90 THE HAUGHTY SHIRE HUNT. 



hundredth time he swore to drink nothing but water for the 

 rest of his natural life. Later in the day he told his fond 

 parents that he had invited Mr. Dennison to dine with them 

 on the Thursday night, when they were expecting Mr. Geoflfry 

 Yarboro, and that he had accepted. 



Mrs. Binkie was charmed, and forgave Travers on the spot 

 for his ' little indiscretion ' of the day before. Yes, she would 

 send a formal invitation — she called it an ' invite ' — over to 

 Mr. Dennison at once. And did Travers know anything about 

 the young man's family? Hadn't he found out who, in fact, 

 Mr. Dennison was ? No, Travers hadn't. Ah, that was rather 

 a pity, wasn't it (your true ' exclusive ' is always somebody 

 who is shaky on his own pedestal!). Well, it couldn't be 

 helped, and after all it didn't matter, because they were 

 only to have the Parson here. Parsons, in Mrs. Binkie's 

 mind, were synonymous with hungry, poverty-stricken men, 

 whose two great objects in life were begging for their 

 churches and begging for their dinners. The interview she 

 had already had with Mr. Yarboro had, it is true, dealt rather 

 a rough blow at this theory, but still she could not yet get 

 over the fact that Mr. Geoffry Yarboro was ' only a Parson,' 

 after all. 



On the appointed night the Rector, with his close-cropped, 

 iron-grey hair, his jolly face, and young-middle-aged, athletic 

 frame, attired in faultless evening dress, preceded Mr. Ronald 

 Dennison, by a space of only two minutes, into the drawing- 

 room, where he found the Binkie family all trying to stand on 

 the hearthrug at once, as the night was chilly. Mrs. Binkie 

 came forward to welcome him. Miss kept her eye — and a 

 very pretty eye it was, of deep blue with long dark lashes 



