"But is it not very troublesome to you?"
"It is a capital lark!" said Mr. Clare, with a zest that only the slang
word could imply, removing all Rachel's scruples, and in effect Mr.
Clare did enjoy the spice of adventure in a most amusing way. He knew
perfectly well how to manage, laid out the plan of operations, gave
orders to the driver, went into all the shops, and was an effective
assistant in the choice of material and even of embroidery. His touch
and ear seemed to do more for him than many men's eyes do for them;
he heard odd scraps of conversation and retailed them with so much
character; he had such pleasant colloquies with all in whose way he
fell, and so thoroughly enjoyed the flow and babble of the full stream
of life, that Rachel marvelled that the seclusion of his parsonage was
bearable to him. He took her to lunch with an old friend, a lady who had
devoted herself to the care of poor girls to be trained as servants, and
Rachel had the first real sight of one of the many great and good works
set on foot by personal and direct labour.
"If I had been sensible, I might have come to something like this!" she
said.
"Do you wish to undo these last three months?"
"No; I am not fit to be anything but an ordinary married woman, with an
Alick to take care of me; but I am glad some people can be what I meant
to be."
"And you need not regret not being useful now," said Mr. Clare. "Where
should any of us be without you?"
It had not occurred to Rachel, but she was certainly of far more
positive use in the world at the present moment than ever she had bean
in her most assuming maiden days.
Little Alexander was arrayed in all that could enhance his baby dignity,
and Rachel was more than ever resolved to assert his superiority over
"great frightful fine children," resenting vehemently an innocent
observation from Alick, that the small features and white skin promised
sandiness of hair. Perhaps Alick delighted in saying such things for the
sake of proving the "very womanhood" of his Clever Woman. Rachel hung
back, afraid of the presentation, and would have sent her maid into the
room with the child if Colonel Keith had not taken her in himself. Even
yet she was not dexterous in handling the baby, her hands were both
occupied, and her attention absorbed, and she could not speak, she felt
it so mournful to show this frail motherless creature to a father more
like its grandfather, and already almost on the verge of the grave. She
came up to Lord Keith, and held the child to him in silence. He said,
"Thank you," and kissed not only the little one, but her own brow, and
she kept the tears back with difficulty.