Poor Panuel groaned under these honours,
for Sinfi insisted now on his dressing in a brown velveteen coat,
scarlet waistcoat with gold coins for buttons, and the high-crowned,
ribbon-bedizened hat which prosperous Gypsies once used to wear. She
seemed to consider that her sister Videy (whose tastes were low for a
Welsh Gypsy) did not belong to the high aristocracy, though born of
the same father and mother. Moreover, 'dook' in Romanes means spirit,
ghost, and very likely Sinfi found some power of association in this
fact; for Videy was a born sceptic.
One of the special charms of Gypsy life is that a man fully admitted
into the Romany brotherhood can be on terms of close intimacy with a
Gypsy girl without awaking the smallest suspicion of love-making or
flirtation; at least it was so in my time.
Under my father's will, a considerable legacy had come to me, and,
after going to London to receive this, I made the circuit of the West
of England with Sinfi's people. No sign whatever of Winifred did I
find in any of the camps. I was for returning to Wales, where my
thoughts always were; but I could not expect Sinfi to leave her
family, so I started thither alone, leaving my waggon in their
charge.
Pages:
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340