"She didn't!" cried Hatchard--"not kissed you?"
"Yes, she did, and a real kiss; and she took me in her arms, and I saw tears in her eyes, and--and... I cried for a minute; I couldn't help it, and it was quite a comfort. She hadn't said a word all this time, and that was just right, wasn't it?"
"I'll never say a word against the Scots' manner again," said Tom huskily.
"But she spoke quite beautifully afterwards, and told me of some trials no one knows, which they had ten years ago, and how they had never loved one another so much before. When reticent people give you their confidence it touches your heart, and we used to think her voice harsh, and to laugh at her accent."
"God forgive me!" said Thomas: "I'm a fool."
"She said: 'You know how quiet Ronald is, and how he hardly ever gets enthusiastic. Well, it would have done you good to have heard him speak about Mr. Hatchard this morning. He said...'"
"Don't tell me, Amy--it... hurts; but I'm grateful all the same, and will never forget it. And who came next?"
"Mrs. Oxley; and what do you think? We are to have their house at Hoylake for August, so the chicks will have their holiday. Mr. Oxley has been quite cast down, she says, about you, for he has such a respect----"
"It's good of them to think about the children, but never mind about me."
"You are very unfeeling, Tom, to stop me at the best bits, when I had saved them up and committed them to memory: perhaps you would get vain, however, and become quite superior. What do you think of your 'kindness.' and your 'generosity,' and your 'popularity,' and your 'straightness'? You are shivering: are you cold?"
"No, no; but you haven't told me if Mrs. Beazley was kind to you: did she call between four and five?"
"Oh, I.. guessed, because she... was last, wasn't she?"
"She apologised for being so late; indeed, she was afraid that she might not get round at all, but I'm so glad she came, for no one was more glowing about you: I saw, of course, that she was just repeating Mr. Beazley's opinion, for every one can see how he admires...
"Tom, you are very ungrateful, and for a punishment I'll not tell you another word. What is wrong? has any one injured you? Was it Mr. Beazley?"
"Beazley said kinder things in my office to me, in difficult circumstances too, than I ever got from any man: some day, Amy, I'll tell you what he said, but not now--I cannot--and he spent two hours canvassing for business to start me as a corn broker, and he... got it."