"Father wanted to make the place a bit more presentable now we have an
officer son," the good dame explained, with simple and pardonable
pride. "And we can afford it," she added, blushing like a shy
schoolgirl as she made this whispered confession; "besides we had Mary
to consider, too." It was all very charming, George thought.
The winter passed all too quickly. Mr. Allan proved to be a capital
neighbour, and had a great liking for young people about him. So there
were pleasant times, at the Towers--dinners, balls, shooting and
hunting parties, and the like. All the eligible society of the
country-side found its way to Binfield Towers. Yet somehow George
Fairburn did not fall into a fit of the blues when Sir Mark Fieldsend
took his sister back to their west-country home; in fact, strange to
say, George rather rejoiced to see the back of the retired major, his
old comrade-in-arms. Why this was so he would have found it hard to
explain, for a more unassuming and agreeable fellow than the baronet
it would not have been easy to find.
It was a real delight to everybody to hear how the Blackett pit was
now prospering. Under Fairburn's management the colliery had made a
clear profit of five thousand odd pounds in the course of a single
year's working.
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