"If that boy had lived--which he didn't," reflected the lord of
Strathfieldsaye as he opened carefully the fresh painted gate of his
own demesne, "I'd like him to have been educated at Rugby."
Lawyer Mossop had been educated at Rugby. Somehow that gentleman
always left in the mind of this shrewd, oddly perceptive client an
impression of being "just right," of not having anything in excess.
His reputation in Blackhampton was very high. Just as Dr. Perrin had
been for years its leading physician, Mr. Mossop had been for years
its leading lawyer. To be a patient of the one, a client of the other,
almost conferred a diploma of merit. Not only was it a proof in itself
of social standing, an ability "to pay for the best," but it also
expressed a knowledge, greatly valued by the elect, that the best was
worth paying for. Josiah was a firm believer in that maxim.
Still ... he closed the gate of Strathfieldsaye as carefully as he had
opened it ... when all was said education was dangerous. Up to a point
a good thing, no doubt. You couldn't be a Lawyer Mossop without it. But
it was like vaccination: some people it suited, others it didn't.
There was a trim slight figure coming down the path, in a hat not
without pretensions to fashion.
"Leaving us, Gert?" said Josiah. "Better stop to supper."
Miss Preston reluctantly declined the invitation.
"Why not? Always a knife and fork for you here, you know."
"I'd love to, Josiah, but they'll be waiting for me at home."
"Well, if you won't, you won't--but you'd be very welcome." And then he
embraced the house and its surroundings in a large gesture. "One better
than Waterloo Villa, eh?"
"It is," said Gerty, with tempered enthusiasm. She looked at her
brother-in-law with wary eyes. "You must be a very rich man, Josiah."
He narrowed his gaze a little and scratched his cheek delicately with
the side of his forefinger, an odd trick he had when thinking deeply on
questions of money. "So, so," he said. "So, so."
"But a place like this means _heaps_ of money," Gerty waved a
knowledgeable parasol.
"I daresay." It was the air of a very "substantial" man indeed. "The
year after next I expect to be mayor. And then"--a note of triumph
crept into his voice--"we may be able to show some of 'em a thing or
two."
Miss Preston was diplomatically quite sure of that. And yet as she
stood with the crude bulk of Strathfieldsaye behind her, she looked
somehow a little dubious. It was as if, respect this brother-in-law of
hers as she might, she had certain mental reservations in regard to him.
He was too busy with his own thoughts to detect what was passing in her
mind; besides the curves of his own mind were too large for him to care
very much even had he done so.
"You've got to come to the show, Gert," he said abruptly. "To-morrow
week--don't forget."
Gerty began to hedge a bit, but he would take no denial. It was her
duty "to bring Maria up to the scratch."
There was no way out, it seemed, so finally she must make up her mind
to yield and to suffer. It would be a horrible affair--common people,
brass band, a general atmosphere of vulgarity and alcohol; it would be
all that her prim soul abhorred. And the heat would be terrific. Her
spirit quailed, but how could the miserable Maria hope to get through
without her to lean upon! Besides if she showed the white feather
Josiah might lose some of his respect for her. And she couldn't afford
that, especially after it had cost her so much for him to gain it.
"She must get into the habit of showing herself to the public as she's
going to be mayoress."
Miss Preston quite saw that. She yielded with as much grace as she
could muster. Josiah took her down to the gate and told her to mind the
paint. And then as she was about to pass through, her gloved hand was
laid upon his arm, almost exactly as Lawyer Mossop's had been, and she
said softly and gravely in a voice curiously similar, "Josiah, if I
were you, I should not be in a hurry about ... about Sally."
The grimness of the eyes that met hers would have scared most women,
but Gertrude Preston was not one to be frightened easily. There was
hesitancy, a slight nervousness, all the same.
Josiah shook his head. "No," he said slowly, "that gel is coming' out
o' my will."
The look of him as he stood there with the sun's shadow falling across
his heavy face told her that argument would be worse than useless.
Rather abruptly she said good-night and marched primly away along the
road.