My clumsy tongue would have only broken the spell which the
sunlit forests had woven around us.
As we reached my house a cavalier rode up with a bow and a splendid
sweep of his hat. 'Twas my acquaintance, Mr. Grey, come to greet the
travellers. Elspeth gave me her hand at parting, and I had from the
cavalier the finest glance of hate and jealousy which ever comforted
the heart of a backward lover.
CHAPTER XII.
A WORD AT THE HARBOUR-SIDE.
The next Sunday I was fool enough to go to church, for Doctor Blair was
announced to preach the sermon. Now I knew very well what treatment I
should get, and that it takes a stout fellow to front a conspiracy of
scorn. But I had got new courage from my travels, so I put on my best
suit of murrey-coloured cloth, my stockings of cherry silk, the gold
buckles which had been my father's, my silk-embroidered waistcoat,
freshly-ironed ruffles, and a new hat which had cost forty shillings in
London town. I wore my own hair, for I never saw the sense of a wig
save for a bald man, but I had it deftly tied. I would have cut a great
figure had there not been my bronzed and rugged face to give the lie to
my finery.
It was a day of blistering heat. The river lay still as a lagoon, and
the dusty red roads of the town blazed like a furnace.
Pages:
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177