"I was expecting you to say obstinacy," said she, laughing, "and was half prepared with a most abject retractation. At all events, I was aware that you did not give way."
"And is the quality such a bad one?"
"Just as a wind may be said to be a good or a bad one; due west, for instance, would be very unfavorable if you were bound to New York."
It was the second time he had angled for a compliment, and failed; and he walked along at her side, fretful and discontented. "I begin to suspect," said he, at last, "that the Colonel was far more eager to make himself agreeable here than to give fair play to my reasons."
"He was delightful, if you mean that; he possesses the inestimable boon of good spirits, which is the next thing to a good heart."
"You don"t like depressed people, then?"
"I won"t say I dislike, but I dread them. The dear friends who go about with such histories of misfortune and gloomy reflections on every one"s conduct always give me the idea of a person who should carry with him a watering-pot to sprinkle his friends in this Irish climate, where it rains ten months out of the twelve. There is a deal to like in life,--a deal to enjoy, as well as a deal to see and to do; and the spirit which we bring to it is even of more moment than the incidents that befall us."
"That was the burden of your song awhile ago," said he, smiling; "could I persuade you to sing it again?"
"What are you dreaming of, Mr. Conyers? Is not this meeting here--this strolling about a garden with a young gentleman, a Hussar!--compromising enough, not to ask me to sit down at a piano and sing for him? Indeed, the only relief my conscience gives me for the imprudence of this interview is the seeing how miserable it makes _you_."
"Miserable!--makes _me_ miserable!"
"Well, embarra.s.sed,--uncomfortable,--ill at ease; I don"t care for the word. You came here to say a variety of things, and you don"t like to say them. You are balked in certain very kind intentions towards us, and you don"t know how very little of even intended good nature has befallen us in life to make us deeply your debtor for the mere project. Why, your very notice of poor Tom has done more to raise him in his own esteem and disgust him with low a.s.sociates than all the wise arguments of all his family. There, now, if you have not done us all the good you meant, be satisfied with what you really have done."
"This is very far short of what I intended."
"Of course it is; but do not dwell upon that. I have a great stock of very fine intentions, too, but I shall not be in the least discouraged if I find them take wing and leave me."
"What would you do then?"
"Raise another brood. They tell us that if one seed of every million of acorns should grow to be a tree, all Europe would be a dense forest within a century. Take heart, therefore, about scattered projects; fully their share of them come to maturity. Oh dear! what a dreary sigh you gave! Don"t you imagine yourself very unhappy?"
"If I did, I"d scarcely come to you for sympathy, certainly," said he, with a half-bitter smile.
"You are quite right there; not but that I could really condole with some of what I opine are your great afflictions: for instance, I could bestow very honest grief on that splint that your charger has just thrown out on his back tendon; I could even cry over the threatened blindness of that splendid steeple-chaser; but I "d not fret about the way your pelisse was braided, nor because your new phaeton made so much noise with the axles."
"By the way," said Conyers, "I have such a horse to show you! He is in the village. Might I drive him up here? Would you allow me to take you back?"
"Not on any account, sir! I have grave misgivings about talking to you so long here, and I am mainly reconciled by remembering how disagreeable I have proved myself."
"How I wish I had your good spirits!"
"Why don"t you rather wish for my fortunate lot in life,--so secure from casualties, so surrounded with life"s comforts, so certain to attach to it consideration and respect? Take my word for it, Mr. Conyers, your own position is not utterly wretched; it is rather a nice thing to be a Lieutenant of Hussars, with good health, a good fortune, and a fair promise of mustachios. There, now, enough of impertinence for one day.
I have a deal to do, and you "ll not help me to do it. I have a whole tulip-bed to transplant, and several trees to remove, and a new walk to plan through the beech shrubbery, not to speak of a change of domicile for the pigs,--if such creatures can be spoken of in your presence. Only think, three o"clock, and that weary Darby not got back from his dinner!
has it ever occurred to you to wonder at the interminable time people can devote to a meal of potatoes?"
"I cannot say that I have thought upon the matter."
"Pray do so, then; divide the matter, as a German would, into all its "Bearbeitungen," and consider it ethnologically, esculently, and aesthetically, and you"ll be surprised how puzzled you "ll be!
Meanwhile, would you do me a favor?--I mean a great favor."
"Of course I will; only say what it is."
"Well; but I "m about to ask more than you suspect."
"I do not retract. I am ready."
"What I want, then, is that you should wheel that barrow-ful of mould as far as the melon-bed. I "d have done it myself if you had not been here."
With a seriousness which cost him no small effort to maintain, Conyers addressed himself at once to the task; and she walked along at his side, with a rake over her shoulder, talking with the same cool unconcern she would have bestowed on Darby.
"I have often told Miss Barrington," said she, "that our rock melons were finer than hers, because we used a peculiar composite earth, into which ash bark and soot entered,--what you are wheeling now, in fact, however hurtful it may be to your feelings. There! upset it exactly on that spot; and now let me see if you are equally handy with a spade."
[Ill.u.s.tration: 276]
"I should like to know what my wages are to be after all this," said he, as he spread the mould over the bed.
"We give boys about eightpence a day."
"Boys! what do you mean by boys?"
"Everything that is not married is boy in Ireland; so don"t be angry, or I "ll send you off. Pick up those stones, and throw these dock-weeds to one side."
"You "ll send me a melon, at least, of my own raising, won"t you?"
"I won"t promise; Heaven knows where you"ll be--where I "ll be, by that time! Would _you_ like to pledge yourself to anything on the day the ripe fruit shall glow between those pale leaves?"
"Perhaps I might," said he, stealing a half-tender glance towards her.
"Well, I would not," said she, looking him full and steadfastly in the face.
"Then that means you never cared very much for any one?"
"If I remember aright, you were engaged as a gardener, not as father confessor. Now, you are really not very expert at the former; but you "ll make sad work of the latter."
"You have not a very exalted notion of my tact, Miss Dill."
"I don"t know,--I"m not sure; I suspect you have at least what the French call "good dispositions." You took to your wheelbarrow very nicely, and you tried to dig--as little like a gentleman as need be."
"Well, if this does not bate Banagher, my name is n"t Darby!" exclaimed a rough voice, and a hearty laugh followed his words. "By my conscience, Miss Polly, it"s only yerself could do it; and it"s truth they say of you, you "d get fun out of an archdaycon!"
Conyers flung away his spade, and shook the mould from his boots in irritation.
"Come, don"t be cross," said she, slipping her arm within his, and leading him away; "don"t spoil a very pleasant little adventure by ill humor. If these melons come to good, they shall be called after you.
You know that a Duke of Montmartre gave his name to a gooseberry; so be good, and, like him, you shall be immortal."
"I should like very much to know one thing," said he, thoughtfully.
"And what may that be?"
"I "d like to know,--are you ever serious?"