Page:Minnie's Bishop and Other Stories (1915).djvu/24

 shocked at my smoking; but I told him you wouldn't mind. Bessie Langworthy's husband keeps a special box of cigarettes for me when I am with them."

"I should rather like to meet Canon Langworthy," said the bishop. "He seems to be quite a remarkable man."

"He's a dear," said Minnie. "You're sure you don't mind my smoking?"

"There is a prejudice against ladies adopting the habit," said the bishop.

"So silly, isn't it? It's not really wrong, you know, not like marrying your deceased sister's husband."

"That," said the bishop, "is distinctly forbidden in the Prayer-book."

"Quite so," said Minnie, "and even if it wasn't, I shouldn't dream of doing it. I don't see how any self-respecting girl could put up with a second-hand husband. When I marry But I really mustn't disturb you any more. Your sermon will be on your mind."

The bishop thought, but was not quite certain, that she winked again, as she left the room.

Dinner, that night, began badly, because Ronald insisted on trying to talk about a recent Church congress in which the bishop had taken a leading part. He was aware that there had been a prolonged discussion about the Athanasian Creed, and he tried to discover, by a series of caution ques-