Robert Carlton stood looking down with a curious smile upon his haggard face.
"That is exactly what I am going to do," said he.
"But the parish must do the same; they must help you. Let them also think no more of the past, either remote or immediate."
"They must think of what they will," rejoined Carlton, queerly. "They cannot help me much longer, nor I them. I am resigning the living, my lord."
"Resigning it?" cried the bishop.
"I intend to do so to-morrow night. It always has been my intention. But you are the first whom I have told."
"I'm glad to hear that!" the bishop exclaimed, as he scrambled to his feet another being. "You have taken my breath away! My dear fellow, let me dissuade you from any such course."
Carlton shook his head.
"My work here is done."
"It is just beginning!"