There had
been no bright sunny spot of gladness for him, no gleam of hope
throughout the whole winter. He had been compelled to send his boy away
again to school, to shield him from seeing the disgrace of his mother.
His friends had almost ceased to come to his house, and he had no heart
to go to theirs. It was only now and then that he accepted his aunt's
invitations to dine alone with her.
"Aunt," he said one evening, when they two were alone together in her
fantastic drawing-room, "I have resigned my living."
"Resigned your living!" she repeated, in utter amazement, "resigned
Upton Rectory!"
She could hardly pronounce the words; and she gazed at him with an air
of bewilderment which brought a smile to his careworn face.
"Yes," he answered, "life has grown intolerable to me here."
"And what do you mean to do?" she asked.
"I am going out to my friend Warden," he replied, "who has a charge in
New Zealand; he promises me a curacy under him, if I can get nothing
better. But I am sure of a charge of my own very soon."
"A curate to Warden! a curate in New Zealand!" ejaculated Mrs.
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