“The little room? Which do you mean?”
“Oh, that is all changed now, of course. Mr. Mearely—when he bought Villa Rose—had it enlarged and built out, taking in all that bend of the verandah. It is your music room now. Jack was a good deal of trouble, you may know!” She laughed. “But he loved my husband and was constantly showing his gratitude, so that I never minded when he upset things.”
“And he didn’t like Roseborough? You could forgive such sacrilege?”
“One forgave Jack everything. He made very few intimates. Indeed, I doubt if he had any besides ourselves. He loved Nature, books, and solitude. He was elusive and shy, I think. For instance I remember that one day while we three were chatting over a cup of chocolate we saw dear Mrs. Witherby and her aged uncle—the late Reverend Dr. Cumming-Shaw of Trenton Waters—drive up to the door. As I turned back from greeting them, I saw one leg of Jack’s fustian trousers and a bare foot disappearing over the back fence. The worst of it was, he had taken the cake with him and I had nothing but crackers to offer the poor dear old vicar, who died almost immediately after of bronchitis. It was really whooping-cough.”
“Wicked, careless lady! They weren’t crackers. You gave him dog-biscuit by mistake and he barked himself to death.”
Mrs. Lee shook a stern forefinger at her irreverent guest.
“You say shocking things. What I mean to show by my little anecdote is that Jack ... well ... that was, in general, Jack’s attitude toward Roseborough.”
Rosamond burst out laughing.
“His attitude? A barefoot kick over the back fence? Oh, Mrs. Lee!”
“How very naughty you are this morning! To twist my words so! I shall always maintain that it was shyness which made Jack avoid all intimacy with those who would have received him for my husband’s sake. They did know, later, that he had left the college abruptly, just because the desire to wander was so strong in him; and that, too, after Professor Lee had succeeded in having him appointed to teach minor subjects. They were most indignant—even those who did not know him at all.”