From all which it may be gathered that if Christina had been
a Barbary hen, and had ruffled her feathers in any show of resistance
Theobald would not have ventured to swagger with her, but she was not a
Barbary hen, she was only a common hen, and that too with rather a
smaller share of personal bravery than hens generally have.
CHAPTER XIV
Battersby-On-The-Hill was the name of the village of which Theobald was
now Rector. It contained 400 or 500 inhabitants, scattered over a rather
large area, and consisting entirely of farmers and agricultural
labourers. The Rectory was commodious, and placed on the brow of a hill
which gave it a delightful prospect. There was a fair sprinkling of
neighbours within visiting range, but with one or two exceptions they
were the clergymen and clergymen's families of the surrounding villages.
By these the Pontifexes were welcomed as great acquisitions to the
neighbourhood. Mr Pontifex, they said was so clever; he had been senior
classic and senior wrangler; a perfect genius in fact, and yet with so
much sound practical common sense as well. As son of such a
distinguished man as the great Mr Pontifex the publisher he would come
into a large property by-and-by.
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