London - Edward Rutherfurd [528]
Mary Anne was in a cheerful mood: in fact, she did not think she could remember a happier day in her life. She was still flushed from the triumph of her balloon ride. There had been no question of keeping it from the Guv’nor once it was done, and indeed she and Edward had met the old man, walking across the heath with his ebony stick to inspect the balloon as soon as it came down. He had been much surprised to see them, and had given Edward a rather old-fashioned look, but by the time the rest of the family arrived, he seemed to find the whole affair amusing. “I’m glad to see you all,” he announced, “and very glad that Edward and Mary Anne could ‘drop in’.” As Harriet had remarked to her with a sigh: “He always did let you get away with anything, Mary Anne.”
She and Edward had been too busy with her sisters and their children to take much notice of the young man before the meal, though she had vaguely thought that he seemed a nice-looking boy. She realized that she must be only two or three years older than he, but there was a world separating a young wife and a youth, however handsome, who was only just out of school. She noticed that he had accepted a second glass of white wine with the fish and she wondered how, without offending him, she could suggest that he should not drink too much.
She found him very agreeable: his manner was quiet and polite, but not at all shy. His eyes, she noticed, had a delightful way of lighting up as he spoke of the things that interested him. There was, she realized quickly, a fineness about him lacking in the others at the table. She asked him about his time at school and what things he liked to do. He admitted to being a good athlete and extolled the joys of hunting. But under a little closer questioning he confessed modestly but without embarrassment that he liked poetry and was fascinated by history.
“Should you not consider going to university then, Mr Meredith?” she asked.
“My father is against it,” he replied. “And to tell the truth, I have such a desire to go out and see the world. . . .” he smiled.
“Mr Meredith!” She laughed. “I think you must be much more adventurous than the rest of us.”
“Oh no, Mrs Bull.” He came back at once. “I don’t think so at all. For you see, I have never been up in a balloon!”
Her laugh of delight caused several heads to turn in her direction. She blushed a little, because she had not meant to laugh so loudly. But then she saw that it had attracted someone else’s attention. From under his bushy old eyebrows, the Guv’nor was staring towards her too.
When the Guv’nor gave a dinner party, he liked to be entertained. He thought it was his due. New guests would often suppose that the rich old man had scarcely noticed them, yet in fact he might have scrutinized them quietly for an hour or more before suddenly asking them to give an account of themselves. His deep voice came gruffly down the length of the table. “I hear Mr Meredith is to travel for a year. Perhaps he would like to tell us something of his plans?” The entire table fell silent and everyone looked at Meredith.
“Oh, father!” Mary Anne protested. “Poor Mr Meredith, to be quizzed like this. He’ll wish he hadn’t come here.”
But the young man was taking it in very good part. “Not at all,” he replied. “An unexpected guest, Mrs Bull, enjoying such lavish hospitality, should expect to sing for his supper. The truth is, sir,” he addressed the Guv’nor, “my plans are somewhat imperfect. My first desire, however, is to travel round India for several months.” He paused, uncertain whether more was expected. The Guv’nor seemed to digest the information.
“Capital, Mr Meredith!” Silversleeves evidently thought he should say something to encourage the young man. “You will surely see opportunities in India for the development of a vast railway system. Perhaps greater than any on earth. The trade of India, large though it is, could be incomparably greater with better transport