下载辰思小说免费APP
EvenMr。Hirst，whomshehaddislikedwhenshefirstmethim，reallywasn’tdisagreeable；and，poorman，healwayslookedsoill；
perhapshewasinlove；perhapshehadbeeninlovewithRachel——
shereallyshouldn’twonder；orperhapsitwasEvelyn——shewasofcourseveryattractivetomen。Leaningforward，shewentonwiththeconversation。Shesaidthatshethoughtthatthereasonwhypartiesweresodullwasmainlybecausegentlemenwillnotdress:
eveninLondon，shestated，itstruckherverymuchhowpeopledon’tthinkitnecessarytodressintheevening，andofcourseiftheydon’tdressinLondontheywon’tdressinthecountry。
ItwasreallyquiteatreatatChristmas-timewhenthereweretheHuntballs，andthegentlemenworeniceredcoats，butArthurdidn’tcarefordancing，soshesupposedthattheywouldn’tgoeventotheballintheirlittlecountrytown。Shedidn’tthinkthatpeoplewhowerefondofonesportoftencareforanother，althoughherfatherwasanexception。Butthenhewasanexceptionineveryway——suchagardener，andheknewallaboutbirdsandanimals，andofcoursehewassimplyadoredbyalltheoldwomeninthevillage，andatthesametimewhathereallylikedbestwasabook。
Youalwaysknewwheretofindhimifhewerewanted；hewouldbeinhisstudywithabook。Verylikelyitwouldbeanold，oldbook，somefustyoldthingthatnooneelsewoulddreamofreading。
Sheusedtotellhimthathewouldhavemadeafirst-rateoldbookwormifonlyhehadn’thadafamilyofsixtosupport，andsixchildren，sheadded，charminglyconfidentofuniversalsympathy，didn’tleaveonemuchtimeforbeingabookworm。
Stilltalkingaboutherfather，ofwhomshewasveryproud，sherose，forArthuruponlookingathiswatchfoundthatitwastimetheywentbackagaintothetenniscourt。Theothersdidnotmove。
“They’reveryhappy！“saidMrs。Thornbury，lookingbenignantlyafterthem。Rachelagreed；theyseemedtobesocertainofthemselves；
theyseemedtoknowexactlywhattheywanted。
“D’youthinkthey_are_happy？“EvelynmurmuredtoTerenceinanundertone，andshehopedthathewouldsaythathedidnotthinkthemhappy；but，instead，hesaidthattheymustgotoo——gohome，fortheywerealwaysbeinglateformeals，andMrs。Ambrose，whowasverysternandparticular，didn’tlikethat。EvelynlaidholdofRachel’sskirtandprotested。Whyshouldtheygo？
Itwasstillearly，andshehadsomanythingstosaytothem。
“No，“saidTerence，“wemustgo，becausewewalksoslowly。Westopandlookatthings，andwetalk。“
“Whatd’youtalkabout？“Evelynenquired，uponwhichhelaughedandsaidthattheytalkedabouteverything。
Mrs。Thornburywentwiththemtothegate，trailingveryslowlyandgracefullyacrossthegrassandthegravel，andtalkingallthetimeaboutflowersandbirds。Shetoldthemthatshehadtakenupthestudyofbotanysinceherdaughtermarried，anditwaswonderfulwhatanumberofflowerstherewerewhichshehadneverseen，althoughshehadlivedinthecountryallherlifeandshewasnowseventy-two。Itwasagoodthingtohavesomeoccupationwhichwasquiteindependentofotherpeople，shesaid，whenonegotold。
Buttheoddthingwasthatoneneverfeltold。Shealwaysfeltthatshewastwenty-five，notadaymoreoradayless，but，ofcourse，onecouldn’texpectotherpeopletoagreetothat。
“Itmustbeverywonderfultobetwenty-five，andnotmerelytoimaginethatyou’retwenty-five，“shesaid，lookingfromonetotheotherwithhersmooth，brightglance。“Itmustbeverywonderful，verywonderfulindeed。“Shestoodtalkingtothematthegateforalongtime；sheseemedreluctantthattheyshouldgo。
Theafternoonwasveryhot，sohotthatthebreakingofthewavesontheshoresoundedliketherepeatedsighofsomeexhaustedcreature，andevenontheterraceunderanawningthebrickswerehot，andtheairdancedperpetuallyovertheshortdrygrass。
Theredflowersinthestonebasinsweredroopingwiththeheat，andthewhiteblossomswhichhadbeensosmoothandthickonlyafewweeksagowerenowdry，andtheiredgeswerecurledandyellow。
Onlythestiffandhostileplantsofthesouth，whosefleshyleavesseemedtobegrownuponspines，stillremainedstandinguprightanddefiedthesu
