Veronica at this burst into tears also; and the cow, whether moved
afresh by her own troubles or by theirs, commenced again to bellow.
I was fortunately able to find an elderly labourer smoking a pipe and
eating bacon underneath a tree; and with him I bargained that for a
shilling a day he should milk the cow till further notice.
We left him busy, and returned to the cottage. Dick met us at the
door with a cheery "Good morning." He wanted to know if we had heard
the storm. He also wanted to know when breakfast would be ready.
Robina thought that happy event would be shortly after he had boiled
the kettle and made the tea and fried the bacon, while Veronica was
laying the table.
"But I thought--"
Robina said that if he dared to mention the word "household-fairy"
she would box his ears, and go straight up to bed, and leave
everybody to do everything. She said she meant it.
Dick has one virtue: it is philosophy. "Come on, young 'un," said
Dick to Veronica. "Trouble is good for us all."
"Some of us," said Veronica, "it makes bitter."
We sat down to breakfast at eight-thirty.
CHAPTER IV
Our architect arrived on Friday afternoon, or rather, his assistant.
I felt from the first I was going to like him. He is shy, and that,
of course, makes him appear awkward. But, as I explained to Robina,
it is the shy young men who, generally speaking, turn out best: few
men could have been more painfully shy up to twenty-five than myself.
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