‘Certainly,’ said the squire.  ‘I thought it had been all settled.’

’So it was till I said a word yesterday which foolishly seemed to unsettle it.  But I have thought it over again, and I find that I can manage it.’

‘We shall be so glad to have you!’ said Clara.

’And I shall be equally glad to come.  They are already at work, sir, about the sheds.’

‘Yes; I saw the carts full of bricks go by,’ said the squire, querulously.  ’I didn’t know there was to be any brickwork.  You said you would have it made of deal slabs with oak posts.’

’You must have a foundation, sir.  I propose to carry the brickwork a foot and a half above the ground.’

‘I suppose you know best.  Only that kind of thing is so very ugly.’

’If you find it to be ugly after it is done, it shall be pulled down again.’

‘No it can never come down again.’

’It can and it shall, if you don’t like it.  I never think anything of changes like that.’

‘I think they’ll be very pretty!’ said Clara.

‘I dare say,’ said the squire,’ but at any rate it won’t make much difference to me.  I shan’t be here long to see them.’

This was rather melancholy; but Belton bore up even against this, speaking cheery words and expressing bright hopes so that it seemed, both to Clara and her father, that he had in a great measure overcome the disappointment of the preceding day.  It was probable that he was a man not prone to be deeply sensitive in such matters for any long period.  The period now had certainly not been long, and yet Will Belton was alive again.

Immediately after breakfast there occurred a little incident which was not without its effect upon them all.  There came up on the drive immediately before the front door, under the custody of a boy, a cow.  It was an Alderney cow, and any man or woman at all understanding cows would at once have perceived that this cow was perfect in her kind.  Her eyes were mild, and soft, and bright.  Her legs were like the legs of a deer; and in her whole gait and demeanour she almost gave the lie to her own name, asserting herself to have sprung from some more noble origin among the woods, than maybe supposed to be the origin of the ordinary domestic cow a useful animal, but heavy in its appearance, and seen with more pleasure at some little distance than at close quarters.  But this cow was graceful in its movements, and almost tempted one to regard her as the far-off descendant of the elk or the antelope.

‘What’s that?’ said Mr Amedroz, who, having no cows of his own, was not pleased to see one brought up in that way before his hail door.  ‘There’s somebody’s cow come here.’

Clara understood it in a moment; but she was pained, and said nothing.  Had the cow come without any such scene as that of yesterday, she would have welcomed the animal with all cordiality, and would have sworn to her cousin that the cow should be cherished for his sake.  But after what had passed it was different.  How was she to take any present from him now?