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The change of climate did
them good. So did the appointment. He was now a person of
consequence--the sole representative of a Foreign Power on the island.
His official rank procured him not only dignity and a new start in life
but, what was still more urgent, credit. It brought him into contact
with the local authorities--with the red-haired rachitic judge, for
instance, between whom and Mr. Parker there sprang up an intimacy which
was viewed with vague forebodings. The lady, being a Catholic--Mr.
Parker, too, was suspected of Roman proclivities--was confessed by the
parish priest. That was a point gained; the PARROCO being above
suspicioin, among foreigners at least. She stayed mostly indoors,
inventing scandals about people and writing voluminous letters to warn
new-comers of the appalling immorality of the place.
To outward appearance the Commissioner and his lady agreed like a brace
of turtle-doves. He, too, was a moral and social reformer. But men must
live. The refined social status attached to Mr.


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