"And the Professor"s cap and gown, hanging near by?"
Martha hesitated. ""Tain"t always petticoats makes an old woman," she said, sententiously.
"Martha, you are _pro_-foundly right," said the Boy. "Does the Professor stay to tea?"
"Thank goodness no, sir. We draw the line at that, "cept when Miss _H_ann comes too."
"Who is Miss _H_ann?"
"She"s the Professor"s sister." Martha hesitated; poured hot water into the silver teapot; then turned to whisper confidentially, with concentrated dislike: "She"s always a-_h_egging of "em on!"
"What a curious occupation," remarked the Boy, blowing a smoke-ring.
"Does Miss _H_ann come often?"
"No, Mr. Guy. Thanks be, she"s a _h_invalid."
"Poor Miss _H_ann. What"s the matter with her?"
Martha snorted. "Fancies herself too much."
"What a curious complaint. What are the symptoms?"
"Fancies herself in a bath-chair," said Martha, scornfully.
"I see," said the Boy. "Oh, poor Miss _H_ann! I should feel very sick if I fancied myself in a bath-chair. I wish I could meet Miss _H_ann.
I should like to talk to her about the _h_egging-on business."
"_You"d_ make her sit up," said Martha, with spiteful enjoyment.
"Oh no, I shouldn"t," said the Boy. "That would not be kind to an invalid. I should see that she reclined, comfortably; and then I should jolly well flatten her out."
At that moment a shadow fell across the sunny window. Miss Charteris, her guest having departed, pa.s.sed down the garden steps, and moved across the lawn.
The Boy sprang to his feet. At sight of her, his conscience smote him that he should have thus gossiped and chaffed with old Martha. He suddenly remembered why he had originally found his way to the kitchen.
"Martha," he said; "I want you to let me carry out the tea-tray this afternoon. She doesn"t know I am here. She will think it is you or Jenkins, till she looks round. Let me carry it out, Martha, there"s a duck!"
"As you please, sir," said Martha; "but if you want her to think it"s Jenkins, you must put it down with a clatter. It takes a man to be clumsy."
The Boy walked over to the window. The mulberry-tree was not visible from the kitchen table.
"Don"t go there, Mr. Guy!" cried Martha. "Miss Christobel will see you, sir. This window, and the pantry, show from the garden. If you want to "ave a look at her, go through that door into the storeroom.
The Venetian blind is always down in there. There is one crack through which I----"
Martha stopped short, disconcerted.
"One crack through which you think I could see? Thank you, Martha,"
said the Boy, readily. "Hurry up with the tray."
He went into the store-room; found Martha"s c.h.i.n.k, and realized exactly what had been the extent of Martha"s view, during the last two days.
Then he bent his hungry young eyes on Christobel.
She was seated in a garden chair, her back to the house, her face towards the postern gate in the old red wall at the bottom of the garden. The rustic table, upon which he would soon deposit the tea-tray, was slightly behind and to the left of her. The sun shone through the mulberry leaves, glinting on the pure whiteness of her gown. She leaned her beautiful head back wearily. Her whole att.i.tude betokened fatigue. He could not see her face; but he felt sure her eyes were open; and he knew her eyes were on the gate.
The Boy"s lips moved. "Christobel," he whispered.
"Christobel--beloved?"
She was waiting; and he knew she was waiting for him.
Presently he dropped the lath of the Venetian blind, and turned to go.
But first he took out his pocket-book and fastened the lath which lifted most easily, to those above and below it, with halfpenny stamps.
He knew old Martha would take a hint from him. There must be no eyes on the mulberry-tree to-day.
In the kitchen the tray was ready; tea freshly made, thin bread-and-b.u.t.ter, cuc.u.mber sandwiches; hot b.u.t.tered-toast in perfection; cornflour buns, warranted to explode; all the things he liked most; and, best of all, cups for two. He grasped the tray firmly with both hands.
"Martha," he said, "you are a jewel! I give you leave to watch me down the lawn from the kitchen window. But when I have safely arrived, turn your attention to your own tea, or I shall look up and shake my fist at your dear nice old face. And, I say, Martha, do you ever write postcards? Because, if you want any ha"penny stamps, you will find some on the storeroom blind. Only, _don"t want them_, Martha, till this week is over, and I am gone."
Whereupon the Boy lifted the tray, and made for the door.
Down the lawn he bore it, and set it safely on the rustic table. He was very deft of movement, was the Boy; yet, remembering his instructions, he contrived to set it down with something of a clatter.
Miss Charteris did not turn her head Her eyes, half closed beneath the long lashes, were on the postern gate.
"Jenkins?" she said.
"Yes, ma"am," replied the Boy, in excellent imitation of the meek tones of Jenkins.
"Should any one call this afternoon, Jenkins, please remember that I am not "at home.""
"Hip, hip, hurrah!" said the Boy.
Then she turned--and her face was all, and more than all, he had hoped it might be.
"Oh, Boy," she said. "Oh, Boy dear!"
After that, it was a very happy tea. Neither had been quite natural, nor had they been really true to themselves, the day before; so the delight of meeting seemed to follow a longer parting than the actual twenty-four hours. The Boy"s brown eyes rested in tenderness on the hand that filled his cup, and she did not say "Don"t"; she merely smiled indulgently, and added the cream and sugar slowly, as if to let him do what he willed.
The hum of bees was in the garden; a sense of youth was in the air.
The sunbeams danced among the mulberry leaves.
The Boy insisted upon carrying back the tray, to do away at once with the possibility of interruption from Jenkins. Then he drew their chairs into the deeper shade of the mulberry-tree, a corner invisible from all windows. The Boy had learned a lesson while looking through the storeroom blind.
There they sat and talked, in calm content. It did not seem to matter much of what they spoke, so long as they could lie back facing one another; each listening to the voice which held so much more of meaning in it than the mere words it uttered; each looking into the eyes which had now become clear windows through which shone the soul.
Suddenly the Boy said: "How silly we were, the other day, to talk of the relative ages of our bodies. What do they matter? Our souls are the real you and I. And our souls are always the same age. Some souls are old--old from the first. I have seen an old soul look out of the eyes of a little child; and I have seen a young soul dance in the eyes of an old, old woman. You and I, thank G.o.d, have young souls, Christobel, and we shall be eternally young."