At all events she practised
it; she did not think truth so beautiful that frail daily life must be
the better for its undiluted and uncompromising application to all
poor little tender efforts.
During tea the great subject of conversation was the hen house. The
last occupant of the cottage had kept hens and all the out-buildings
were in good repair; however, a recent gale had loosened part of the
roof of this one, and Captain Polkington had been mending it. There
had not been much to do; the Captain could not do a great deal; his
faculties of work--if he ever had any--had atrophied for want of use.
Still, he thought he had done a good day's work, and, as a
consequence, was important and inclined to be exacting. That is the
reason why he had neglected the dinner things; he felt that a man who
had done all he had was entitled to some rest and consideration. Julia
did not mind in the least; if he was happy and contented, that was all
she wished; she never reckoned his help as one of the assets of the
household. For that matter, she had not reckoned Mr. Gillat's of much
value either, but there she found she was a little mistaken. Johnny
was very slow and very laborious and really ingenious in finding a
wrong way of doing things even when she thought she had left him no
choice, but he was very painstaking and persevering.
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