The Trumpet-Major by Thomas Hardy

Meanwhile Miller Loveday was expecting the pair with interest; and about / five o'clock, after repeated outlooks, he saw two specks the size of / caraway seeds on the far line of ridge where the sunlit white of the road / met the blue of the sky. Then the remainder parts of Bob and his lady / became visible, and then the whole vehicle, end on, and he heard the dry / rattle of the wheels on the dusty road. Miller Loveday's plan, as far as / he had formed any, was that Robert and his wife should live with him in / the millhouse until Mrs. Garland made up her mind to join him there; in / which event her present house would be made over to the young couple. / Upon all grounds, he wished to welcome becomingly the woman of his son's / choice, and came forward promptly as they drew up at the door.

'What a lovely place you've got here! ' said Miss Johnson, when the miller / had received her from the captain. 'A real stream of water, a real mill- / wheel, and real fowls, and everything!'

'Yes, 'tis real enough,' said Loveday, looking at the river with balanced / sentiments; 'and so you will say when you've lived here a bit as mis'ess, / and had the trouble of claning the furniture.'

At this Miss Johnson looked modest, and continued to do so till Anne, not / knowing they were there, came round the corner of the house, with her / prayer-book in her hand, having just arrived from church. Bob turned and / smiled to her, at which Miss Johnson looked glum. How long she would / have remained in that phase is unknown, for just then her ears were / assailed by a loud bass note from the other side, causing her to jump / round.

'O la! what dreadful thing is it? ' she exclaimed, and beheld a cow of / Loveday's, of the name of Crumpler, standing close to her shoulder. It / being about milking-time, she had come to look up David and hasten on the / operation.

'O, what a horrid bull! -- it did frighten me so. I hope I shan't faint,' / said Matilda.

The miller immediately used the formula which has been uttered by the / proprietors of live stock ever since Noah's time. 'She won't hurt ye. / Hoosh, Crumpler! She's as timid as a mouse, ma'am.'

But as Crumpler persisted in making another terrific inquiry for David, / Matilda could not help closing her eyes and saying, 'O, I shall be gored / to death! ' her head falling back upon Bob's shoulder, which -- seeing the / urgent circumstances, and knowing her delicate nature -- he had / providentially placed in a position to catch her. Anne Garland, who had / been standing at the corner of the house, not knowing whether to go back / or come on, at this felt her womanly sympathies aroused. She ran and / dipped her handkerchief into the splashing mill-tail, and with it damped / Matilda's face. But as her eyes still remained closed, Bob, to increase / the effect, took the handkerchief from Anne and wrung it out on the / bridge of Matilda's nose, whence it ran over the rest of her face in a / stream.

'O, Captain Loveday! ' said Anne, 'the water is running over her green / silk handkerchief, and into her pretty reticule!'

'There -- if I didn't think so! ' exclaimed Matilda, opening her eyes, / starting up, and promptly pulling out her own handkerchief, with which / she wiped away the drops, and an unimportant trifle of her complexion, / assisted by Anne, who, in spite of her background of antagonistic / emotions, could not help being interested.

'That's right! ' said the miller, his spirits reviving with the revival of / Matilda. 'The lady is not used to country life; are you, ma'am?'

'I am not,' replied the sufferer. 'All is so strange about here!'

Suddenly there spread into the firmament, from the direction of the / down: --

'Ra, ta, ta! Ta-ta-ta-ta-ta! Ra, ta, ta!'

'O dear, dear! more hideous country sounds, I suppose? ' she inquired, / with another start.

'O no,' said the miller cheerfully. ''Tis only my son John's trumpeter / chaps at the camp of dragoons just above us, a-blowing Mess, or Feed, or / Picket, or some other of their vagaries. John will be much pleased to / tell you the meaning on't when he comes down. He's trumpet-major, as you / may know, ma'am.'

'O yes; you mean Captain Loveday's brother. Dear Bob has mentioned him.'

'If you come round to Widow Garland's side of the house, you can see the / camp,' said the miller.

'Don't force her; she's tired with her long journey,' said Mrs. Garland / humanely, the widow having come out in the general wish to see Captain / Bob's choice. Indeed, they all behaved towards her as if she were a / tender exotic, which their crude country manners might seriously injure.

She went into the house, accompanied by Mrs. Garland and her daughter; / though before leaving Bob she managed to whisper in his ear, 'Don't tell / them I came by waggon, will you, dear? ' -- a request which was quite / needless, for Bob had long ago determined to keep that a dead secret; not / because it was an uncommon mode of travel, but simply that it was hardly / the usual conveyance for a gorgeous lady to her bridal.