Bessie's jaw dropped, she was keenly disappointed, and she looked, Jack thought, in the pink of condition, more so than usual.
"I hope it's a good appointment, Jack," Mrs Bevengton said; she was disappointed too.
"A quid a week," he answered, bluntly, looking at her steadily.
Her jaw dropped also. "Oh, but I suppose it will lead on to better things."
"Twenty-five bob at the end of six months," he said, with rather a cynical little smile. Out of the tail of his eye he regarded Bessie, she had flushed a deep red at the mention of his microscopical salary. She seemed more matured, her manner impressed him with a sense of responsibility, an air of definiteness that appealed to him immensely; he saw now that her lips closed suddenly. She had made up her mind to something.
"Come on out for a walk, Jack," she said. "I haven't had a look round the old place for nearly a year. We shall be back to tea, mother."
She got her hat and they walked briskly down the pleasant village street in the glorious spring sunshine; every one they passed greeted them with civility and respect. Jack regarded them with pleasure; he told Bessie they were the stiffest, hardest, and most genuinely civil crowd he had ever encountered. "Perhaps I'm biassed," he said, "but I like men and these chaps appeal to me more than any others I've met so far."
They turned across the fields and went more slowly. "I've been having a good time, Jack, while I've been away."
"So I expect," he answered.
"Well, I've been to a lot of dances and parties and theatres, etc. I suppose I've enjoyed it—in a way."