England -- Social life and customs -- 20th century -- Fiction; Mate selection -- Fiction; Young women -- Fiction
"Only three," replied Penelope. "Miss Mackarness and Geordie Smith and
Timothy. And Timothy was so unhappy when he heard he had married me
that I sent him away to Upwell, where there are more horses. But he’s
back now. And Miss Mackarness and Geordie Smith have sworn not to tell.
And I expect you not to ask them."
Bob snorted a little at this.
"Oh, all right, but I shall have to say where you are when I go back to
Spilsborough."
"Oh, you won’t," said Pen.
"I must," said Bob. "Bradstock is terribly worried about it now, and
thinks you’ve treated him badly, and the bishop is very curious, and he
asks questions in a way that it’s difficult not to answer somehow. And
besides there’s granny and all the rest. I say, do you know Gordon has
been speculating for me, and has made seventy thousand pounds for me?"
"You don’t say so?" cried Pen.
"I think it must be Gordon," said Bob. "When the shadow’s on that kid,
he looks rather like Gordon, if you can think of Gordon as a baby, which
is hard. But when I’m a duke, I shall rebuild Goring and pay off some
of the mortgages. Whoever you’ve married, I’m very grateful to you,
Pen, about Gordon and De Vere. De Vere bought the spotted dog I told
you of. I found Goby weeping with Ethel. That made me think it wasn’t
him. But now you say you’ve quarrelled with him, I’m not sure again. I
say, I’m very sleepy. May I stay to-night?"
"Of course," said Penelope. And then a brilliant idea struck her.
"Bob, you do love me, don’t you?"
"What rot! of course," said Bob.
"Then stay here altogether for a time," said Pen.
"By Jove, what fun!" cried Bob. "I’ll send ’em a wire, and I will. Can
Geordie go somewhere else but Spilsborough and send one?"
"Certainly," said Penelope. And it was arranged that Geordie should go
to Lincoln to send it from there. This is the telegram Bob sent to Lord
Bradstock:
"I have found Penelope. She won’t say who it is because she has
quarrelled with him, and she won’t let me come back yet. I will take
care of her. Tell grandmother and Guthrie. She quarrelled with him
because he said he was married to her. But the baby is not black."
And Bradstock swore. The bishop was too tired to swear, perhaps, but he
was very cross. So were all the others, including her husband.
*CHAPTER XXII.*
They had relied greatly upon Bob. The bishop, though rather bitter on
the subject of Bob, tried to be fair to him, and said he was a very
promising boy.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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