"
"Oh," Sanchia assured her, "I didn't at all mind his being vexed. But he
accused me of--all sorts of things."
"Of course he did, my dear," cried Lady Maria. "He was in a towering rage.
How was he to know that you hadn't egged on the gardener?"
"By what he knew of me already," said Sanchia with spirit. Lady Maria
twinkled; but her scrutiny was keen. "I don't think you have explained the
gardener," she told her. Sanchia blushed.
"He's a boy," was her suggestion: but Lady Maria's comment on that was,
"And a bruiser it seems."
Sanchia smiled gently. "Poor Struan! He was very difficult. He made me
furiously angry. What he did was outrageous. But I am sure he is a
genius."
"What!" cried her ladyship. "A genius at gardening? or at thrashing
gentlemen?"
Sanchia said simply, "It's extraordinary what he can do with plants. He's
certainly a genius there. He's like a plant himself. He never goes to bed,
but walks about the garden all night, talking to them."
"Like a burglar," said Lady Maria. "Pray, what does he talk to them about?
Growing?"
"Sometimes, I think. I don't know what he says to them. But he talks about
all sorts of things."
"You, for instance?" Lady Maria asked, suddenly; and Sanchia blushed
again, and presently looked at Lady Maria.
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