"Are you not something of a hermit in your tastes?" asked Katherine, looking up at him with one of her sunny smiles.
"By no means. I like the society of my fellow-men, but I like a spell of solitude every now and then, as a rest and refreshment on the dusty road of life."
"I begin to think peace the greatest boon heaven can bestow."
"Yes, after the late vicissitudes, it must seem to you the greatest good. Let us sit down under this cedar; there is a pretty peep across the common to the blue distance. We might be a hundred miles from London, everything is so calm."
They sat silent for a few moments, a sense of peace and safety stealing over Katherine's heart.
Suddenly Errington turned to her, and said,
"Our friend De Burgh can scarcely know himself in his new condition."
"He seems remarkably at home, however. I hope he will distinguish himself as an enlightened and benevolent legislator."
"He must be a good deal changed if he does. You have seen a great deal of him, I believe, since he returned to London?"
"I have seen him several times. He seems to get on with Mrs. Needham."