A plump barnyard fowl might as well have talked of making allowances for a seagull ! Alan walked home with Isabel King but he was very silent as they went together down the long , dark , sweet-smelling country road bordered by its white orchards . Isabel put her own construction on his absent replies to her remarks and presently she asked him , `` Did you think Lynde Oliver handsome ? '' The question gave Alan an annoyance out of all proportion to its significance . He felt an instinctive reluctance to discuss Lynde Oliver with Isabel King . `` I saw her only for a moment , '' he said coldly , `` but she impressed me as being a beautiful woman . '' `` They tell queer stories about her -- but maybe they 're not all true , '' said Isabel , unable to keep the sneer of malice out of her voice . At that moment Alan 's secret contempt for her crystallized into pronounced aversion . He made no reply and they went the rest of the way in silence . At her gate Isabel said , `` You have n't been over to see us very lately , Mr. Douglas . '' `` My congregation is a large one and I can not visit all my people as often as I might wish , '' Alan answered , all the more coldly for the personal note in her tone . `` A minister 's time is not his own , you know . '' `` Shall you be going to see the Olivers ? '' asked Isabel bluntly . `` I have not considered that question . Good-night , Miss King . '' On his way back to the manse Alan did consider the question . Should he make any attempt to establish friendly relations with the residents of Four Winds ? It surprised him to find how much he wanted to , but he finally concluded that he would not . They were not adherents of his church and he did not believe that even a minister had any right to force himself upon people who plainly wished to be let alone .
When he got home , although it was late , he went XXXXX his study and began work on a new text -- for Elder Trewin 's seemed utterly out of the question .
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