest regards,' he added, 'that I hope I may be allowed to keep the book.' The Babington objections certainly made their way in Cambridge and out at Chesterton further than any others, and for a time did give a hope to Mrs.Bolton and Mrs.Nicholas,--and made Robert Bolton shrug his shoulders uneasily when he heard all the details of the engagement in the linen-closet.