Beatrice looked after her,
taking her to bed at night and helping her to dress in the morning, and
Beatrice was a great improvement upon Anne. When Geoffrey became aware
of this he remonstrated, saying that he had never expected her to act as
nurse to the child, but she replied that it was a pleasure to her to do
so, which was the truth. In other ways, too, the place was all that he
desired. He did not like Elizabeth, but then he did not see very much
of her, and the old farmer clergyman was amusing in his way, with his
endless talk of tithes and crops, and the iniquities of the rebellious
Jones, on whom he was going to distrain.
For the first day or two Geoffrey had no more conversations with
Beatrice. Most of the time she was away at the school, and on the
Saturday afternoon, when she was free, he went out to the Red Rocks
curlew shooting. At first he thought of asking her to come too, but then
it occurred to him that she might wish to go out with Mr. Davies, to
whom he still supposed she was engaged. It was no affair of his, yet he
was glad when he came back to find that she had been out with Effie, and
not with Mr.
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