'Do! It would be a great kindness. He is really very much of a gentle—' where she awkwardly stopped, and caught herself up, colouring to the ears.
'Which cannot be said of all medical students,' said Felix, greatly helping her out.
'No! And as Tom could not come himself, he has given me a precious little box to carry, which the post would squash. Don't be afraid; it isn't the plague, or the small-pox, or anything—'
'I thought of going to Ewmouth this afternoon if you like the drive,' said Cherry.
'You don't trust me! You want to be rid of Pandora's box.'
Of course there was more fun about it, resulting in the timid being only half certified that it contained only some slides of glass; but Lance took his part in the teasing, nor did he forget—what Cherry took care to tell him on her return—that Gertrude had shaken hands cordially with the chemist under the very shadow of his purple jars.
Gertrude's spirits were not much affected by her niece's illness; and she had been so seldom from home, that this was a new experience, from which she derived as much freshness as she brought. The Squire was always her hero, and with him she was always on her best behaviour, as if trying to redeem her performance on the Kitten's Tail; while he treated her—like all his sisters' friends—with the gentle playful courtesy that had first begun with Alice Knevett. A musical evening seemed to have thoroughly fitted her in among the inhabitants, and in the forenoon she repaired quite naturally to Cherry's painting-room.
'That's right, I have designs on you.'
'Me, myself me, or in character?'
'In character. I catch every one. One gets so tame and unreal without fact.'