But the precedent produced only a second envious sigh. “I wish I could do it. I guess I wasn’t brought up right.”
“’Tisn’t training; it’s heredity. You’re your father over again; will go your own way. I wash my hands of you.”
That charitable process known as “washing one’s hands of anybody” was, however, the last thing Mrs. Mills was capable of. The assertion simply marked a change of plan which, rising early next morning, she inaugurated when she caught Bull on his way to the stables.
Though he had sat next to her during the long pleasant evening that followed supper last night, the others’ presence had debarred private communications. Content to hear her voice running with Lee’s in happy chatter—so content, indeed, that he forgot for the time being the impending trouble—Bull had smoked furiously in the dusk till they retired to bed.
He listened, now, in silence while the widow told of Lee’s engagement. But the sudden lowering of his black brows was far more dangerous than any threat. She laid her hand on his arm in sudden alarm.
“Easy, my friend. Don’t be too quick. She isn’t married yet, and won’t be—if you leave it to me.”
More powerful than the plea was her gentle pressure. Apart from certain accidental contacts, before mentioned, which had caused him such pleasurable embarrassment, it was the first time she had actually touched him. Big, burly, black giant that he was, he still trembled like a school-girl; trembled so violently that she felt it and dropped both her hand and her eyes. Transferring the embarrassment to herself, that helped him mightily. He was the first to break a confused but happy silence.
“What do you want me to do?”
“Nothing, just now, except to let Gordon ride with me a piece of the way home.”
It was impossible to overlook his sudden disappointment. With characteristic frankness she did not wait for him to tell it. “I’d rather have you; there are so many things I want to consult you about. Dear me!” Her little vexed face was very comforting; it expressed such sincere feeling. “These young folks certainly do make one a lot of trouble. Betty wanted you so badly at my party—and so did I; but we just had to ask Gordon to help Lee out. But I’m going to settle this business right quick. And when it is all over—you will come and make us a real visit, won’t you?”