"Oh, you don't think so?" came involuntarily from Martin's lips, which Tom was not slow to notice.
"No, not a bit of it. I understand that what he did almost ruined the Church there, and the man who followed him had a tough time of it."
"Oh!"
"Yes, numbers of people lost all faith in parsons, while others, though they did not exactly leave the Church, looked with suspicion upon the new man, as if wonderin' what capers he'd cut up."
"You don't say so!"
"But there were some who took the trouble harder than all the rest," Tom continued. "The young parson's fall broke his parents' hearts, an' they both died the next year."
"My God!"
This unusual exclamation caused Nance to look up, startled, from the game. But Martin did not notice her. He was standing erect now, with clenched hands, looking straight before him. Quickly recovering himself, he sat down again.
"It's nothing," he said. "I was overcome at the story of that wretch who killed his parents. Go on, please."
And once more Tom stabbed to the quick.