A man cannot walk when he has broken his ankle-bone, let
him be ever so brave in the attempt. Larry's heart was so weighed
that he could not hide the weight. Dolly and Kate had also received
hints and struggled hard to be merry. In the afternoon a walk was
suggested, and Mary complied; but when an attempt was made by the
younger girls to leave the lover and Mary together, she resented it
by clinging closely to Dolly;--and then all Larry's courage
deserted him. Very little good was done on the occasion by Mrs.
Masters' manoeuvres.
On the Monday morning, in compliance with a request made by Lady
Ushant, Mary walked over to Bragton to see her old friend. Mrs.
Masters had declared the request to be very unreasonable. "Who is
to walk five miles and back to see an old woman like that?" To this
Mary had replied that the distance across the fields to Bragton was
only four miles and that she had often walked it with her sisters
for the very pleasure of the walk. "Not in weather like this," said
Mrs. Masters. But the day was well enough. Roads in February are
often a little wet, but there was no rain falling. "I say it's
unreasonable," said Mrs. Masters. "If she can't send a carriage she
oughtn't to expect it." This coming from Mrs. Masters, whose great
doctrine it was that young women ought not to be afraid of work,
was so clearly the effect of sheer opposition that Mary disdained
to answer it.
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