I gave the house a third coat, and the delicate grey, picked out with
white, made the place look nobler altogether. One afternoon I was at work,
the Captain came walking up from the road. He watched me for a bit, then
took out his handkerchief as if the heat troubled him, and said:
"Yes, better go on with it now you've got so far. I must say she wasn't
far wrong about the colour. All nonsense though, really! H'm!"
I made no answer. The Captain used his handkerchief again and said:
"Hot again today--puh! What was I going to say? ... yes, it doesn't look
so bad after all. No, she was right--that is, I mean, you were right about
the colour. I was looking at it from down there just now, and it makes
quite a handsome place. And anyhow, it's too late to alter it now."
"I thought so too," I said. "It suits the house."
"Yes, yes, it suits the house, as it were. And what was it she said about
the woods behind--my wife, I mean? The background, or something?"
"It's a long time ago now, but I'm almost sure.
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