We will ask Julius to Sandal; and you
say, yourself, that the half of young folks' loving is in being handy to
each other. Eh? What?"
"I never thought you would bring my words up that way. But I'll tell you
one thing, my girls are not made of melted wax, William. You'll be a
wise man, and a strong man, if you get a ring on their fingers, if they
don't want it there. Sophia will say very soft and sweet, 'No, thank
you, father;' and you'll move Scawfell and Langdale Pikes before you get
her beyond it. As for Charlotte, you yourself will stand 'making' better
than she will. And you know that nothing short of an earthquake can lift
you an inch outside your own way."
And perhaps Sandal thought the hyperbole a compliment; for he smiled a
little, and walked away, with what his wife privately called "a
peacocky air," saying something about "Greek meeting Greek" as he did
so. Mrs. Sandal did not in the least understand him: she wondered a
little over the remark, and then dismissed it as "some of the squire's
foolishness."
CHAPTER III.
JULIUS SANDAL.
"Variety's the very spice of life
That gives it all its flavor."
"Domestic happiness, thou only bliss
Of Paradise that has survived the fall."
Life has a chronology quite independent of the almanac. The heart
divides it into periods. When the sheep-shearing had been forgotten by
all others, the squire often looked back to it with longing.
Pages:
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41
42
43
44
45
46