"Surely, sir, it's never so!" said Mrs. Purkis, turning to Mr. Bell for confirmation of the sad suspicion that now entered her mind. "There was a gentleman here in the spring--might have been as long ago as last winter--who told us a deal of Mr. Hale and Miss Margaret; and he said Mrs. Hale was gone, poor lady. But never a word of the Vicar's being ailing!"
"It is so, however," said Mr. Bell. "He died quite suddenly, when on a visit to me at Oxford. He was a good man, Mrs. Purkis, and there's many of us that might be thankful to have as calm an end as his. Come, Margaret, my dear! Her father was my oldest friend, and she's my god-daughter, so I thought we would just come down together and see the old place; and I know of old you can give us comfortable rooms and a capital dinner. You don't remember me I see, but my name is Bell, and once or twice when the parsonage has been full, I've slept here, and tasted your good ale."

'Surely, sir, it's never so!' said Mrs. Purkis, turning to Mr. Bell. 'There was a gentleman here in the spring - or maybe last winter - who told us a deal of Mr. Hale and Miss Margaret; and he said Mrs. Hale was gone, poor lady. But never a word of the Vicar's ailing!'
'He died quite suddenly,' said Mr. Bell. 'He was a good man, Mrs. Purkis, and there's many of us that might be thankful to have as calm an end as his. Come, Margaret, my dear! She's my god-daughter, so I thought we would just come down together and see the old place; and I know you can give us comfortable rooms and a capital dinner. You don't remember me, but my name is Bell, and I've stayed here before.'
