"No," Clementina assented, and she colored a little.
Miss Milray was moved to add, "But if you mean another kind, I don't see
why not. My own mother was married twice."
"Was she?" Clementina looked relieved and encouraged, but she did not say
any more at once. Then she asked, "Do you know what ever became of Mr.
Belsky?"
"Yes. He's taken his title again, and gone back to live in Russia; he's
made peace with the Czar; I believe."
"That's nice," said Clementina; and Miss Milray made bold to ask:
"And what has become of Mr. Gregory?"
Clementina answered, as Miss Milray thought, tentatively and obliquely:
"You know his wife died."
"No, I never knew that she lived."
"Yes. They went out to China, and she died the'a."
"And is he there yet? But of course! He could never have given up being a
missionary."
"Well," said Clementina, "he isn't in China. His health gave out, and he
had to come home. He's in Middlemount Centa."
Miss Milray suppressed the "Oh!" that all but broke from her lips.
"Preaching to the heathen, there?" she temporized.
"To the summa folks," Clementina explained, innocent of satire. "They
have got a Union Chapel the'a, now, and Mr. Gregory has been preaching
all summa." There seemed nothing more that Miss Milray could prompt her
to say, but it was not quite with surprise that she heard Clementina
continue, as if it were part of the explanation, and followed from the
fact she had stated, "He wants me to marry him."