"John," said Isobel, throwing her arms about my neck, "you will be so glad! I have good news to tell you! The Prawleys have moved away! Now you can do all your own hoeing and mowing."
"The Prawleys have moved away?" I gasped.
"Yes," she said cheerfully, "and now you can garden all the garden, and cut all the lawn and rake all the walks, and weed, and do all the things you are so fond of doing."
"Isobel," I said sternly, "if I thought only of myself I would indeed be glad. But I cannot have my little wife fearing the empty flat above her. You must immediately hire another--er--get another family."
"But I shall not be nervous any more, John," she said; "and it is a shame to deprive you of the outdoor work."
I looked out upon the large lawn and the large garden.
"No, Isobel," I said, "you must take no chances. You may not think you will be nervous, but the feeling may return. If you do not get a family to move in, I shall!"
I rubbed the palms of my hands where the blisters had been, and thought of the middle of my back where the pains and aches had congregated. I was ready to sacrifice my passionate longing for outdoor work once more for Isobel's sake.
"Well," she said thoughtfully, "I know of an excellent coloured man in Lower Westcote, that we can hire by the day--I mean that we can get to move into the flat--but I can hardly afford, with my present allowance, to pay his wages--that is, I mean--"
"For some time, Isobel," I said hastily, "I have been thinking your allowance was too small. You must have a--a great many household expenses of which I know nothing."
That evening when I returned from the city I saw that the lawn grass had been cut so closely that it looked as if the lawn had been shaved. Isobel ran to meet me.
"John!" she cried; "John! Who do you think has moved into the flat overhead?"
"Dear me!" I exclaimed. "How should I know?"
"The Prawleys!" she cried. "The Prawleys have moved back again. Are you not glad?"
I concealed my chagrin. I hid the sorrow with which I saw my passionate fondness for outdoor work once more defeated of its object.
"Isobel," I said, "I wish you would tell Mr. Prawley's doctor to tell Mr. Prawley that it is imperative for Mr. Prawley's best health that Mr. Prawley dig the grass out of the gravel walks to-morrow. Tell him--"