In any case Miss Page was a charming woman, and by however amazing process the result had been achieved, a good one also.
He looked at her, and with a sudden frank movement, held out his hand.
“Forgive me,” he said simply. “You—you have shown me I had no right to judge. I beg your pardon.”
Anne put her hand into his with a very sweet smile.
“My dear friend,” she replied, “you must do what you think right, and Dymfield will not be behind the judgment of most of the world in this matter. You know I love the place, but I can’t stay here when the people no longer look upon me as a friend. Well, the world is wide, and fortunately for me I’m not a poor woman.”
“You mustn’t leave us! You won’t leave us!” begged the Vicar. “There will be no occasion. The position is unchanged. The only two people who know anything of—of the matter, are your friends. Even if through malice or carelessness a breath of scandal should reach others, surely you can trust us to treat the rumour with the——” He hesitated.
“With the contempt it doesn’t deserve?” suggested Anne gently.
Greatly to his surprise, and somewhat to his horror, the Reverend George Carfax was betrayed into an answering smile.
He hastened to efface it, but the deed was done.
“And Sylvia?” asked Anne tentatively. “I wanted her to stay with me for a few days. You have only to say if you would rather she did not, and I won’t ask her.”