must say that it gave me something of a turn—in fact it really took my breath away. Mr. Montrose an organist! But the quiet composure, the even respect without servility, with which the request was proffered, helped to steady me and to accept the situation, as though it were a normal one. Incidentally I learned that Mr. Montrose was an architect by profession, but had been obliged to leave a lucrative "post" In England on account of his health. He required a drier climate. It was expected that the bracing air of Canada would do a great deal for him. He was engaged just now in clerical work in an accountant's office downtown.
These items of information led naturally to others. I could scarcely take my eyes from Mrs. Montrose's face while she related them. She had regular features, a fine luminous complexion and superb eyes. Some might have thought the expression wanting in animation, but to me there appeared far greater beauty in the repose her every motion revealed, not the negative repose of inhibition or defeat, but that of a nature at once large and restrained.
The facts she communicated were brief, but not told as if there were any wish to conceal.
