Janet's Love and Service Part 89

"I am pleased to make your acquaintance, Mr Millar. I hope I see you wed," said Miss Lovejoy, with benignity. If Mr Millar was not quite equal to the occasion, Miss Lovejoy was, and she said exactly what was proper to be said in the circ.u.mstances, and neither Graeme nor Rose needed to say anything till they got into the house again.

"There! that is over," said Rose, with a sigh of relief.

"The getting of the yeast?" said Graeme, laughing.

"Yes, and the pacification of Miss Lovejoy."

It was not quite over, however, Graeme thought in the morning. For Rose seemed to think it necessary to give a good deal of her time to household matters, whether it was still with a view to the good humour of Hannah or not, was not easy to say. But she could only give a divided attention to their visitor, and to the account of all that he and Will had done and enjoyed together. Graeme and he walked up and down the garden for a while, and when Mrs Snow had risen, and was in the sitting-room, they came and sat down beside her, and, after a time, Rose came too. But it was Graeme who asked questions, and who drew Mr Millar out, to tell about their adventures, and misadventures, and how Will had improved in all respects, and how like his father all the old people thought him. Even Mrs Snow had more to say than Rose, especially when he went on to tell about Clayton, and the changes that had taken place there.

"Will fancied, before he went, that he remembered all the places distinctly; and was very loth to confess that he had been mistaken. I suppose, that his imagination had had as much to do with his idea of his native place, as his memory, and when, at last, we went down the glen where your mother used to live, and where he distinctly remembered going to see her with you, not long before you all came away, he acknowledged as much. He stepped across the burn at the widest part, and then he told me, laughing, that he had always thought of the burn at that place, as being about as wide as the Merle river, just below the mill bridge, however wide that may be. It was quite a shock to him, I a.s.sure you.

And then the kirk, and the manse, and all the village, looked old, and small, and queer, when he came to compare them with the pictures of them he had kept in his mind, all these years. The garden he remembered, and the lane beyond it, but I think the only things he found quite as he expected to find them, were the laburnum trees, in that lane," and on Charlie went, from one thing to another, drawn on by a question, put now and then by Graeme, or Mrs Snow, whenever he made a pause.

But all that was said need not be told here. By and by, he rose and went out, and when he came back, he held an open book on his hand, and on one of its open pages lay a spray of withered ivy, gathered, he said, from the kirkyard wall, from a great branch that hung down over the spot where their mother lay. And when he had laid it down on Graeme's lap, he turned and went out again.

"I mind the spot well," said Mrs Snow, softly.

"I mind it, too," said Graeme.

Rose did not "mind" it, nor any other spot of her native land, nor the young mother who had lain so many years beneath the drooping ivy. But she stooped to touch with her lips, the faded leaves that spoke of her, and then she laid her cheek down on Graeme's knee, and did not speak a word, except to say that she had quite forgotten all.

By and by, Mr Snow came in, and something was said about showing Merleville to their visitor, and so arranging matters that time should be made to pa.s.s pleasantly to him.

"Oh! as to that, he seems no' ill to please," said Mrs Snow. "Miss Graeme might take him down to the village to Mr Greenleaf's and young Mr Merle's, if she likes; but, as to letting him see Merleville, I think the thing that is of most importance is, that all Merleville should see him."

"There is something in that. I don't suppose Merleville is any more to him than any other place, except that Harry and the rest had their home here, for a spell. But all the Merleville folks will want to see _him_, I expect."

Rose laughingly suggested that a town meeting should be called for the purpose.

"Well, I calculate that won't be necessary. If he stays over Sunday, it will do as well. The folks will have a chance to see him at meeting, though, I suppose it won't be best to tell him so, before he goes. Do you suppose he means to stay over Sunday, Rosie?"

"I haven't asked him," said Rose.

"It will likely depend on how he is entertained, how long he stays,"

said Mrs Snow. "I daresay he will be in no hurry to get home, for a day or two. And Rosie, my dear, you must help your sister to make it pleasant for your brother's friend."

"Oh! he's no' ill to please, as you said yourself," answered Rose.

It was well that he was not, or her failure to do her part in the way of amusing him, might have sooner fallen under general notice. They walked down to the village in the afternoon, first to Mr Merle's, and then to Mr Greenleaf's. Here, Master Elliott at once took possession of Rose, and they went away together, and nothing more was seen of them, till tea had been waiting for some time. Then they came in, and Mr Perry came with them. He stayed to tea, of course, and made himself agreeable, as he always did, and when they went home, he said he would walk with them part of the way. He had most of the talk to himself, till they came to the foot of the hill, when he bade them, reluctantly, good-night. They were very quiet the rest of the way, and when they reached home, the sisters went up-stairs at once together, and though it was quite dark, neither of them seemed in a great hurry to go down again.

"Rose," said Graeme, in a little, "where ever did you meet Mr Perry this afternoon? And why did you bring him to Mr Greenleaf's with you?"

"I did not bring him to Mr Greenleaf's. He came of his own free will.

And I did not meet him anywhere. He followed us down past the mill. We were going for oak leaves. Elliott had seen some very pretty ones there, and I suppose Mr Perry had seen them, too. Are you coming down, Graeme?"

"In a little. Don't wait for me, if you wish to go."

"Oh! I am in no haste," said Rose, sitting down by the window. "What are you going to say to me, Graeme?"

But if Graeme had anything to say, she decided not to say it then.

"I suppose we ought to go down."

Rose followed her in silence. They found Mr and Mrs Snow alone.

"Mr Millar has just stepped out," said Mr Snow. "So you had the minister to-night, again, eh, Rosie? It seems to me, he is getting pretty fond of visiting, ain't he?"

Rose laughed.

"I am sure that is a good thing. The people will like that, won't they?"

"The people he goes to see will, I don't doubt."

"Well, we have no reason to complain. He has given us our share of his visits, always," said Mrs Snow, in a tone that her husband knew was meant to put an end to the discussion of the subject. Graeme was not so observant, however.

"It was hardly a visit he made at Mr Greenleaf's to-night. He came in just, before tea, and left when we left, immediately after. He walked with us to the foot of the hill."

"He was explaining to Elliott and me the chemical change that takes place in the leaves, that makes the beautiful autumn colours we were admiring so much," said Rose. "He is great in botany and chemistry, Elliott says."

And then it came out how he had crossed the bridge, and found them under the oak trees behind the mill, and what talk there had been about the sunset and the leaves, and a good deal more. Mr Snow turned an amused yet doubtful look from her to his wife; but Mrs Snow's closely shut lips said so plainly, "least said soonest mended," that he shut his lips, too.

It would have been as well if Graeme had done so, also she thought afterwards; but she had made up her mind to say something to her sister that night, whether she liked it or not, and so standing behind her, as she was brus.h.i.+ng out her hair, she said,--

"I think it was rather foolish in Mr Perry to come to Mr Greenleaf's to-night, and to come away with us afterwards."

"Do you think so?" said Rose.

"Yes. And I fancied Mr and Mrs Greenleaf thought so, too. I saw them exchanging glances more than once."

"Did you? It is to be hoped the minister did not see them."

"Merleville people are all on the watch--and they are so fond of talking. It is not at all nice, I think."

"Oh, well, I don't know. It depends a little on what they say," said Rose, knotting up her hair. "And I don't suppose Mr Perry will hear it."

"I have commenced wrong," said Graeme to herself. "But I must just say a word to her, now I have began. It was of ourselves I was thinking, Rose--of you, rather. And it is not nice to be talked, about. Rosie, tell me just how much you care about Mr Perry."

"Tell me just how much _you_ care about him, dear," said Rose.

"I care quite enough for him, to hope that he will not be annoyed or made unhappy. Do you really care for him, Rosie?"

"Do you, Graeme?"

"Rose, I am quite in earnest. I see--I am afraid the good foolish man wants you to care for him, and if you don't--"

"Well, dear--if I don't?"

"If you don't, you must not act so that he may fancy you do, Rose. I think there is some danger in his caring for you."

"He cares quite as much for you as he cares for me, Graeme, and with better reason."