‘It was very natural, I’m sure,’ replied Mrs. Banneret. ‘Riding or driving all day, by one’s self, is rather dull. Bishop Percy and his wife, a charming woman, travelled in all weathers, through the diocese, in a dog-cart. She used to read aloud while he drove.’
‘I remember them quite well,’ said Hermione, ‘when they stopped at our old station. I was quite a small child. They had no children. You couldn’t have done that, mother, though you would have liked it, I know.’
‘Indeed I should, but you tiresome children came in the way of that and many other recreations. What do you say at cricket when the innings is over? “Next man in”—isn’t it? I think mine is over, and that we should call upon Corisande for a contribution, and then adjourn any other intellectual exercise to a future occasion.’
[386]
]This motion, being put to the vote, was carried, and the young lady in question, being entreated not to delay the movement of the pilgrimage, graciously consented, remarking: ‘I am very fond of birds, so all my friends will understand the reason why I volunteer to give
‘THE REVERIE OF POOR SUSAN
‘At the corner of Wood Street, when daylight appears,
Hangs a thrush that sings loud, it has sung for three years:
Poor Susan has passed by the spot, and has heard
In the silence of morning the song of the bird.
‘’Tis a note of enchantment; what ails her? She sees