"
He was still laughing, but Shirley felt that he was again trying to make
light of a serious situation, and a further tie of secrecy with Armitage
was not to her liking. As he walked boldly to the veranda steps, she
stepped back from him.
"No! No! This is impossible--it will not do at all, Mr. Armitage. It is
not kind of you to come here in this strange fashion."
"In this way forsooth! How could I send in my card when I was being
chased all over the estate! I didn't mean to apologize for coming"--and
he laughed again, with a sincere mirth that shook her resolution to deal
harshly with him. "But," he went on, "it was the flowerpot! He was mad
because I beat him in the foot-race and wanted to shoot me from the wall,
and I tossed him a potted geranium--geraniums are splendid for the
purpose--and it caught him square in the head. I have the knack of it!
Once before I handed him a boiling-pot!"
"It must have hurt him," said Shirley; and he laughed at her tone that
was meant to be severe.
"I certainly hope so; I most devoutly hope he felt it! He was most
tenderly solicitous for my health; and if he had really shot me there in
the garden it would have had an ugly look.
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