Men felt this, and he was
popular among those who knew him in his service, though not in any
hail-fellow-well-met kind of way. But among women he was not popular.
As a rule they both feared and disliked him. His presence jarred upon
the frivolity of the lighter members of their sex, who dimly realised
that his nature was antagonistic, and the more solid ones could not
understand him. Perhaps this was the reason why Colonel Quaritch had
never married, had never even had a love affair since he was five-and-
twenty.
And yet it was of a woman that he was thinking as he leant over the
gate, and looked at the field of yellowing corn, undulating like a
golden sea beneath the pressure of the wind.
Colonel Quaritch had twice before been at Honham, once ten, and once
four years ago. Now he was come to abide there for good. His old aunt,
Mrs. Massey, had owned a place in the village--a very small place--
called Honham Cottage, or Molehill, and on those two occasions he
visited her. Mrs. Massey was dead and buried. She had left him the
property, and with some reluctance, he had given up his profession, in
which he saw no further prospects, and come to live upon it. This was
his first evening in the place, for he had arrived by the last train
on the previous night.
Pages:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25