第28章

Shehesitatedandtouchedmyhandforaninstant。“It’ssilly。”

sheremarkedasshedidso。“Itmeansreallywe’re——“Shepaused。

“Yes？”saidI。

“Engaged。You’llhavetowaityears。Whatgoodcanitdoyou？”

“Notsomanyyears。”Ianswered。

Foramomentshebrooded。

Thensheglancedatmewithasmile，half-sweet，half-wistful，thathasstuckinmymemoryforever。

“Ilikeyou！”shesaid。“Ishallliketobeengagedtoyou。”

And，faintonthethresholdofhearing，Icaughtherventured“dear！”It’soddthatinwritingthisdownmymemorypassedoverallthatintervenedandIfeelitallagain，andonceagainI’mMarion’sboyishlovertakinggreatjoyinsuchrareandlittlethings。

AtlastIwenttotheaddressmyunclehadgivenmeinGowerStreet，andfoundmyauntSusanwaitingteaforhim。

DirectlyIcameintotheroomIappreciatedthechangeinoutlookthattheachievementofTono-BungayhadmadealmostasvividlyaswhenIsawmyuncle’snewhat。Thefurnitureoftheroomstruckuponmyeyeasalmoststately。Thechairsandsofawerecoveredwithchintzwhichgaveitadim，remoteflavourofBladesover；

themantel，thecornice，thegaspendantwerelargerandfinerthanthesortofthingIhadgrownaccustomedtoinLondon。AndIwasshowninbyarealhousemaidwithrealtailstohercap，andgreatquantitiesofreddishhair。Therewasmyaunttoolookingbrightandpretty，inablue-patternedtea-wrapwithbowsthatseemedtomethequintessenceoffashion。Shewassittinginachairbytheopenwindowwithquiteapileofyellow-labelledbooksontheoccasionaltablebesideher。Beforethelarge，paper-decoratedfireplacestoodathree-tieredcake-standdisplayingassortedcakes，andatraywithalltheteaequipageexcepttheteapot，wasonthelargecentre-table。

Thecarpetwasthick，andaspiceofadventurewasgivenitbyanumberofdyedsheep-skinmats。

“Hello！”saidmyauntasIappeared。“It’sGeorge！”

“ShallIservetheteanow，Mem？”saidtherealhousemaid，surveyingourgreetingcoldly。

“NottillMr。Ponderevocomes，Meggie。”saidmyaunt，andgrimacedwithextraordinaryswiftnessandvirulenceasthehousemaidturnedherback。

“Meggieshecallsherself。”saidmyauntasthedoorclosed，andleftmetoinferacertainwantofsympathy。

“You’relookingveryjolly，aunt。”saidI。

“WhatdoyouthinkofallthisoldB