NOT FOR SALE
But when I had fed my good horse that evening, and bedded him
comfortably as he deserved, returning with a hock of cold bacon to my
den, and a jug of ale which I needed sorely, there I found my white deal
table, just where I was going to lay the cloth, covered with a canopy
and tissue-fringing of gold too bright for the candle-light.
"Who has brought this beehive here and stuck it on my table?" I asked
with a tone of wonder and vexation; for I had quite enough to do with my
own affairs just now.
"Did you ever see a beehive of this colour? Then I should like to know
where they got the straw from?"
Grace had lifted her head, and was passing both hands through the curls
of which she was so proud that she cared not what we called them, and
her cheeks had a rich, unusual flush; and there was some new brightness
in her eyes as well, bright enough always, now too bright, with
unsettled weather in the depth beyond the blue. I saw that there was
something up, but left her to begin it.
"George, have you taken it into your head, not to care a straw for your
sister any more?" This was exactly what I expected; but I looked at her
with innocent astonishment. I put down my bacon and my jug of beer, but
drew back the cloth, to leave room for her arms, and then gazed at her
with some dignity.
"Oh, you need not be afraid. I am not going to cry over it," she
exclaimed, with the usual ingratitude of girls; "in fact I feel much
more inclined to laugh. You have been trying to sell me, to sell your
own sister! Can you not imagine, George, that I am not for sale?"
"Look here!" I said, for this was coming it too strong; "you have got
into some tantrums, some feminine delusions. I have not had a bit to
eat, I don't know when; and I must recruit the inner man, while you come
to your senses."
"Poor thing! It cannot be so very deep in love, or it would be satisfied
to live on air. But don't they feed you where you go, dear George? Well,
that does seem inhospitable. And they must be rich people, or you would
not go so often."
This was almost more than I could stand. However, I kept up my dignity,
remembering that the more impudent a girl is, the more she "climbs down"
afterwards. "Your very good health, my dear child!" I said, and then
observed her through the glass which formed the bottom of the tankard.
Now I say that she was a very sweet young woman, and a worthy wife for
the best man that ever lived, not to lose all self-command at this; for
the loveliest creature ever born cannot flatter herself that she looks
well thus.
"You want to make me cry, but you won't do it. And once for all, just
understand this little point. I don't care a rap--as you elegantly
express it--what airs you put on to exasperate me. Because I am certain
that you understand me, George. All the very small things you say--and
you have a low gift of walking under your own feet--all of them--what I
mean is, none of them have the smallest effect upon my poor mind. In the
first place, I am not clever, any more than you are. And if I were, I
should only use it to make you more and more fond of me, instead of
endeavouring to make you feel small. But, oh, George, I never thought
that you would scheme to sell me!"
"All this is Abracadabra to me," I replied quickly, in fear of a
torrent. For when a girl tells you that she won't cry, you may almost
always see her fingers getting ready for her handkerchief.
"How innocent you look! But just one little question. Did you not send
Mr. Stoneman Jackson to propose to me, this very evening?"
"Nothing of the sort. And as if you did not know his name! I have not
even seen him, since that day when you were cutting such a shine in the
sun, as the frugal, virtuous, and lovely milkmaid. That is what has
fetched him; not your stupid brother." I owed her a cut or two, as
everybody will perceive.
"George, you are cruel, even more than crafty. As if I did anything so
low as that! But will you assure me, upon your honour, that you did not
encourage him to--to try what he has been trying?"
"Not only that, but I did all I could to damp him off, so far as such a
dry fellow could be damped. I told him to hold off, while the Earl was
in the running."
"There was no Earl in the running. This is too bad of you. It was only
the walking that Lord Melladew went in for, and I am sure he meant no
harm by that."
"Well, he made the running fast enough, when they peppered his gaiters,
and some one else did the tumbling. But I told Jackson to hold off, for
I was sure that he had no chance yet. He is a decent sort of fellow
enough in his way; but what chance could he have against a belted Earl,
and a gaitered Earl too, who can shriek in sonnets? Poor Stoneman could
scarcely put thumb to rhyme with mum; and mum he should have been,
though it is rather hard upon him. Never mind, he can find some other
girl, when he gets over it. I heard of a Duke's daughter who was wild to
catch him. But he is much too hard hit, to think of any one for years."
"One of Mr. Erricker's tales, I daresay," said Grace, with a little sigh
of sympathy, as I fetched a sham groan for my poor friend, "about that
beautiful Duke's daughter. As if any girl with any self-respect would
allow herself to be talked of in that way! And as if Mr. Stoneman would
permit it for a moment! However, you seem to have thoroughly discussed
my case. Did you settle what my pin-money was to be? Oh, George, George,
will you never understand how very different we are from you? I did
think I could have respected Mr. Stoneman; but when I find out that he
has been to you, trying to buy me like a colliery share, or not even
that, for it is all divorce now--to take me on lease like a cottage or a
stable,--oh, I see why you took me for a beehive now; but you'll find
less of honey than of sting in me, when you buy and sell me by the pound
like this."
What a fool that stockbroker must have been to mention my name in the
matter, for it was sure to set her off upon this sort of tack! However,
it proved afterwards that she, being perfectly calm, while he was in a
frightful flurry, had extracted from him with the greatest ease
everything she cared to know, till she came with the usual leaps and
bounds of feminine reason to the wrong conclusion--that I had suggested
and worked up the whole affair.
"Now go to bed, my dear child," I said, perceiving how vain it was to
argue now; "I have business to see to, and even you can scarcely expect
me to be swallowed up in your affairs, when you make a point of
disliking this man, because your own brother likes him."
That little turn was almost worthy of her own ingenuity. She looked at
me with a twinkle, because it was so like what she herself in my
position would have said, and then after wishing me good-night, she
added--
"But I never said a word about disliking him. There has scarcely been
time enough for that as yet. Women very seldom form those sudden
prejudices. That they leave for the lords of creation."
As she vanished with this very poor miss-fire, I began to put two and
two together, and arrived at the conclusion that the stockbroker's case
was not altogether hopeless. She had not come to care about him yet
perhaps; but now he would be in her thoughts more often; and if he kept
his distance, and looked downcast, and did a lot of good among the poor
with strict orders to have it kept secret, and caused general uneasiness
about his health; above all, if he could only be bankrupt,--without
losing his cash, which of course would never do,--I could not see why he
should not have a Mrs. Stoneman, who belonged to an old Saxon family,
and had gold enough in her heart and head to do without any in her
maiden pocket, and who was blest with a brother of the name of George.