"Good afternoon, madam!"
He would have passed with the words, but she stopped to talk with him. The truth was, Miss Blake had taken, she knew not why or wherefore, a liking for Mr. Smith. From the first moment she saw him he had possessed a kind of attraction for her. It must be said that she believed him to be a gentleman.
"You were not at the opening service at St. Jerome's this afternoon, Mr. Smith?" she said, half-reproachfully.
"Well, to tell you the truth, I thought I should be out of place there, as the congregation was comprised only of ladies," was his reply. "Happening to be walking that way, I saw lots of them go in."
"Foxwood cannot boast of gentlemen in the middle of the day; the few who reside here are off to Basham for their different occupations. But you are an idle man, Mr. Smith."
"I am not always idle, I assure you, Miss Blake. I have Sir Karl Andinnian's interests to look after."
"Oh, indeed! As a friend, I presume?"
"Just so."
"Well, you would not have been quite solitary if you had come into the church. Mr. Moore was there."
"Ay. He looked in for five minutes, and came out laughing. I don't know what amused him, unless it was to see the Misses Sumnor there."