Page:The Works of H G Wells Volume 1.pdf/208

Rh flick of laces.) "Hallucination is the only charitable"

"You are sure, George, that it was not a woman."

"Perfectly," said the Curate.

"I know what men are, of course."

"It was a young man of nineteen or twenty," said the Curate.

"I can't understand it," said Mrs. Mendham. "You say the creature is staying at the Vicarage?"

"Hillyer is simply mad," said the Curate. He got up and went padding round the room to the door to put out his boots. "To judge by his manner you would really think he believed this cripple was an angel. Are your shoes out, dear?"

"They're just by the wardrobe," said Mrs. Mendham. "He always was a little queer, you know. There was always something childish about him&hellip; An angel!"

The Curate came and stood by the fire, fumbling with his braces. Mrs. Mendham liked a fire even in the summer. "He shirks all the serious problems in life and is always trifling with some new foolishness," said the Curate. "Angel, indeed!" He laughed suddenly. "Hillyer must be mad," he said.

Mrs. Mendham laughed too. "Even that doesn't explain the hunchback," she said.

"The hunchback must be mad, too," said the Curate.

"It's the only way of explaining it in a sensible way", said Mrs. Mendham. [Pause.]

"Angel or no angel," said Mrs. Mendham, "I know what is due to me. Even supposing the man 176