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Page 98
Whereupon he swung along to the next carriage, the train having started,
and left us to reflect on the incongruity of an English railway guard in
Germany.
It was curious, but the incident left behind it a certain coolness, so
well defined that when momma suggested that the Malts' window should be
lowered as it was before to give us a current of air, Mrs. Malt said she
thought it would be better to abide by the decision of the guard, now
that we had referred it to him, and momma said, "Oh dear me, yes," if
she preferred to do so, and everybody established the most aggressively
private relations with books and newspapers. It was quite a relief when
Mrs. Portheris came at the next station to inquire whether, if we had no
married Germans in our compartment, we could possibly make room for
Isabel. Mrs. Portheris had married Germans in her compartment, two pairs
of them, and she could no longer permit her daughter to observe their
behaviour. "They obtrude their domestic relations," said Mrs. Portheris,
"in the most disgusting way. They are continually patting each other.
Quite middle-aged, too! And calling each other 'Leibchen,' and other
things which may be worse. My poor Isabel is dreadfully embarrassed,
for, of course, she can't always look out of the window. And as she
understands the language, I can't possibly tell _what_ she may
overhear!"
We made room for Isabel, but the train to Mayence was crowded that day,
and before we arrived we had ample reason to believe that conjugal
affection is not only at home but abroad in Germany. The Senator, at one
point, threatened to travel on the engine to avoid it. He used, I think
the language of exaggeration about it. He said it was the most
objectionable article made in Germany. But I did not notice that Isabel
devoted herself at all seriously to looking out of the window.
CHAPTER XXVII.
"He tells me," said Miss Callis, "that you are to give him his answer at
Cologne."
"Does he, indeed?" said I. We were floating down the Rhine in the
society of our friends, two hundred and fifty other floaters, and a
string band. We had left the battlements of Bingen, and the Mouse Tower
was in sight. As we had already acquired the legend, and were sitting
behind the smoke stack, there was no reason why we should not discuss
Mr. Mafferton.
"I suppose he does not, by any chance, mention an alternative lady," I
said carelessly.
"I don't know," said Miss Callis, "that I should be disposed to listen
to him if he did. He would have to put it in some other light."
"Why should you object?" I asked. "Isabel is quite a proper person to
marry him. Much more so, I often think, than I."
"Oh!" said Miss Callis without meaning to. "I think he has outgrown that
taste. In fact, he told me so."
"He is for ever seeking a fresh bosom for a confidence!" I cried.
Miss Callis looked at me with more interest than she would have wished
to express.
"What do you really think of him?" she asked. "I sometimes feel as if I
had known you for years," and she took my hand.
I gave hers a gentle pressure, and edged a little nearer. "He has good
shoulders," I remarked critically.
"You would hardly marry him for his _shoulders_!"
"It doesn't seem quite enough," I admitted, "but then--his information
is always so accurate."
"If you think you would like living with an encyclopedia." Miss Callis
had begun to look embarrassed by my hand, but I still permitted it to
nestle confidingly in hers.
"He pronounces all his g's," I said, "and--did you ever see him in a
silk hat?"
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