So presently Miss Matty got into a nervously
acquiescent state, and said "Yes," and "Certainly," at every pause,
whether required or not; but when I once joined in as chorus to a
"Decidedly," pronounced by Miss Matty in a tremblingly dubious
tone, my father fired round at me and asked me "What there was to
decide?" And I am sure to this day I have never known. But, in
justice to him, I must say he had come over from Drumble to help
Miss Matty when he could ill spare the time, and when his own
affairs were in a very anxious state.
While Miss Matty was out of the room giving orders for luncheon--
and sadly perplexed between her desire of honouring my father by a
delicate, dainty meal, and her conviction that she had no right,
now that all her money was gone, to indulge this desire--I told him
of the meeting of the Cranford ladies at Miss Pole's the day
before. He kept brushing his hand before his eyes as I spoke--and
when I went back to Martha's offer the evening before, of receiving
Miss Matty as a lodger, he fairly walked away from me to the
window, and began drumming with his fingers upon it. Then he
turned abruptly round, and said, "See, Mary, how a good, innocent
life makes friends all around. Confound it! I could make a good
lesson out of it if I were a parson; but, as it is, I can't get a
tail to my sentences--only I'm sure you feel what I want to say.
Pages:
229
230
231
232
233
234
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253