"I declare", she said, "I have not had a decent meal since I left Quebec. I’m starving!"
"You have come to a land of plenty", said David Vaughan. He turned to Philip. "Do you like shooting?"
"Nothing better".
"Well, you need scarcely leave your door to pick up a brace of these". He indicated the pigeon-pie which he now began to serve.
"And the fishing?"
David Vaughan laid down the fork and stared at him. "Believe it or not", he said, "the sea salmon come right up through the lake and into our river. I caught a whopper right here on my own property less than a month ago".
"Well, well, do you hear that, Adeline?"
"I do. We shall not starve, at any rate. How delicious this pie is!"
"Will you have some lettuce?" asked Mrs. Vaughan. "We pride ourselves on it. We are the only people who grow it. We supply the neighbourhood".
"What about the neighbourhood?" asked Philip. "Pretty congenial, from what you wrote, Vaughan".
"A very respectable community. You’ll like them and they’ll like you. I can tell you everyone is excited by your coming and will be still more so after meeting you". His eyes rested admiringly on Adeline.
"I left good friends in Quebec", she said.
"Too damn French!" said Philip.
"That’s what I felt", said David Vaughan. "My aim is to keep this little settlement purely British. Indeed, if I had my way, only the English, Scottish and Welsh should be allowed to settle in any part of Canada".
"No Irish?" asked Adeline.
Before he could reply, Philip broke in, "I warn you, my wife is straight from the Ould Sod".
"I should welcome just one Irish lady", said Vaughan, "to be Queen of us all".
"How flowery the old boy is!" thought Robert. "I could not have said that. But she liked it". He fixed his shy, impersonal gaze on Adeline who was smiling at his father.
David Vaughan was giving the history of the principal families of the neighbourhood. He would forget to eat till his wife reminded him. When, after the meal, they returned to the verandah, he brought out a map of the district which he had himself made, showing the course of the small rivers, the residences of the families he had described, the roads and forest. A thousand acres of richly timbered land, adjacent to his own property, was for sale and this he counselled Philip to buy. Nowhere would he find a better opportunity for establishing himself in a superior position in the province. Nowhere would he find better land, better sport, within such easy reach of railway and town. Nowhere would he find more hospitable, kinder-hearted or better bred people. Nowhere would he and his family be more welcome.
As he and Philip bent over the map spread on the table before them, the red light of the setting sun illumined their features. Adeline, in her bright tartan mantle, sat on one side with Mrs. Vaughan. Young Robert, perched on the verandah railing, only half heard what the men were saying, but strained his ears to hear Adeline’s voice, to him so exotic in its inflections. His shy, cool gaze studied the lines of her shoulder as she leant on the arm of her chair, the beauty of her sleek auburn head. He wondered if she was conscious of his presence. She seemed not to be, yet, when the cry of a whip-poor-will broke with melancholy strangeness on the air, she turned quickly to him.
"What is it?" she asked.
"A whip-poor-will. There are hundreds about here".
"I’ve never before heard one! It’s lovely but it’s sad".
"This one is just the right distance away. They can be too noisy".
Again and again and again came the bird’s cry. Then after a moment’s silence it flew nearer and, in mournful haste, repeated the three notes as though it were a tragic message. Sunset had faded and a sombre dusk emanated as though palpably from the massive trees. The house stood in a grassy hollow.
In their room, Philip remarked to Adeline:
"I shall not make the mistake of building our house in a hollow. Fifty years from now this place will be buried in greenery. If I cannot find a rise to build on I shall at least be out in the open".
"Is there an ’out in the open’?" she wondered, peering through the window. "Trees-trees-there are trees everywhere. How many varieties did Colonel Vaughan say there are?"
"I forget. But what I mean is, I shall make a large clearing for our house and it must be on the highest point on our land".
"I don’t like the thought of a large clearing. I like trees about. I like a park".
"You shall have a park with deer in it".
"How lovely! Where does the land lie? Am I looking out toward it?"
"Yes. I think so".
She drew a deep breath. "Just fancy! I am breathing the air from our land! Over there is our land-the very spot our walls will rise from! Will the house be stone?"
"That depends on what material is to be had. For myself, I like a nice mellow brick. It looks warm-coloured among the trees. It has a cosy, hospitable look".
"I rather like the white wooden houses they have in Quebec villages".
"Too flimsy".
"They say not".
"I don’t like the looks of them. Don’t you want a nice mellow brick?"
"If there is nothing better".
"What could be better?" he asked severely.
"I don’t know".
"Then why raise objections?"
"I wasn’t".
"You said you wanted wood".
"I said I like wood".
"But you don’t object to brick?"
"Not in the least… Philip", — she came and sat on his knee-"I have not seen you alone all day. I can’t believe we are actually here".
He pressed her close to his broad chest. "What a time we shall have, my sweet! We’re going to be happier than we’ve ever been and that’s saying a good deal, isn’t it? You look pale, Adeline".
She relaxed against him. "Oh, how tired I am!" she exclaimed. "Yet I am too excited for sleep. My body relaxes but my brain refuses".
He found her eyelids with his lips. "There, close your eyes. Now I command you. Keep them closed while I kiss each ten times".
But, as he spoke, he raised his head and listened. There came the rumble of wagon wheels and the loud barking of dogs.
"They have arrived!" he exclaimed.
She started up. "Nero and Maggie!" she cried. "And I forgot to tell the Vaughans about them! Did you?"
"By Jove, no! Still, they are expecting the wagon with our boxes. I shall explain about the dog and the goat tomorrow. I wish you had left the damn goat in Quebec. Gussie does not need her milk now".
"Leave Maggie behind! And she wearing the dear little bell my own mother tied to her neck! Why, ’twould bring bad luck to us! What is one small goat anyhow? Surely there is room for her in this great place!"
The rumbling of wagon wheels ceased but now came the snarls and yells of a dog-fight. Men were shouting at them.
"Their dogs are killing Nero!" she cried. "Oh, Philip, run! Quick! Quick! Save Nero!"
"He can take care of himself". But Philip hurried from the room. A small lamp still burned in the hall. Downstairs he found David Vaughan with a lighted lantern. They went together to the stable.
Adeline stood by the window listening to the dreadful noise of the fight. Then silence fell. She began to undress. The silence was too deep. She wished Philip would return but she dreaded what he might have to report.
It was some time before he came.
"Well", he said, "it was more sound and fury than bloodshed. But Vaughan’s bulldog and the Scotch collie gave our Nero the worst of it. He has a tom ear and a bite on his forehead".
"Oh, the brutes!" she cried. "And was he able to do them no harm?"