“That’s because you’re a cynic! I think it makes all the difference. Robin and I are a concrete example of it. We’ve always wanted to live together—we hung on to the thought in our minds all the time circumstances kept us apart. And now, you see, here we are—doing precisely what we wanted to do.”
“I see that you’re a very good advocate,” he replied smiling. And then Robin came out of the house and joined them and the conversation drifted away on to more general lines.
It was late in the afternoon before Coventry finally proposed taking his way homeward—so late that Robin suggested he might as well make it still later and stay to dinner with them. Rather to Ann’s surprise he consented, and, in spite of his assertion, earlier on, that he “preferred his own company,” he seemed thoroughly to enjoy the little home-like dîner à trois. There was something about the cosy room and the gay, good-humoured chaff and laughter of brother and sister which conveyed a sense of welcome—partaking of that truest kind of hospitality which creates no special atmosphere of ceremony for a guest but encompasses him with a frank, informal friendliness.
Perhaps, as Maria moved briskly in and out, changing the plates and dishes, and not forbearing to smile benignly upon her young master and mistress if she chanced to catch the eye of one or other of them, some swift perception of the pleasant, simple homeliness of it all woke Eliot to comparisons, for just as he was leaving he said with characteristic abruptness:
“Thank you both immensely. To-night’s been a great contrast to my usual evenings in that great empty barrack of a dining-room at Heronsmere.”
Unconsciously he spoke out of a great loneliness, and Ann’s heart ached for this supremely hurt and bitter soul which sought security from further hurt behind the iron barriers of a self-imposed reserve and solitude.
Presently the sweet summer dusk, fragrant of herb and flower, enfolded them as they stood together at the Cottage gate. A sudden silence had fallen between them. Ann tried to break it, utter some commonplace, but no words would come. At length he held out his hand, and, as hers slid within it, he spoke with a curiously tender gravity.
“Good-bye,” he said. “Don’t let the cynics spoil the world for you. I hope you’ll find your happy garden—whoever doesn’t.”
“I hope every one will, some day,” she answered rather low. Somehow her voice didn’t seem very manageable. “Even cynics.”
“I’m afraid I’ve missed the way there.” Still holding her hand in his, he stared down at her with an odd, tense expression in his eyes. “Ann, do you think I shall ever find it again?”