She got him to take her to Hampton Court. But they did not go into the gardens because they saw through the park gates that the chestnuts of Bushey Avenue were in full blossom; they went instead by the pond and up under the riotously flowering branches. A belated spring was coming now in a hurry, warm and brilliant. The trees were glorious. It was as if a bright green sea was splashing up warm creamy foam under a shower of cannon shots. The blue sky hummed with light.
“The spring has come fast now that it has begun to come,” she said.
He felt she had something to say and waited.
“I never know, Bobby—this year less than ever—whether spring is the happiest time in the year or the most miserably restless. Everybody and everything is falling in love.”
“I didn’t wait for spring,” said Bobby.
“But what of the frogs that can’t find water?” said Christina Alberta.
“There’s water where there are frogs,” said Bobby.
“Everybody is marrying and giving in marriage,” she said. “I thought—I thought—Dr. Devizes at least was an inconsolable widower. But the spring tides have caught even him. They catch everybody.”
“They’ve caught you?”
“I don’t know. I’m miserable, Bobby, and restless and all astir.”