United States or Yemen ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
"That's where the girl's infernal insolence comes in." I read: "This obstacle, though under the present circumstances an absolute bar, is fortunately remedial." "I wish Lalage would be more careful," I said, "she ought to have written 'remediable. However her meaning is quite plain." "It gets plainer further on," said Thormanby grinning.
"If she does," I said, "she can't do anything very bad." It turned out it always does that my mother was right and I was wrong. The next morning at breakfast a note was handed to me by the footman. He said it had been brought over from Thormanby Park by a groom on horseback. It was marked "Urgent" in red ink. Thormanby acts at times in a violent and impulsive manner.
You have been long acquainted with her, and will recognize in her a lady peculiarly well suited to share an episcopal throne." Thormanby became almost purple in the face as I read out the final sentences of the letter. I saw that he was struggling with some strong emotion and suspected that he wanted very much to laugh. If he did he suppressed the desire manfully.
"You guessed that before I started." There was a short pause during which I ate some of the cold pie and found out that it was made, partly at least, of veal. Then my mother asked another question: "Has she hit on anything unexpected?" "Quite. She wants Thormanby to insist on the Archdeacon marrying Miss Battersby." Even my mother was startled. She gave utterance to an exclamation.
The Dutch bureau, if it is Dutch, is most uncomfortable to write at. There was no use, however, wrangling about details. I brought forward the one strong objection to the plan which occurred to me at the moment. "Has my uncle been consulted?" I asked. "From what I know of Thormanby I should say he's not at all likely to agree to my spending my life in writing poetry."
"All the parsons there are, and some dear old country gentlemen of blameless lives. Just the people really to appreciate Lalage." "We shall have more trouble," said Miss Pettigrew. "Plenty," I said. "And Thormanby will be in the thick of it. He won't find it so easy to wash his hands this time." "Nor will you," said Miss Pettigrew smiling, but I think maliciously.
"Thormanby," I said, "has been employed all morning in writing letters and appealing telegrams to Miss Petti-grew; but even if she comes it will be too late." "I hope Miss Battersby hasn't been told." "Not by Lalage. She felt that there would be a certain want of delicacy about mentioning the subject to her before the Archdeacon had spoken." My mother sighed.
I could see that the thought of the Archdeacon's wrath did not frighten her. I should have been surprised if it had. After facing Thormanby in the morning the Archdeacon would seem nothing. I adopted another line. "Are you perfectly certain," I said, "about that text? Don't you think that if it's really in the Bible the Archdeacon would have seen it?"
He flung a typewritten sheet of foolscap at me. I picked my way carefully among the red and black crosses until I came to the violet asterisk. "No. 15. 'A bishop must be the husband of one wife' I Tim: III." "That's rather a poser," I said, "if true. It seems to me to put the Archdeacon out of the running straight off." "No. It doesn't," said Thormanby.
She has a sense of humour, and like all people who are capable of laughing themselves, takes a pleasure in telling good stories. It was my uncle, Lord Thormanby, who was mainly responsible for my private crisis. My mother, I daresay, goaded him on; but he has always taken the credit for arranging that I should join the British embassy in Lisbon as a kind of unpaid attaché.
Word Of The Day