“You must drive your own ponies,” he said; and then he grew red, for it seemed to him an unlucky speech, as if he wished to remind her that in reality her money had bought them; but Esmeralda was not thinking of money, of her wealth and his poverty, at that moment, and did not notice his embarrassment. The ponies were fresh, and her whole attention was taken up by them at the time. A faint tinge of color came to her face, as it always did when she was riding or driving, and she seemed to forget for the moment the cloud that hung over her life. Trafford watched her management of the ponies with admiration, which was shared by the boy behind, who talked about it for an hour when he got back to the stables.
There is no lovelier county than Surrey, and Deepdale lies in one of the prettiest parts of it. Trafford thought how happy they would have been under other circumstances, if only Esmeralda had not made her fatal discovery. He remembered their drive to Shirley, and how he had put his arm round her and proposed to her. Why, he must have been in love with her then. What a double-dyed idiot and fool he must have been not to have known it! They were almost silent during the drive. They stopped at the nearest town.
“Don’t you want to buy something?” Trafford asked. “I’ve never known a woman go into a town without wanting to buy something.”
She looked round the drowsy place, with its shops prettily affecting a London air, and shook her head.
“I suppose I’m not so fond of buying things as most women,” she said. “Lady Wyndover used to say that I was uncanny and unnatural. I never seem to want anything.”
“Not some ribbon?” he said. “I thought women wanted ribbon every hour of the day.”
“I’ll buy some if you like,” she said; and she pulled up at the linen draper’s.
The shop-keeper and one of his assistants came out hurriedly to wait upon the great folk. Of course every one in the little place had heard and read of the great Marquis of Trafford, and of his rich and lovely bride, and felt that their presence in the county shed a luster upon it. Some ribbons were brought out and Esmeralda purchased some.
“I haven’t any money,” she said. The shop-keeper almost bowed himself to the ground.
“Certainly not, my lady,” he said. “We will put it down. If at any time your ladyship should want anything, we shall be happy to send one of our young men down to Deepdale.”