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Updated: June 6, 2025
He came towards us upon seeing us, and said in his rough, kindly way that he hoped we would not take it amiss if he sent us up a dish of shrimps for our tea at Branksome. "I aye make a good catch before a storm," he remarked. "You think there is going to be a storm, then?" I asked. "Why, even a marine could see that," he answered, sticking a great wedge of tobacco into his cheek.
"They are kisses which are not at your disposal," answered the lady, but she looked at Fellowes. "Gad! I believe you may have the kiss without the trouble of earning it, Fellowes," laughed Branksome. "I can go bail for the goods." Mistress Dearmer pouted, but the laugh was against her until Fellowes came to the rescue. "You shall have a sonnet," he said. "You may pay if you think it worthy."
"That depends," said Martin, advancing into the hall with a step which appeared to time itself with some unheard rhythm. "That depends on who it is who hears it. Good news for those who hate King James; bad for those who love priests and popery. How can such a mad fool as I am, Sir Philip Branksome, guess to which side so many gallant gentlemen and fair ladies may lean?"
"Women must be carried by assault, gloriously, as a besieged city is," roared Branksome from the other end of the room. "The lover who attempts to starve them into surrender is a fool, and gets ridiculed for his pains. What do you say, Rosmore?" "Nothing. There are many ladies who can explain my methods better than I can." Mrs. Dearmer laughed, and desired a lesson forthwith.
She was proud also, ay, very proud, of the rich brocaded silk in which it was her custom to ruffle through her drawing-room. We know what was the custom of the lady of Branksome "Nine and twenty knights of fame Hung their shields in Branksome Hall." The lady of Ullathorne was not so martial in her habits, but hardly less costly.
It is enough if I say that after our engagement the visits to Branksome became more frequent, and that our friends were able sometimes to spend a whole day with us when business had called the general to Wigtown, or when his gout confined him to his room.
Sir Philip Branksome had left Aylingford full of the doughty deeds which were to be done by him, but it was whispered that he was still in London, talking loudly in coffee-house and tavern.
A burst of laughter followed her withdrawal. "You must be a Puritan in disguise, Abbot John, to have such a niece," said Mrs. Dearmer; and then she turned and whispered something into the ear of Sir Philip Branksome that might have made him blush had he been capable of such a thing. Sir John seemed mightily entertained at the lady's suggestion.
One little lighted house looked much like another perched on the mountainside, and the wooden board painted 'Branksome Hall, Maj.-Gen. T.P. Worsley, R.E., nailed to the most conspicuous tree from the main road, was invisible in the darkness.
Slowly and surely, but very placidly, she has declined in health and strength, until it is evident that in a very few weeks at the most she will have rejoined her husband and restored to him the one thing which he must have grudged to leave behind. The Laird of Branksome came home from Italy restored in health, with the result that we were compelled to return once more to Edinburgh.
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