Therefore it is sealed and deposited for posting among
the iron correspondence of the day. This done,
Mr. George takes a hearty farewell of the family party
and prepares to saddle and mount. His brother,
however, unwilling to part with him so soon, proposes
to ride with him in a light open carriage to the place
where he will bait for the night, and there remain
with him until morning, a servant riding for so much
of the journey on the thoroughbred old grey from Chesney
Wold. The offer, being gladly accepted, is followed
by a pleasant ride, a pleasant dinner, and a pleasant
breakfast, all in brotherly communion. Then they
once more shake hands long and heartily and part,
the ironmaster turning his face to the smoke and fires,
and the trooper to the green country. Early in
the afternoon the subdued sound of his heavy military
trot is heard on the turf in the avenue as he rides
on with imaginary clank and jingle of accoutrements
under the old elm-trees.
Esther’s Narrative
Soon after I had that convertion with my guardian,
he put a sealed paper in my hand one morning and said,
“This is for next month, my dear.”
I found in it two hundred pounds.
I now began very quietly to make such preparations
as I thought were necessary. Regulating my purchases
by my guardian’s taste, which I knew very well
of course, I arranged my wardrobe to please him and
hoped I should be highly successful. I did it
all so quietly because I was not quite free from my
old apprehension that Ada would be rather sorry and
because my guardian was so quiet himself. I
had no doubt that under all the circumstances we should
be married in the most private and simple manner.
Perhaps I should only have to say to Ada, “Would
you like to come and see me married to-morrow, my
pet?” Perhaps our wedding might even be as
unpretending as her own, and I might not find it necessary
to say anything about it until it was over.
I thought that if I were to choose, I would like this
best.
The only exception I made was Mrs. Woodcourt.
I told her that I was going to be married to my guardian
and that we had been engaged some time. She
highly approved. She could never do enough for
me and was remarkably softened now in comparison with
what she had been when we first knew her. There
was no trouble she would not have taken to have been
of use to me, but I need hardly say that I only allowed
her to take as little as gratified her kindness without
tasking it.
Of course this was not a time to neglect my guardian,
and of course it was not a time for neglecting my
darling. So I had plenty of occupation, which
I was glad of; and as to Charley, she was absolutely
not to be seen for needlework. To surround herself
with great heaps of it—baskets full and
tables full—and do a little, and spend
a great deal of time in staring with her round eyes
at what there was to do, and persuade herself that
she was going to do it, were Charley’s great
dignities and delights.
