The head gardener (Mr.
Begbie) came in at the same time, with his weekly account. The Sergeant
got on the subject of roses and the merits of grass walks and gravel
walks immediately. I left the two together, and went out with a heavy
heart. This was the first trouble I remember for many a long year which
wasn't to be blown off by a whiff of tobacco, and which was even beyond
the reach of ROBINSON CRUSOE.
Being restless and miserable, and having no particular room to go to, I
took a turn on the terrace, and thought it over in peace and quietness
by myself. It doesn't much matter what my thoughts were. I felt
wretchedly old, and worn out, and unfit for my place--and began to
wonder, for the first time in my life, when it would please God to take
me. With all this, I held firm, notwithstanding, to my belief in Miss
Rachel. If Sergeant Cuff had been Solomon in all his glory, and had told
me that my young lady had mixed herself up in a mean and guilty plot, I
should have had but one answer for Solomon, wise as he was, "You don't
know her; and I do."
My meditations were interrupted by Samuel. He brought me a written
message from my mistress.
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