capital breed
which thrives so well in the salt marshes, and twice following showed
up the prize ox at the county show, that they began to believe in
"Farmer Torwood," or think his "advanced opinions" in agriculture
anything but a gentleman's whimsies.

As to friends and acquaintance, I am afraid we showed a great deal of
pride and stiffness. They were kinder than we deserved, but we thought
it prying and patronage, and would not accept what we could not return.

It is not fair to say we. It was only myself--Jaquetta never saw
anything but kindness, and took it pleasantly, and Fulk was too busy
and too unhappy to be concerned about our visiting matters. If I saw
anyone coming to call I hid myself in the orchard, or if I was taken by
surprise I was stiffness itself; and then I wrote a set of cards (Miss
Torwood and Miss Jaquetta Torwood), and drove round in the queer
old-fashioned gig to leave them, and there was an end of it; for I
would accept no invitations, though Jaquetta looked at me wistfully.
And thus I daunted all but old Miss Prior. Poor old thing! All her
pleasures had oozed down from our house in old times to her; and her
gratitude was indomitable, and stood all imaginable rebuffs that
courtesy permitted me. I believe she only pitied and loved me the
more, and persevered in the dreadful kindness that has no tact.

It did not strike me that pleasure might be good for Jaquetta, or that
Fulk's stern silent sorrow might have been lightened by variety. Used
as he had been to political life and London society, it was no small
change to have merely the market for interest, the farm for occupation,
and no society but ourselves; no newspaper but the County Chronicle
once a week; no new books, for Mudie did not exist then, even if we
could have afforded it. We had dropped out of the guinea country book
club, and Knight's "Penny Magazine" was our only fresh literature.
However, Jaquetta never was much of a reader, and was full of
business--queen of the poultry, and running after the weakly ones half
the day, supplementing George Sisson's very inadequate gardening--aye,
and his wife's equally rough cooking. She found a receipt book, and
turned out excellent dishes. She could not bear, she said, to see Fulk
try to eat grease, and with an effort at concealment, assisted by the
dogs, fall back upon bread and cheese.

Luckily plain work in the school-room had not gone out in our day, and
I could make and mend re