Yet in her
secret heart she was glad to have him by her side, for she would perhaps
learn from him how it was Arthur had not come to church. Not that she
cared to ask him the question, but she hoped the information would be
given spontaneously; for Mr. Craig, like a superior man, was very fond
of giving information.
Mr. Craig was never aware that his conversation and advances were
received coldly, for to shift one's point of view beyond certain limits
is impossible to the most liberal and expansive mind; we are none of
us aware of the impression we produce on Brazilian monkeys of feeble
understanding--it is possible they see hardly anything in us. Moreover,
Mr. Craig was a man of sober passions, and was already in his tenth
year of hesitation as to the relative advantages of matrimony and
bachelorhood. It is true that, now and then, when he had been a little
heated by an extra glass of grog, he had been heard to say of Hetty
that the "lass was well enough," and that "a man might do worse"; but on
convivial occasions men are apt to express themselves strongly.
Martin Poyser held Mr. Craig in honour, as a man who "knew his business"
and who had great lights concerning soils and compost; but he was
less of a favourite with Mrs.
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