He
was all the time following Beatrice Meadowsweet about like a shadow."
Mrs. Bell gave her head a toss.
"Oh, that's it, is it?" she said. "I didn't think the captain would be
so artful. Mark my word, girls, he behaved like that just as a blind to
put his old mother off the scent."
But as Mrs. Bell spoke her heart sank within her. She remembered again
how Beatrice had looked that evening in the green boat, and she saw once
more Matty's tossed locks and sunburnt hands.
After a time she went upstairs, and without any ceremony entered her
daughter's room.
Matty had tossed off the gaudy silk, and was lying on her bed. Her poor
little face was blistered with tears, and, as Mrs. Bell expressed it, it
"gave me a heart-ache even to look at her." She was not a woman,
however, to own to defeat. She pretended not to see Matty's tears, and
she made her tone purposely very cheerful.
"Come, come, child," she said, "what are you stretched on the bed for,
as if you were delicate? Now, I wouldn't let this get to Captain
Bertram's ears for the world."
"What do you mean, mother?" asked the astonished daughter.
"What I say, my love. I wouldn't let the captain know that you were so
tired as to have to lie down after a game of tennis, for a ten pound
note.
Pages:
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204
205