"I like being startled," returned Mr Elgood complacently. He stood
still, swinging his cane, looking from brother to sister with bright,
approving eyes. "I was afraid you were feeling tired after your
journey, but evidently you have not yet reached the age of fatigue.
That's right! Thats quite right! I am glad that you have joined us at
the Nag's Head. We are a respectable and harmonious party, but we need
life--young life! We may weary you, but you will refresh and enliven
us. In the name of our little company, I welcome you to the Glen?"
"Thank you, sir," said Ron simply, while Margot, as usual, hastened to
amplify his words.
"I hope we shall be friends. I hope we shall all be friends. I was
dreadfully tired really, but I felt worse staying in the house, and in
that little parlour after dinner I nearly fell asleep."
Mr Elgood's eyes lit up with a flash of humour.
"But when a man's out of health you canna judge him! When he's in his
usual, Mr Macalister's a verra interesting character!" he said
solemnly. Then, meeting Margot's start and smile, he began to laugh
again, and to shake in his happy, jelly-like fashion. "Ah--ha, I know!
I guessed what was in store for you, as I saw you led away. She's a
good woman that; a good, kind, womanly woman. Her devotion does her
credit. When you and I get a wife, sir, we shall do well if we find one
half so loyal and devoted."
He looked at Ron as he spoke, bringing his eyebrows together in a quick,
scrutinising glance; but Ron's face was blank and unresponsive.
Enshrined in his heart was a dim figure, half goddess, half fairy, a
creature of thistledown, of snow, of blossom tossed before the wind; a
lovely illusive vision who in due time was to appear and complete his
life. It was a violation of the shrine to suggest a Mrs Macalister!
He stood still, his brows knitted, his lips pressed together in a thin,
warning line. Margot was impatient at his lack of response, but all the
same he looked wonderfully handsome and interesting, and she could see
that Mr Elgood regarded him with awakened interest, conscious that here
was a character cut out of a pattern of its own, not made in the same
mould as the vast majority of his fellows.
They turned and walked together along the winding road. Evidently
friendship progressed quickly in this quiet glen, and guests living
beneath the same roof accepted each other in simple, natural fashion, as
members of a common household. Margot felt a sense of protection in the
presence of this little man, so much older than herself, so friendly, so
absolutely unsentimental in manner. His head was on a level with her
own, and she read a frank admiration in his eyes, but it was an
admiration of which Agnes herself could not have disapproved. He was
the kind of man one would have chosen for an uncle--an indulgent
bachelor uncle with plenty of money, and a partiality for standing
treat!