Chapter II

Georgina's Playmate Mother



As the Towncrier's revery brought him around to Mrs. Triplett's part in
the painful scene which he was recalling, he heard her voice, and looking
up, saw that she had come back into the room, and was standing by the
window.

"There's Justin's wife now, Mr. Darcy, coming up the beach. Poor child,
she didn't get her letter. I can tell she's disappointed from the way she
walks along as if she could hardly push against the wind."

The old man, leaning sideways over the arm of his chair, craned his neck
toward the window to peer out, but he did it without dislodging Georgina,
who was repeating the "tick-tick" of the watch in a whisper, as she lay
contentedly against the Towncrier's shoulder.

"She's naught but a slip of a girl," he commented, referring to
Georgina's mother, slowly drawing into closer view. "She must be years
younger than Justin. She came up to me in the post-office last week and
told me who she was, and I've been intending ever since to get up this
far to talk with her about him."