meal, presided with much composure. It may cause some surprise to learn
that, now her vagary was over, she showed herself to be an excellent
person with much common sense, and even a religious seriousness of tone
on matters pertaining to her afflictions.



CHAPTER VII: DICK MAKES HIMSELF USEFUL


The effect of Geoffrey's incidental allusions to Mr. Shiner was to
restrain a considerable flow of spontaneous chat that would otherwise
have burst from young Dewy along the drive homeward. And a certain
remark he had hazarded to her, in rather too blunt and eager a manner,
kept the young lady herself even more silent than Dick. On both sides
there was an unwillingness to talk on any but the most trivial subjects,
and their sentences rarely took a larger form than could be expressed in
two or three words.

Owing to Fancy being later in the day than she had promised, the
charwoman had given up expecting her; whereupon Dick could do no less
than stay and see her comfortably tided over the disagreeable time of
entering and establishing herself in an empty house after an absence of a
week. The additional furniture and utensils that had been brought (a
canary and cage among the rest) were taken out of the vehicle, and the
horse was unharnessed and put in the plot opposite, where there was some
tender grass. Dick lighted the fire already laid; and activity began to
loosen their tongues a little.

"There!" said Fancy, "we forgot to bring the fire-irons!"