He could not avoid her. I do not say that he wished to do so, but he could not if he had wished it. They stood talking together for some time; of Thomas’s state; of this Calcutta prospect of George’s, for Janet had heard something of it from Lord Averil; and she questioned him closely on other subjects. It was growing quite night when Janet made a movement homewards, and George could do no less than attend her.
“I thought Bessy was with you,” he remarked, as they walked along.
“She is remaining an hour or two longer with Lady Godolphin; but it was time I came home to Thomas. When do you say you must sail, George?”
“The beginning of the year. My salary will commence with the first of January, and I ought to be off that day. I don’t know whether that will give Maria sufficient time for preparation.”
“Sufficient time!” repeated Miss Godolphin. “Will she want to take out a ship’s cargo? I should think she might be ready in a tithe of it. Shall you take the child?”
“Oh yes,” he hastily answered; “I could not go without Meta. And I am sure Maria would not consent to be separated from her. I hope Maria will not object to going on her own score.”
“Nonsense!” returned Janet. “She will have the sense to see that it is a remarkable piece of good fortune, far better than you had any right to expect. Let me recommend you to put by half your salary, George. It is a very handsome one, and you may do it if you will. Take a lesson from the past.”
“Yes,” replied George, with a twitch of conscience. “I wonder if the climate will try Maria?”
“I trust that the change will be good for her in all ways,” said Janet emphatically. “Depend upon it she will be only too thankful to turn her back on Prior’s Ash. She will not get strong as long as she stops in it, or so long as your prospects are uncertain, doing nothing, as you are now. I can’t make out, for my part, how you live.”
“You might easily guess that I have been helped a little, Janet.”