The Secret of Greylands by Annie Haynes

Author:Annie Haynes
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Dean Street Press
Published: 2016-02-06T05:00:00+00:00

Chapter Fourteen

“POOR Hannah! Stop your snivelling, then! Who loves poor Hannah?”

“Who loves you anyway I should like to know?” Sybil inquired captiously, contriving to give the parrot’s tail a tweak that made it emit a loud discordant shriek of rage and set it dancing about its cage. “I shall strangle that bird one day, I know, Cynthia.”

The other girl looked up from her book with a smile.

“No, you won’t; Polly’s bite is sharp enough to protect her. What a baby you are, Sybil! The parrot would not be half such a nuisance if you did not tease her.”

Sybil came over and perched on the arm of her chair.

“One must do something. I am not, like you, always happy if I have got my nose poked inside some musty, fusty, old book. What have you got there—Browning? Ugh!” wrinkling up her straight little nose. “Where did you find it?”

“In the drawing-room. I thought I might bring it out to read it. It is Cousin Hannah’s and Mr Gillman must have given it to her—see!” She turned to the title-page. “‘To my darling Hannah, from her devotedly attached Henry,’” she read. “Sybil, what are you doing?”

For Sybil, leaning over her, had suddenly snatched the book from her hand and flung it face downwards on the ground.

“Disgusting!” she said hotly, her eyes flashing, her cheeks flaming. “I wonder how she dare?”

Cynthia looked at her in amazement.

“Well, ridiculous as the expression may sound to you, I suppose a man has the right to address his own wife as he pleases!” She picked up the book. “I believe you have broken the back, Sybil. What will Cousin Hannah say?”

“I don’t care.” Sybil’s tone was almost sullen. “Absurd old idiot! As for him—”

“Well, at any rate, if they like to write the silliest nonsense in the world we cannot prevent them,” Cynthia argued sensibly.

“Can we not?” Sybil’s mood had apparently changed; she laughed shortly as she sprang off the arm of the chair, with a suddenness that threatened to upset Cynthia, and went over to the open window. Cynthia, looking at her, saw that her breath was still coming quickly, that one of her feet in its small high- heeled shoe was tapping impatiently on the floor. Marvelling what could be the cause of her emotion, Cynthia sat silent; surely she thought the spectacle of Gillman’s apparent devotion to his elderly wife was no new thing.

She was about to speak, when Sybil uttered a low exclamation and leaned forward.

“It is—it must be a circus procession coming across the moor! Oh, come, Cynthia, let us go down to the gate and look at it!” she said, running towards the door.

“A circus procession?” Cynthia repeated incredulously. “Nonsense!”

“It is! Don’t I tell you it is?” Sybil affirmed impatiently. “If you look out of the window you will see the horses—such a string of them! A woman in a habit covered with tinsel is riding one; and then the vans—all covered! There are such a quantity! Do make haste, Cynthia;

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.