Presently Alfred sat down beside his brother, and began to tell him everything, and did all the talking; while the Bride still stood watching the shifting panorama of the banks, and the golden sunlight upon the water, and the marvellous green of all green things. It was practically her first experience of this colour. And still she asked no questions, her interest being perhaps too intense; and so the showman-business was forgotten, to the great relief of Granville; and the time slipped quickly by. At last--and quite suddenly--the Bride clapped her hands, and turned with sparkling eyes to her husband: they had entered that splendid reach below Richmond, and the bridges were in sight, with the hill beyond.
'I give this best!' she cried. 'It _does_ knock spots out of the Yarra and the Murray after all!'
Alfred glanced uneasily at his brother, but found an impassive face.
'Come, old fellow,' said Alfred, 'do your duty; jump up and tell her about these places.'
So at last Granville made an effort to do so; he got up and went to the side of the Bride; and presently he was exercising a discreet if not a delicate vein of irony, that was peculiarly his own.
'That was Kew we passed just now--you must see the gardens there,' he said; 'and this is Richmond.'
'Kew and Richmond!' exclaimed the Bride, innocently. 'How rum! We have a Kew and a Richmond in Melbourne.'
'Ah!' said Gran. 'I don't fancy the theft was on our side. But look at this gray old bridge--picturesque, isn't it?--and I dare say you have nothing like it out there. And there, you see--up on the left yonder--is Richmond Hill. Rather celebrated, Richmond Hill: you may have heard of it; there was a lass that lived there once.'
'Oh, she was neat and had sweet eyes--or sweet, with neat eyes--I really forget which. And there was a somebody or other who said he'd resign any amount of crowns--the number wasn't specified--to call her his. He was pretty safe in saying that--unless, indeed, he meant crown-_pieces_--which, now I think of it, would be rather an original reading.'
'Alfred,' said the Bride abruptly, 'are we nearly there?'
Granville bit his lip. 'We are very nearly there,' he said; 'this is the beginning of Twickenham.'