Afterward, when he learned that heir client was a
lady, he wrote a conditional note of apology, but, if he expected
a response, he was disappointed. A year went by, and now, with the
beginning of this narrative, two newly completed country homes
glowered at each other from separate hillsides, one envious and
spiteful, the other defiant and a bit satirical.
Bazelhurst Villa looks across the valley and sees Shaw's Cottage
commanding the most beautiful view in the hills; the very eaves of
her ladyship's house seem to have wrinkled into a constant scowl
of annoyance. Shaw's long, low cottage seems to smile back with
tantalizing security, serene in its more lofty altitude, in its more
gorgeous raiment of nature. The brooks laugh with the glitter of
trout, the trees chuckle with the flight of birds, the hillsides
frolic in their abundance of game, but the acres are growling like
dogs of war. "Love thy neighbor as thyself" is not printed on the
boards that line the borders of the two estates. In bold black letters
the sign-boards laconically say: "No trespassing on these grounds.
Keep off!"
"Yes, I fancy you'd better put him off the place if he comes down here
again to fish, Tompkins," said his lordship, in conclusion. Then he
touched whip to his horse and bobbed off through the shady lane in a
most painfully upright fashion, his thin legs sticking straight out,
his breath coming in agonized little jerks with each succeeding return
of his person to the saddle.
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