I would have liked to ask the maid some questions, but she was an
elderly woman, who looked as if she might be the mother of the
lemon-juice boy, and as she said not a word to me while she made a few
arrangements in the room, I did not feel emboldened to say anything to
her.
When I left my room and went out on the little porch, I soon came to
the conclusion that this was not a house of great resort. I saw
nobody in front and I heard nobody within. There seemed to be an air
of quiet greenness about the surroundings, and the little porch was a
charming place in which to sit and look upon the evening landscape.
After a time the boy came to tell me that supper was ready. He did so
as if he were informing me that it was time to take medicine and he
had just taken his.
Supper awaited me in a very pleasant room, through the open windows of
which there came a gentle breeze which made me know that there was a
flower-garden not far away. The table was a small one, round, and on
it there was supper for one person. I seated myself, and the elderly
woman waited on me. I was so grateful that the boy was not my
attendant that my heart warmed towards her, and I thought she might
not consider it much out of the way if I said something.
"Did I arrive after the regular supper-time?" I asked. "I am sorry if
I put the establishment to any inconvenience."
"What's inconvenience in your own house isn't anything of the kind in
a tavern," she said. "We're used to that. But it doesn't matter
to-day. You're the only transient; that is, that eats here," she
added.
I wanted very much to ask something about the lady who had gone to
school in Walford, but I thought it would be well to approach that
subject by degrees.
"Apparently," said I, "your house is not full."
"No," said she, "not at this precise moment of time. Do you want some
more tea?"
The tone in which she said this made me feel sure she was the mother
of the boy, and when she had given me the tea, and looked around in a
general way to see that I was provided with what else I needed, she
left the room.
After supper I looked into the large room where I had registered; it
was lighted, and was very comfortably furnished with easy-chairs and a
lounge, but it was an extremely lonely place, and, lighting a cigar, I
went out for a walk. It was truly a beautiful country, and, illumined
by the sunset sky, with all its forms and colors softened by the
growing dusk, it was more charming to me than it had been by daylight.