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I think it would kill me if you ever thought I was marrying Mr. Baxter for money for myself. . . . And you'll forget me in time, dear lad at least, I'm afraid you will. That's foolish, isn't it? foolish and weak; but I couldn't bear you to forget me altogether. Just once or twice you'll think of me, and the Blue Bird that we kept for one day in the roses at Sonning.
How haunted are your shadowy vistas with the ghosts of laughing faces! how from your whispering leaves there softly fall the voices of long ago! From Marlow up to Sonning is even fairer yet.
Then one must add Sonning, Wargreave, Tilehurst, Chertsey, Egham, Cobham, Richmond, Ham, Mortlake, Sheen, Kew, Chiswick, Staines, etc., of which many of the most important, such as Staines, are full manorial possessions.
They say it is always handed over to the nearest wax-works show. Shiplake is a pretty village, but it cannot be seen from the river, being upon the hill. Tennyson was married in Shiplake Church. The river up to Sonning winds in and out through many islands, and is very placid, hushed, and lonely.
The four-inch dog acted as valve this morning. Somebody had trodden on His Dogship; some unfortunate biped born to ill-luck. In and about Sonning to tread on a dog or to cause any animal unnecessary pain is looked upon as an unforgiveable crime. Dogs are made to be hugged and coddled and given the best cushion in the boat. "A man, a girl, and a dog" is as common as "a man, a punt, and an inn."
Then there is a lull, just as there was in the case of Pangbourne, and a continuity that lasts throughout the eighteenth century. But just as a tradition began to form it was broken, and in the first years of the nineteenth century Sonning is sold to the Palmers. Parallel to the rise of the squires and their capture of English government has gone the development of the English town system.
Spread out on the grass lay eight canvases, all of one size, and each one containing a picture of the old brick bridge. "But why eight all alike?" I asked in astonishment. "Because I can't sell anything else. I am known as the Sonning Bridge painter. I've been at it for twenty years."
The ruins, still carefully preserved, show its extent and fine Norman architecture. The Thames flows on past Sonning, where the Kennet joins it, a stream "for silver eels renowned," as Pope tells us. Then the Lodden comes in from the south, and we enter the fine expanse of Henley Reach, famous for boat-racing.
If he isn't at Sonning you will hear of him at Cookham or Marlowe or London but find him wherever he is. He will prolong your life and loosen every button on your waistcoat. Fin is the unexpected, the ever-bubbling, and the ever-joyous; restless as a school-boy ten minutes before recess, quick as a grasshopper and lively as a cricket.
Thenceforward I was simply a passenger depending on his strong right arm for guidance, and at luncheon-hour upon his alert and nimble, though slightly incurved, legs for sustenance, the inn being often a mile away from my subject. And the inns! or rather my own particular inn the White Hart at Sonning.
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