But the cottage was a
restful place to arrive at, for she was her own mistress there--her
grandmother never coming down stairs--and Edy, the woman who lived
with and attended her, being a cipher except in muscle and voice.
The approach was by a straight open road, bordered by thin lank
trees, all sloping away from the south-west wind-quarter, and the
scene bore a strange resemblance to certain bits of Dutch landscape
which have been imprinted on the world's eye by Hobbema and his
school.
Having explained to her granny that the wedding was put off; and that
she had come to stay, one of Margery's first acts was carefully to
pack up the locket and case, her wedding present from the Baron. The
conditions of the gift were unfulfilled, and she wished it to go back
instantly. Perhaps, in the intricacies of her bosom, there lurked a
greater satisfaction with the reason for returning the present than
she would have felt just then with a reason for keeping it.
To send the article was difficult. In the evening she wrapped
herself up, searched and found a gauze veil that had been used by her
grandmother in past years for hiving swarms of bees, buried her face
in it, and sallied forth with a palpitating heart till she drew near
the tabernacle of her demi-god the Baron. She ventured only to the
back-door, where she handed in the parcel addressed to him, and
quickly came away.
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