登陆注册
5362700000015

第15章

'Hush, hush. Why, these are friends and neighbours of Miller Loveday, and he is a great friend of ours--our best friend,' said Anne with great emphasis, and reddening at the sense of injustice to their host. 'What are you thinking of, talking like that. It is ungenerous in you.'

'Ha, ha. I've affronted you. Isn't that it, fair angel, fair--what do you call it?--fair vestal. Ah, well! would you was safe in my own house. But honour must be minded now, not courting. Rollicum- rorum, tol-lol-lorum. Pardon me, my sweet, I like ye. It may be a come down for me, owning land; but I do like ye.'

'Sir, please be quiet,' said Anne, distressed.

'I will, I will. Well, Corporal Tullidge, how's your head?' he said, going towards the other end of the room, and leaving Anne to herself.

The company had again recovered its liveliness, and it was a long time before the bouncing Rufus who had joined them could find heart to tear himself away from their society and good liquors, although he had had quite enough of the latter before he entered. The natives received him at his own valuation, and the soldiers of the camp, who sat beyond the table, smiled behind their pipes at his remarks, with a pleasant twinkle of the eye which approached the satirical, John Loveday being not the least conspicuous in this bearing. But he and his friends were too courteous on such an occasion as the present to challenge the young man's large remarks, and readily permitted him to set them right on the details of camping and other military routine, about which the troopers seemed willing to let persons hold any opinion whatever, provided that they themselves were not obliged to give attention to it; showing, strangely enough, that if there was one subject more than another which never interested their minds, it was the art of war. To them the art of enjoying good company in Overcombe Mill, the details of the miller's household, the swarming of his bees, the number of his chickens, and the fatness of his pigs, were matters of infinitely greater concern.

The present writer, to whom this party has been described times out of number by members of the Loveday family and other aged people now passed away, can never enter the old living-room of Overcombe Mill without beholding the genial scene through the mists of the seventy or eighty years that intervene between then and now. First and brightest to the eye are the dozen candles, scattered about regardless of expense, and kept well snuffed by the miller, who walks round the room at intervals of five minutes, snuffers in hand, and nips each wick with great precision, and with something of an executioner's grim look upon his face as he closes the snuffers upon the neck of the candle. Next to the candle-light show the red and blue coats and white breeches of the soldiers--nearly twenty of them in all besides the ponderous Derriman--the head of the latter, and, indeed, the heads of all who are standing up, being in dangerous proximity to the black beams of the ceiling. There is not one among them who would attach any meaning to 'Vittoria,' or gather from the syllables 'Waterloo' the remotest idea of his own glory or death.

Next appears the correct and innocent Anne, little thinking what things Time has in store for her at no great distance off. She looks at Derriman with a half-uneasy smile as he clanks hither and thither, and hopes he will not single her out again to hold a private dialogue with--which, however, he does, irresistibly attracted by the white muslin figure. She must, of course, look a little gracious again now, lest his mood should turn from sentimental to quarrelsome--no impossible contingency with the yeoman-soldier, as her quick perception had noted.

'Well, well; this idling won't do for me, folks,' he at last said, to Anne's relief. 'I ought not to have come in, by rights; but I heard you enjoying yourselves, and thought it might be worth while to see what you were up to; I have several miles to go before bedtime;' and stretching his arms, lifting his chin, and shaking his head, to eradicate any unseemly curve or wrinkle from his person, the yeoman wished them an off-hand good-night, and departed.

'You should have teased him a little more, father,' said the trumpet-major drily. 'You could soon have made him as crabbed as a bear.'

'I didn't want to provoke the chap--'twasn't worth while. He came in friendly enough,' said the gentle miller without looking up.

'I don't think he was overmuch friendly,' said John.

''Tis as well to be neighbourly with folks, if they be not quite onbearable,' his father genially replied, as he took off his coat to go and draw more ale--this periodical stripping to the shirt-sleeves being necessitated by the narrowness of the cellar and the smeary effect of its numerous cobwebs upon best clothes.

Some of the guests then spoke of Fess Derriman as not such a bad young man if you took him right and humoured him; others said that he was nobody's enemy but his own; and the elder ladies mentioned in a tone of interest that he was likely to come into a deal of money at his uncle's death. The person who did not praise was the one who knew him best, who had known him as a boy years ago, when he had lived nearer to Overcombe than he did at present. This unappreciative person was the trumpet-major.

同类推荐
  • 金匮要略心典

    金匮要略心典

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 道法心传

    道法心传

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 宦游偶记

    宦游偶记

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 般若波罗蜜多心经注解

    般若波罗蜜多心经注解

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 马祖道一禅师广录

    马祖道一禅师广录

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
热门推荐
  • 虎韬

    虎韬

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 教诫新学比丘行护律仪

    教诫新学比丘行护律仪

    本书为公版书,为不受著作权法限制的作家、艺术家及其它人士发布的作品,供广大读者阅读交流。汇聚授权电子版权。
  • 落日时分

    落日时分

    著名作家达真最新的小说集,由四篇小说构成,分别是《落日时分》、《小红帽》、《放电影的张丹增》及《逃跑》。作品的时代从几十年前的前尘旧事,到鲜活的当下,内容既有藏族少女美好的恋爱,也有凡世成人的忏悔与心路吟唱。无论是爱情亲情还是友情,作者都用慈悲的心体察着,用细腻优美的笔触娓娓道出,阅读的感动如酥油茶的清香沁人心脾,久久不散。
  • 最长的一天:1944诺曼底登陆

    最长的一天:1944诺曼底登陆

    历史写作的巅峰,销售累计超过2000万册的全球超级畅销书,震撼36国读者心灵的史诗巨作,不读“二战史诗三部曲”,就等于不了解二战!关于命运及其转折点的战争史诗。“二战史诗三部曲”每本书都有一个主题(《最长的一天》是“勇气”,《遥远的桥》是“失败”,《最后一役》是“生存”),但关注的都是人的命运,确切地说,这是人如何改变命运的故事。在远离战争的和平年代,它让千万读者在阅读中获得精神的鼓舞,陪伴他们度过生命中低沉黯淡的时光,迎来人生的转机;在欧美,它被父亲当作“成人礼图书”(grown-up book)送给年轻读者,希望其中的阳刚之美给青少年尤其是男孩子成长的心灵带去坚强。
  • 绝世废柴女

    绝世废柴女

    天啦,人家只是在新婚之夜去上了个茅房,怎么就迷迷糊糊地跑错了洞房,嫁错了新郎?没关系,杀人灭口之后,一切就都没发生过。。。。咦,哪里冒出来这么多的帅哥型男搅局?人家可是很专一的……
  • 快穿直播之升级路

    快穿直播之升级路

    墨归念晚上回家抄近路,被一个花盆当头砸了下来。然后……没有然后了,她挂了。挂了之后才发现,世界原来还可以更加的悲催。妖零零妖:宿主,你的生存值已不足,请充值墨归念:咋充值妖零零妖:去直播游戏升级吧,一个直播币等于一个生存值墨归念:……听起来似乎很多,但是她为什么要有个破系统!要死就死彻底啊!!带着记忆得多累啊!!!
  • 恶人修改器

    恶人修改器

    大恶人异世界重生之后想要再度兴风作浪,等待他的竟然是......
  • 迷藏·海之迷雾(小小姐冒险励志系列)

    迷藏·海之迷雾(小小姐冒险励志系列)

    喜欢写侦探小说的花季少女许青苗在寒假中突然接到消息,哥哥在外出探险的过程中神秘失踪了!情急之下,青苗与青梅竹马郑柯、死党罗百薇以及与哥哥失踪前唯一有牵连的萧源,在深藏不露的古董商罗舅舅指引下,踏上了那片有着诡异传说的神秘海域,然而随着“水鬼”的出现,船上的平静被彻底打乱了。到底什么是“地藏图”?哥哥的失踪和它有什么关联?同行的伙伴究竟哪个是敌、哪个是友?走入绝境的少女该如何面对无法掌握的命运?一曲用荆棘谱写的少女成长悲歌,荡气回肠,可歌可泣。
  • 甜妻有话:总裁,屋里聊

    甜妻有话:总裁,屋里聊

    路遇一只炒鸡大boss然后再也甩不掉了这是一种什么样的感觉?千小絮瘫着等死状:“你觉得呢?”她上个课:“同学们好,这节课我们有请你们的师兄来为大家授课!”她应个聘:“这位应聘者你好,你很幸运,我们总裁将亲自为你面试!”千小絮:“虾米……这还能不能好好地生活了?”某面试官:“生活,不止有眼前的苟且,还有远方的诗和姐。”千小絮:“你再说一遍,书房还是卧室?抱歉没戴眼镜听不清。”某面试官:“从书房到卧室,你看如何?”话音一落千絮扶着小腰赶紧跑:“宫!禽!兽!不如何!”
  • 调包计:自在江湖不为妃(完本)

    调包计:自在江湖不为妃(完本)

    狼烟起,风云变,元者去,明朝兴。胜者南面称帝,败者北面为王,虎视鹰瞵,南北对峙,经久不息。谁曾料到,一场家变引起的江湖恩怨,竟然牵出一个惊天大阴谋,事关朝廷兴衰……她,舒子浵,浑金璞玉,天赋异禀,悬壶济世,堪称世外桃源盛开的一朵奇葩。他,龙皓云,江湖枭雄的独子,少无适俗韵,性本爱丘山,乃是出淤泥而不染的瑰宝。危机四伏,她如何从中斡旋,力挽狂澜……一场厮杀,她又将经历怎样的生死殊博……一个谜题,他们如何抽丝剥茧找到密室……论功行赏,她被皇上钦点为王妃,绝望……调包顶替,他却落寞出走,她何去何从……看一个江湖女子的传奇故事———————————————————————————【相遇篇】他在她面前褪去衣衫,一丝不挂对她说:“你一个大夫见的人还少吗?羞什么?”【相爱篇】他邪邪一笑,将嘴凑到她的耳边,温柔地呢喃道:“你之前狠狠地伤了我,如今应该狠狠地补偿我一下。”【离别篇】——龙皓云版本来也匆匆,去也匆匆。叹不能,生死与共,酒入喉愁情更浓。人自醉,眼朦胧,乍见她,笑貌音容。未言语,泪先涌,心有灵犀一点通。怨东风,一场空,吹散离人痴心梦。醒来心痛,寒冷如冬。——舒子浵版本路也茫茫,情也茫茫。求不得,连理成双,看遍世间沧桑。叹红尘,造化难挡,英雄美人各一方。谁人帮,心事藏,山长水远心系郎。缘已尽,爱无疆,坐待明日花黄。何日诉衷肠,永世不相忘。———————————————————————————如果您觉得我的文好请告诉您的朋友,如果您觉得我的文不好请告诉我。同时请您关注我的另一篇文:爱那么殇哦:《六个女人的故事》http://m.wkkk.net/a/327350/歌漫:《情逢敌手:卯上神秘宝马女》http://m.wkkk.net/a/327190/琉焰雪:《邂逅之,梦似琉璃》http://m.wkkk.net/a/316953/林夕一蔸菜《逃妃心计:花心王爷特工妃》:http://m.wkkk.net/a/346238/--------------------------------我的读者群号:171215728(敲门砖:文中任何一个人物名)