14
to make all of them her friends. She had been but a short time at the Deanery when one found that men spoke of going there, either by invitation or to call, with a special degree of satisfaction. Gradually the practice grew up of going to the Deanery at tea-time on Sunday afternoons. Men crowded in, and Mrs. Paget greeted them all with a welcome the sincerity of which the shyest and most diffident man could not mistake. Nothing stood in the way of these meetmgs except illness. Often those who went found themselves in the presence of some highly distinguished guests, staying at Christ Church for the Sunday. But the attention due to these never succeeded in spoiling the unembarrassed friendliness of the reception of which every undergraduate was sure.
So it is that her death—sudden and premature as it seems—comes upon each and all of us as a personal loss; there is no one who does not feel that he has lost a friend. This loss is irreparable.
This was the note struck with convincing clearness at the funeral on Monday afternoon. Members of the House gathered round her grave as members of one great family. The coffin was borne by eight of the junior members of the House:—J. M. Thompson, E. de G. Lucas, scholars; E. K. Talbot, B.A., R. E. More (president of the Junior Common Room), W. R. B. Riddell, J. B. Aspinall, Viscount Helmsley,
