He did not stay to wait for her answer, but hastened away to perform his toilette.They dined at a small table in a great large room.There were so few articles of furniture in it, and the apartment itself was so vast, that Molly longed for the snugness of the home dining-room; nay, it is to be feared that, before the stately dinner at Hamley Hall came to an end, she even regretted the crowded chairs and tables, the hurry of eating, the quick unformal manner in which everybody seemed to finish their meal as fast as possible, and to return to the work they had left.She tried to think that at six o'clock all the business of the day was ended, and that people might linger if they chose.She measured the distance from the sideboard to the table with her eye, and made allowances for the men who had to carry things backwards and forwards; but, all the same, this dinner appeared to her a wearisome business, prolonged because the squire liked it, for Mrs Hamley seemed tired out.She ate even less than Molly, and sent for fan and smelling-bottle to amuse herself with, until at length the table-cloth was cleared away, and the dessert was put upon a mahogany table, polished like a looking-glass.The squire had hitherto been too busy to talk, except about the immediate concerns of the table, and one or two of the greatest breaks to the usual monotony of his days; a monotony in which he delighted, but which sometimes became oppressive to his wife.Now, however, peeling his orange, he turned to Molly, - 'To-morrow you'll have to do this for me Miss Gibson.' 'Shall I? I'll do it to-day, if you like, sir.' 'No; to-day I shall treat you as a visitor, with all proper ceremony.To-morrow I shall send you errands, and call you by your Christian name.' 'I shall like that,' said Molly.'I was wanting to call you something less formal than Miss Gibson,' said Mrs Hamley.'My name is Molly.It is an old-fashioned name, and I was christened Mary.
But papa likes Molly.' 'That's right.Keep to the good old fashions, my dear.' 'Well, I must say I think Mary is prettier than Molly, and quite as old a name, too,' said Mrs Hamley.'I think it was,' said Molly, lowering her voice, and dropping her eyes, 'because mamma was Mary, and I was called Molly while she lived.' 'Ah, poor thing,' said the squire, not perceiving his wife's signs to change the subject, 'I remember how sorry every one was when she died; no one thought she was delicate, she had such a fresh colour, till all at once she popped off, as one may say.' 'It must have been a terrible blow to your father,' said Mrs Hamley, seeing that Molly did not know what to answer.'Ay, ay.It came so sudden, so soon after they were married.' 'I thought it was nearly four years,' said Molly.'And four years is soon - is a short time to a couple who look to spending their lifetime together.Every one thought Gibson would have married again.' 'Hush,' said Mrs Hamley, seeing in Molly's eyes and change of colour how completely this was a new idea to her.But the squire was not so easily stopped.'Well - I'd perhaps better not have said it, but it's the truth; they did.
He's not likely to marry now, so one may say it out.Why, your father is past forty, isn't he?' 'Forty-three.I don't believe he ever thought of marrying again,' said Molly, recurring to the idea, as one does to that of danger which has passed by, without one's being aware of it.'No! I don't believe he did my dear.He looks to me just like a man who would be constant to the memory of his wife.You must not mind what the squire says.' 'Ah! you'd better go away, if you're going to teach Miss Gibson such treason as that against the master of the house.' Molly went into the drawing-room with Mrs Hamley, but her thoughts did not change with the room.She could not help dwelling on the danger which she fancied she had escaped, and was astonished at her own stupidity at never having imagined such a possibility as her father's second marriage.She felt that she was answering Mrs Hamley's remarks in a very unsatisfactory manner.'There is papa, with the squire!' she suddenly exclaimed.There they were coming across the flower-garden from the stable-yard, her father switching his boots with his riding whip, in order to make them presentable in Mrs Hamley's drawing-room.He looked so exactly like his usual self, his home-self, that the seeing him in the flesh was the most efficacious way of dispelling the phantom fears of a second wedding, which were beginning to harass his daughter's mind; and the pleasant conviction that he could not rest till he had come over to see how she was going on in her new home, stole into her heart, although he spoke but little to her, and that little was all in a joking tone.After he had gone away, the squire undertook to teach her cribbage; and she was happy enough now to give him all her attention.