Page:Gaskell--A dark night's work.djvu/234

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
A DARK NIGHT'S WORK.
223

been perpetually troubled with the sight of the trains; indeed, the sound would have been much more distinct than it will be now coming through the interlacing branches. Then you will not go in, Miss Wilkins? Mrs. Osbaldistone desired me to say how happy——Ah! I can understand such feelings——Certainly, certainly; it is so much the shortest way to the town, that we elder ones always go through the stable-yard; for young people, it is perhaps not quite so desirable. Ha! Dixon,” he continued, “on the watch for the Miss Ellinor we so often hear of! This old man,” he continued to Ellinor, “is never satisfied with the seat of our young ladies, always comparing their way of riding with that of a certain missy——

“I cannot help it, sir; they’ve quite a different style of hand, and sit all lumpish-like. Now, Miss Ellinor, there——

“Hush, Dixon,” she said, suddenly aware of why the old servant was not popular with his mistress. “I suppose I may be allowed to ask for Dixon’s company for an hour or so; we have something to do together before we leave.”

The consent given, the two walked away, as by previous appointment, to Hamley churchyard, where he was to point out to her the exact spot where he wished to be buried. Trampling over the long,