Taking everything into consideration, it was not to be denied that the new element infused into the little village community had brought with it a certain stir and excitement, but also a sense of discontent. And John Walden, keenly alive to every touch of feeling, was more conscious of the change than many another man would have been who was not endowed with so quick and responsive a nature. He noted the quaint self-importance of Mrs. Tapple with a kindly amusement, not altogether unmixed with pain,--he watched regretfully the attempts made by the young girls of his little parish to trick themselves out with cheap finery imported from the town of Riversford, in order to imitate in some fashion, no matter how far distant, the attire of Lady Beaulyon, whose dresses were a wonder, and whose creditors were legion,--and he was sincerely sorry to see that even gentle and pretty Susie Prescott had taken to a new mode of doing her hair, which, though elaborate, did not suit her at all, and gave an almost bold look to an otherwise sweet and maidenly countenance.
"But I am old,--and old-fashioned too!"--he said to himself, resignedly--"The world must move on--and as it moves it is bound to leave old times behind it--and me with them. I must not complain-- nor should I, even in my own heart, find too many reproaches for the ways of the young."
And involuntarily he recalled Tennyson's lines:-"Only 'dust to dust' for me that sicken at your lawless din,-- Dust in wholesome old-world dust before the newer world begin!"
"'Wholesome old-world dust'!" he mused--"Yes! I think it WAS more wholesome than our too heavily manured soil!"
And a wave of pained regret and yearning arose in him for the days when life was taken more quietly, more earnestly, more soberly--with the trust and love of God inspiring the soul to purity and peace-- when to find a woman who was at the same time an atheist was a thing so abnormal and repulsive as to excite the utmost horror in society. Society! why, now, many women in society were atheists, and made no secret of their shame!
"I must not dwell on these thoughts,"--he said, resolutely. "The sooner I see Brent, the better. I've accepted his invitation for the last week of this month--I can be spared then for two or three days- -indeed, I doubt whether I shall even be missed! The people only want me on Sundays now--and--though I do try not to notice it,--a good many of the congregation are absent from their usual places."