Part 28 (1/2)

(_Reaches threshold. A Voice within._ ”_Well, I guess I'm going to climb up and sit in that old amphitheatre there, and see how it feels_!”) Good heavens,--_Maud_! and I was as nearly as possible--I think I'll go up to the top of the Campanile and see if I can't discover where Hypatia is.

[_He ascends the tower._

IN THE BELFRY.

PODB. (_arriving breathless, and finding_ CULCHARD _craning eagerly forward_). Oh, so _you_ came up too? Well, can you _see_ her?

CULCH. Ss.h.!.+ She's just turned the corner! (_Vexed._) She's with Miss Trotter!... They're sitting down on the gra.s.s below!

PODB. Together? That's a nuisance! Now we shall have to wait till they separate--sure to squabble, sooner or later.

MISS T.'S VOICE (_which is perfectly audible above_). I guess we'll give Ruskin a rest now, Hypatia. I'm dying for a talk. I'm just as enchanted as I can be to hear you've dismissed Mr. Podbury. And I expect you can guess _why_.

PODB. (_in a whisper_). I say, Culchard, they're going to talk about us.

Ought we to listen, eh? Better let them know we're here?

[Ill.u.s.tration: ”HYPATIA, BY JOVE! NARROW SHAVE THAT!”]

CULCH. I really don't see any necessity--however,--(_Whistles feebly._) Feedy-feedy-feedle!

PODB. What is the use of fustling like that? (_Yodels._) Lul-li-ety!

MISS P.'S V. Well, my dear Maud, I confess that I----

CULCH. It's quite impossible to make them hear down there, and it's no fault of ours if their voices reach us occasionally. And it _does_ seem to me, Podbury, that, in a matter which may be of vital importance to me--to us both--it would be absurd to be over-scrupulous. But of course you will please yourself. _I_ intend to remain where I am. [PODBURY _reluctantly resigns himself to the situation_.

MISS T.'S V. Now, Hypatia Prendergast, don't tell _me_ you're not interested in him! And he's more real suited to you than ever Mr.

Podbury was. Now, isn't that _so_?

CULCH. (_withdrawing his head_). Did you hear, Podbury? She's actually pleading for me! _Isn't_ she an angel? Be quiet, now. I must hear the answer!

MISS T.'S V. I--I don't know, really. But, Maud, I want to speak to you about--Somebody. You can't think how he adores you, poor fellow! I have noticed it for a long time.

POBD. (_beaming_). Culchard! You heard? She's putting in a word for me.

What a brick that girl is!

MISS T.'S V. I guess he's pretty good at concealing his feelings, then.

He's been keeping far enough away!

MISS P.'S V. That was _my_ fault. I _kept_ him by me. You see, I believed you had quite decided to accept Mr. Culchard.

Miss T.'s V. Well, it does strike me that, considering he was adoring me all this time, he let himself be managed tolerable easy. [PODBURY _shakes his head in protestation_.

MISS P.'S V. Ah, but let me explain. I could only keep him quiet by threatening to go home by myself, and dear Bob is such a devoted brother that----

POBD. Brother! I say, Culchard, she can't be meaning _Bob_ all this time! She _can't_! can she now?

CULCH. How on earth can _I_ tell? If it is so, you must be a philosopher, my dear fellow, and bear it--that's all.