'I hope you don't think me ungrateful,' said Bernard.
'No, I do not; but I think you unmindful. I have nothing more to say about it, however;—not about that. If you should marry—' And then he stopped himself, feeling that he could not go on in Bell's presence.
'If he should marry,' said Mrs Dale, 'it may well be that his wife would like a house of her own.'
'Wouldn't she have this house?' said the squire, angrily. 'Isn't it big enough? I only want one room for myself, and I'd give up that if it were necessary.'
'That's nonsense,' said Mrs Dale.
'It isn't nonsense,' said the squire.
'You'll be squire of Allington for the next twenty years,' said Mrs Dale. 'And as long as you are the squire, you'll be master of this house; at least, I hope so. I don't approve of monarchs abdicating in favour of young people.'
'I don't think Uncle Christopher would look at all well like Charles the Fifth,' said Lily.
'I would always keep a cell for you, my darling, if I did,' said the squire, regarding her with that painful, special tenderness. Lily, who was sitting next to Mrs Dale, put her hand out secretly and got hold of her mother's, thereby indicating that she did not intend to occupy the cell offered to her by her uncle; or to look to him as the companion of her monastic seclusion. After that there was nothing more then said as to Bernard's prospects.
'Mrs Hearn is dining at the vicarage, I suppose?' asked the squire.
'Yes; she went in after church,' said Bell. 'I saw her go with Mrs Boyce.'
'She told me she never would dine with them again after dark in winter,' said Mrs Dale. 'The last time she was there, the boy let the lamp blow out as she was going home, and she lost her way. The truth was, she was angry because Mr Boyce didn't go with her.'
'She's always angry,' said the squire. 'She hardly speaks to me now. When she paid her rent the other day to Jolliffe, she said she hoped it would do me much good; as though she thought me a brute for taking it.'
'So she does,' said Bernard.
'She's very old, you know,' said Bell.
'I'd give her the house for nothing, if I were you, uncle,' said Lily.
'No, my dear; if you were me you would not. I should be very wrong to do so. Why should Mrs Hearn have her house for nothing, any more than her meat or her clothes? It would be much more reasonable were I to give her so much money into her hand yearly; but it would be wrong in me to do so, seeing that she is not an object of charity;—and it would be wrong in her to take it.'
'And she wouldn't take it,' said Mrs Dale.
'I don't think she would. But if she did, I'm sure she would grumble because it wasn't double the amount. And if Mr Boyce had gone home with her, she would have grumbled because he walked too fast.'
'She is very old,' said Bell, again.
'But, nevertheless, she ought to know better than to speak disparagingly of me to my servants. She should have more respect for herself.' And the squire showed by the tone of his voice that he thought very much about it.
It was very long and very dull that Christmas evening, making Bernard feel strongly that he would be very foolish to give up his profession, and tie himself down to a life at Allington. Women are more accustomed than men to long, dull, unemployed hours; and, therefore, Mrs Dale and her daughters bore the tedium courageously. While he yawned, stretched himself, and went in and out of the room, they sat demurely, listening as the squire laid down the law on small matters, and contradicting him occasionally when the spirit of either of them prompted her specially to do so. 'Of course you know much better than I do,' he would say. 'Not at all,' Mrs Dale would answer. 'I don't pretend to know anything about it. But—' So the evening wore itself away; and when the squire was left alone at half-past nine, he did not feel that the day had passed badly with him. That was his style of life, and he expected no more from it than he got. He did not look to find things very pleasant, and, if not happy, he was, at any rate, contented.
'Only think of Johnny Eames being at Guestwick Manor!' said Bell, as they were going home.
'I don't see why he shouldn't be there,' said Lily. 'I would rather it should be he than I, because Lady Julia is so grumpy.'
