a tradition in the servants’ hall that, in the late Squire’s time—he who had been plucked at college—the library-windows had been boarded up to avoid paying the window-tax. But, when the “young gentlemen” were at home, the housemaid, without a single direction to that effect, was regular in her charge of this room; opened the windows and lighted fires daily, and dusted the handsomely-bound volumes, which were really a very fair collection of the standard literature in the middle of the last century. All the books that had been purchased since that time were held in small book-cases between each two of the drawing- room windows, and in Mrs. Hamley’s own sitting-room upstairs. Those in the drawing-room were quite enough to employ Molly; indeed, she was so deep in one of Sir Walter Scott’s novels that she jumped as if she had been shot, when, an hour or so after breakfast, the Squire came to the gravelpath outside one of the windows, and called to ask her if she would like to come out-of-doors and go about the garden and home fields with him.
“It must be a little dull for you, my girl, all by yourself, with nothing but books to look at, in the mornings here; but, you see, madam has a fancy for being quiet in the mornings: she told your father about it, and so did I; but I felt sorry for you all the same, when I saw you sitting on the ground all alone in the drawing- room.”
Molly had been in the very middle of the “Bride of Lammermoor,” and would gladly have stayed indoors to finish it; but she felt the Squire’s kindness all the same. They went in and out of old-fashioned green- houses, over trim lawns; the Squire unlocked the great walled kitchen-garden, and went about giving directions to gardeners; and all the time Molly followed him like a little dog, her mind quite full of Ravenswood and Lucy Ashton. Presently, every place near the house had been inspected and regulated, and the Squire was more at liberty to give his attention to his companion, as they passed through the little wood that separated the gardens from the adjoining fields. Molly, too, plucked away her thoughts from the seventeenth century; and, somehow or other, that question, which had so haunted her before, came out of her lips before she was aware—a literal impromptu—
“Who did people think papa would marry? That time —long ago—soon after mamma died?”
She dropped her voice very soft and low, as she spoke the last words. The Squire turned round upon her, and looked at her face, he knew not why. It was very grave, a little pale, but her steady eyes almost commanded some kind of answer.
“Whew,” said he, whistling to gain time; not that he had anything definite to say, for no one had ever had any reason to join Mr. Gibson’s name with any known lady; it was only a loose conjecture that had been hazarded on the probabilities—a young widower, with a little girl.
“I never heard of any one—his name was never coupled with any lady’s—’twas only in the nature of things that he should marry again; he may do it yet, for aught I know, and I don’t think it would be a bad move either. I told him so, the last time but one he was here.”
“And what did he say?” asked breathless Molly.
“Oh: he only smiled and said nothing. You shouldn’t take up words so seriously, my dear. Very likely he may never think of marrying again; and, if he did, it would be a very good thing both for him and for you!”
Molly muttered something, as if to herself, but the Squire might have heard it if he had chosen. As it was, he wisely turned the current of the conversation.
“Look at that!” he said, as they suddenly came upon the mere, or large pond. There was a small island in the middle of the glassy water, on which grew tall trees, dark Scotch firs in the centre, silvery shimmering willows close to the water’s edge. “We must get you punted over there, some of these days. I’m not fond of using the boat at this time of the year, because the young birds are still in the nests among the reeds and water-plants; but we’ll go. There are coots and grebes.”