He had an errand at Mrs. Wilson's on Shrove Tuesday, and she invited
him to accompany her to midnight service at the Church of the Nativity.
When he repeated the request to Father Frontford, he was given
permission to go.
"It is an unusual, and even an extraordinary request," the Superior
said; "but Mrs. Wilson is so deeply interested in the welfare of the
brotherhood that it is better to make a concession. What time are you
to meet her?"
"She is to send her carriage for me at half past eleven. She was so
sure that you would not object that she told me not to send any word."
"It is not well to have her treat so great a departure from rules as a
matter of course," the Father answered gravely. "I will send her a note
which will show her this. You have permission not to retire at the
usual hour."
The carnival season was celebrated at the Clergy House with a meal
better than usual, and with some gayety on the part of the young
deacons. The light-hearted Southerner improved to the full the
permission to talk at dinner, and chatted away with a volubility which
seemed to Maurice to indicate a nature too buoyant or too shallow to be
deeply stirred.
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