“Those bed-socks are too sweet,” said Miss Perry. “I should like to buy them for dearest papa, because his feet are always so cold in the winter. How much are they?”
“One guinea,” said Miss Hermia Hobson.
“You can get them cheaper than that at Slocum Magna,” said Miss Perry.
“Everything at this stall is one guinea,” said Miss Hermia Hobson, “except the antimacassars, and they are five, because they were out in India during the Mutiny.”
“Were they indeed!” said Cheriton, taking up a very fragile and faded article; “during the Mutiny. That is most interesting.”
“Don’t touch them, please,” said Miss Hermia Hobson. “They might easily come to pieces.”
“I think dearest papa would rather have the bed-socks,” said Miss Perry. “They are too sweet.”
Cheriton gallantly disbursed the sum of one guinea.
Miss Perry’s tour of the Sicilian village resulted in the acquisition of a rag-basket of a new and original pattern, which it appeared that Muffin had always wanted; a pocket-knife for Dickie; a fountain-pen for Charley; an album for Milly; a piece of lace for Polly; and a box of soldiers for the small son of Mrs. Crick who kept the post-office at Slocum Magna. A copy of “Persuasion” was purchased for Miss Burden, by the advice of Lord Cheriton; and a copy of “Law’s Serious Call” for Aunt Caroline, also by the advice of that nobleman. He himself was content with an orchid, which was fixed in his buttonhole by Miss Laetitia Champneys, Miss Burden holding the pin. Miss Perry had great difficulty in reconciling the respective claims of a rabbit, that was able to roll its eyes and move its ears, and a box of sweetmeats. Eventually she decided in favor of the latter. All the same, she felt that the former would undoubtedly have appealed to Tobias. But it might have a tendency to make him bloodthirsty.
Afternoon tea at Mrs. Lascelles’ stall, to the strains of Chicane’s Orchestral Cossacks, who had been specially engaged to appear in Sicily, was a delightful function. The Rector, the Rectoress, the Miss Champneys, and Lady Charlotte Greg all came together to the refreshment stall to partake of this stimulating and delightful beverage. The verger of Saint Agatha’s railed off a special table with a cord to keep the crowd from encroaching. It seemed that the Rector’s theory of the Grand Duchess had been overheard, and had immediately become rife with the general public. By now it had taken such a hold that Her Yellow-haired Magnificence in the Gainsborough hat was said to be the niece of the Czar.