Page 354 - lady-chatterlys-lover

hour away, good going.
But she was furious. She stored it up against her sister,
this balk in her plans.
Connie flung an emerald-green shawl over her window-
sill.
On the strength of her anger, Hilda warmed toward Clif-
ford.
After all, he had a mind. And if he had no sex, function-
ally, all the better: so much the less to quarrel about! Hilda
wanted no more of that sex business, where men became
nasty, selfish little horrors. Connie really had less to put up
with than many women if she did but know it.
And Clifford decided that Hilda, after all, was a decid-
edly intelligent woman, and would make a man a first-rate
helpmate, if he were going in for politics for example. Yes,
she had none of Connie’s silliness, Connie was more a child:
you had to make excuses for her, because she was not alto-
gether dependable.
There was an early cup of tea in the hall, where doors
were open to let in the sun. Everybody seemed to be pant-
ing a little.
’Good-bye, Connie girl! Come back to me safely.’
’Good-bye, Clifford! Yes, I shan’t be long.’ Connie was
almost tender.
’Good-bye, Hilda! You will keep an eye on her, won’t
you?’
’I’ll even keep two!’ said Hilda. ‘She shan’t go very far
astray.’
’It’s a promise!’