She said she had
noticed it--the tendency of country people to become prematurely
silly. I did not share her fears, as I had by this time divined what
it was that was amusing folks. Dick had discovered behind the
cushions--remnant of some recent wedding, one supposes--a large and
tastefully bound Book of Common Prayer. He and Veronica sat holding
it between them. Looking at their faces one could almost hear the
organ pealing.
Dick kept one eye on the parasol; and when, on passing into shade, it
was lowered, he and Veronica were watching with rapt ecstasy the
flight of swallows. Robina said she should tell Mr. Glossop of the
insults to which respectable people were subject when riding in his
carriage. She thought he ought to take steps to prevent it. She
likewise suggested that the four of us, leaving the Little Mother in
the carriage, should walk up the hill. Ethelbertha said that she
herself would like a walk. She had been balancing herself on the
edge of a cushion with her feet dangling for two miles, and was
tired. She herself would have preferred a carriage made for
ordinary-sized people. Our coachman called attention to the heat of
the afternoon and the length of the hill, and recommended our
remaining where we were; but his advice was dismissed as exhibiting
want of feeling. Robina is, perhaps, a trifle over-sympathetic where
animals are concerned. I remember, when they were children, her
banging Dick over the head with the nursery bellows because he would
not agree to talk in a whisper for fear of waking the cat.
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