Beth Andrews by St. Georgeand the Dragon

Author:St. Georgeand the Dragon
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Published: 0101-01-01T00:00:00+00:00

Chapter Twelve

The trio at the lodge were curiously quiet the next morning. Each man had his respective nose buried in a book which seemed to absorb all his attention, so that conversation had ceased entirely. Mrs Plummer remained upstairs, apparently fatigued by the exertions of the previous evening. At length, though, she appeared at the door of the drawing-room. St George was the first to become aware of her presence. A strange prickling sensation peculiar to those who feel that they are being observed caused him to look up. There was his cousin, her plump figure filling the doorway, an indulgent smile upon her face as she glanced from one to the other.

It struck him suddenly that she would have made a fine mother. There was something maternal and nurturing about her. It was one of those ironies of life, however, that though she had given birth to three children, none of them had survived infancy.

The two gentlemen stood at once and bid her good day.

‘What a delightful picture you both make.’ She sailed forward and hove to at the first available berth: a carved mahogany chair which scarcely looked sufficiently sturdy to support her.

‘Reading,’ she asserted, ‘is what finishes a man’s mind.’ If she was aware of the ambiguous nature of this remark, she did not show it, adding only, ‘Mr Plummer read nothing but the London newspapers, now that I think on it. One may learn much about a man by what he reads. What books have captured your attentions so entirely?’

‘I am reading The Song of Solomon.’ Julian shook his head, as though unable to believe the words printed on the page before him. ‘Listen to this, Richard: “Thy navel is like a round goblet, which wanteth not liquor: thy belly is like an heap of wheat set about with lilies. Thy two breasts are like two young roes that are twins.”’

‘Most unusual and arresting images,’ St George commented after Julian’s animated recital.

‘I remember my dear husband’s favorite verse from the Scriptures.’ Cousin Priscilla’s eyes became suspiciously moist at the memory. ‘From the first book of Samuel, I believe: “Surely there had not been left unto Nabal by the morning light any that pisseth against the wall.”’

Julian’s chin dropped almost to his chest at this latest example of the crudity of ancient texts. He declared himself amazed that such things should be contained in Holy Writ. For his part, St George could not decide which he found more piquant: the quotation itself, or the fact that Cousin Priscilla had for once — at least, as far as he could discern — managed to put the words in their proper order. The late Mr Plummer must have quoted them frequently: whenever he was in his cups, no doubt. He might even have preached a fine sermon upon that particular text when the spirits moved him. His speech might have been somewhat slurred, but St George fancied he could imagine the fire in Mr Plummer’s eyes. At least they must have been a burning red.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.