Fortunately，thered-hairedgirlwasoutshoppingwhenhearrived，andMaisieinapaint-spatteredblousewaswarringwithhercanvas。
Shewasnotpleasedtoseehim；forweek-dayvisitswereastretchofthebond；
anditneededallhiscouragetoexplainhiserrand。
’Iknowyou’vebeenworkingtoohard，’heconcluded，withanairofauthority’Ifyoudothat，you’llbreakdownYouhadmuchbettercome。’
’Where？’saidMaisie，wearilyShehadbeenstandingbeforehereaseltoolong，andwasverytired。
’AnywhereyoupleaseWe’lltakeatrainto-morrowandseewhereitstopsWe’llhavelunchsomewhere，andI’llbringyoubackintheevening。’
’Ifthere’sagoodworkinglightto-morrow，Iloseaday。’Maisiebalancedtheheavywhitechestnutpaletteirresolutely。
DickbitbackanoaththatwashurryingtohislipsHehadnotyetlearnedpatiencewiththemaidentowhomherworkwasallinall。
’You’llloseeversomanymore，dear，ifyouuseeveryhourofworkinglightOverwork’sonlymurderousidlenessDon’tbeunreasonable。
I’llcallforyouto-morrowafterbreakfastearly。’
’Butsurelyyouaregoingtoask——’
’No，IamnotIwantyouandnobodyelseBesides，shehatesmeasmuchasIhateherShewon’tcaretocomeTo-morrow，then；andpraythatwegetsunshine。’
Dickwentawaydelighted，andbyconsequencedidnoworkwhatever。
Hestrangledawilddesiretoorderaspecialtrain，butboughtagreatgraykangaroocloaklinedwithglossyblackmarten，andthenretiredintohimselftoconsiderthings。
’I’mgoingoutforthedayto-morrowwithDick，’saidMaisietothered-hairedgirlwhenthelatterreturned，tired，frommarketingintheEdgwareroad。
’HedeservesitIshallhavethestudiofloorthoroughlyscrubbedwhileyou’reawayIt’sverydirty。’
Maisiehadenjoyednosortofholidayformonthsandlookedforwardtothelittleexcitement，butnotwithoutmisgivings。
’There’snobodynicerthanDickwhenhetalkssensibly，shethough，butI’msurehe’llbesillyandworryme，andI’msureIcan’ttellhimanythinghe’dliketohearIfhe’donlybesensible，Ishouldlikehimsomuchbetter。’
Dick’seyeswerefullofjoywhenhemadehisappearancenextmorningandsawMaisie，gray-ulsteredandblack-velvet-hatted，standinginthehallwayPalacesofmarble，andnotsordidimitationofgrainedwood，weresurelythefittestbackgroundforsuchadivinityThered-hairedgirldrewherintothestudioforamomentandkissedherhurriedly。
Maisie’seyebrowsclimbedtothetopofherforehead；shewasaltogetherunusedtothesedemonstrations’Mindmyhat，’shesaid，hurryingaway，andrandownthestepstoDickwaitingbythehansom。
’Areyouquitewarmenough！Areyousureyouwouldn’tlikesomemorebreakfast？Putthecloakoveryouknees。’
’I’mquitecomf’y，thanksWherearewegoing，Dick？Oh，dostopsinginglikethatPeoplewillthinkwe’remad。’
’Let’emthink，——iftheexertiondoesn’tkillthemTheydon’tknowwhoweare，andI’msureIdon’tcarewhotheyareMyfaith，Maisie，you’relookinglovely！’
MaisiestareddirectlyinfrontofheranddidnotreplyThewindofakeenclearwintermorninghadputcolourintohercheeks。
Overhead，thecreamy-yellowsmoke-cloudswerethinningawayonebyoneagainstapale-bluesky，andtheimprovidentsparrowsbrokeofffromwater-spoutcommitteesandcab-rankcabalstoclamourofthecomingofspring。
’Itwillbelovelyweatherinthecountry，’saidDick。
’Butwhe...完整阅读请扫描二维码下载丁香书院APP免费看：