第145章 RIVALRY (2)

He was thinking of the visit to London to sell his poems, and the run down to Winchester which he anticipated afterwards - the end of May had been the period fixed for this pleasure for some time, not merely in his own mind, but in writing to his wife.'Oh, but you must be with us! We must wait for Mr Osborne Hamley, must not we, Cynthia?' 'I'm afraid the lilies won't wait,' replied Cynthia.'Well, then, we must put it off till dog-rose and honeysuckle time.You will be at home then, won't you? or does the London season present too many attractions?' 'I don't exactly know when dog-roses are in flower!' 'Not know, and you a poet? Don't you remember the lines - It was the time of roses, We plucked them as we passed?" 'Yes; but that doesn't specify the time of year that is the time of roses;and I believe my movements are guided more by the lunar calendar than the floral.You had better take my brother for your companion; he is practical in his love of flowers, I am only theoretical.' 'Does that fine word "theoretical" imply that you are ignorant?' asked Cynthia.'Of course we shall be happy to see your brother; but why can't we have you too? I confess to a little timidity in the presence of one so deep and learned as your brother is from all accounts.Give me a little charming ignorance, if we must call it by that hard word.' Osborne bowed.It was very pleasant to him to be petted and flattered, even though he knew all the time that it was only flattery.It was an agreeable contrast to the home that was so dismal to him, to come to this house where the society of two agreeable girls, and the soothing syrup of their mother's speeches, awaited him whenever he liked to come.To say nothing of the difference that struck upon his senses, poetical though he might esteem himself, of a sitting-room full of flowers and tokens of women's presence, where all the chairs were easy, and all the tables well covered with pretty things, to the great drawing-room at home, where the draperies were threadbare, and the seats uncomfortable, and no sign of feminine presence ever now lent a grace to the stiff arrangement of the furniture.Then the meals, light and well cooked, suited his taste and delicate appetite so much better than the rich and heavy viands prepared by the servants at the Hall.Osborne was becoming a little afraid of falling into the habit of paying too frequent visits to the Gibsons (and that, not because he feared the consequences of his intercourse with the two young ladies; for he never thought of them excepting as friends; - the fact of his marriage was constantly present to his mind, and Aimée too securely enthroned in his heart, for him to remember that he might be looked upon by others in the light of a possible husband); but the reflection forced itself upon him occasionally, whether he was not trespassing too often on hospitality which he had at present no means of returning.But Mrs Gibson, in her ignorance of the true state of affairs, was secretly exultant in the attraction which made him come so often and lounge away the hours in their house and garden.She had no doubt that it was Cynthia who drew him to the house; and if the latter had been a little more amenable to reason, her mother would have made more frequent allusions than she did to the crisis which she thought was approaching.But she was restrained by the intuitive conviction that if her daughter became conscious of what was impending, and was made aware of Mrs Gibson's cautious and quiet efforts to forward the catastrophe, the wilful girl would oppose herself to it with all her skill and power.As it was, Mrs Gibson trusted that Cynthia's affections would become engaged before she knew where she was, and that in that case she would not attempt to frustrate her mother's delicate scheming, even though she did perceive it.But Cynthia had come across too many varieties of flirtation, admiration, and even passionate love, to be for a moment at fault as to the quiet friendly nature of Osborne's attentions.She received him always as a sister might a brother.It was different when Roger returned from his election as Fellow of Trinity.The trembling diffidence, the hardly suppressed ardour of his manner, made Cynthia understand before long with what kind of love she had now to deal.She did not put it into so many words - no, not even in her secret heart - but she recognized the difference between Roger's relation to her and Osborne's, long before Mrs Gibson found it out.Molly was, however, the first to discover the nature of Roger's attraction.The first time they saw him after the ball, it came out to her observant eyes.Cynthia had not been looking well since that evening;she went slowly about the house, pale and heavy-eyed; and, fond as she usually was of exercise and the free fresh air, there was hardly any persuading her now to go out for a walk.Molly watched this fading with tender anxiety, but to all her questions as to whether she had felt over-fatigued with her dancing, whether anything had occurred to annoy her, and all such inquiries, she replied in languid negatives.Once Molly touched on Mr Preston's name, and found that this was a subject on which Cynthia was raw; now, Cynthia's face lighted up with spirit, and her whole body showed her ill-repressed agitation, but she only said a few sharp words, expressive of anything but kindly feeling towards the gentleman, and then bade Molly never name his name to her again.Still, the latter could not imagine that he was more than intensely distasteful to her friend, as well as to herself, he could not be the cause of Cynthia's present indisposition.But this indisposition lasted so many days without change or modification, that even Mrs Gibson noticed it, and Molly became positively uneasy.Mrs Gibson considered Cynthia's quietness and languor as the natural consequence of 'dancing with everybody who asked her' at the ball.Partners whose names were in the 'Red Book'