"I do hope and pray Robert will never be
bitten by a dog. Was it a big dog?"
"Fair," said Edward Henry. "So his name's Robert! So's my eldest's!"
"Really now! They wanted him to be called Robert Philip Stephen
Darrand Patrick. But I wouldn't have it. He's just Robert. I did have
my own way _there_! You know he was born six months after his father's
death."
"And I suppose he's ten months now?"
"No. Only six."
"Great Scott! He's big!" said Edward Henry.
"Well," said she, "he is. I am, you see."
"Now, Lady Woldo," said Edward Henry in a new tone, "as we're both
from the same part of the country I want to be perfectly straight and
above-board with you. It's quite true--all that about the rash. And I
did think you'd like to know. But that's not really what I came to see
you about. You understand, not knowing you, I fancied there might be
some difficulty in getting at you--"
"Oh! no!" she said simply. "Everybody gets at me."
"Well, I didn't know, you see. So I just mentioned the baby to begin
with, like!"
"I hope you're not after money," she said, almost plaintively.
"I'm not," he said. "You can ask anybody in Bursley or Hanbridge
whether I'm the sort of man to go out on the cadge."
"I once was in the chorus in a panto at Hanbridge," she said. "Don't
they call Bursley 'Bosley' down there--'owd Bosley'?"
Edward Henry dealt suitably with these remarks, and then gave her a
judicious version of the nature of his business, referring several
times to Mr.
Pages:
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188
189
190
191
192
193
194
195
196
197
198
199
200
201
202
203
204