"You don"t know what you"re talking about," said the other, with great dignity. "I"ve only been married once."
Mr. Davis pa.s.sed the back of his hand across his eyes in a dazed fashion and stared at her.
"Is--is somebody pa.s.sing himself off as me?" he demanded. ""Cos if he is I"ll "ave you both up for bigamy."
"Certainly not."
"But--but--"
Mr. Davis turned and looked blankly at his friend. Mr. Wotton met his gaze with dilated eyes.
"You say you recognize me as your wife?" said the old lady.
"Certainly," said Mr. Davis, hotly.
"It"s very curious," said the other--"very. But are you sure? Look again."
Mr. Davis thrust his face close to hers and stared hard. She bore his scrutiny without flinching.
"I"m positive certain," said Mr. Davis, taking a breath.
"That"s very curious," said the old lady; "but, then, I suppose we are a bit alike. You see, Mrs. Davis being away, I"m looking after her house for a bit. My name happens to be Smith."
Mr. Davis uttered a sharp exclamation, and, falling back a step, stared at her open-mouthed.
"We all make mistakes," urged Mr. Wotton, after a long silence, "and Ben"s sight ain"t wot it used to be. He strained it looking out for a sail when we was on that desert----"
"When--when"ll she be back?" inquired Mr. Davis, finding his voice at last.
The old lady affected to look puzzled. "But I thought you were certain that I was your wife?" she said, smoothly.
"My mistake," said Mr. Davis, ruefully. "Thirty-five years is a long time and people change a bit; I have myself. For one thing, I must say I didn"t expect to find "er so stout."
"Stout!" repeated the other, quickly.
"Not that I mean you"re too stout," said Mr. Davis, hurriedly--"for people that like stoutness, that is. My wife used to "ave a very good figger."
Mr. Wotton nodded. "He used to rave about it on that des----"
"When will she be back?" inquired Mr. Davis, interrupting him.
Mrs. Smith shook her head. "I can"t say," she replied, moving towards the door. "When she"s off holidaying, I never know when she"ll return.
Shall I tell her you called?"
"Tell her I----certainly," said Mr. Davis, with great vehemence. "I"ll come in a week"s time and see if she"s back."
"She might be away for months," said the old lady, moving slowly to the pa.s.sage and opening the street door. "Good-afternoon."
She closed the door behind them and stood watching them through the gla.s.s as they pa.s.sed disconsolately into the street. Then she went back into the parlour, and standing before the mantelpiece, looked long and earnestly into the mirror.
Mr. Davis returned a week later--alone, and, pausing at the gate, glanced in dismay at a bill in the window announcing that the house was to be sold. He walked up the path still looking at it, and being admitted by the trim servant was shown into the parlour, and stood in a dispirited fashion before Mrs. Smith.
"Not back yet?" he inquired, gruffly.
The old lady shook her head.
"What--what--is that bill for?" demanded Mr. Davis, jerking his thumb towards it.
"She is thinking of selling the house," said Mrs. Smith. "I let her know you had been, and that is, the result. She won"t comeback. You won"t see her again."
"Where is she?" inquired Mr. Davis, frowning.
Mrs. Smith shook her head again. "And it would be no use my telling you," she said. "What she has got is her own, and the law won"t let you touch a penny of it without her consent. You must have treated her badly; why did you leave her?"
"Why?" repeated Mr. Davis. "Why? Why, because she hit me over the "ead with a broom-handle."
Mrs. Smith tossed her head.
"Fancy you remembering that for thirty-five years!" she said.
"Fancy forgetting it!" retorted Mr. Davis.
"I suppose she had a hot temper," said the old lady.
""Ot temper?" said the other. "Yes." He leaned forward, and holding his chilled hands over the fire stood for some time deep in thought.
"I don"t know what it is," he said at last, "but there"s a something about you that reminds me of her. It ain"t your voice, "cos she had a very nice voice--when she wasn"t in a temper--and it ain"t your face, because--"
"Yes?" said Mrs. Smith, sharply. "Because it don"t remind me of her."
"And yet the other day you said you recognized me at once," said the old lady.
"I thought I did," said Mr. Davis. "One thing is, I was expecting to see her, I s"pose."
There was a long silence.
"Well, I won"t keep you," said Mrs. Smith at last, "and it"s no good for you to keep coming here to see her. She will never come here again.
I don"t want to hurt your feelings, but you don"t look over and above respectable. Your coat is torn, your trousers are patched in a dozen places, and your boots are half off your feet--I don"t know what the servant must think."
"I--I only came to look for my wife," said Mr. Davis, in a startled voice. "I won"t come again."
"That"s right," said the old lady. "That"ll please her, I know. And if she should happen to ask what sort of a living you are making, what shall I tell her?"
"Tell her what you said about my clothes, ma"am," said Mr. Davis, with his hand on the door-k.n.o.b. "She"ll understand then. She"s known wot it is to be poor herself. She"d got a bad temper, but she"d have cut her tongue out afore she"d "ave thrown a poor devil"s rags in his face.
Good-afternoon."
"Good-afternoon, Ben," said the old woman, in a changed voice.
Mr. Davis, half-way through the door, started as though he had been shot, and, facing about, stood eyeing her in dumb bewilderment.