"Aye, sir, the same."
"And are there lady visitors as well as gentlemen?"
"Aye, there are so, sir--coveys of 'em, very fine feathers an' pretty
as pictoors t' look at but--"
"Ah!" said I, as he paused, "that kind?"
"Aye, sir, if ye know what I mean."
"I do! Raydon Manor seems haunted in many ways."
"Aye, sir, an' this is very sure--if Innocence ever goes in, it never
comes out!"
Thus we talked, George the landlord and I, while his pretty, buxom
wife bustled quietly to and fro or vanished into the mysteries of her
dairy, whence came the creak of churn, the chink of pot or pan and
suchlike homely sounds where her two trim maids laughed and chattered
over their labours.
It was a glorious afternoon and, at my suggestion, George brought me
into a garden behind the inn where flowers rioted, filling the air
with their mingled perfumes, and so to a well-stocked orchard beyond,
whence came the warm odour of ripening fruit.
"You have a very beautiful home, George."
"An' all thanks to my little old woman, sir. I were a soldier once an'
a tur'ble drinker, but Mary--Lord, sir, 'tis wonnerful how good a good
woman can be an' how bad a bad 'un can be--though she's generally made
bad, I've noticed! Damme, sir, axin' your parding but damme
notwithstanding, there's some men as I'd like to 'ave wrigglin' on the
end of a bagnet!" And he turned to scowl fiercely towards a stretch of
dark woodland that gloomed beyond a rolling stretch of sunny meadow
land.
Pages:
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349
350
351
352
353
354
355
356
357
358
359
360
361