Mary could not make up her mind, when it came
to the point, to follow Richard's advice and treat him coldly. She did,
however, tell him that his help would be worth a great deal more to her
if he talked less and did not always look for an answer to what he said.
But Purdy was not to be quashed. He had taken it into his head that she
was badly treated, in being left "to slave" alone, within the oven's
radius; and he was very hard on Jinny, whom he had espied comfortably
dandling her child on the front verandah. "I'd like to wring the
bloomin' kid's neck!"
"Purdy, for shame!" cried Mary outraged. "It's easy to see you're still
a bachelor. Just wait, sir, till you have children of your own!"
Under her guidance he bore stacks of plates across the yard to the
dining-room--where the blinds were lowered to keep the room cool--and
strewed these, and corresponding knives and forks, up and down the
tables. He also carried over the heavy soup-tureen in which was the
claret-cup. But he had a man's slippery fingers, and, between these and
his limp, Mary trembled for the fate of her crockery. He made her laugh,
too, and distracted her attention; and she was glad when it was time for
him to return to barracks.
"Now come early to-night," she admonished him. "And mind you bring your
music. Miss Amelia's been practising up that duet all the week. She'll
be most disappointed if you don't ask her to sing with you."
On the threshold of the kitchen Purdy set his fingers to his nose in the
probable direction of Miss Amelia; then performed some skittish female
twists and turns about the yard.
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