"Father," began she, as soon as she had served us all and had sat down, "the girls mustn't drive that mare7 any more if she rears; it isn't safe."
"I don't know, father," answered I. "I was in a shop when she did, and a boy was holding her. I suppose he teased her. But it's not worth talking about; it would have been nothing if Joyce hadn't been so easily frightened."
"I couldn't help it," murmured Joyce. "I know I'm silly."
"Well, to be sure, any old cart-horse would be better for you than a beast with any spirit, wouldn't it?" laughed I.
"Well, Margaret, the animal must have looked dangerous, you know," said mother, "for no strange gentleman would have thought of accosting9 two girls unless he saw they were really in need of help."
I laughed—I am afraid I laughed. I thought mother was so very innocent.
"I hope you thanked him for his trouble," added she. "Being the squire's nephew, as it seems he was, I shouldn't be pleased to think you treated him as short as you sometimes treat strangers. You, Margaret, I mean," added mother, looking at me.
"Oh yes, we were very polite to him," said I. And then I grew very hot. Of course I knew I was bound to say that Captain Forrester had driven us home. I hoped mother would take it kindly10, as she seemed well disposed towards him, but I did not feel perfectly11 sure.
"We asked him to come in, didn't we, Joyce?" added I, looking at her.
"Yes, we did," murmured my sister, bending very low over her plate.
"Asked him to come where?" asked mother.
"Why, here, to be sure," cried I, growing bolder. "He drove us home, you know."
Mother said nothing, for Deborah had just brought in the pudding, and she was always very discreet12 before servants at meal-times. But she closed her lips in a way that I knew, and her face assumed an aggrieved13 kind of expression that she only put on to me; when Joyce was in the wrong, she always scolded her quite frankly14. There was silence until Deborah had left the room. She went out with a smile on her face which always drove me into a frenzy15, for it meant to say, "You are in for it, and serve you right;" and I thought it was taking advantage of her position in the family to notice any differences that occurred between mother and the rest of us.
When Deborah had gone out, shutting the door rather noisily, mother laid down her knife and fork. She did not look at me at all, she looked at Joyce. That was generally the way she punished me.
"You don't mean to say, Joyce, that you allowed a strange gentleman to get into the trap before all the townsfolk!" said she. "You're the eldest—you ought to have known better."
I could not stand this. "It isn't Joyce's fault," said I, boldly; "I thought we were in luck's way when the gentleman offered to drive us. He knew the mare, and of course I felt that we were safe."
"It will be all over the place to-morrow," said mother, pathetically.
"Well, the gentleman is the squire's nephew, and everybody knows what friends you are with the squire," answered I, provokingly.
"You might see that makes it all the worse," answered mother. "I don't know how ever I shall meet the squire again. I'm ashamed to think my daughters should have behaved so unseemly. But the ideas of young women in these days pass me. Such notions wouldn't have gone down in my day. Young women were forced to mind themselves if they were to have a chance of a husband. Your father would never have looked at me if I had been one of that sort."
Father was in a brown-study. I do not think he had paid much attention to the affair at all, but now he smiled as mother glanced across at him, seeming to expect some recognition. She repeated her last remark and then he said, bowing to her with old-fashioned gallantry, "I think I should have looked at you, Mary, whatever your shortcomings had been. You were too pretty to be passed over."
And he smiled again, as he never smiled at any one but mother; the smile that, when it did come, lit up his face like a dash of broad sunshine upon a rugged16 moor17.
"But mother's quite right, lassies," added he; "a woman must be modest and gentle, not self-seeking, nor eager for homage18, or she'll never have all the patience she need have to put up with a man's tempers."
He sighed, and the tears rose to my eyes. A word of disapproval19 from my father always hurt me to the quick, and I felt that in this case it was not wholly deserved, as, however mistaken I might have been, I had certainly not been self-seeking or eager for homage.
"I'm very sorry," said I, but I am afraid not at all humbly20; "I didn't know I was doing anything so very dreadful. Anyhow, it wasn't I who was afraid of the horse, and it wasn't for me that Captain Forrester took the reins21."
This was quite true, but I had no business to have said it. I wished the words back as soon as they were spoken. Joyce blushed scarlet22 again, and mother looked at me for the first time. I felt that she was going to ask what I meant, but father interrupted her.
"There, there," said he, not testily23, but as though to put an end to the discussion. "You should not have done it, because mother says so, and mother always knows best, but I dare say there's little harm done. A civil word hurts nobody; and as for the mare, you needn't drive her again."
So that was all that I had got for my pains. I opened my mouth to explain and to remonstrate24, but father rose from the table and said grace, and I dared not pursue the subject further. For the matter of that, the look of pain in his face, as he moved across the room and sat down heavily in the chair, was quite enough to chase away my vexation against him. "Meg, just take these heavy things off for me, I'm weary," said he. I knelt down and unfastened the gaiters, and unlaced the heavy boots, and brought him his slippers25. He lay back with a sigh of relief.
"The walk round the farm has been too much for you, Laban," said mother, sitting down in the other high-backed chair near him.
"Let be, let be," muttered he.
"Nay26, I can't let be, Laban," insisted mother. "I must look after your health, you know. I can see very well that it is too much for you seeing after the farm as it should be seen after. And that's why I don't think the squire's notion is half a bad one."
I stopped with the spoons and forks in my hand that I was taking off the table. Father made that noise between his teeth again. I always knew it meant a storm brewing27.
"Anyhow, I hope you won't bear him a grudge28 for what he thought fit to advise," mother went on. "He did it out of friendship, I'm sure. And the squire's a wise man."
Father did not answer at first. He had risen and stood with his back to the fire. His jaw29 was set, his eyes looked like black beads30 under the overhanging brows.
"Of course I know you'll say he just wants to get a job for his friend's son," continued mother. "And no doubt he mightn't have thought of it but for this turning up. But he wouldn't advise it if he didn't think it was for our good. The squire has our interests at heart, I'm sure."
"D—n the squire," said father at last, slowly and below his breath. Mother laid her hand on his arm.
"Well, well, there," said he, "the squire's a good man and an honest man, but I say neither he nor any one else has a right to come and teach a man what to do with his own."
"He doesn't do it because of any right," persisted mother. "He does it because he's afraid things don't work as well as they used to do, and because he's your friend."
"And what business has he to be afraid?" retorted father. "I say the land's my own, though I do pay him rent for it, and it's my business to be afraid. Does he think I shall be behind-hand with the rent? I've been punctual to a day these last twenty years. What more does he want, I should like to know?"
"Now, Laban, you know that isn't it," expostulated mother. "He knows he is safe enough for the rent, but he's afraid you ain't making money so fast as you might. And of course if you aren't, it's clear it's because you're not so strong to work as you were, and you haven't got a son of your own to look after things for you."
Mother sighed as she said this, but I am afraid I looked at her with angry not sympathetic eyes.
"The squire takes a true interest in us all," repeated she for the third time, her voice trembling a little.
"Well, then, let him take his interest elsewhere this time, ma'am, that's all I've got to say," retorted father, in no way appeased32. "If things were as they should be, there'd be no paying of rent to eat up a man's profits on the land, but what he made by the sweat of his brow would be his own for his old age, and for his children after him. And if we can only get what ought to belong to the nation by paying for it, then all I bargain for is—let those who get the money from me leave alone prying33 into how I get it together."
I had stood perfectly still all this time, with the spoons and forks in my hand, listening and wondering. Father's last speech I had scarcely given heed34 to. I had heard those opinions before, and they had become mere words in my ears. I was entirely35 engrossed36 with wondering what was the exact nature of the squire's suggestion, and with horror at what I feared. I was not long left in doubt.
"Well, you make a great mistake in being angry with Squire Broderick, Laban, indeed you do," reiterated37 mother, shaking her head, and without paying any attention to his fiery38 speech. She never did pay any attention to such speeches. She always frankly said that she did not understand them. "If the squire recommends this young Mr. Trayton Harrod to you, it is because he knows him and thinks he would work with you, and not be at all like any common paid bailiff, I'm sure of that."
"Well, then, mother, all I can say is—it's nonsense—that is what it is. It is nonsense. If a man is a paid bailiff, the more like one he is the better. And I don't think it is at all likely I shall ever take a paid bailiff to help me to manage Knellestone."
With that he strode to the door and opened it.
"Meg, will you please come to me in my study in a quarter of an hour?" said he, turning to me as he went out. "There are a few things in the farm accounts that I think you might help me with."
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1
squire
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| n.护卫, 侍从, 乡绅 | |
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allied
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| adj.协约国的；同盟国的 | |
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mere
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| adj.纯粹的；仅仅，只不过 | |
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blessing
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| n.祈神赐福；祷告；祝福，祝愿 | |
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5
wielding
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| 手持着使用（武器、工具等）( wield的现在分词 )； 具有； 运用（权力）； 施加（影响） | |
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skilfully
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| adv. (美skillfully)熟练地 | |
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mare
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| n.母马，母驴 | |
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8
assented
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| 同意，赞成( assent的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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9
accosting
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| v.走过去跟…讲话( accost的现在分词 )；跟…搭讪；（乞丐等）上前向…乞讨；（妓女等）勾搭 | |
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10
kindly
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| adj.和蔼的，温和的，爽快的；adv.温和地，亲切地 | |
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perfectly
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| adv.完美地，无可非议地，彻底地 | |
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12
discreet
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| adj.(言行)谨慎的；慎重的；有判断力的 | |
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13
aggrieved
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| adj.愤愤不平的，受委屈的；悲痛的；（在合法权利方面）受侵害的v.令委屈，令苦恼，侵害( aggrieve的过去式)；令委屈，令苦恼，侵害( aggrieve的过去式和过去分词) | |
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14
frankly
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| adv.坦白地，直率地；坦率地说 | |
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frenzy
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| n.疯狂，狂热，极度的激动 | |
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rugged
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| adj.高低不平的，粗糙的，粗壮的，强健的 | |
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moor
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| n.荒野，沼泽；vt.(使)停泊；vi.停泊 | |
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18
homage
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| n.尊敬，敬意，崇敬 | |
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19
disapproval
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| n.反对，不赞成 | |
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humbly
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| adv. 恭顺地，谦卑地 | |
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21
reins
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| 感情，激情； 缰( rein的名词复数 )； 控制手段； 掌管； （成人带着幼儿走路以防其走失时用的）保护带 | |
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scarlet
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| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
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23
testily
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| adv. 易怒地, 暴躁地 | |
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24
remonstrate
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| v.抗议，规劝 | |
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25
slippers
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| n. 拖鞋 | |
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26
nay
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| adv.不；n.反对票，投反对票者 | |
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27
brewing
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| n. 酿造, 一次酿造的量 动词brew的现在分词形式 | |
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grudge
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| n.不满，怨恨，妒嫉；vt.勉强给，不情愿做 | |
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29
jaw
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| n.颚，颌，说教，流言蜚语；v.喋喋不休，教训 | |
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30
beads
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| n.（空心）小珠子( bead的名词复数 )；水珠；珠子项链 | |
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31
hush
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| int.嘘，别出声；n.沉默，静寂；v.使安静 | |
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32
appeased
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| 安抚，抚慰( appease的过去式和过去分词 )； 绥靖（满足另一国的要求以避免战争） | |
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33
prying
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| adj.爱打听的v.打听，刺探（他人的私事）( pry的现在分词 )；撬开 | |
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34
heed
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| v.注意，留意；n.注意，留心 | |
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35
entirely
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| ad.全部地，完整地；完全地，彻底地 | |
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36
engrossed
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| adj.全神贯注的 | |
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37
reiterated
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| 反复地说，重申( reiterate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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38
fiery
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| adj.燃烧着的，火红的；暴躁的；激烈的 | |
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