Chapter 20 - Page 2

which is not infrequently seen in the London artisan--a face
expressing firmness and intelligence, with a mixture of _bonhomie_,
which made it a pleasant study.

"I am glad you have come in," said the visitor. "I have been wishing to
see you for a long time, but have not succeeded in finding you at home."

"Thank you, ma'am; it's very kind of you to come and see my wife. She
often speaks of your visits. Also of the young lady's"; and here he
looked at Fan with a pleasant smile.

"Yes; your wife is very good. I knew her before you did, Mr. Cawood; I
have held her in my arms when she was a baby, and have known her well up
till now when she is having babies of her own."

"And very good things to have, ma'am--in moderation," he remarked, with a
twinkle in his eye.

"And since she makes you so good a wife, don't you think you ought to
comply with her wishes in some things?"

"Why, yes, ma'am, certainly I ought; and what's more, I do. We get on
amazingly well together, considering that we are man and wife," and with
a slight laugh he sat down.

Mrs. Churton winced a little, thinking for the moment that he had made a
covert allusion to the state of her own domestic relations; but after a
glance at his open genial face, she dismissed the suspicion and returned
to the charge.

"I know you are happy together, and it speaks well for both of you. But
we do not see you at church, Mr. Cawood. Your wife has often promised me
to beg you to go with her; if she has done so you have surely not
complied in this case."

"No, ma'am, no, not in that; but I think she understands how to look at
it; and if she asks me to go with her, she knows that she is asking for
something she doesn't expect to get."

"But why? I want to know why you do not go to church. There are many of
us who try to live good lives, but we are told, and we know, that this is
not enough; that we cannot save ourselves, however hard we may try, but
must go to Him who gave Himself to save us, and who bade us assemble
together to worship Him."

"Well, ma'am, if anyone feels like that, I think he is right to go to
church. I do not object to my wife going; if it is a pleasure and comfort
to her I am glad of it. I only say, let us all have the same liberty, and
go or not just as we please."

"We all have it, Mr. Cawood. But if you believe that there is One who
made us, and is mindful of us, you must know that it is a good thing to
obey His written word, and serve Him in the way He has told us."

"I'm sorry I can't see my way to do as you wish. My wife has given me all
your messages, and