Page 142 - agnes-grey

them.
By this time the Greens had taken themselves to their
own abode, and the Murrays had turned down the private
road, whither I hastened to follow them. I found the two girls
warm in an animated discussion on the respective merits of
the two young officers; but on seeing me Rosalie broke off in
the middle of a sentence to exclaim, with malicious glee -
‘Oh-ho, Miss Grey! you’re come at last, are you? No
WONDER you lingered so long behind; and no WONDER
you always stand up so vigorously for Mr. Weston when I
abuse him. Ah-ha! I see it all now!’
‘Now, come, Miss Murray, don’t be foolish,’ said I, at-
tempting a good-natured laugh; ‘you know such nonsense
can make no impression on me.’
But she still went on talking such intolerable stuff—her
sister helping her with appropriate fiction coined for the oc-
casion—that I thought it necessary to say something in my
own justification.
‘What folly all this is!’ I exclaimed. ‘If Mr. Weston’s road
happened to be the same as mine for a few yards, and if he
chose to exchange a word or two in passing, what is there so
remarkable in that? I assure you, I never spoke to him before:
except once.’
‘Where? where? and when?’ cried they eagerly.
‘In Nancy’s cottage.’
‘Ah-ha! you’ve met him there, have you?’ exclaimed Rosa-
lie, with exultant laughter. ‘Ah! now, Matilda, I’ve found out
why she’s so fond of going to Nancy Brown’s! She goes there
to flirt with Mr. Weston.’

142 Agnes Grey