Birds of Prey | Page 5

out sudden--and if anything could
make toothache more general in this neighbourhood it would be these
March winds--if it should be a patient, sir, in a cab----"

The dentist interrupted her with a short bitter laugh.
"Neither March winds nor April showers are likely to bring me patients,
Nancy, on foot or in cabs, and you ought to know it. If it's a patient, ask
him in, by all means, and give him last Saturday week's Times to read,
while I rub the rust off my forceps. There, that will do; take your
tray--or, stop; I've some news to tell you." He rose, and stood with his
back to the fire and his eyes bent upon the hearthrug, while Mrs.
Woolper waited by the table, with the tray packed ready for removal.
Her master kept her waiting so for some minutes, and then turned his
face half away from her, and contemplated himself absently in the glass
while he spoke.
"You remember Mrs. Halliday?" he asked.
"I should think I did, sir; Miss Georgina Cradock that was--Miss
Georgy they called her; your first sweetheart. And how she could ever
marry that big awkward Halliday is more than I can make out. Poor
fondy! I suppose she was took with those great round blue eyes and red
whiskers of his."
"Her mother and father were 'took' by his comfortable farmhouse and
well-stocked farm, Nancy," answered Mr. Sheldon, still contemplating
himself in the glass. "Georgy had very little to do with it. She is one of
those women who let other people think for them. However, Tom is an
excellent fellow, and Georgy was a lucky girl to catch such a husband
Any little flirtation there may have been between her and me was over
and done with long before she married Tom. It never was more than a
flirtation; and I've flirted with a good many Barlingford girls in my
time, as you know, Nancy."
It was not often that Mr. Sheldon condescended to be so
communicative to his housekeeper. The old woman nodded and
chuckled, delighted by her master's unwonted friendliness.
"I drove over to Hyley while I was at home, Nancy," continued the
dentist--he called Barlingford home still, though he had broken most of
the links that had bound him to it--"and dined with the Hallidays.

Georgy is as pretty as ever, and she and Tom get on capitally."
"Any children, sir?"
"One girl," answered Mr. Sheldon carelessly. "She's at school in
Scarborough, and I didn't see her; but I hear she's a fine bouncing lass. I
had a very pleasant day with the Hallidays. Tom has sold his farm; that
part of the world doesn't suit him, it seems--too cold and bleak for him.
He's one of those big burly-looking men who seem as if they could
knock you down with a little finger, and who shiver at every puff of
wind. I don't think he'll make old bones, Nancy. But that's neither here
nor there. I daresay he's good for another ten years; or I'm sure I hope
so, on Georgy's account."
"It was right down soft of him to sell Hyley Farm, though," said Nancy
reflectively; "I've heard tell as it's the best land for forty mile round
Barlingford. But he got a rare good price for it, I'll lay."
"O, yes; he sold the property uncommonly well, he tells me. You know
if a north-countryman gets the chance of making a profit, he never lets
it slip through his fingers."
Mrs. Woolper received this compliment to her countrymen with a
gratified grin, and Mr. Sheldon went on talking, still looking at the
reflection of his handsome face in the glass, and pulling his whiskers
meditatively.
"Now as Tom was made for a farmer and nothing but a farmer, he must
find land somewhere in a climate that does suit him; so his friends have
advised him to try a place in Devonshire or Cornwall, where he may
train his myrtles and roses over his roof, and grow green peas for the
London markets as late as November. There are such places to be had if
he bides his time, and he's coming to town next week to look about him.
So, as Georgy and he would be about as capable of taking care of
themselves in London as a couple of children, I have recommended
them to take up their quarters here. They'll have their lodgings for
nothing, and we shall chum together on the Yorkshire system; for of
course I can't afford to keep a couple of visitors for a month at a stretch.

Do you think you shall be able to manage for us, Nancy?"
"O, yes, I'll manage well enough. I'm not one of your lazy London
lasses that take half an hour to wipe