"Don't talk of lunch to me!" he said. "I shan't have time for it. I
shall take a hunk of bread and butter in my pocket, and nibble at it for
a few minutes during the workman's dinner hour; you bet the noble
British workman won't cut short his precious meal, bless him!"
He was off again as soon as he had swallowed his breakfast, with his
pipe in his mouth, and a roll of plans and drawings in his hand; and
Nell, after gazing from the window at the avenue up which the horseman
had ridden, put on her things and went down to the village, marketing.
It was a picturesque one, and showed every sign of the sleepy prosperity
which distinguishes a self-respecting English village lucky enough to
lie outside the gates of such a place as Anglemere.
It was like old Shorne Mills times to Nell, and her spirits rose as she
walked along with her basket on her arm.
The butcher touched his forehead and smiled with respectful admiration
as she entered the tiny and scrupulously clean shop.
"You be the young lady from the lodge, miss?" he said, with a pleasant
kind of welcome. "I heard as you'd come with the electric gentleman. Ah!
there's going to be grand changes at the Hall, I'm told. Well, miss,
it's time. Not that I've got aught to say against the old earl, for he
was a good landlord and a kind-hearted gentleman. But, you see, he
wasn't here very much--just a month or two in the shooting season, and
perhaps at Christmas; but we're hoping, here at Anglemere, that the new
earl will come oftener. It will be a great thing for us, of course,
miss. But there! you can't expect him to stay for long, he's got so
many places; and I'm told that some of 'em are finer and grander even
than the Hall, though it's hard to believe. A piece of steak, miss?
Certainly; and it's the best I've got you shall have. And about Sunday,
miss? What 'u'd you say to a leg of mutton--a small leg, seem' that
there's only two of you?"
"That will do," said Nell.
"Yes, miss. Perhaps you'd like to see it? It's in the meadow there--the
sheep near the hedge."
The butcher grew radiant at the sweet, low-toned laugh with which Nell
received this practical suggestion.
"I am afraid I shouldn't be able to judge it through that thick fleece,"
she said. "But I am more than willing to trust you, thank you."