Mary told Richard of the incident as she buttoned
her gloves.
Still theres no denyingit: I do sometimes feel like
an old hulk which lies stranded. I think it is with you as the German poet sings:
There, where thouart not, there alone is bliss! In one way she agreed withLizzie
that he ought to know, he being so fastidious in his views.
Coloured prints ofVenice by night and the blue
grotto of Capri adorned the walls. WHAT a happy ending to all their ups and
downs!
I dont mean the Jewish-Byzantine state of
petrifiedadoration that the churches offer us.
And havingtossed his son in the air, he lingered
for a word with his wifesguest.
Or visiting in a prison cell got upas a nursing
sister, A LA Elizabeth Fry.
Astatuette of Christ by a Danish sculptor stood on
the lid of the piano.
For my wife hasshouldered everything of that sort
Mary saw him growing up very unfrank and
secretive;which, to her, spelt deceitful.
Richard made one lame attempt tofall in with her
tone, John none at all. His ear was extraordinarily good, his littlevoice sweet and
true.
Shocked at this fit of temper, Nannan and Mary
exclaimed in chorus:Master Cuffy!
Then, feeling the moment come, the lady rose and
swept herskirts to the piano.
And mortals of this type were all too rare;
inrespect of them, his life had been a sandy waste. It was evidentshe had reckoned
without her host! Towards ten oclock, Lizzie could no longer conceal her
yawns.
The merry voices lured even Mahony forth from his
den.
Andwhether it was hoops, or hooplessness. Andpoor
Louisas morbid, distorted outlook would never be hers.
Not but what it has been a CHARMIN
evening,dehling.
Myself though,I seem still far from that. Her hands
did sometimesitch to show such a fair-weather worker as Cook what could be
done.
Before my boy was born, my chief feeling was a
sense of thecoming responsibility.
Andwhen at last they broke through, he turned and
hid his face against hisfathers coat. You dont have to deal with him a dozentimes a
day. But as a hard-worked medico, with a growing practice . How could one tell, in
the twenties,what one would be on nearing the fifties?
If wedid so believe, our every perspective would
alter. Something of them might have remained clinging toher . This happened more
than once; after which, as Mary had foreseen,his sarcasms died away. Or visiting in
a prison cell got upas a nursing sister, A LA Elizabeth Fry.
Marriner fondled a silky ear, letting itslip
through a pretty, dimpled hand.
His precocity showed itself in other ways as
well.
Never before had she knownRichard so absorbed by
any one outside his home. He sprucedup his dress; and the daily ride to Graceys gave
him beneficialexercise. My dear, if you had gone through what I did to-night! As
long as hes honest and truthful, hell beall right.