"No. Curiously enough, he didn't seem to want to talk much about the artist. He just said that he was an interesting fellow to talk to, but they'd decided not to ask him to the Castle. He had his daughter with him, and I suppose they'd have had to ask her too, though Wilbraham didn't give that as a reason, and only just mentioned her. But he seems to have gone up to talk to the father most afternoons."
"You know the village gossip about the artist, don't you?" said Mrs. Grant.
"I don't encourage village gossip," said the Vicar.
"How very superior you are!" said Miss Minster. "I love it."
"Perhaps you would rather I didn't tell you what they say, dear," suggested Mrs. Grant.
"I think it's my duty to hear it," said the Vicar with a grin.
"Well, they say he was a hard drinker, and the number of empty bottles he left behind him was past belief."
"Perhaps Mr. Wilbraham went there to drink with him," said Miss Minster, "and that accounts for his moroseness."
"You oughtn't to say a thing like that," said Grant. "Wilbraham is a teetotaler. None of them drink anything at the Castle."
"Perhaps that's why he liked going to see the artist," said Miss Minster, impenitently.