But he was interrupted by an exclamation from Gentleman Geff.
“The devil you say! The curate of Medge in purgatory! a parson in purgatory! When did your reverence die?”
The rector paused a few moments before he replied, and then he spoke very quietly:
“I am not dead, nor likely to die; nor are you in purgatory as you seem to think.”
“What! are you living?”
“Yes, I thank Heaven.”
“And—I living also?”
“Yes! And I say thank Heaven for you also.”
“Where are we, then?” questioned the man in a quavering voice.
But before the rector could answer his question, and even while the question was on his lips, Gentleman Geff had fainted into forgetfulness.