Page 123 - Fairbrass
P. 123
why Fairbrass should not go, and as the
lawyer, who was, after all, likely to be a
useful friend, seemed so strongly to desire
it, the morning of the funeral saw the poor
little man encased in hot and uncomfortable
new black clothes, holding his father’s hand,
and trudging up the hillside to the Big
House. The family at the Little House
were, be it here noted, great sticklers for
etiquette. They did not expect to profit
one penny by the old man’s death, they did
not pretend to make it a cause of sorrow :
but they did mean to show the world that
on such an occasion they knew what was
the right thing to do, and so a very heavy
bill for mourning (even the servants got a
new dress apiece) was added to the already
hopeless pile of unpaid accounts.
As they walked on together through
the fields, where only a few mornings ago
he had picked his flowers, Fairbrass felt
very sorry for his father. It must be so
very sad for him to go once more to his
childhood’s home, and on such an errand.
