He
made no comment, nor of course did she. He would probably forget it
till the date of his son's marriage was announced, and then complete
it in a hurry.
Take the farms and the park. As to the farms there were two
summonses now pending against him with regard to 'farms in
hand'--Holme Wood and another--besides the action in the case of the
three incompetent men, Gregson at their head, who were being turned
out. With regard to ploughing up the park, all his attempts so far
to put legal difficulties in the way of the County Committee had
been quite futile. The steam plough was coming in a week. Meanwhile
the gates were to be locked, and two old park-keepers, who were
dithering in their shoes, had been told to defend them.
At bottom, Elizabeth was tolerably convinced that the Squire would
not land himself in gaol, cut off from his books and his bronzes,
and reduced to the company of people who had never heard of
Pausanias. But she was alarmed lest he should 'try it on' a little
too far, in these days when the needs of war and the revolutionary
currents abroad make the setting down of squires especially
agreeable to the plebeians who sit on juries or county committees.
Pages:
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163