North and South
Page 284'Oh, Mr. Bell! I never thought of seeing you!' 'But you give me a welcome, I hope, as well as that very pretty
start of surprise.' 'Have you dined? How did you come? Let me order you some dinner.' 'If you're going to have any. Otherwise, you know, there is no
one who cares less for eating than I do. But where are the
others? Gone out to dinner? Left you alone?' 'Oh yes! and it is such a rest. I was just thinking--But will you
run the risk of dinner? I don't know if there is anything in the
house.' 'Why, to tell you the truth, I dined at my club. Only they don't
cook as well as they did, so I thought, if you were going to
dine, I might try and make out my dinner. But never mind, never
mind! There aren't ten cooks in England to be trusted at
impromptu dinners. If their skill and their fires will stand it,
now, what were you thinking of? you were going to tell me. Whose
letters were those, god-daughter, that you hid away so speedily?' 'Only Dixon's,' replied Margaret, growing very red.
'Whew! is that all? Who do you think came up in the train with
me?' 'I don't know,' said Margaret, resolved against making a guess.
'Your what d'ye call him? What's the right name for a
cousin-in-law's brother?' 'Mr. Henry Lennox?' asked Margaret.
'Yes,' replied Mr. Bell. 'You knew him formerly, didn't you? What
sort of a person is he, Margaret?' 'I liked him long ago,' said Margaret, glancing down for a
moment. And then she looked straight up and went on in her
Frederick since; but I have not seen him for nearly three years,
and he may be changed. What did you think of him?' 'I don't know. He was so busy trying to find out who I was, in
the first instance, and what I was in the second, that he never
let out what he was; unless indeed that veiled curiosity of his
as to what manner of man he had to talk to was not a good piece,
and a fair indication of his character. Do you call him good
looking, Margaret?' 'No! certainly not. Do you?' 'Not I. But I thought, perhaps, you might. Is he a great deal
here?' 'I fancy he is when he is in town. He has been on circuit now
since I came. But--Mr. Bell--have you come from Oxford or from
antiquities of Oxford.' 'Come now, be a sensible woman! In Oxford, I could have managed
all the landlords in the place, and had my own way, with half the
trouble your Milton landlord has given me, and defeated me after
all. He won't take the house off our hands till next June
twelvemonth. Luckily, Mr. Thornton found a tenant for it. Why
don't you ask after Mr. Thornton, Margaret? He has proved himself
a very active friend of yours, I can tell you. Taken more than
half the trouble off my hands.' 'And how is he? How is Mrs. Thornton?' asked Margaret hurriedly
and below her breath, though she tried to speak out.