“I desire not to ape the great: but—thinkest thou we might not have a prophet’s chamber in some corner at Selwick—the chamber over the east porch, belike?”
“Truly, if the prophet were to hand,” said Hans, looking as grave as if he were not secretly amused.
“The prophet is to hand rather than the chamber,” was the answer. “Couldst thou not guess I meant Mr Marshall?”
Hans had guessed it some seconds back.
“A good thought, truly,” he replied.
“That will I ask my grandmother,” said Aubrey.
It was the evening after Aubrey’s return to the White Bear when that proposal was suggested to Lady Louvaine. A light of gladness came to the dim blue eyes.
“My dear lad, how blessed a thought!” said she.
“But what should come of Mrs Agnes, then?” suggested Temperance.
“Oh, she could easily be fitted with some service,” answered Mrs Louvaine, who for once was not in a complaining mood. “Hans, you might ask of Mr Leigh if he know of any such, or maybe of some apprenticeship that should serve her. She can well work with the needle, and is a decent maid, that should not shame her mistress, were she not over high in the world.”