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Goodman then made him acquainted with a few of the best people, describing what they were in a whisper before they came up, among them being the Radical member for Markton, who had succeeded to the seat rendered vacant by the death of Paula's father.
Somerset, through being much occupied in the drawing-office, was seldom present during the consultations and rehearsals: until one day, tea being served in the drawing-room at the usual hour, he dropped in with the rest to receive a cup from Paula's table. The chatter was tremendous, and Somerset was at once consulted about some necessary carpentry which was to be specially made at Markton.
'You have a practice, I suppose, sir? 'I am not in practice just yet. 'Just beginning? 'I am about to begin. 'In London, or near here? 'In London probably. 'H'm.... I am practising in Markton. 'Indeed. Have you been at it long? 'Not particularly. I designed the chapel built by this lady's late father; it was my first undertaking I owe my start, in fact, to Mr. Power. Ever build a chapel?
When ladies, hitherto only beheld in frigid, impenetrable positions behind their coachmen in Markton High Street, were about to reveal their hidden traits, home attitudes, intimate smiles, nods, and perhaps kisses, to the public eye, it was a throwing open of fascinating social secrets not to be missed for money.
I am particularly anxious that she should not enter the town, for I think she once came to Markton in a starring company, and she might be recognized, and my plan be defeated. Thus she instructed her lover and devoted friend; and when he could stay no longer he left her in the garden to return to his studio.
To be her high-priest in art, to elaborate a structure whose cunning workmanship would be meeting her eye every day till the end of her natural life, and saying to her, 'He invented it, with all the eloquence of an inanimate thing long regarded this was no mean satisfaction, come what else would. On the tenth he reappeared at Markton.
On a windy afternoon in November, when more than two months had closed over the incidents previously recorded, a number of farmers were sitting in a room of the Lord-Quantock-Arms Inn, Markton, that was used for the weekly ordinary.
At this juncture our lounger discerned at one of the tables about the last person in the world he could have wished to encounter there. It was Dare, whom he had supposed to be a thousand miles off, hanging about the purlieus of Markton. Dare was seated beside a table in an attitude of application which seemed to imply that he had come early and engaged in this pursuit in a systematic manner.
Promising to call upon him at his lodgings De Stancy went indoors, and Dare briskly retraced his steps to Markton. When his footfall had died away, and the door of the house opposite had been closed, another man appeared upon the scene. He came gently out of the hedge opposite Myrtle Villa, which he paused to regard for a moment.
Bidding them a temporary farewell, he went away to Markton by a shorter path than that pursued by the De Stancys, and after spending the remainder of the afternoon preparing for departure, he sallied forth just before the dinner-hour towards the suburban villa. He had become yet more curious whether a Mrs. De Stancy existed; if there were one he would probably see her to-night.
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