An Outback Marriage Banjo Paterson (philippa perry book .txt) đ
- Author: Banjo Paterson
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It was her first sight of the vanities of the world, the things that she had only dreamed of. The outfit was not anything extraordinary from an English point of view, but to the bush-bred girl it was a revelation.
âWhat beautiful things!â she said. âNow, when you go visiting to a country-house in England, do you always take things like these, all these riding-boots and things?â
âOh, yes. You wouldnât ride without them.â
âAnd do you take a maid to look after them?â
âWell, you must have a maid.â
âAnd when you travel on the Continent, do you take a maid?â
âI always took one.â
âWhat is Paris like? Isnât it just a dream? Did you go to the opera?â âHave you been on the Riviera?â âOh, do tell me about those placesâ âis it like you read about in books?â âall beautiful, well-dressed women and men with nothing to doâ âand did you go to Monte Carlo?â
This was all poured out in a rush of words; but in Maryâs experience the Continent was merely a place where the Continentals got the better of the English, and she said so.
âTravelling is so mixed up with discomfort, that it loses half its plumage,â she said. âIâll tell you all I can about Paris some other time. Now you tell me,â she went on, folding carefully a silk blouse and putting it in a drawer, âare there any neighbours here? Will anyone come to call?â
âIâm afraid youâll find it very dull here,â said Ellen. âThere are no neighbours at all except Poss and Binjie, two young fellows on the next station. The people in town are just the publicans and the storekeeper, and all the selectors around us are a very wild lot. Very few strangers come that we can have in the house. They are nearly all cattle and sheep buyers, and they are either too nervous to say a word, or they talk horses. They always come just after mealtime, too, and we have to get everything laid on the table againâ âsometimes we have ten meals a day in this house. And the swagmen come all day long, and Mrs. Gordon or I have to go and give them something to eat; thereâs plenty to do, always. So you see, there are plenty of strangers, but no neighbours.â
âWhat about Mr. Blake?â said Miss Grant. âIsnât he a neighbour?â
It would have needed a much quicker eye than Maryâs to catch the half-involuntary movement Ellen Harriott made when Blakeâs name was mentioned. She flashed a look of enquiry at the heiress that seemed to say, âWhat interest do you take in Mr. Blake? What is he to you?â
Then the long eyelashes shut down over the dark eyes again, and with an air of indifference she saidâ â
âOh Mr. Blake? Of course I know him. I dance with him sometimes at the show balls, and all that. I have been out for a ride with him, too. I think heâs nice, but Hugh and Mrs. Gordon wonât ask him here because he belongs to the selectors, and his mother was a Miss Donohoe. He takes up their casesâ âand wins them, too. But he never comes here. He always stays down at the hotel when he comes out this way.â
âI intend to ask him here,â said Miss Grant. âHe saved my life.â
Again the long eyelashes dropped so as to hide the sparkle of the eyes.
âOf course, if you like to ask himâ ââ
âDo you think heâd come?â
âYes, Iâm sure he would. If you like to write and ask him, Peter could ride down to Donohoeâs today with a note.â
From which it would seem that one, at any rate, of the Kuryong household was not wholly indifferent to Mr. Blake.
IX Some VisitorsAfter breakfast next morning Mary decided to spend the day in the company of the children, who were having holidays.
âJust as well for you to learn the house firstâ said Hugh, âbefore you tackle the property. The youngsters know where everything isâ âwithin four miles, anyhow.â
Two little girls were impressed, and were told to take Miss Grant round and show her the way about the place; and they set off together in the bright morning sunlight, on a trip of exploration.
Now, no true Australian, young or old, ever takes any trouble or undergoes any exertion or goes anywhere without an object in view. So the children considered it the height of stupidity to walk simply for the sake of walking, and kept asking where they were to walk to.
âWhat shall we see if we go along this road?â asked Miss Grant, pointing with her dainty parasol along the wheel-track that meandered across the open flat and lost itself in the timber.
âNothing,â said both children together.
âThen, what is there up that way?â she asked, waving her hand up towards the foothills and the blue mountains. âThere must be some pretty flowers to look at up there?â
âNo, there isnât,â said the children.
âWell, let us go into the woods and see if we canât find something,â she said determinedly; and with her reluctant guides she set off, trudging across the open forest through an interminable vista of gum trees.
After a while one of the girls said, âHello, thereâs Poss!â
Miss Grant looked up, and saw through the trees a large and very frightened bay horse, with a white face. On further inspection, a youth of about eighteen or twenty was noticed on the horseâs back, but he seemed so much a part of the animal that one might easily overlook him at a
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