I am positively determined, Percy, to take him back with
us when we return to France, in the capacity of groom. What does one man
more or less among the horses matter to people as rich as we are?" In this
strain the partner of my joys and sorrows ran on, perfectly impenetrable
to everything that I could say on the side of common sense. Need I tell my
married brethren how it ended? Of course I allowed my wife to irritate me,
and spoke to her sharply.
Of course my wife turned her face away indignantly on the conjugal pillow,
and burst into tears. Of course upon that, "Mr." made his excuses, and
"Mrs." had her own way.
Before the week was out we rode over to Underbridge, and duly offered to
Francis Raven a place in our service as supernumerary groom.
At first the poor fellow seemed hardly able to realize his own
extraordinary good fortune. Recovering himself, he expressed his gratitude
modestly and becomingly. Mrs. Fairbank's ready sympathies overflowed, as
usual, at her lips. She talked to him about our home in France, as if the
worn, gray-headed hostler had been a child. "Such a dear old house,
Francis; and such pretty gardens! Stables! Stables ten times as big as
your stables here--quite a choice of rooms for you. You must learn the
name of our house--Maison Rouge. Our nearest town is Metz. We are within a
walk of the beautiful River Moselle.
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