And the Major sat down again, with a smile and a shake of his head, but relief plainly discernible in his face.
"They won't miss me," he said. "They never wait, for they say I'm always late."
"Do tell me what happened at lunch. That is, if it is not very inquisitive," Mrs. Norman said, re-seating herself in an easy chair opposite to him and stretching out her slender satin-slippered foot upon the fender.
"Oh, it was a tirade of my brother's against timber cutting. He refused to have that old elm touched!"
"The one that blocks that exquisite view? Oh, what an old duffer he is! Why don't you insist a little more upon your rights, Major? You are too good-natured, too easygoing. You have allowed your brother for so long to think of the house as his that he is an absolute tyrant regarding it."
"Well, you know," the Major said, uneasily twisting himself in his chair, "it is his virtually—he paid me a big sum, as I told you."
"Don't tell me any more," said Mrs. Norman impatiently, tapping her foot on the ground. "It is Jacob and Esau over again; making you sell your birthright! I don't mean to liken you to Esau, but I think the Admiral intensely mean in taking advantage of a young soldier's difficulties! Could he not have helped you out of those difficulties without making such a bargain? It would have been only brotherly to do it."
"I must say that I proposed it," said Major Urquhart. "You see, I was a gay young dog, had run through a lot—ah, well, best not talk about it."
"No, we won't. And, of course, as we said the other day, an estate, however small, cannot be handed over from one brother to another in such an easy illegal fashion. I am quite sure the Admiral in his heart realises that the house is yours, though you were ready to make such an amicable arrangement with him. Virtually, it does not matter much, as long as you are content to sink your own individuality and live together as you have been doing. But I must say I cannot bear to see you put aside as you are. You ought to have a voice in the management of your own place, and if a time ever came when you wanted to be master of it, you ought to have the pluck and stand up and tell them so. There! I have relieved my feelings, and I know it is most impertinent of me to give my opinion on such a private family matter. You must forgive me. But you are so kind and unselfish that you do not seem able to stand up for yourself, and it makes me angry. Now, shall we go in and have supper? I hear the bell, and we will talk of lighter subjects."
She chatted with great ease and graciousness; her supper table was dainty with flowers and well-kept silver; the soup, partridges, and sweet omelette that followed were well cooked, and the Major found himself wondering what he would feel like if he could sit down to dinner every day with this pretty vivacious little woman, who seemed to understand and feel for him in a way that no one else had ever done.