"My lord, my friend Mr. Arundel is anxious to pay his respects to you."
The bishop looked with keen grey eyes at Melville, and said stiffly:
"Mr. Falconer's son, I think?"
"Yes, my lord; your lordship's humble servant," again bowing till the tails of his short-waisted coat stood up like those of a robin-redbreast.
"Arundel, Arundel," the bishop repeated; "Arundel: the name is familiar to me."
"My mother, my lord, had the honour of your lordship's acquaintance some years ago. She was Annabella Thorndeane."
The bishop's somewhat stiff manner changed at once. He extended his hand, and said:
"To have known your mother is to bear her always in affectionate remembrance. Where is she living?"
"Since my father's death, my lord, my mother has had no settled home. She has lived within reach of me, first at Winchester, and then at Oxford. Now she will settle where I do."