'
She sprang away as if in terror or else in anger. Then recovering
herself she took the kettle from the prop. I followed her to the
tent, which, save that it was made of brown blanket, looked more like
a tent on a lawn than a Gypsy-tent. All its comfort seemed, however,
to give no great delight to Videy, the cashier and female
financier-general of the Lovell family, who, in a state of absorbed
untidiness, sitting at the end of the tent upon a palliasse covered
with a counterpane of quilted cloth of every hue, was evidently
occupied in calculating her father's profits and losses at the recent
horse-fair. The moment Videy saw us she hurriedly threw the coin into
the silver tea-pot by her side, and put it beneath the counterpane,
with that instinctive and unnecessary secrecy which characterised
her, and made her such an amazing contrast both to her sister Sinfi
and to Rhona Boswell.
After Panuel had received me in his usual friendly manner, we all sat
down, partly inside the tent and partly outside, around the white
table-cloth that had been spread upon the grass.
Pages:
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427
428
429
430
431
432
433
434
435
436
437
438
439
440
441
442
443
444