The evening of the day on which Mr. Gibson had been to see the
Squire, the three women were alone in the drawing-room, for Mr.
Gibson had had a long round and was not as yet come in. They had had
to wait dinner for him; and for some time after his return there was
nothing done or said but what related to the necessary business of
eating. Mr. Gibson was, perhaps, as well satisfied with his day's
work as any of the four; for this visit to the Squire had been
weighing on his mind ever since he had heard of the state of things
between Roger and Cynthia. He did not like the having to go and
tell of a love-affair so soon after he had declared his belief
that no such thing existed; it was a confession of fallibility
which is distasteful to most men. If the Squire had not been of
so unsuspicious and simple a nature, he might have drawn his own
conclusions from the apparent concealment of facts, and felt doubtful
of Mr. Gibson's perfect honesty in the business; but being what
he was, there was no danger of such unjust misapprehension. Still
Mr. Gibson knew the hot hasty temper he had to deal with, and had
expected more violence of language than he really encountered; and
the last arrangement by which Cynthia, her mother, and Molly--who, as
Mr. Gibson thought to himself, and smiled at the thought, was sure to
be a peacemaker, and a sweetener of intercourse--were to go to the
Hall and make acquaintance with the Squire, appeared like a great
success to Mr. Gibson, for achieving which he took not a little
credit to himself. Altogether, he was more cheerful and bland than he
had been for many days; and when he came up into the drawing-room for
a few minutes after dinner, before going out again to see his town
patients, he whistled a little under his breath, as he stood with his
back to the fire, looking at Cynthia, and thinking that he had not
done her justice when describing her to the Squire. Now this soft,
almost tuneless whistling, was to Mr. Gibson what purring is to a
cat. He could no more have done it with an anxious case on his mind,
or when he was annoyed by human folly, or when he was hungry, than
he could have flown through the air. Molly knew all this by instinct,
and was happy without being aware of it, as soon as she heard the low
whistle which was no music after all. But Mrs. Gibson did not like
this trick of her husband's; it was not refined she thought, not even
"artistic;" if she could have called it by this fine word it would
have compensated her for the want of refinement. To-night it was
particularly irritating to her nerves; but since her conversation
with Mr. Gibson about Cynthia's engagement, she had not felt herself
in a sufficiently good position to complain.