Part 32 (1/2)
”I'm not ill.”
”Then you're anxious.”
”I must confess that I have something to think about.”
”I know,” said Beatrice. ”Things look black just now. With the wheat market falling----”
”What do you know about the market?” Mowbray asked in surprise.
”I read the newspapers and hear the boys talk. They're brave and take it carelessly, but one feels----”
Mowbray gave her a keen glance.
”Well, what do you feel?”
”That I'd like to help you in any way I can. So far, I've taken all you have given me and done nothing in return.”
”You can help,” he answered slowly. ”It would ease my mind if you married Brand.”
”Oh!” she exclaimed. ”Not that! I'm sorry, but it's impossible.”
He made a gesture of resignation.
”Well, I can't force you.”
Beatrice was silent a moment.
”It's hard to refuse the only big thing you have ever asked,” she said hesitatingly. ”I really want to help, and I feel humiliated when I see how little I can do. Mrs. Broadwood and Hester Harding can manage a farm; Broadwood says he only began to make money after he married.” She paused, seeing Mowbray's frown, and went on with a forced smile: ”However, I can at least cease to be an expense. I have cost you a great deal one way and another, and now you must give me nothing more.”
”I'm afraid I may have to cut down your allowance,” he answered gloomily.
”That's one thing I can save you.” She looked at him with diffident eagerness. ”I've been thinking a good deal lately, and I see that if wheat keeps getting cheaper it may be serious for us all. Couldn't we take precautions?”
”What kind of precautions?”
”Oh, I can't tell you that--I don't know enough about farming. But perhaps we could make some changes and economies; break more land, for example.”
”If we lose on what we have broken already, how shall we economize by plowing more?”
”It sounds logical; but can't you save labor and reduce the average expense by working on a large scale?”
”Perhaps. But it needs capital.”
”A few new horses and bigger plows wouldn't cost very much. We are spending a good deal of money on other things that are not directly useful.”
Mowbray looked at her with an ironical smile and Beatrice felt confused.
She remembered that she had staunchly defended her father's conservative att.i.tude to Harding, and now she was persuading him to abandon it.
”This is a new line for you to take,” he said. ”I should like to know what has suggested it. Has Mrs. Broadwood converted you, or have you been talking to the Americans?”