Kesiah's ugliness became a positive affront to him, and he felt as
bitterly toward her as though she had purposely designed her appearance
in order to annoy him. The wine she drank showed immediately in her
face, and he determined to tell his mother privately that she must
forbid her sister to drink anything but water. By the dim gilt framed
mirror above the mantel he discovered that his own features were
flushed, also, but a red face was not, he felt, a cause of compunction
to one of his sex.
"You haven't eaten your mutton, dear," said Mrs. Gay anxiously. "I
ordered it especially because you like it. Are you feeling unwell?"
"I'm not hungry," he replied, rather crossly. "This place gets on my
nerves, and will end by driving me mad."
"I suppose you'd better go away," she returned, plaintively wounded. "I
wouldn't be so selfish as to want to keep you by me if you are unhappy."
"I don't want to leave you, mother--but, I ought to get back to the
stock market. It's no good idling around--I don't think I was cut out
for a farmer."
"Try this sherry. Your uncle brought if from Spain, and it was buried
during the war.
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