And then what should he say, and how should he act, if the man addressed him in the church?  The man had not come out there to Utterden for nothing, and probably would so address him.  He had determined on telling no lie,—­no lie, at any rate, as to present circumstances.  That life of his in Australia had been necessarily rough; and though successful, had not been quite as it should have been.  As to that, he thought that it ought to be permitted to him to be reticent.  But as to nothing since his marriage would he lie.  If Crinkett spoke to him he must acknowledge the man,—­but if Crinkett told his story about Euphemia Smith in the church before them all, how should he then answer?  There was but a moment for him to decide it all.  The decision had to be made while he was handing back his babe to its mother with his sweetest smile.

As the party at the font was broken up, the eyes of them all were fixed upon the two strangers.  A christening in a public church is a public service, and open to the world at large.  There was no question to be asked them, but each person as he looked at them would of course think that somebody else would recognise them.  They were decently dressed,—­dressed probably in such garments as gentlemen generally wear on winter mornings,—­but any one would know at a glance that they were not English gentlemen.  And they were of an appearance unfamiliar to any one there but Caldigate himself,—­clean, but rough, not quite at home in their clothes, which had probably been bought ready-made; with rough, ignoble faces,—­faces which you would suspect, but faces, nevertheless, which had in them something of courage.  As the little crowd prepared to move from the font, the two men got up and stood in their places.

Caldigate took the opportunity to say a word to Mr. Bromley before he turned round, so that he might yet pause before he decided.  At that moment he resolved that he would recognise his enemy, and treat him with the courtesy of old friendship.  It would be bad to do at the moment, but he thought that in this way he might best prepare himself for the future.  Crinkett had appealed to him for money, but Crinkett himself had said nothing to him about Euphemia Smith.  The man had not as yet accused him of bigamy.  The accusation had come from her, and it still might be that she had used Crinkett’s name wrongfully.  At any rate, he thought that when the clap of thunder should have come, it would be better for him not to have repudiated a man with whom it would then be known that his relations had once been so intimate.

He addressed himself therefore at once to his old associate.  ’I am surprised to see you here, Mr. Crinkett.’  This he said with a smile and a pleasant voice, putting out his hand to him.  How hard it was to summon up that smile!  How hard to get that tone of voice!  Even those commonplace words had been so difficult of selection!  ’Was it you I saw yesterday in the College gardens?’