Out of her sphere - University Library

276 OUT OF HER SPnERE.
his value, and felt that in such a case as
this, Mr. Thompson would do better than
any man in St. Bede's.
Mr. Thompson lived over his offices, but
business was over for the day, and the
clerks gone, and he sitting down to dinner
when Temple Masters came to the house.
He asked him to join him in the repast,
and Temple, who would have done well
to have lunched with the Bishop ; having,
as it was, eaten nothing but a biscuit since
his breakfast ; was very ready to accept the
invitation.
They were alone, Mr. Thompson being a
bachelor. He was only about thirty—as
the Bishop had said, he was young—a small,
wiry, keen-faced man, with a quiet, energetic
manner, which in itself was calculated to
reassure a weak or timid client. His
house was large—too large for a bachelor,
but he was going to bring a mistress home
to it before long, and it looked imposing