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but certain life whose good or ill we must determine for ourselves here and now can it be that when you came to me with the other young girls of brook to the sunday class you did not believe one word of what i was to teach is it my fault t is it my as a minister of christ that made me too to draw you to him teu me if i seemed to you or a mere whom you could not trust to have any compassion patience or sympathy with you i would like to know it i must have been lacking in some way that you should have been lost i cannot bear and his voice shook i cannot bear to think that you were a in our lord s communion without believing in him she gazed at him with an incredulous half pitying amazement then she laughed softly poor mr what a child you are for a man she said you seem to live in a dream of ages far behind our time no one believes in christ nowadays surely you know that the churches have to be kept up because the clergy don t want to resign their and but even don t believe if they did they would act quite differently some people are trying to introduce and as a change from christianity but the best thing of all is to be rational and material and leave nonsense alone vou talk as if the happened yesterday it happens io v said with a strong of emotion in his accents it happens every time one creature whom christ s love has speaks lightly of the tragedy of a quiet life worse for them i but i have not asked you what others say or what others accept i ask did believe a word i taught you she smiled up at him candidly never he shrank back as though he had received a blow him curiously if i aad believed do you think i could have taken or to dan she said if i had really thought that there was an almighty power that cared for me and watched over me if i had really felt that there was a heaven to which i should be taken after death do you think i would or could have gone to the bad but no not even you has ever persuaded me that such stories are true i see with my own eyes that god if there is a god does not care that good really good people are made to suffer terrible things for no fault of their own and that there is really no law except such as one makes for one s self and one s own convenience told me that cried that brute i saw with you last night at the he s not a brute she interrupted him with some quickness he s one of the men in london he writes plays and beautiful poetry and all the best critics admire him and he s a very great friend of now he turned from her abruptly the utter the cool audacity with which she spoke were horrible to him and yet her beauty was as a flame i a sudden temptation suggested itself to his mind hideous in its swiftness and why should not he even he snatch her away from the life she was leading and save her soul for heaven for one flashing moment it was as though the pit of hell had opened the next he had sprung back from the edge of the abyss and his spirit was in arms boldly and telling itself that there was and could be no saving of the soul of holy orders but adding of to passion and sin to tn like a the storm ol went over him and left his heart like a desert heaped burning sand but outwardly hie showed no sign of save that his face was very pale and his manner very you ve not heard the rest of my story went on i want you to know it all and though you ve asked me not to speak of your wife i really must say a word or two about her for i owe her an immense debt of gratitude indeed if it had not been for her i might never have left standing where he was some little distance apart from her near a grand piano on which the principal object set forth for notice was the signed portrait of a king his eyes fastened npon her as though she were a strong drawing all the buried grief of his soul out of the soothing darkness of tears into the fierce light of despair but he was silent tiiat night when you were so anxious about dan when i met you and told you that i d take care he didn t get any more drink she continued i stayed with him in his cottage and i promised him that if died i would be his wife it was a foolish promise she hesitated and the colour sprang to her face in a warm glow but there were reasons for making it perhaps if had died then quickly and if my little child had lived i should have been content to settle down in not because i loved dan but because he loved me it was fine to be loved so utterly and desperately it is not every day that one comes across a man who is willing to give up everything for the love of a girl and well her eyes shot a malicious gleam from under their dark lashes i don t think would have	33
lived long anyway next morning your wife came and she knew what was being said in the village about me and dan and when she heard i had l een in the cottage with dan all night she told all the tale that evening when dan went home cried out to him is it true and dan couldn t understand at first but when he did he was like a madman the tragedy of a quiet life out of the house and drank till he was blind and deaf and black in the face with rage then he came to me and cursing he asked me to go away with him at once from if you don t shouted be murder here i ll finish off the d d parson and his wife and i ll make short work of but if come along with me i ll leave them all alone i knew what that meant dan was always a man of his word even in drink but i managed to quiet him for the moment and i told him i d go with him in a day or i knew the time had come for me to decide my own future and i wasn t long making up my mind there was a man i had got acquainted with a sort of actor manager who amateur shakespeare reading societies he told me he did it for the purpose of getting into the houses of the aristocracy and becoming acquainted with people of title and position who wanted to show themselves off on the stage and who were too stupid to know how to read or to act he was always talking about and who sent for him and asked his advice about their amateur and he played at being quite the fine gentleman he had fallen in love with me one day when he met me taking a glass at the ram s head he was to and he said that if i would go to london with him he d find me a place on the variety stage so when your wife had brought everything to a finish for me in i wrote to him to come and fetch me away he came and i went with him straight to london one night he had his waiting in a bye lane about a mile outside the village and we did the whole journey at top speed it was a splendid run i was not sorry to go i was only just a little sorry for dan i started as from a heavy dream me sorry for me he echoed in what way she rose and moved towards him with a slow grace and resting one elbow on the piano stood regarding him because i knew you would be disappointed in me she there was a pause so long it deep silence that the rays of sunshine seemed more expressive of sound than a challenge to his but they met with no r a little movement of her shoulders vm afraid i m you she said much more to i heard of jam through a girl i knew and i felt su her made a slight sign of protest do not accuse him of a guilt that wa in low strained accents she died of should never have been told of her gave him a glance of open won you say that but it was your wife w he checked her by an imperative i know it i he said and my wife i a shadowy made his face look spoke instinctively he covered his ey some faint touch of moved closer to him mr she murmured sorry it was such a terrible blow t the tragedy of a quiet life with all your plans for your own happiness you have missed the best of life and i with all my sorrows still hold the chief prize i would not change my for your no not for the whole world i i would not lose the memory of the woman i loved and love for all your social triumphs you do not know what it is to a man to feel that a sweet and woman s life has been linked to his own in the of marriage you do not know how should you i that even death itself fails to destroy such love if it be true and with all your wealth and influence and power i pity you she smiled not half so much she said as pity you and she threw back her head with an air of sudden defiance i pity you she went on because you are only half a man because your stupid religion has chilled your blood and taught you to measure out natural feelings by rule and line because you always turn to the deaf blind fancy you call god and ask it whether you may or may not be happy it answers nothing it does not care yet your own imagination speaking for it says no you shall not do this or that you must not love you may not hate the lion may tear his prey but you must give food to your enemy the bird may choose many mates but you must only have one in youth and in age and so you live in restraint and make yourself miserable for a am while all the world of nature smiles on in perfect happiness without any of man s laws to control it its only law is to live love and die and after death it gives no proof of any further kind of life that any sensible person would wish for dead things rot away and breed of disease i	33
would not care to live again as a her tragedy queen expression here broke up into charming of mirth which made her lovely face still and she laughed no mr it s no use your looking so solemn i neither you nor any man of your calling will ever persuade me i holy orders that it b not to im i ufe to f k it the of nature and if god made nature then it b the of god the and all the of arc merely man s e ive heaps of i left brook and i ve had lessons j the in music card i and all the fine lady accomplishments and i ve li as many up to date things as i can but my creed ii the as u was live love and die and there v an end t it u enough he stood quite motionless wondering a little at the passion she had thrown into the utterance of her words then he she had been on the stages and he questioned whether her admission of utter was only part of the society she had elected to play or whether it was her real attitude of mind had she ar y r al of mind many a woman has none to n the of the mind of another i his he divined was likely to be the and her s concerning nature and were probably the as in a mirror of the mind of her great friend vou say i don t know what love is she went on v ou are quite right i don t know what your kind of love is it must be some idea of your own for it doesn t exist among the men and women of the world ix ve tliat lasts for ever would b t here she smiled besides it t last and can t last if it did we should not see so many wi and marrying again and so far as women go i always notice that if a woman is really fond of a man he at once her and goes after ly now mc n about me l i don t care for any of them in particular they re all alike in my opinion and that y should pity me makes me laugh it does really as i ve already told you the one to be i is yourself am perfectly happy for how on i will your happiness last he asked suddenly the tragedy of a quiet life she gave a playful gesture of indifference till i lose my beauty she answered but when that happens a little over dose of will finish me off prettily before age and fairly set in then with no heart you have no hope he said sadly her laughter rang out like a little heart is a mistake hope is a mistake she rejoined lightly if you have heart everybody you for a fool if you hope for anything people take pleasure in you the only way to live with comfort is to get all you can for yourself out of ever and every one and enjoy what you get in the social life of to day there s no time for any sentiment she pulled some roses out of a dose by and began putting them together in a ever since i left she said i have had no time to think about the past the actor i ran away with introduced me to his friends as his pupil it was understood that i was studying for the stage under his care we went to paris for a time and dan s child was bom there dead that was a piece of luck for me but if it had lived i should have sent it to dan he was such a curious sort of fellow that i think he would have loved it she paused half expecting him to speak but his face was averted from her and he said nothing well she resumed somewhat impatiently then i came back to london and made an instant success i had nothing to do but wear lovely and move my arms and legs about in different and crowds came just to stare at me was the owner of the theatre at which i appeared he had great influence with the upper ten because so many of them borrowed money off him and he made me the fashion and then when any number of men were in love with me and and all sorts he suddenly took me off the stage and married me and here i am well established for life my husband settled ten holy orders thousand a year upon me on our and he gives so much besides that i hardly ever touch my own allowance i have jewels worth a hundred thousand pounds horses c a lovely a box at the opera and everything i want i was presented at court by a who never asked who i was or where i came from she owes my husband of money and i got into the swim at once just a year after my marriage ihe newspapers full of the of the murder of your poor wife and was horribly shocked i knew dan must have done it and i was a little afraid lest he should come to london and perhaps find me out but with my usual good fortune my car ran him the very night of the murder wasn t that strange it makes one believe in providence after all he looked at her with a sudden and close scrutiny and have you never thought he said that you	33
spare me the and of any obligation to you i his breath came and went quickly he was strongly moved gave him a half half surprised glance why are you so bitter with me she asked because i am what i am or because dan was my lover he uttered a sharp exclamation something rose in him that would not be he went up to her and took her hy the hands almost roughly if you will have the truth as a man may tell it you he because dan was your lover you a living lie to me when you knelt l me at the communion table and took god s holy name in vain because you a child a aspect was that of purity itself could give yourself without any thought or after regret to a brutal you i lave i not told you i was drunk she that he her hands drunk yes she told him she this exquisite dainty woman of perfect form and feature had begun her career of shame in drink bewildering thoughts flew through his brain he had meant to reproach her should he not rather in the very name of christianity itself compassionate and forgive her had he not pronounced a from his own pulpit on his wife s murderer dan the very words he had said came back to him in a flash of recollection i fasten no blame on the memory of the evil of the deed that has left me the tragedy of a quiet life desolate for he never was and never could be considered as fully responsible for his actions a man by poison which the laws of the realm most allow to be sold to him as pure and wholesome liquor cannot be held as personally guilty of any crime therefore i have only to say that even as god has punished the unhappy sinner so may god forgive him i and so may god equally forgive all who are led astray by worse than themselves i did not this apply to even more than to dan then he dwelt on the phrase even as god has punished the unhappy sinner so may god forgive him in s case god had not punished sin but had apparently rewarded it then was he to be her judge and while his mind was swept by cross currents of contradictory feeling her voice calm and a little sorrowful went on you make no for me she said and in that i think you fail in charity i know how strongly you have always fought against the drink curse and i thought i might perhaps help you now that i have plenty of money and influence it has been a hope and dream of mine at i might be useful to you and so be a sort of best girl in the village after all that is why i have done my utmost to bring your preaching into public notice i wanted you to be heard in london and i asked that particular bishop you met yesterday to write and invite you to preach for the charity in which so many people of distinction are interested you again it is through you i came he said a of disdain for his of comprehension passed over her face he was entangled in her and yet did not appear to his own helplessness through me of course she answered quietly it is generally through a woman that a man makes his mark though he will never own it i wanted your coming to be the beginning of a great social campaign for you for there is quite as much to be done among die upper classes as among die lower where the drink is concerned dan was a holy orders but he was not more than man a fine gentleman i could name t her delicate eyebrows drew together in a little of contempt the lower classes she said that ts the name given to the best and biggest half of the people the lower classes are ever so much kinder more patient and more temperate than the upper ten of to day i say this from my heart i who came from the lower and am now in the upper ranks through the power of my husband s money the lower classes drink because they have nothing else to do out of working hours and they crowd the because their homes are often but the upper class drink for sheer vice and women as well as men and i have seen so much of it since i married that i am angry to think that the poor should always be l for this failing when the rich are often twenty worse most of the men i meet in society seem to use as a perfume lie looked at her in vague surprise that she could make a jest of the vice that had been her own ruin she laughed a little it s a fact she said everybody doesn t drink beer but everybody drinks even girls and women their doctors order it for them and tell them it s the only safe drink safe i and she gave a gesture of cynical impatience they might as well say that to put your hand in a lion s mouth is s if only the lion will promise not to bite and by medical advice is always on the in every dining room or smoke room it would be difficult to any or for that matter any clergyman in london who would refuse a glass of and at any hour of the day not a the clergy are set against the drink you know some of them are good old i can tell you they talk a lot in	33
their church about the national curse but many of the very the tragedy of a quiet life and get a good of their out of the curse they condemn so encouraging to the cause of religion isn t it to see such in the pulpit preaching was perplexed and embarrassed it was not easy to answer her or to deny her words moreover she spoke not at all like the of the old days though even then she had always possessed a certain of utterance but like a woman of the world whose experience had taught her much that could not be contradicted i never get drunk now she continued with an almost brutal frankness you might perhaps think i do so i just tell you at once that i don t i ve plenty of opportunities for drinking but i don t take them however i should not high society very much if i did because so many distinguished persons would be in the same boat with me they don t about the street and curse and swear as dan used to do some of them take a to all that but they ve got into the habit of a standing straight set faced which almost the that they are drunk i know a who is in that condition nearly every night and when she goes out to dinner you can always tell if she s very much on because she tells awful stories that shock every one at table with a perfectly pale grave face as though she were reading prayers people she s eccentric and say poor dear but the matter with the poor dear is that she s drunk that s au she laughed again and went on with a kind of quick the actor who took me away from was a of the artistic type he never turned colour or tumbled about he simply sat and talked by the hour to himself about his own genius till it made one perfectly sick to hear him i married quite as much because he was a sober man as because he was a rich one he never loses his head not he he would not be so successful in holy orders money making if he did i watch drunken men fall into the he for them and i am glad when they are it serves them right a sudden flash of wicked malice lit up her eyes saw it as in a mirror which only the ugly of a face he obtained for one instant the view of her whole nature and that the object she had in using her influence for him and creating a public interest in his name and work was not as she had professed to do him but only to serve her own ends that she might assume to show to the world a new kind of conquest a g whom as a preacher she might claim to and in whose possible success she would assuredly assert her own social share and as he mentally got a grasp of the situation he rose to it with cool resolution and nerve so though you tell me that i make no allowance for you and that i fail in charity towards you he said you yourself have no pity for others who arc and by the very same evil that has been your destruction and yet you would help me in my work impossible i could not travel along your lines i should compelled to make public protest against your husband s of and poisoned men i should judge both your husband and you as ten times worse than they her face she lifted her beautiful head with a haughty movement of indignation he held up his hand hear me for one moment remember that to me you arc nothing but the village girl that all your wealth makes you no whit better or higher in my eyes because if anything your social position has not improved your character so much as it has hardened it you speak of the and of that section of upper class society in which most strangely you are now elected to move i believe such and do exist but w hy because money money in millions such as your husband possesses an entrance into society for women like i the tragedy of a quiet life honest man is no more than a of day to on for whom love is a delusion and god himself a fraud he spoke with heat and passion his voice trembled she looked at him intently there was a faint smile on her lips you talk of my work he went on and of your wish to be useful to me why you have cut the very ground from under my feet by telling me that the praise of the press is your doing the mere boom of your husband s newspapers who that is sane cares for any praise in the press if it is only the result of an individual influence it never is more than that she murmured with both praise and blame are administered but the blame is more easily secured and costs less than the praise a shadow of stem pain darkened his face he said and his grave blue eyes expressed a mingled sorrow and entreaty girl whom i would have saved from ruin had it been possible i never thought i should have to ask a favour at your hands but you have thrust this hard position on me and so i ask you to altogether dismiss me from your thoughts and never to speak of me to any persons of influence as you consider them or attempt to help me through the press or	33
he had seen some brilliant coloured snake lift its head from a thicket ready to sting she saw the movement and bit her rosy under lip how you hate me she murmured not all the good i have tried to do for you would ever move you to a kind thought of me do you think you are quite just or even quite christian but there i will not worn you any more you shall go your own way you shall keep to your narrow round of work in miserable mean little i promise you that you shall be forgotten even by me after to day he bent his head so it will be best he answered suddenly she went straight up to him and laid a hand on his arm she raised her face that lovely pure oval of perfect pearl and rose with the large eyes lighting it up like the tragedy of a quiet life parson she said in a half whisper i believe you are afraid of me he met her glance with a sad he knew his own strength and weakness and made no pretence to himself of being not as other men are you are right he replied in cold quiet tones i am afraid of you i am not such a coward as to refuse to admit it a smile trembled on the sweet mouth you might even you might love me a little some day she murmured his eyes looked down into hers if i were made drunk as you were when you gave yourself to dan he said with stem and deliberate emphasis i might love you as other men do for the moment and that moment would be my soul s she drew herself away from him with a gesture of anger and offence her bosom heaved quickly oh you are cruel you are brutal she said you are not a true christian he caught at the words with a sudden passion of feeling true christian what is that do you know is it to be a man whose of so called christianity into is it to be like some of the true christian clergy who are so anxious for the social purity of the nation that they will crowd music halls to and approve a half is it to secretly in vice and yet present an external front of sham virtue to the world is it to without reproach women like you men like your husband who pay large sums of money to church in order that their of social vice may be covered and by the support of such members of the christian whose can be bought for so much cash down holy orders i the been to stand for many a deed the hour in his t she stood g mr at him in a kind of surprise then she appeared to gather a sort of st e d f about her an air such as thai by queen of id an axe too mr she said a air you take the sins of too and are on your own brethren tbey have a very part to you know i tbey have to preach a which very few people believe oi and then of course society doesn t like to be preached at and told disagreeable truths unless u s done in a sort of theatrical way when they think it s rather a sunday morning variety entertainment but really a clergyman needs to have plenty of tact to avoid take royal people for example i suppose a parson were to dare to tell them the truth of themselves he would never he asked to preach before again think what a disgrace that d for him now and she nodded at if you had only let me go on helping you i would have had you preach before the king i could ea have arranged it he smiled coldly at her complete vou would have chosen a most preacher he said not at all i could have told you exactly what to say and she laughed like an amused child pretty and pleasant things about peace nd universal things he wouldn t mind hearing just for ten minutes how kings are always the lord s and get their places in before any one else has a chance and how their very faults only arise from the difficulties of their position that s the sort of thing that doesn t offend why with a little and push i would have made you a bishop in a the tragedy of a quiet life as one may prefer heaven to hell i prefer the obscurity of he answered and you shall have it she said with a sudden burst of impatience you shall never again come out of it be quite sure of that i but to day just for to day be kind to me he looked at her her eyes filled with tears they up and fell down her fair cheeks he hesitated then went up to her gently and took her hand he said i cannot be kind to you i know you too well i doubt you too much you asked me to come and see you to day and i came simply as your former and in coming i intended to point out to you what i feel to be the truth that if it had not been for your cruelty and and the secret wickedness of your relations with dan my wife he paused and a shuddering sigh broke from him my poor little wife would not have been murdered i have imagined at times that her death lies quite as much	33
with you as with your brutal lover she gave a half sobbing cry mr i say i have imagined it he continued with a kind of pathetic weariness and i cannot think of her in her innocent beauty dead and look kindly upon you living i am sorry to be hard but i cannot help myself of course after what you have told me i find that i must set the chief blame on the one devil of mischief that makes of all men and women s souls the drink well i admit this but now that i have seen you now that i know you have no need of me to help you advise or console now that you show me that you have chosen ways of life in which i can have no sympathy and wish to claim no memory it only remains for me to go from you for ever and here he looked down at the slim white hand he held on which the marriage ring gleamed surmounted by a second of purest diamonds i cannot say god bless you for i do not think he can or will but i say god save you holy orders in her eyes she withdrew the tears were still thick hand slowly from his clasp thank you she said and a smile softened the moment vexed lines of her mouth you would be such a splendid man mr if you were not a par n yoa make so much of your religion that you yourself in its like a strong h bear dancing in chains f poor bear the on her lashes swift gleam of sunny mirth which into a soft laugh but you will never alter i vou always be the same anxious to be good church of england man all her gravity vanished and she went on like a school girl now if you want to see a real angel one who actually into heaven before your very eyes come with me in my car to to day i promise to fly most gracefully away from you he turned a questioning glance upon her i v ill go and change my gown she continued and we ll start at once for i m due at at half past seven it is quite a quick run and the car can take you back to your hotel after i am gone where are you going he asked have i not told you to heaven up among the clouds so high like a diamond in the sky her cheeks flushed and the laughing light upon her face would have been the despair of a you look so surprised she said i am only going up for a couple of hours in mr s wonderful shooting star it s my favourite way of seeing the world such a world as it looks too from the so small a with its little patterns of fields and roads it is just as though a child had laid out a doll s garden on a tea tray and as one higher and higher here in real or feigned enthusiasm she clasped her hands and looked up like a saint approaching the gate of paradise one feels far above all the stupid of things i the tragedy of a quiet life great and powerful almost good i she let her hands fall at her sides again and laughed yes dear parson i almost good in the company of mr he with a flash of scorn a light blush flew over her face is a poet she answered then with a sudden theatrical air she added to him the clouds speak and the stars sing to him sin is wildly delightful and corruption delicious he is of the new and the most fashionable which the of virtue into the of vice ah and she heaved a profound sigh the common herd the cannot understand these subtle shades of fine emotion it takes culture wealth and an refinement oi training combined with exquisite of idleness to comprehend the of smart she broke into a peal of laughter and clapped her hands didn t i do that well she exclaimed i might have been on the boards i that s a bit of he talks in that kind of way when he s been drinking several or several and mixed but he s really quite a clever man he designed his own and it is such a wonderful patent that people say hell make thousands of pounds with it he can steer it in any direction even in a gale of wind you i come and see me ascend won t you he hesitated a strong instinct urged him to go with her and yet an equally strong to be seen in her company held him back i would rather not he began oh nonsense it won t take much more of your time besides you ve made it perfectly clear that you never wish to see me again after to y so you may as well be amiable and finish the afternoon pleasantly she smiled and added it will be something for you to think about and remember when you get back to stupid little wait here for me i won t be long holy orders she left the room before he could speak another word and he paced up and down with that he could do nothing with her neither reproach nor condemn nor persuade nor he asked himself bitterly of what use was the influence of the church or the teaching of the gospel to a woman such as she was endowed f with extraordinary beauty and now by fortune s hazard possessed of sufficient wealth lo move in	33
the w a of if not death in your tiie life as b not life at ail you would them to envy your you would like to sow the of evil d r and discontent in the hearts of the g fa who you and who as yet are innocent of your wrong join you would like it would be a pleasure to you but if such mischief is to be worked shall have no hand in it i let the village think as it thinks now that you are among those whom it is best and kindest to forget her cheeks her eyes thank she smiled it is so easy to me isn t it he made no reply her beauty was almost in its brilliancy as she turned her face towards him the afternoon sunlight set warm of living gold in her rich brown hair and she looked so lovely that even as the car along being now out of the more crowded men turned and stared amazed by the vision that flew past them if ever the goddess of a poet s dream could be su posed to take mortal shape then represented in herself the external of all the love of the world yet inwardly she was corrupt and cruel a very devil in woman s fairest shape and richard fighting b the strong attraction of her physical charm and his own si knowledge of her innate wickedness found the stress of the battle gradually and the storm clearing to calm temptation had assailed him but his strength had lain in the consciousness that he was not above temptation and the victory was now being given into his hands they reached ten minutes before the appointed hour and on descending from her carriage led the way to an open part of the grounds where several groups the tragedy of a quiet life of gaily dressed people were standing and sitting about or round a broad expanse of in the centre of which a huge nearly filled with gas was swaying uneasily to and fro as though struggling to release itself and tear asunder its m the sand bags that held it to the ground the afternoon was one of clear light and warm air the london season though wearing on had not yet closed and the women who were gathered together to watch the ascent of the monster of the sky were all not to say attired in dainty muslin and with hats perched on their marvellous artificial like miniature gardens and of painted silk designed to match their gowns some pretty faces and figures were among them but all into when in her plainly cut white cloth frock with her radiant face smiling out of its hood appeared on the scene then every man left every other woman to crowd round the heroine of the hour and the women in consequence of being so looked coldly critical or indulging in light among themselves as to the identity and personality of mrs s companion another capture my dear just fancy i thought cardinal was the latest victim how many gentlemen of all the churches does she intend to fool herself conscious of the sensation she made yet assuming a perfectly graceful i n consciousness of it moved among her acquaintances with an easy shaking hands this person bowing to that but introducing to nobody till the massive figure of raised itself from somewhere among the ropes and of the and advanced to meet her the poet and looked very pale and the expression of his blue eyes was a staring ah most beautiful lady he at last i was beginning to fear you would fail me have i ever done so she asked with a charming upward glance then she i ve been talking all the holy orders mi to n old j let to the two men led other the air at slim figure ta then he bi ft i tee yoa are of the mr vou to get to after death be i and my shooting and be pointed to the wi l t you there during what do yoa ay will come s dear upon in their grave a complete comprehension of his and character your heaven and mine are possibly he t h civility we should probably hav to y in rent rs v if d softly and his shaven fat white hand on which a lar c diamond j d v ry much so ik a nodding you would c to the narrow line of a i to the l high road of science we should never m and he turned with a smile to magic crystal are you r she answered on he made a sign to the men re hu y filling the with s to hasten the r or j tion of their work j he scattered in the grounds of now began to collect in groups which speedily d till was a considerably large crowd watching like children the turning off of the gas and the removal of the india rubber pi e which had supplied the with its soaring power preparations were now made to fix the car to the bottom of the and while this business was going on several persons entered into conversation with both and and was i i the tragedy of a quiet life left for a moment alone and apart a vague sense of pain and crept over him as he looked round upon the brilliant scene he wondered how it was that no one present appeared to entertain the slightest anxiety as to the safety of the who were about to sail the seas of space it seemed to be taken for granted that to go up in a was as simple and ordinary as to drive in	33
a carriage and while he was yet considering the various of risk in the undertaking came up to him with outstretched hand and said good bye i are you going now he said at once do you know where you are going she laughed ah that is never quite certain it depends on mr are you alone with him does no one else accompany you she opened her large eyes in smiling wonder certainly not why should any one go with us we have travelled in the sky together scores of times and you have no fear none his face expressed a certain anxiety and she saw it why you surely don t mind what becomes of me do you she said lightly this is our long good bye you must remember you wish it to be so yes i wish it to be so he repeated almost mechanically you wish me to do nothing more at any time to make the world listen to you nothing more i never never at any time well if i never speak to you again or attempt to help you in any way will you try and think more kindly of me some day a thrill of compassion and regret moved him he gently pressed her hand holy orders i will i i will do my best that s right and all suddenly she moved up closely him and spoke in swift low accents parson it is only your god that stands between us the god of the churches not the god of nature it is your religion that makes you narrow and miserable a religion that was not strong enough to save dan or me think of that think that we both heard you preach of christ every sunday and that neither of were a bit the better for it think of i say when i am gone for it wants thinking about and with this she turned and obeyed the hand of who had been for the past few minutes the final preparations for the ascent of his shooting star everything was now ready and amid some cheering and hand clapping from the of spectators who had gathered round the in a circle entered the car and waved her hand to her various acquaintances look his place beside her and gave the signal to let go the were loosened and the rose floating over the surface of the ground in a light wind once more waved her hand parson good bye he pressed to the edge of the crowd watching her fair face as it was borne upward into the light and air of which it seemed a part good bye he called and like a silver note of music played afar off and dropping through space came the farewell echo of her voice once more good bye up up still up and ever higher the shooting star and every eye in the crowd was strained to follow its progress till it looked no bigger than a child s in the sky then it began to travel swiftly towards the with almost as much as a vessel the ocean and within less than a quarter of an hour had entirely disappeared the spectators began to the the tragedy of a quiet life men and women laughing and and laying on the distance the would travel and on the probable point of its descent while with a sense of upon him as though he had been and were still moving in a wild dream made his way to the spot where s car by her orders waited to take him back to his hotel as he walked slowly along his attention was suddenly by some words spoken among a group of persons who were leaving by the same exit as himself yes was drunk said one man not a doubt of it but the air will sober him i m not so sure of that said another if he throws out too much by mistake there was a laugh then it will be all u p said the first and no great loss but the lovely mrs oh shell take care of herself you bet i shell bring him down to earth with a bang could no longer restrain himself i b your pardon he said courteously addressing one of the party but did i hear you say that mr the owner of the that has just gone up was was not quite as he should be finished the man spoken to with a good humoured smile yes i said he was drunk and he is but mr lives in that condition for the most part so it is nothing but and looked troubled he seemed perfectly sober oh he always seems i that s the worst part of it he stands straight looks straight and talks straight but he s drunk and his talk is most clever when he s most drunk then the lady with him should she not have been told i presume the lady with him knew all about it was the careless reply she ought to if she doesn t he laughed again and drew back holy there s no danger i suppose he said as sl last word oh not the least in the world i if there were no one could help the group passed on he felt he could ask no more questions and entering with reluctance s luxurious he was driven at something of a rush back to bis hotel with the sickening consciousness upon him all the time that the who the car along at such a rate was the very man who had swept the life out of dan fate had an unkind way of him in and of bringing him into contact	33
such honest clergy who aware of in the church are given no chance of saving the situation because of the and imposed upon them by their frequently and indolent i am my lord your s obedient servant richard a weight was lifted from his soul with the writing of these plain and audacious words though he knew the man to whom they were addressed would probably fling them aside with contempt and forget them yet he felt he ought to write them he was convinced that a bishop ought to be in earnest about more important matters than the of his own legs he went out and posted the letter himself and on returning to the hotel for breakfast was met by his american acquaintance with the morning s paper in his hand here s news that will very likely interest you he said isn t this near your place he held out the paper pointing to a prominent holy orders great on th w ry to ground eagerly utmost be vas i could it be true the of messrs and ca no no not e s to the ground t wai the great cf the ne l could heaven be so kind the page him hb what s up ejaculated you look as jf you d been given a fortune raised his head his eye shone with a t gladness so i have he answered if this be true it means more to me than millions of money it means the health and safety the and honour and peace of the people of my parish the people i have devoted my life to serve it means why you cannot imagine what it means the greatest obstacle to my work is removed do you know i can hardly believe it for the influence of that in the neighbourhood was as that of a devil in a paradise and that the devil should be so suddenly out is something of a positive miracle smiled the devil may come back again he said that is to say may re build shook his head they haven t the money the company has paid no for some time the business has been steadily failing since he paused and a shadow crossed his face since my wife was murdered looked at him with kindly sympathy i have heard the story he said in a low tone the murderer was a hand went on slowly he had been one of my but he i the tragedy of a quiet life left to work for mr i can only suppose he was drunk when he committed the crime he was always more or less in that condition and mr had been warned that he was dangerous but i believe he paused that so far from the warning he gave the miserable man every possible opportunity to drink all the more mr there are more causes for evil than are generally supposed it is very often not the actual sinner who is most to be blamed but the or woman who leads that sinner into sin was silent now if i were a rich man said with a sudden smile glancing again at the newspaper i would buy the land on which that stood would you looked up quickly and why i would build there a school of arts and a kind of formed on the of and it should have a social club where both men and women who were working at their various trades could meet together it should have its own its own society its its amusements and a garden where husbands and wives and children could go and sit in the summer time when work was done and have their tea or coffee as they do on the continent listening to the music where they could even have their beer yes provided it were beer and non such as is sold to the people in germany the drink much more beer than the english yet it does not make them drunk but we for a paltry and wicked profit would rather poison our working men than see to it that they get wholesome stuff for their money and as if poisoned beer were not bad enough we permit the sale of spirits which are often so heavily that one glass taken raw would almost kill a man whose system was not accustomed to yes if i were a rich man i would do something that would prove of more practical help towards the general of the nation than all the talking in parliament i holy orders with keen interest here t who accepted his holy orders in true spirit of a high command who saw in those orders a responsibility resting upon himself for the care of the bodies s well as the of those human beings over whom he e a s and he wondered supposing that ever clergyman in every parish of great britain to take up the drink question f om s practical and earnest point of view whether greater might not result than from any government he said something to this effect but shook his head our hands are tied he said that is what want and every one else to our hands are tied wherever a or a any particular section of a country the can seldom do anything to check the drink habits of the community to begin with there are the men who work at the or the these fellows get a certain quantity of free beer and spirit v hat are you to do against that then there is another point which is never sufficiently considered the want of method and the of british working men s wives	33
who never feed their husbands properly for the hard work of the day very few of these women can cook efforts have been made to teach them but they will not learn and the majority of working men especially agricultural start off in the early dawn with a mere crust of bread and a of tea or coffee half cold which is not sufficient to keep up their strength for several hours of hard manual labour naturally they feel the want of nourishment long before noon and if there s a public house handy they get some beer t he stuff sold to them their for the poor meal their wives send out to them and it an unnatural thirst which must he by more and still more beer and so the mischief goes on and tn go on if i had my way there should be half way houses in every part of the country where agricultural labour is employed i the tragedy of a quiet life half way houses repeated for what purpose for the supply of proper food to the of the soil said where they might for a penny get a proper breakfast and for or a proper dinner with one glass of pure beer to wash it down these men are unconscious from their ignorance of the laws of health and they cannot be taught all at once besides they have no time to their wives for the most part are one woman with three or four young children is more often in a in the early morning than not and the husband s breakfast is a secondary matter to that of the babies so that the actual frequently goes to his work in a semi starved condition while his little ones get the best of whatever there is to eat i ve seen it all i tell you and i say that the british working man is not to be set down as a he would be as sober and straight as any man under the sun if he could get the proper food to work on and the proper drink i we have no right to condemn him for it is the makers of the stuff he that are the real if you feed a man on he ends in a lunatic asylum in the same way if you feed a man on beer and you make him a criminal and the father of yet the government in their efforts for reform try to off the branches of the deadly tree of drink and never strike at the root the root is the trade of what should be pure and wholesome but there are under the law began that are never rejoined quickly because and are all in league with wine merchants and we mustn t forget this latter branch of the drink trade to throw dust in the eyes of the officers of the these men no doubt do their duty and are possibly above but they can be cheated in as well as other folks in other trades the well known existence of ought to be holy sufficient to show that goes on to me tbe that men build up huge fortunes out of the c liquor that ruins the bodies and souls of fellow men the most horrible and appalling thing in the world and what of the upper classes asked presently in your zeal for the working men of great britain you have forgotten the what kind of reform would you suggest in that direction a sudden came into s the upper classes he echoed the upper classes yes the upper classes repeated with emphasis lead they drink like fish in the sea without the fish necessity the men the women do the same except when they prefer the extent of the evil is almost because half of it is secret men drink in secret women drink in secret only the eye that is trained like a physician s to note the of lip lines the nervous of hands the restlessness of movement and the wandering of attention can detect the working of the vice on the apparently sober lady of fashion or man about town but drink is as much the curse of the upper ten as it is of the lowest million how would you set about court and society tell me for if ever court and society were in a bad way they are at this present day was silent for a little space his thoughts returned to again he seemed to see the exquisite face fading away into the sunset beside the heavy countenance of again his inner consciousness told him that for the sins these two were they had no regret and no repentance and that for hundreds of other men and women like them there was no hope because there was no faith i am afraid he said at last that for court and society i can suggest nothing save that remedy which god at given times change what change it may be or how it will be brought about i cannot even picture but the tragedy of a quiet life it is easier to raise the poor to a higher level of thought and feeling than it is to bring so called persons down from the summit of supreme which they appear to have reached at this present time my work will never lead me into society surroundings he paused and his pale face flushed a little then he added i should perhaps tell you that you were quite right when you said that i was being helped along by a boom in the press i found it all out yesterday and i have put a stop to it opened	33
his eyes in astonishment you have put a stop to it he exclaimed yes i shall not be heard of in the newspapers any and s smile was very happy as he said this i hope you understand that nothing would more offend my sense of right than a renown to feel that i was being backed up like a race horse by some influence of which i did not approve and for which i could never be grateful i am merely the of and my preaching is for the people of my parish the wider world has no need of me looked at him as though he were some curious natural phenomenon that s opinion is it he said cheerily and a broad smile lightened his well we ll see how far you re proved correct meantime look here if ask me down to this of yours some day i ll come i guess find business there to suit me let me know how you find things when you get back and if this is really burnt out tell me when the land s for sale laughed and promised treating his words as a joke they had some further talk and then parted on terms of mutual liking arranging to see each other soon once or twice was half inclined to tell so genial an acquaintance of his yesterday s experience but as it would have involved an explanation of his former knowledge of he decided on the wiser course of silence he left london for that morning before noon o holy orders h thinking all the way in the train of the ted news was with such important changes to him and to his parish the burning down of s when he at the station where his old with the high dog cart awaited him he was addressed at once by the who cook his luggage j twas a big at s last night sir i yes i ve seen an of it in the papers be said la the place quite destroyed to the very ground sir i the fire broke out about seven in the evening and what was a queer thin it seemed to come not only from one but from all sides of the buildings wc all over the place for fire which as you know sir are a terrible time coming when ihe re wanted in country districts and when they did the fire had got it all its own way the flames were seen for miles and miles around could not look very concerned there was too much joy and in his eyes any cause assigned he asked well sir they do say that mr being so hard up set fire to it himself hoping to get the money but you know what a rare place this is for talk and it s only a tale smiled nodded kindly and drove off through the scented lanes with a wonderful lightness of heart only one thought crossed his mind that was not alive to rejoice with him at the unexpected now granted to the neighbourhood and why could not such have come earlier before all the trouble and disaster and tragedy had occurred of which the was the latent cause surely the ways of destiny were hard and past out as the mare trotted across the bridge between old and new a sudden flashing recollection of came before him and he saw as it were three pictures of her one as the village girl in her simple blue cotton frock with the bunch of spring flowers at her the tragedy of a quiet life throat another as the society beauty in her wonderful gown of clinging lace with the sparkle of jewels about her and last of ally as a face only a face of exquisite human perfection vanishing vanishing into thin air so must she vanish from my life he said to his inward self she to whom my senses might have yielded had not my soul her must disappear out of my sight for ever he turned into the gate his heart thrilled with a quick pang as he thought what a different home coming his would have been could he have seen s sweet presence smiling at him from the doorway as he approached the house but he was not allowed to feel utterly lonely for half way along the drive he was met by a little flying figure with curly hair shining like a of gold in the sun i home again and rosy and bright eyed with restless feet that danced to and fro for sheer delight at sight of his father ran alongside the old mare in a state of the wildest excitement s all burnt he shouted and i could see all the fire from the windows the sky was red ever so red and such lots of smoke drew up at his own house door and springing down from the dog cart caught his little son in his arms and kissed him fondly then lifted him and set him on his shoulder burnt eh he said a nice big for you wasn t it bigger than any you ve ever seen oh much much bigger exclaimed but nobody was it was the beer that was burnt and the and the and the and the poison finished well that s not much loss my boy and how have you got on with the lessons i left you to do forthwith began to chatter and by tea time the had well nigh forgotten there was such a place as holy orders london on the earth or that he bad been to il in his own amid a wealth of roses and summer blossoms he listened enchanted to the child s	33
and eager talk about the way the time bad during his absence the little with a ring in it like of a s was to his soul on sunday it was a bit slow said the boy with a expression of solemnity i don t know what yoa were doing but w weren t doing much the man who preached the sermon in church was all right but of course he wasn t y u and a lot of old women waited about in the church ard to and one of them said to me master i hope your good papa won t be very long away and i said no ma am don t worry please s coming home directly t and she said thank to the t rd for we him badly h t laughed merrily and after dinner said i was to sit in the garden with a book so i got s tales and read about what the moon saw i like that but i think i like i he shadow better you see the shadow got all the good things instead of the learned man and i suppose that s likely to be true then i read some poetry and wrote some d you wrote some did you oh yes i often do things i think about go into rhyme by themselves i ll show you how some day but i ve got all my lessons ready for you oh and i r over yesterday afternoon to know when you d be and he said he d come again today the wasn t burnt then perhaps he won t now why shouldn t he well says there are some cottages just by the that f aught fire too and father helped to t all the furniture out they were awful poor people that had the furniture they weren t themselves but they d have lost all their beds and chairs and tables it the tragedy of a quiet life hadn t been for father so i expect he s still pretty busy for the fire isn t all out yet and the engines are away and the gardener says everything is all of a smoke mr s there but mrs s away not away boy his father mildly it should be run away run away repeated i know how it should be but old peter always says old peter was the gardener with whom was on terms of the confidence smiled and the boy added as an after thought mr mortar in the village says the same is mr a hundred years old he s going on that way answered laughing a little he will be if he holds on a bit longer and what will he do then why what can he do lightly looking at s earnest eyes and expression and thinking how much he just then resembled his mother except make the best of it i expect he ll have a said thoughtfully it s the only thing for a man of that age you think so said amused why yes birthday presents are no use he wouldn t know what to do with them and it s no good saying many happy returns of the day a would be just right why well you see the fire would be like the burning up of everything all his life and whatever he had done in it then there would be a heap of ashes like his poor old body when the soul had gone away and the soul would be the flame of the fire rising into heaven oh yes a is the only thing for an old man s birthday just then a bell rang the small philosopher to his tea and he ran ofi to return directly die meal w holy orders was over his father smiled watching him into tha house and anon sighed for the what this child would be when a school had as a known of the day re marked knocked the nonsense out of him the nonsense was very sweet just now the memory of came back to him he thought of her yesterday s confession of her remark concerning the death of her child he recalled the of elizabeth in l thought ft child was given to a woman set her in the of all the dear eyed heavens a chosen minister to do their business nd lead i up the difficult blue heights t there was no such for she wai probably one of the many who nowadays resent as an inconvenience i wish he said half aloud the church could get rid of that foolish curse on eve in in sorrow shalt thou bring forth children and thy desire shall be to thy husband and he shall rule over thee moses was ill advised when he set that down if he did set it down it should have read in gladness shalt thou bring forth children and thy safety shall be thy husband and he shall cherish thee here an approaching step interrupted his meditations and looking up he saw crossing the gravel path from the and coming towards him he hastened to meet him and at once perceived that the little priest was not so cheery as usual despite his genial smile so you are back again from town my good richard he said and such news to greet your arrival the devil has destroyed his own in his native element it is amazing news indeed rejoined i saw the first account of it in a london newspaper this morning i could hardly believe it nor i at first and sat down rather wearily in a the tragedy of a quiet life garden chair beside his friend excuse me	33
if i am lazy i have been up all night no not even when i saw the flames could i believe it it seemed too good to be true the fire broke out at half past seven it was half past eight before the first engine arrived and then too late the whole place was in a blaze roofs fell in chimneys and mon it was a wonderful sight no lives lost and you know what is said that himself kindled the flames exactly and here rubbed his nose very hard as was his habit in perplexity i am not so sure the story isn t true now i par if the company should seek evidence could be a most awkward witness for i saw shall i tell you what i saw or shall i involve you my friend by ha in l al trouble will they come to you and say were you told by the reverend father so and so or what was your impression when the reverend father said so and so it won t matter if they do laughed i wasn t on the scene of action ah you can prove an that is true and s eyes well then i will risk all danger and what i can say is this that the men most of them casual hands all left the at six o clock as is usual there is a with merry go rounds for the children put up about a mile from the village and many of them went there after work to spend the evening everything was quite quiet in the place i sit by myself in my cottage reading i look out of the window i see stroll by you know the large of the is very nearly opposite to me and the and carts come in and go out there every morning is not a van or a cart he is a sly fox and though he walks on two legs he does it in a way that reminds you of something secret creeping on all so he with that creeping step goes in at the big gate i stand by my window and wait for him to come out again but he does not come and as i watch i see his for one and he on my wall another yet another and open it people open more more red flashes suddenly some one a then every one is in the street all at on fire i fire the persons shout i fetch please consider this my friend tl b not at home all the afternoon and has not not that a strange thing and manner i am not m how was it then that i saw him go ir afterwards return to his own house ten broke out yet he was not at home i no one had seen him no one but myself but there is one thing i s evidence if he has burnt down his thing be has ever done in his life i trouble about it through me but if he claims the s that is the company answered with a little shrug i ills the tragedy of a quiet life far away he echoed you are not going alas yes my dear friend i am going and you and i must part for a time perhaps a long time i do not know i have had a letter from one who is my superior a letter that is not pleasant he tells me i have failed in my mission i have been four years and a little longer in this neighbourhood and i have not made sufficient to fill a church well that is true i i confess it it is your fault my richard for it is not to make anywhere in the sphere of your influence i was silent his eyes were grave and wistful you understand went on gently it is to your praise not to your blame that i have i the failure rejoice in your strength that i am called elsewhere is perhaps best i shall be sent where there are the weak and not the strong for see it is this way if every minister of what you call your church were like you there would be no other no or any other no because where all is simple and true there is no need for differences why are there quarrels in religion because one half of the ministers are not sure of christ the illness of is catching if the do not know into which fields to lead their flocks the flocks copy the wandering habit now you desire to follow christ like a child and your sincerity is so great that you are bound to suffer for it but you will keep many souls safe for heaven stretched out a hand and laid it affectionately on his shoulder must you really go could nothing persuade you to my church smiling a little nothing once a priest always a priest mon ami i shall miss you a slight tremor interrupted his voice and he paused a moment then he resumed yes i shall miss you richard more than any man i ever knew i shall miss the boy it will be taking myself away from a home like the one i left in where i had learned to r t holy orders l ji l c a k af die ent out of we may bat it k true i can do i bow to si f ft e of i bar to pot a in that saw j it ti as if i	33
the my ah died at ut of it so r it b tn e you are an t of the church g t it a right you be a if you are and to keep four country free bat are no yoa are an honest opponent and if there were many church of like you it be bad the holy father t british but there b no fear yon are only one in u n or thousand and with all your troubles your at h your broken heart see how the road is cl for your future labours no more th j k of th j drink is lessened the is given into your hands and it is such a stupid village what will you do with it iv thought for a moment then he answered slowly i will do my with it my best is not much but it will all my all your life and sighed my friend it is a a very tender and hopeful smile no he answered my is over and the light of a deep feeling his face as he went on vou call it a stupid village it is there are thousands of villages like it in and stupidity all over the british and why the people are only given just enough education as it is called to make them restless and discontented and in country places this education is i the tragedy of a quiet life imparted to them by teachers who are only a shade less ignorant than themselves teachers in rural schools are frequently selected for their posts through local influence and private wire working despite to the contrary and very often these inadequate persons z e so ill fitted for their that they have to learn all they will ever know out of the very school books from whidi they are required to teach the children of practical training such as shall serve to fit the youths and maidens for life such as shall show them how to manage farms till the soil and appreciate the of nature who so openly her to draw fix m her resources all that they need of this they get nothing nor are they taught any home craft or by which they might feed their minds in vacant hours and find entertainment for themselves in the long winter evenings the waste of brain and eye and hand the waste of power and intellectual capacity of the noble working classes of great is enormous cruel and lamentable for it is not their fault it is the fault of our governing methods which leave them without the right encouragement for their labours or the right entertainment for their minds now here in i am quietly working along on both those lines i fear you will not succeed said shaking his head vigorously i think i shall rejoined the great obstacle to all sane healthy and happy living is the drink of course and this was my trouble with my but it has been growing less and less and now with the sudden destruction of s it may die out altogether is it not strange that in the first sermon i preached here after my darling s death i should have said these words i shall pray god daily and nightly that he may see fit in his wonder working wisdom to remove the temptations to sin that abound in this neighbourhood and i also said for you only i will ask that god may give you to that god may show me how to make you happy in your holy orders labours and your lives that he may help to teach children the unspeakable content that is found in simple and temperate ways and that the i have and the despair i have known may be acceptable to him is a poor sacrifice of love or my part a poor oe of that is that will be life ta l s eyes grew you are a good man my richard he said softly i think the angels love you i hope angel does richard answered with a musing tenderness one that is always he paused a moment then continued yes i it is as you say a stupid village nevertheless my dear there is a in it i i never thought there was so much till my wife was from they the villagers misunderstood her little soul she was too pretty and merry and thoughtless but they are sorry now and they show me how sorry they are they try to please me in all the ways they can they fight against the drink and in this they are greatly helped by their love for my boy it is an odd thing perhaps but do you know i don t believe there s a man in or near who would be seen drunk by my little lad i he is your said tenderly the sign of your holy orders such a little fellow went on and yet his is extraordinary he makes it a habit to run down into the village every day and talk to he has no fixed time for this and the consequence is every cottage is kept clean and tidy at all hours in case master looks in he told the women they should keep flowers in the windows well all the boys went to work and knocked up window boxes and flowers were planted in them so that the looks decorated now i have noticed that said i thought it was your persuasion oh no master likes it so he suggested to the that the donkey that drew the wood	33
cart was getting i the tragedy of a quiet life too old to work and ought to have a good time now like mr mortar that was the way he put it is therefore turned out to grass to please master and laughed the child is more active in doing good than a looked at him thoughtfully your way of work is a wise way richard he said you reach your people through the heart through the sentiment it is the right way the only way you give yourself to them with your home your child your hopes your plans your strength weakness ah do not forget my weakness interrupted for that is great but it helps me to be one with my and to with the stupid village as i could never with london london exclaimed my friend think stupid the world s metropolis that is just it the world s metropolis and moved by a sudden thrill of passionate indignation sprang up from his chair and confronted his friend with the eager air of an orator aroused to some national wrong the core of in which there the worm that not the world s metropolis where the bulk of the inhabitants find nothing better higher or nobler to do than scramble for money at the risk of everything else honour principle feeling love duty faith the world s metropolis whose classes spend all their time in feeding and when they are not eating they are sleeping and when they are neither sleeping nor eating they are busy with against the peace and prosperity of their neighbours or else they are breeding the same type of human beings as themselves men and women who expect to live on the fruit and foliage of luxury provided by the toil of the despised working million i over again one can read the writing of doom upon the wall that is why i say stupid london for a that will not take warning from past history a holy orders that has the of progress of the of art the of aad yet that cannot lead in anything but and is stupid beyond the utmost bounds of stupidity it knows or it sa d no tr that if it itself to be over by jews and like the body of a bird over by it has nothing to expect corruption it knows or it should know that if it in the family life on the stage and m literature and of principle in the of tbe it is making of itself nothing but a is bound to for the disaster of the nt at the spark of revolution t stupid london yes i say stupid stupid london which allows itself to be led and by a corrupt society and a press he spoke with heat and and stored at a after a minute s pause he threw back his head with a careless gesture and laughed there the fit is over he said don t look so surprised i i heard things in town that me i saw what i wish to forget even in the church but i will not speak of r i worked as a in the east end of london i met with plenty of sin and misery often patiently struggled with endured and sometimes overcome but i did not quite that it was to the well fed for west end i should turn for the true haunt of come let us go in i don t want to talk about london any more will you never preach there again asked with some curiosity as he rose and walked by his friend s side through the garden into the house i think not not unless he paused unless my orders make it necessary your orders smiled gravely yes vou take your orders from es ca superior do you not he writes that you v i m ss ou the tragedy of a quiet life here and that you must go elsewhere to succeed i take my orders from one who sends me no message but that which is breathed by a voice within me saying do this in remembrance of me if i feel thus commanded to speak to the world s metropolis i shall speak not otherwise they entered the house then and remained for some time together deep in conversation did not relate the story of his meeting with for he had resolved never to mention her again to any one and he was too much concerned for the honour of the church to speak a word of the to the particular ruling member of it whose moral defects had created so much alarm and anxiety among his brethren so that the talk for the most part turned on s own affairs and certain immediate necessities required by some poor of the district he was leaving poor who would be for a time in temporary difficulties owing to the burning down of s and for whose care undertook all responsibility it was quite late when they at last parted little had gone to bed and was left alone a small pile of correspondence had accumulated on his table during his absence and he prepared to attend to this but before doing so he took up by the evening paper which had arrived some two hours previously glancing casually through the various columns of news his eye was suddenly caught and his attention by a bold missing grave anxiety slowly and as if he were each word by itself be read the indicated paragraph which ran as follows the famous shooting star belonging to mr which started from for a short trip yesterday evening having in the car its owner accompanied by mrs who it will	33
a jew who is my husband said with a smile and from whom you have borrowed a good deal of money his fat chin complacently do i not know it is it not the purpose for which jews are bom london jews at any rate to lend money at high interest and sell wives search the and therein you will find both professions most described set forth and approved by i as for ourselves let us go to paris she shook her head no paris is too far i will not cross the sea besides i must return home to night i have many engagements to morrow he was silent the was travelling quickly through skies that were rapidly darker and darker clouds were forming at a lower level than the car and they at times and again dispersed showing glimpses of land between their floating grey holy orders who was that mm to called good now he presently asked that she at him a lover of mine i she answered another t how more o the cry is still they but this of the gospel loves you but little lo let you forth into the with mt t she laughed h he does not know he loves me she said know it and one day i shall tell him i i shall show him tbe secret of poor devil if it were dot for his christian creed he would me even more than you do t christian creed i echoed he works at that for his pay of course i he doesn t believe in it she broke into a little peal of laughter oh but he in it she exclaimed that s the odd part of it he s quite sincere about it he is really convinced that it s good and right to deprive himself of enjoyment and make himself miserable and she laughed again he do s believe in the christian creed and in god alas brain murmured empty idiot brain sad sad to think that there should be any such fools left in these days of ours when man glorious man is the supreme conqueror of the earth and the heavens when man triumphant man is his own maker his own his own his own splendour here his voice grew rather indistinct there is no room for the god of the childish any more m man no le m man he is the only ruler of the universe not when he has been drinking said suddenly and as you have he turned his eyes upon her with an air of astonishment drinking i my dear lady no more than the who so sweetly sings the tragedy of a quiet life when i am drunk the sky of life is clear and i gaze into it without a fear as i grow sober horribly i dread the shadows of my drawing near the shadows of my there they are i see he pointed to a wreath of grey clouds which flitting lightly below the drifted now and again into weird shapes like wings that rose upright and caught fugitive of colour on their points and anon downwards looked like huge birds of prey my my he as though the words were a tune my shafts of love or arrows of death or the little that eat my heart i and so dear lady you would fain return to your useful jew you will not with a poet to paradise ah women women give them wings and they straightway desire to crawl let us see where we are he rose to make his observations with the aid of the various scientific instruments with which the was provided and she watched him closely relieved to that he was about to prepare for their descent we are at an of four thousand feet he presently announced and if be correct we ought to see a wonderful but you prefer your jew to the moon i prefer to return home just now certainly she said do be sensible steer for london he did not answer her at once the clouds that he had called his suddenly cleared away and the steadily through a dark expanse of dense blue passing swiftly over tracts of open country invisible except where a town or a village with its lighted streets and houses glittered briefly like a tiny speck of flame on the smooth haze of distance grew restless she was not nervous her exceptional vanity saved her from that for she could not imagine anything disastrous to so beautiful and desirable a person as herself but she wished she knew holy orders to steer the with her own hands la case of by th idea she turned towards her companion who was with the and and of which he boasted that he alone knew the secret action and said what are you doing can help you he lifted bis head and smiled at her in the deepening darkness his white face looked like a clay mask into the of a d mon shall the lily support the oak he or the dove lend her wing to the eagle which simple mean my dear lady that you cannot help me i nor for the moment can i help myself we ha c drifted into a strong stream of air a cross to and fear me that my lovely will have to pass the night not with her gentle jew but at some hot l in or moved from her seat her fair brows with vexation what do you mean i thought you could steer anywhere even in the strongest wind mis smile became more bland so i on most occasions he replied but there are exceptions to every rule and	33
to night is one of those exceptions but be not discouraged dear lady all is well we are or have been travelling across the she uttered a little involuntary cry the i think so i imagine so take care for she suddenly leaned her head over the edge of the car and peered down into the dark dome of space i can see nothing she said drawing back her head quickly it is all whirling darkness even so mere chaos replied placidly the land is there but to us it might as well not be there for we see nothing of it even so is the earth to higher the tragedy of a quiet life worlds a speck a we make too much of it i what of the did my magic crystal ever shine upon them i was there once she answered slowly and the man who came with me to to day he is of a parish there gave an airy gesture of contempt of a parish oh narrow boundary for the brain of man a country parish a community of and ugly rustic she laughed little low laugh of amusement true there is no danger for his peace of mind he would never see a ce among those rustic that might possibly haunt his memory she was silent then for a little presently she asked what time is it he was a minute or two before ring then he said nine o clock we have been up an hour and a half then make for london now he came and put an arm about her have i not told you i cannot make for london things are against me here he was troubled by a violent and the of his person immediately created a private atmosphere for his own special she turned her head from him in disgust and pushed his arm away you are a angry with me he went on a angry with your p poor poet i c cannot help it we will d descend now if you like w wherever you please she stood up in the car her heart was beating a little quickly but she was not afraid where are we she demanded dear lady i cannot tell you the exact locality i know not whether below us lies a town or a village or the parish where your friend the parson to his congregation we may be soaring over mountains or over holy orders in p t it little t in ca if are we toward towards at in of rather than what f the m angel did i a possible hotel at or tf we cross the sea in i i will a i he was about thia and did it at last that w a sudden of nerve a dread ber lest bj movement he set re to the apparently however he had lost nothing of the wa lowered such a as it burned away in the dome of that though she had seen the same thing often b fore she was more than usually thrilled by the magnificence of the spectacle the great globe of the appeared to shine with an splendour and to cover nearly half the heavens while all around it the violet black of the sky was strewn with glimmering stars the shadow of the car and the ropes by which it was suspended were drawn as with an pencil against the of the and gazed upwards fascinated by the weird brilliancy of the scene till the had burnt oat and the darkness seemed to grow darker by contrast that was beautiful she said and now do you know where you arc going to descend pie held up his hand listen a faint murmuring sound floated through the air like a choir of small voices singing very softly it rose and fell then seemed to cease altogether and anon to begin again is it a town she asked he smiled strangely no it is the sea the sea the tragedy of a quiet life he drew her arm within his own and pointed ahead there was not a cloud in the sky and the stars seemed to be growing up in clusters all through the infinite space like summer blossoms in a field but below the car a long dark stretch of apparent haze could be discerned marked by parallel of light till they were lost in distance while other sparks of were scattered about like the of a spent the lights of ships i murmured the signs of man s mastery of the ocean roll on thou deep and dark blue ocean roll dear lady you should read he would amuse you a sadly ignorant yet with occasional of intelligence but his errors are obvious man marks the earth with ruin his control stops with the shore that is wrong of course man s control does not stop with the shore on the contrary it extends the lights of ships the lights of floating and if i mistake not the lights of the pier at shall we descend she gave an eager gesture of assent he held her arm more closely and stooping over her looked into er eyes or shall we cross to the isle he murmured the land of romance and poverty and the land of the dark i could scale the blue air i could plough the high hills oh i could kneel all night in prayer to heal your many and one smile from you would float like light between my toil and me my own my true my dark my fond would give me life and soul anew a second life a soul anew my dark v m yielded j tr e ar er a f r ra iv	33
d an the cr n td the list few and presently there was a c straining this wai not come the remarkable swiftness and ing force in the currents of expression of something features other side of the car what are you going to d he laughed somewhat fo the best i can dear wind b rising and we are where you are there light a couple of below two or three moment coloured fires blue and a again like a mysterious star glowed with no answering signal the tragedy of a quiet life direction and that a descent would soon be made she knew that he was an experienced acquainted with all the possibilities of his own apparatus and he had taught her to consider that there was no more danger in a than in a car probably not so much she had made of successful voyages in the shooting star she called it her sky and was wont to believe it as safe as any that ever sailed the seas yet to night there was a cold sense of dread upon her she wished she had never come she could not control the restlessness of her thoughts they jumped from one thing to another with provoking rapidity and yet somehow they all round continually what where the people doing in that stupid village most of them went to bed at ten it was not ten yet it soon would be then the lights would be put out in every little cottage and the only bright spots in the small dull street would be the two public houses they would not close till eleven the wives and children would be all in bed while the husbands with women who were not their wives would be tossing down glass after glass of raw spirit and singing and dancing and shouting yes that was the way dan and she had begun dan to think of him now seemed strange now when she was a rich woman of fashion with no end of lovers to pick and choose from here she shook herself out of her meditations impatiently what was about she watched him with impatience he had turned on the of his electric lamp and appeared to be studying a presently she saw him a large silver from his pocket and put it to his mouth a sudden sick terror seized her she exclaimed he was too busy with the to answer her at once it seemed to his lips and he drank and drank till he had drained it she cried again he peered round at her with a smile how silver sweet sound lovers tongues by night lie holy orders said like music to attending ears well m magic crystal what would you liave with me tears of vexation started to her eye she saw that il would now be difficult to either argue with or persuade him she caught up her cloak of and gathered it about her then she moved round to him are you descending she asked into the sea he rejoined no dear lady i i am not so unwise i we are too close to the coast for a safe descent what are you going to do then her voice quivered as she spoke and his blue eyes turned round upon her in questioning wonder you are crying he said you are crying like a child i what for i am cold she answered with a little sob and tired and you worry me i i worry you my angel he made an at her cloak she drew it aw iy from him you know i only meant to come up with you for two or three hours she said i wanted to be at home by eleven at the latest you have taken me much further than you ought and i don t believe you know where you are i do i do know where i am he declared with some excitement why should you think i do not she flashed a contemptuous glance at him you have been drinking again lie laughed foolishly drinking no i have simply fortified myself for the merest drop and i needed it dear lady i want all my nerve the angry tears still glittered in her eyes your nerve she echoed scornfully yes my nerve he repeated and he rose from the seat where he had been the and stood up my nerve must carry us across the sea he uttered a sharp cry the tragedy of a quiet life no no i not across the sea at that moment a white glory the heavens in all directions at about the same level as that in which the was floating there arose masses of clouds like snow peaks and out of these sprang the moon round and bright as a silver shield the sudden was weird startling and magnificent but had no eyes for it her gaze was turned below where now plainly was the sea troubled by some threat of storm for the of the moon could be seen sparkling on the of rising and falling waves for a moment she was dumb with terror the next she quickly controlled herself and turned to what now she asked low and he did not answer he was throwing out in reckless haste in obedience to his action the rapidly higher and higher till it seemed to wander like a will o the among the shining masses of clouds which now rose in the sky like mountains from a plain with of dazzling whiteness into vast and valleys among which the shooting star appeared to glide swiftly till rising far above them it floated over what seemed like a double sea faint and giddy with fear sat down covering her eyes she dared not move	33
nor speak had also seated himself and his hand was on the mechanical contrivance he had designed for and on the faith of which he had proudly announced himself to the world as a conqueror of the air presently he looked up and said in quiet tones darling there is no danger she was silent she was too angry with him to reply she felt herself outraged by the extent of this voyage in the air and its threatening peril peril which surely if he had kept all his senses about him he could have averted when we get back to town to morrow she thought i will tell him just what i think of him i that he is a unfit to be trusted on this her mind appeared to pause a unfit to be trusted that was the character of dan her first lover then the poet the the soul of a society the gentleman of education and position on the same level of weak as the rustic shuddering she drew herself more closely into the soft folds of her she still kept her eyes covered for it frightened her to look at the gigantic moving of the clouds at the moon that seemed so near and large and terrible all she longed for now was the safe descent of the in some accessible spot and the only way to this desirable end was she felt to leave to himself and his own independent action for after all he was no more anxious to lose life than she was and he said there was no danger so she sat still and waited the minutes passed slowly till nearly another hour had away throbbing pains in her head began to trouble her and every now and then she felt as if she could scarcely breathe her heart beat violently its were distinctly audible we must be travelling at an immense height she thought suddenly there is no sound now not even the murmur of the sea she uncovered her eyes and looked at he was sitting quite motionless his hand on his as before the electric lamp was burning and shone brightly above the o en while all around the the clouds were in massive and wonderful forms some of them were like huge trees growing up from a flat swamp of white mist their tops black against the sky the force of the wind constantly blew these asunder and changed them into the semblance of deep dark lakes surrounded by hills so that the was as though great forests should be at one moment standing upright and at another bent down and broken into masses this cloud confusion was frightful in its grandeur appalling for human eyes to contemplate and s brain whirled with the i the tragedy of a quiet life whirling lights and shadows till she began to feel uncertain of her own existence and such a sense of overcame her that she almost fainted she cried i cannot stand this he made no answer sitting rigidly under the electric lamp with the open before him his hand was on his apparatus in precisely its former position she leaned towards him surely he looked strange a sudden horror her nerves she cried again then she sprang up trembling violently she felt sick and giddy her throat and lips went suddenly dry slowly and with shaking limbs she crept inch by inch from her own place in the car to where sat and stretching out her hand she touched him he gave no response dragging herself still closer she peered with an awful into his face on which the moon shed a cold white glare then she screamed a loud wild scream of frenzy don t play tricks with me don t frighten me you are not dead no no i wake wake wake it s the drink that makes you sleep like this the drink you should never have touched it rouse yourself wake and in the extremity of her terror she clutched at his coat and shook his figure it slowly over and heavily to one side as she sprang back from it the upper part of the body into a posture against the edge of the car and remaining so with its head partially to the sky and then she the horrible truth that he was dead quite dead she stared at that ghastly face with its wide mouth half open and its eyes frozen on and leaned against the ropes of the car trying to steady the wild throbbing of her how had he died so suddenly and without sound she could not tell t have been the cause heart failure due holy orders to the high of the and the drink he had taken his nerve he was dead quite dead i all at once she found herself laughing at this the conqueror of the air the writer of many books composed with the object of proving the of man and the of god was dead from the way in which he had talked to his society friends it seemed as if he thought he would never die and yet even he the darling of literary the of idle women s was there before her a helpless lump deprived of sense and motion and of no further u e in the world only fit to be burnt or buried out of sight and out of mind her breath came in short quick she pressed her hands against her heart in a futile effort to still its and then like a lightning tearing open the heavens another frightful broke upon her brain the hideous that now was dead she was alone alone all alone with the elements	33
alone in a mere toy vessel of the sky without any knowledge of how to guide it or control it alone alone adrift in the immense heavens and beneath her the sea a despairing cry broke from her lips a cry which among the vast spaces where she floated was no more than the cry of a weak wild bird in a storm her limbs sank under her and she crouched down on the floor of the car hiding her face in her hands she could not look any more on the livid features of the corpse that was now her sole companion or on the procession of monster clouds which gathering closely round the moved above and below it in a sort of solemn like shapes of warriors arrayed in order for battle and shivering with the cold of utmost fear she herself in the folds of her cloak and tried to collect her scattered forces to think to reason out her awful position her breathing had gradually become easier there was a sense of in the air and she suddenly remembered how she had been told that if a passed through any wet fog the moisture would help the tragedy of a quiet life to bring it to a lower level this was what indeed had happened but she had not just then the strength or the courage to get up and read the which would have shown her that the from having been at a height of nearly twelve thousand feet had gradually dropped to about six thousand and was still slowly but slightly sinking the were thick below the car yet now and then they drifted asunder showing glimpses of the sea between dark grey in the and covered with almost waves which had the appearance of being frozen like the of a but she saw nothing and almost felt nothing the terror of her situation had deprived her of all sense save the bare consciousness of life and the dread of death imder her cloak she began to wonder what death was like dan was dead she had crushed the life out of him imder the wheels of her car it was an accident and as she had told parson a few hours cars run over and kill so many people that one ceases to think about it it s part of the fun part of the fun yes and dan s death was part of her usual luck she had looked at him as he lay in the dust without one throb of pity for his end he had a horrible dead face horrible dead eyes she could see them still and now was dead and death had made him almost as hideous as dan would she when she was dead look hideous would her beauty that exquisite beauty which drew all men to worship it be and destroyed at the very thought she b an to weep and a storm of hysterical sobbing shook her frame this and this alone was what death meant to her the loss of beauty she sobbed and sobbed till she was absolutely exhausted a weak stole over her limbs and at last like a child worn out by crying she sank into a deep sleep for the next two hours the wandered on its way bearing its strange of the dead and the living together through the by midnight the moon holy orders had disappeared behind mass of thick and the heavens were d than towards the first hour of the day creeping mists arose from a low lying coast washed by the sea and the shooting star falling somewhat rapidly downwards hovered above the little hills and plains of a land which was scarcely in the gathering gloom a stormy wind began to blow and the travelled with incredible swiftness always at a lower and lower till all at once with a violent crashing and sound the trail rope caught in the tops of some tall and the against the boughs the shock woke from her stupor and sleep of misery she sprang up hardly knowing where she and only hearing tlie noise of the collision all was dark around her she was unable to help ht in any way and scarcely had she the position of the when with another terrific it tore away from the trees swaying the car on one side in such a manner that the body of slipped over the edge and fell like a leaden weight to earth released of this heavy load the rose with sudden and frightful rapidity and tore away at a mad speed racing with wind and cloud in the darkness and stood alone in the car with hair blown back and wild eyes staring into the gloom of nothing the nothing of life the nothing of death and dared she say the nothing of god she had slept and the sleep had her brain she knew now exactly what had happened and tliat there was no hope she knew that she had as it were t touched the blessed earth so by the majority of those that tread upon it and that if any had been with her it was possible she might have been saved but it was now too late too late she also knew vaguely that the loss of weight occasioned by the fall of dead body from the car must increase her danger a fold and that any strong or continued disturbance of the air would make short work of the s now yet knowing all she could not actually believe that she would meet with her own end that was too i te the tragedy of a quiet life impossible for her imagining luck had always her she had	33
said of herself my if it is has brought me nothing but luck nothing but luck luck would be on her side again of that even lost as she was in the of space she felt sure when once this idea impressed itself on her mind a rush of strength and courage came to her she was faint and hungry and by the light of the electric lamp which despite all and difficulties was still steadily burning she sought among the various things with which the car was provided and came upon a leather containing some and a of brandy she ate and drank the raw fiery liquor which she swallowed as it were water sent a thrill of pleasure through her veins and it was only the thought of and his sudden silent death that made her all at once stop drinking and put the away with a shudder but the nourishment false and only temporary as it was gave her a brief access of boldness to she took a firm stand in the middle of the car and with her right hand resting lightly on one of the ropes to steady herself she faced the night like a at the wh l of a ship through dark unknown seas if only her many lovers could have seen her then she would have a triumph for her beauty greater than any she had yet experienced with her glorious hair half loosened about her and her exquisite face pale as death by the glimmering glare of the electric lamp which also gave a cold unnatural brilliancy to her dark eyes and her figure wrapped in the that were like a part of the mists of midnight and morning she was wonderful to behold nothing more wonderful or beautiful in human shape had ever floated solitary between earth and heaven i and she was conscious of this for she began to think how the account of her terrific adventure would read in the newspapers i shall be the most famous woman in the world she thought with a sudden smile london paris and new york holy orders will be ml my f one not need to be good or in older to win renown clever people are dull good one so but to such in si this thia night by in a to for a re ue is enough to make one s name celebrated foe ever and her smile deepened i wonder what will ay thus he talked to for a while with an almost perfect she felt that since the a had come in contact with trees was over country with the daylight she would be seen y those would immediately use all po effort for her rt how such a rescue could take place that she was totally ignorant of the of the she did not to think but presently her heart began to trouble with the quick violence of its and she again experienced difficulty in breathing this rather took away her nerve and she began to look around her with renewed of terror the though she knew it not was at an of nearly fourteen thousand feet owing to the terrific speed with which it had ascended after the loss of as the se of had provided for it it had ed a threatening storm area and was now floating at a tolerably even pace above what seemed to be a continent but was merely a mass of black clouds below the clouds lay ireland asleep all its childish and and tears hushed in slumber like an babe rocked to rest on the bosom of mother nature moments deepened into hours and still the shooting star glided on moving slowly the slow movement of the upper reaches of the air there was not a star visible and as she watched the profound and darkness into which she was plunged felt her brief courage fast away it was horrible this thick gloom this tense silence her head swam her j beat like quick and her heart seemed to rise in her bosom with a sense of threatening gave a sobbing cry the tragedy of a quiet life if only the light would she o god send the day scarcely had the words left her lips when a rush of thought like a burning flood filled every nook and of her brain god why had she appealed to what she considered o god send the day what should either the day or the night have to do with god in this deep and awful obscurity this shadow of the grave was it of any avail to call or to pray to the vast unknown force which by the human part of its creation is daily she wrung her hands drawing little of agony and all at once she heard or fancied she heard as though it were speaking from a long distance a sad and gentle voice saying is it possible you have no faith is there nothing in your better self whidi tells you that death is not all that there is a life beyond and again as as we two stand here the moment will come when there will be nothing in life or death for you but this yourself and god no friend or lover will then be near to counsel or command you will be alone alone with the almighty power whom your very thoughts clearly and with grave emphasis these words rang in with such that all at once she lost her and cried wildly to the darkness parson parson i don t look at me like that don t be hard upon me and she dropped feebly on her knees sobbing laughing screaming and moaning listen listen parson listen look at met you know how beautiful	33
in colour as to crimson the waves below with the clearness of cut it shed forth the glory of the day upon the world between it and surrounding space the sinking with its one frail il t j the unknown hovered and leaning from its car still smiled and waved her hands as though in farewell to a friend bending down she listened attentively to the increasing noise of the tumultuous waters as sank lower and lower and talked to herself with all the happy of a brain there go the bells of church she murmured make haste dan i want you to see me there in my l est frock don t be late we must pretend to be good you know it s so easy to deceive parson come come it s communion sunday here suddenly drawing herself up to her full height she flashed her brilliant jewel eyes in the golden face of the sun the tragedy of a quiet life yes parson die said in gentle accents i know my lesson i i believe in god the father almighty maker of heaven and earth with that she folded her hands together and resting them on the edge of the car looked on at the growing splendour of the day and when noon came both and sky were dear of anything more strange than the sea birds fl ring across the waves and like winged among the rising and falling of foam chapter xxiv years passed swiftly and once ag n richard stood in a ix pulpit looking down upon one of the largest that had ever filled the great spaces of sl that vast interior was packed human beings and every head was every eye fixed upon one who had attained the reputation of being not only the finest but also the most daring preacher of the day so daring indeed that he was constantly being in an attempt to remove him from his o n n immediate sphere of influence and thus the peril into which his bold and fearless brought less honest men of his calling all such offers however he steadily refused still to remain of as of he had become a power in the land and as of he stood now under the dome of st paul s waiting while the last verses of the hymn before the sermon were being sung to address a congregation drawn from all quarters of the metropolis a congregation profoundly interested in the character and personality of the man they were al out to hear a character and personality which his work in alone had made famous limited as it was had proved sufficient for him and had steadily risen to the call his patient love and care had made upon it it had grown and exceedingly the number of its houses and cottages had increased and art and careful architecture alike had combined not to destroy but to the beauty of its natural surroundings even its running stream was now kept so bright and clear that the tragedy of a quiet life it had become a rippling joy under the old stone bridge instead of a source of trouble and its people were gradually becoming renowned throughout the country as skilful workers in many branches of trade and for where s once stood was now a nobly built and finely school of trades endowed and supported by the of an american and no other than s chance acquaintance the school of trades was an entirely novel enterprise much money had to be sunk in it before it showed any signs of success but it had now caught on as the saying is and had attracted so many students and workers from all parts of britain that it promised to be of real national service as a of practical education in the needful knowledge of life and business erected on the beautiful lines of a grand old with roof and wide windows it was surrounded by a glorious garden it had its reading and rooms its dining hall its library its theatre which served for lectures and and its where every trade was taught and practically mastered each student receiving and as in other was the life and soul of this great which though not actually situated in his own parish was still near enough to exert a influence upon his drawing them away from idle lounging and teaching them the happiness of intelligent and in them that spirit of but ambition which a man or woman to do whatever has to be done so truly well that his or her labour shall be honestly worth its price there was never a case of to be reported anywhere in the neighbourhood and yet drink of a pure and wholesome kind was not withheld when the men and women workers at the school of trades met together as they all did sundays included in their lofty dining hall for their mid day meal they could have anything they liked to drink in moderation except raw beer on the premises by some of the workers holy orders selves according lo plain old fashioned methods and could be had on demand the theory of this being the same which was formerly practised by many english who while firmly refusing to allow any or public house on their ground yet permitted their tenants to such beer as they required for themselves in their own houses just in the same way of freedom as they made their own or elder the result of this plan was that while there waa no there equally no complaints of tyranny and every one was sober and satisfied it is a plan that might be with safety and advantage in many a rural community if those persons who possess rights would enforce such a simple method of persuasion to school of trades so greatly	33
and its members were all so happy and healthy and diligently occupied with labour that young now a brilliant scholar and the pride of his college in cambridge used to declare that the training there was quite as good as any to be obtained at either of the and he would add with a toss of his handsome head and a mischievous flash of his bright eyes ever so much more useful the are all very well in their way splendid literature and all that but they can t help a fellow much to earn an honest living and when at home for his holidays he always worked in the school himself learning a bit of all the trades in turn he would say and the people who adored the very sight of him were wont to remark proudly there was nothing mr couldn t do bless him he could shoe a horse or build a house either was as easy to him as t other and the had his hands full his life which he had thought no more than a broken reed had been raised up by divine to a stem of blossom he was not only the spiritual but the material guardian of the whole growing community about him he was their friend their adviser their beyond all words and honoured to the the tragedy of a quiet life utmost point cf with the onward flow of time he had altered little his hair had grown grey but his had retained its firm intellectual outline and the blue eyes so deeply set under the brows had a great tenderness in their quiet depths tbe reflection of a heart s constant sympathy with all sorrow since s tragic end he had never visited london in many other parts of the kingdom he had preached never there but now certain phases in the social aspect of the world had moved him to strong protest he heard or thought he heard the mystic orders he had waited for this do in remembrance of me and with his well earned won by no boom but by his own sincerity power and eloquence he had easily secured an opportunity of addressing himself to a congregation which he had resolved should be aroused if he could possibly arouse it to a sense of the peril which according to his mind threatened the nation the sweet music of the voices rising above the solemn of the great organ which sustained the melody of the hymn they were singing floated soothingly around him as he looked down from the pulpit on the dose array of faces some intelligent some foolish some some proud and the tide of memory swept him back to the day long years ago when had vanished from his sight for with hear last call good bye parson neither he nor any one else had seen her upon earth again the body of her companion had been found horribly and on the edge of a wild in ireland but the famous with its one remaining passenger had totally disappeared and its ultimate fate was unknown the disaster had caused a nine days society sensation but it was now forgotten even by who had married another variety girl the of however was still kept up by a certain circle of simply because it was a of vice his poems of the order were constantly before the public in of holy orders lai e type ind one or two of his most were produced by for draw because of brazen the but so far at the million were was no more known or of than they had been in the great mass of humanity and therefore even in was almost forgotten those who remembered her at all haul really known what became of her and the only with her that remained in their minds was her dan which had been the cause of the murder of their wife they had heard a rumour that she was married but they did not know she was dead hm did the tell them not even to the wretched old the whose habitual had made her such an incapable guardian of s childhood and when dying clung to him and screamed out that the devils were taking her and that one of them was did he reveal the story cf the girl s later history and end that was a secret he kept to himself seldom indeed did he permit his thoughts to dwell u on the past except that portion of it which was to him by his married life and his love for and it was only now now when after a long lapse of time he found himself again in the great city which when last lie liad visited it had been the scene of an episode he was likely to forget that bitter memories rose again and over him like a l wave making his heart thrill with an old restless yearning two faces hovered like visions in the light before him one of a little fair angel with blue eyes and gold curls and sweet lips that murmured vou are my husband my darling and my best in the whole world the other that of a beautiful with dark wild passionate eyes and a rose red mouth that said it is only your god that stands between tis the god of the churches not the god of nature it is your religion that makes you narrow and miserable a religion that was not strong enough to save dan or me think of that think i the tragedy of a quiet life that we both heard you preach of christ every sunday and that neither of us was a bit the better for it think of that	33
when i am gone for it wants thinking about yes it wanted thinking about and he had thought about it all these years all these years he had thought about it and worked at the problem it presented a religion that was not strong enough to save dan or me that was a hard saying and he had pondered upon it deeply a religion not strong enough that was not true it is not religion that is weak but the human of it it is they who lack courage and conviction they who for the sake of a petty are content to be he had determined to take his own way and prove hi own power and he had succeeded this enormous crowd gathered imder the dome of st paul s to hear him preach was an eloquent testimony to that success and as the singing of the hymn came to an end with its long drawn gravely melodious amen he looked over the great mass of human beings stretching away in dense ranks everywhere below the pulpit and thought of the starved souls of them all waiting to be fed with the bread of life life which is life vigorous healthy hopeful sane and sober life life such as god intended should be enjoyed by all his creatures if they would but follow his laws upon them thus he like his master christ had compassion on the multitude the tears and fire of a passionate pity made heat in his brain he the most fearless preacher of his day as he was commonly called felt that a moment had come when those who were for any of truth should not be sent away might and play tricks with the honour of the nation but he with christ s holy orders landing upon his conscience would speak without fear or favour with the of the cathedral choir there came a great silence and after the usual brief he stood for a moment absorbed in thought just below him was seated his son the pride of his heart the the tragedy of a quiet life the whole body social and are we not ripe for another rain of fire from heaven and the desolate of another dead sea we and it is with an unspeakable love for my and fear for its future that i seek to remind you to day of the long ago pronounced divine warning hear o earth behold i will bring evil upon this people even the fruit of their thoughts again he paused a movement stirred the congregation like an expectant sigh his eyes flashed over the crowd liis voice grew fuller and more the fruit of our thoughts i he the fruit of the thoughts of nation to day friends what will it be poison or sweet food to those who come after us whichever it is it will be our growing our giving responsibility we alone must decide its nature and quality of what are we as a nation thinking what us most from mom ig to night to what do we give our best of care and toil is it not self the of selfish the of selfish the delight of selfish ends we play a farce when we assume for mere appearance sake to god greater than self if all our plans of action in this world are conceived and carried out for the advantage of self only self must be to our true minds greater than god if we give it most of our time and service and if thoughts dwell upon thb self which is the of our thoughts is likewise and leaves nothing for generations to live upon of what i ask is the nation thinking question any man we casually meet concerning his thoughts and we shall find they chiefly turn on while with a woman they are bent on money spending little can be expected from thoughts such as these the casual sur ce thoughts of casual surface men and women but let us go deeper and try to read thoughts of a nature terrible thoughts that have lately been carelessly and sown among our once god fearing people by a terrible press and a terrible literature a press that makes light of the of marriage and the social i holy orders of women of easy virtue with and open these ar i thoughts whose fruit national corruption the of such thoughts the of thoughts are the worst of they the of innocence and the thieves of honour the fruit of the brain seed they scatter will be seen tn the of our s manhood and the degradation of its womanhood it js seen even now and the evil daily and amid it all stands the church of christ which should be a shedding clear radiance over dark and troubled waters but the light is obscured for the men who should be on the watch to danger to the of state are absent from their posts and asleep wrapped in a blanket of and too la to stir he flung the words out with passion and a thrill of something like excitement ran through his crowded audience if you saw he went on leaning from the pulpit with one hand outstretched if you saw the mother of christ represented as a semi dr on a variety stage would you resent it would you be shocked and outraged i suppose you would but would you show your indignation publicly by leaving the music hall where such an exhibition was and never entering it again almost i doubt it some of you would watch the dance to a close others would say it was the poetry of motion i doubt if one of you would have the courage to rise up and say in the name	33
of the christian religion on which the nation to base its law and morality i protest against this hideous you might perhaps hold that it was a matter for the censure of the church well our and would consider the position before the needed condemnation and their consideration would probably end as usual in they have remained dumb and in these latter days when crowds have gathered to see a scene of gospel history turned into an variety show king queen and court have the tragedy of a quiet life all the representation of the daughter of s dance with the head of john the he who was the herald and of christ forgetful apparently that the episode thus is from positive holy writ and is not the of the brain of an unspeakable criminal greater honour could scarcely have been paid to a world s noblest a world s greatest benefactor a world s highest teacher than the representatives and of england and england s christian have shown to a public of and such an act on the part of those who should be leaders of principle and of honour marks om christian epoch with a brand of disgrace but no rebuke is launched from the church whose gospel is thus outraged and i a minister of that church shall probably be told that i am taking too much upon myself to condemn what the silence of a but for that i do not care consider if you please that i have no tact no skill to seem what i am not that i have none of the practised by such members of my calling as find it convenient to preach christ to others while themselves serve satan i hold myself responsible for all i say and do to a master who is above and whose commands are clear and beyond all worldly and to whom i must render an of my service in the honour of his name when i die and i say and that if his words are true and if christian england still holds and believes them to be true then the of the thoughts that can such a public mockery of the gospel as that which our social leaders have lately approved and applauded can be but bitter and poisonous an evil suggestion to the nation sinking into the very of life and it to the the great crowd stirred uneasily glances full of fear and amazement were turned upon him but his own eyes seemed to all the questioning all the wonder and shine back with the brave light of a truth that would not be you shrink at my words he said because i am bold that an ordained minister is bound and position is it not rather th earth had no rank or position an know associated with any class ing there is no rank or of a ii set apart for q bat whereas in our cl high and a low the social crimes fold more than more rebuke for advantage and opportunity given upright ways and to show an brethren and when they they bring upon tl the fruit of their thoughts that and revolution ending ii destruction of a once great and old warning rings down the ages wi i will bring evil upon this thoughts but i freely admit that the to persons of rank and itself much with reproaches to the for their sins and follies and result of the in which tl the tragedy of a quiet life and which he so i find for example at this present time a dozen of the church of england most supporting the interests of and and opposing the government efforts to lessen the material curse of drink these gentlemen apparently are not considering the ruin ill health and moral degradation of thousands of living men and women and which must occur if these interests in the liquor traffic are to continue sole thought is property can any of these of christian tell me that this great anxiety about p is a permitted of the christian creed was it not christ who said one yet sell all thou hast and give to the poor and follow me the lives of men and women in generation the health and and strength of the generation to come depend on the crushing of the devil of drink that holds great britain in its grip and yet certain christ do not hesitate to array on the side of interest in property as if money or land could be matched against die value of one human soul and sort of rights are these in property that has been out of national vice and degradation it is property should be flung away in and fear with tears of shame that it was ever held under such conditions for the evil brought upon this people by drink the of the thoughts by drink is an evil so vast and terrible that the brain from it and the heart grows sick in the streets of this great london this core of modem we are day and night by die crowds of unhappy degraded creatures the miserable victims of the liquor traffic who crawl and and way from one public house to another living for the delirium of drink alone in in its very centre of princes street we may meet on any evening groups of young girls barely fifteen staggering along in companionship with youths as drunken as th en i b el v es in it is still worse and trade that fills our lunatic a i our the i let such a trade be ruined a the that the nation should be robbed physical well being no trade can makes its profit from the he paused and a great sadness in my life he s id i have	33
the which is the fruit of that were by drink not by the processes of na of the used in the r liquor thoughts that finally into an lives ruined by drink t have seen into th mire of is the blot on our for i fear man will not he and many and powers efforts to free himself degrading vice that him of hi content to remain the tool hard which he in tunes of and of state the tragedy of a quiet life asked if he had ever been a he no he had only been accustomed to take three of beer a day calculating on this basis you will find that he having continued that habit since he was twenty for sixty if he had laid the money by at four per cent would have had two thousand one hundred and seventy two pounds or nearly one hundred pounds a year of his own for the rest of his life instead of going into the but there is little use in stating these facts or pointing the moral to adorn the tale the nation to day is in the hands of a church and a purchased press a church yes i dare to say this in the pulpit of st paul s where i am preaching for the first time to day and where for the very frankness of my utterance i know i shall never preach again a church i who am a minister of that church blush for its cowardice and for the of many of its clergy for in the midst of perhaps the most perilous time of trouble that has threatened us for centuries the church as a power does little or nothing itself is full of and it to tliis theory and that theory it puts on garments from rome and seeks to make up for its lack of faith by an abundance of it new it its old puts forward this that and with all its its and arguments it seems to forget that it is its one divine foundation christ the same yesterday to day and for ever whom we must follow whom we must obey if we would find the road to everlasting love and life it is almost as if wc our lord for the second time and watched his agony w th indifference crying out if thou be the son of god come down fi om the cross he stood silent for a brief space then he slowly closed the bible which till now had remained open before him the thoughts that are spreading in our nation to day he said with stem and emphasis are not the thoughts that build up national they are thoughts of i alike the sits ou men of their work t of a church an exist and between them the ml but they neither one nor where for truth courage party the church has offer them only the dry no support in the purchased press of its to ui of jews and public as by them it is called into spending of for the rest thoughts thoughts of which seen on the bough t thoughts that that none doth return from his whidi is gone forth that the brains of the n foolish and injurious imagination and nation them tlie power of tl those who it will be the tragedy of a quiet life continually a great other great thoughts an evil thought a spreading crop of evil if the brains of a people are sound and sane the of a people will be sound and sane likewise how earnestly then should we fight against the curse of drink whidi not only the brain but finally it there are certain sins practised among the upper classes of society to day be paused and looked down with y full gaze upon the mass of men and women crowded below the ht i say there are sins among some of you that should bring the wrath of god down upon you in destroying fire i sins of and sins which are the fruit of drunken vicious and d thought beware i for god is not you may mock me die preacher of god s word to your heart s content the poor of fleet street writing for his trust press companies under command may dismiss my appeal to you in a contemptuous paragraph on what he wiu easily term a but i say to you again beware i rouse yourselves from before it is too late do something of yourselves you die people of this noble land do something to show you are not the fools your press takes you for i that you are in the main brave and honest that you would rather be sober than drunken strong than weak that you will have your women pure your homes clean your children innocent do something i say to protest against the growing scorn of the marriage tie the indifference to the of the self degradation of woman who in screaming for a political vote is losing her highest right the honour and respect of man it is for you to think out the problems that are presented to you to day you the great people of great britain think well and deeply think of your church your your government your commerce and fight out corruption in each and all i think of the spirit in which your country s work is being done and resolve yourselves as to whether you approve of that spirit or not and when you have resolved speak and act letting both speech proved that in my own ex freely of all he hath else it shall	33
all h he was silent a moment then i have spoken to you my friends in this pulpit are allowed to speak that if the tenor of my discourse had came here i should have been higher clergy as some of them ai to the world the peculiar on religion and morality which to make of religion and i am not one of these exalted the wronged and loving christ md would serve him faithfully if they i have said to you i have said fr soul and with complete attacks wiu not hurt me nor time to speak time to take up a selfishness and of the age the people to think for thoughts proffered to you by obey the morbid suggestions press but to think fo with thoughts that are high and proud z j content to let th the tragedy of a quiet life of or imagine for it is by god s law that the sword must fall and that sword is suspended over us all in this our day by less than a single hair remember the divine warning hear o earth i wiu bring evil upon this people even the fruit of their thoughts out from the cathedral the huge poured scattering its sections all over london talking with heated animation as they went some angrily some scornfully some and a few but all more or less moved m their usual comfortable calm and avoiding the press of people as much as possible young walked through the city streets with a small haired little man in the garb of a catholic priest no other than ah my t he we shall never hear your preach again in london such a sermon has offended everybody i smiled does it matter to him no but the world what does he care for the world except when it calls for his love and pity said the world cannot help him but he can help the world he can and he does agreed but at a certain cost to himself his church is afraid of him because he speaks truth i know i said again does it matter looked up at the handsome young man beside him and thought of a fair little face and blue eyes long ago hidden in the dusty darkness of the grave no perhaps not he answered and you will you one day be a preacher shook his head v j xi r i ii i m m n i i an ir a j v of the p price hi t f r n tt v a price for i pocket library part i general maps a h d p m pi with j q i des e cr li notes by f e ox see also li cr anon health i the with an r m a i i or j net n n x school i took s h a on c m b c s f t c t r f rd t j m m an in e n second cr j a e i with second ly net a co edition i iu j j ice junior s a frank k with coloured picture f ai w p m a see ll h m a history of the with a map net l see see i pi w see i p l queen of letter writers x v v with is illustrations edition t o s ui net a edition is also published alexander william ii i of i h t h o u ii t s and c r s of years f a f henry f p l r general literature m a f s a see ancient cities words of the ancient wise thoughts from and by w h d rouse m a d vo x td tut see also standard library jane sec standard library little library and g e co in crown w bacon francis see library and little library r s s the campaign with nearly illustrations fourth edition cr w x richard the lakes of northern italy with and a map net j c m a see w baker w q m a see junior examination series l f i c f c s see books on business the life of robert louis with a portrait fourth edition in one volume cr r a f is also published a b a ll d see s books s e see commercial series banks elizabeth l the biography of a newspaper girl second edition cr s r h see little library the hon with the in third edition d net a edition is also published a year in russia second vo lor net a edition is also published s the life of napoleon with nearly including a second edition vo os d net a edition is also published the tragedy of the a study of the characters of thb c of the and cl houses with numerous illustrations from gems etc sixth edition royal bt tf d net a book of fairy tales with numerous illustrations by a j third edition cr also vo d old english fairy tales with numerous illustrations by f d third edition cr s the of edition with a portrait third edition cr vo js d old country life with fifth edition large s a of country song english folk songs with their collected and arranged by s and h f to s of the west folk songs of and collected from the mouths of the people by s m a and h m a new and edition under the musical of j sharp lar imperial net a book of nursery songs and by	33
s illustrated second and cheaper edition large cr r s d net strange some chapters in thb history of man illustrated third edition cr vo as d net incidents and strange events edition cr s ti net the selection reader arranged by g h rose illustrated t o ts d the continuous reader arranged by g h rose illustrated tv is d a book of with illustrations second edition cr s a book of with illustrations second edition cr s a book of with illustrations second edition cr s a book of north wales with illustrations cr s a book of south wales with illustrations cr i s a book of with cr s a book of the from to with illustrations in colour by and other illustrations second edition cr s a is also published a book of the with illustrations cr s a edition is also published a book of the with as illustrations cr s a edition is also published see also little guides p see of b m a late fellow of college oxford the political thought of and s d net w b f d d see s bible mrs p a see little library baron r r na m a french prose composition third edition cr s d key net see also junior school books h m m a college oxford for sermons with ca den s in v an ij c h t h i john ri k ite i hy c k i of i n c oxford v re thk life and ok an by c h m a note iy mr s c l i c er r m and a j m a see i i of t philip all t h r car enter is vi h li i u on second i tr francis m r l thk c a k e i k t h k i o i n i o td nd thomas of the lives of si francis ok a translated int j en i ly a r ff k k r rs h ow e ll h a cr c c and m ea in the p st and ent full page s j see r see letters ok to his son j an tion by c j n i by a f t t y i l u i a k ni u r dick i n v i t ll i wo p r i i s i ii t i i r c t a i r coast i y i p r n i n r l i tar v i he cook a m a t at in with js ac i a general literature see little library c the poems with an introduction and notes by j c m a illustrated including two designs by j charles see ancient cities anti s books and little guides b a m p land and land second edition cr x rf net see little library mrs see little library c p d s o see little walter r w s an artists reminiscences with illustrations by the author and others from photographs second edition net a edition is also published india impressions with illustrations from sketches by the author second edition is d net a edition is also published richard see little library f q see mary c t r n m a modern language master at merchant school see french j a v m a the faith of the bible ax d net the loving lad of lord with xx plates cr x mo is d net b see r sir p h ba fellow of all souls college oxford the history of the war with many illustrations and portraits n a s each h h x c b see b l d d see leaders of religion daniel o w m a see leaders of religion la di the text by m a d cr x the divine comedy translated by h f with a life of and notes by m a d d the of translated into prose by c with the italian text as d net see also little library and hon w see little library d r fa m a a new for with numerous cr us d see s library and little books on art james the wash family with illustrations and a map net richard the of london with illustrations in o by john r i volumes net h w c m a fellow and of england under the and ia with maps and illustrations vo net see s library mrs see little books on art a c see little library r the trials of five ok mary of and line of with la illustrations tor d net a edition is also published a child s life of christ with illustrations in colour by e large cr r the system cr as against and by f swift m a second edition as charles see little library i p l and g k poems cr vo x d net o l m a w of king s college cambridge the greek view of life edition ck miss and miss women s work cr as d edward m a see library and little books on art p h m a f s a the story of our english towns with an introduction by d d second edition cr s old english customs at the present time cr a english villages with illustrations second edition cr as d net the parish clerk with illustrations third edition js d net w m m a a of second edition cr as d english poetry from to second edition cr vo w j x m a see of science may songs of	33
the real cr d net a on foot with the of the grand canal with illustrations and maps net messrs s catalogue l h book fa driver o d d cl no r v of id the war f on i with the old cr pf bv d l q i an r u n j c x m ai v s the or i and others t k of jf r and a of thk j f and others el r i cr ar tf j ij j s v j tr r mv w m n if n p ii h m i l a w f fi v t i i j i i i h i li u r t r til iii vi v o j f rf jt t a n tl k ni is i i l vm i r i v w iii r i i c o v jl iv i f david s l l i till i a h ij iii oh si i k with illustrations v i j t a v a l l m i i l i sen n i u ii j ll u v edition a i m i li l h n i r l as s i j ii h ol l l s of a k i i r x ca a l u x tc a h a will ur l ii ti l v v si i ii a i h r i a e cr wild ix j ax i ia u in l air y i i a n k s i iii air k r a h r s j i a ok i ax with if in colour hy w k r k a and other j i os see little guides a piece op world sec i r v i f railway w s l e t the lore oe y b e x s l in e v a a history op policy a a j ii u q sm set a in l im aod in ih or i cap h a ij two legs and other stories l the by ai j i j ai i t t i f i f i of i h f fl f b u m tu ok the i it ii fi ri o j f j net v ai v op the kin with j t k and i r ns by the author and i ed edition i e t ji net a i l s and places u tr e f on f j net a i al o li f sec little f t m l k i k n ki s sc j r a i din i inn s w b see c h m modern history mv soldier til of at t the li h war the id the cr r e see p e v books edward i hi of m printed from the fifth and last n with a ly mrs p ai sur and a of n r l y l i r ss t o oi see ul o general literature h p a hand book of and wall shrubs illustrated td net a o x s e ancient cities w h m a d cl of the dean close school the students prayer book ths op morning and and with an introduction and notes cr ax d j s a book of york with x illustrations in colour bv and k b a and is from photographs js net a edition is also published a w x m a william dow professor of political economy in m university principles va d net feat p w a d m a master at the city of london school london a reader for young citizens with plans and illustrations cr el ford h q m a assistant master at grammar school see junior school books the senses of insects translated by with a illustrations lor d net mrs q see little books on art j p round the world on a wheel with illustrations fifth edition cr t a edition is also published french w m a see of science ed von a short manual for student i translated by j r m a second edition cr j d h w m a see s bible w p m a see french john tragedy queens of the era with illustrations d net d and w j the complete on the new system with illustrations second ed lot d net a edition is also published w m see little guides see l mrs see little library library and novels the right rev o s b see s books h b m a fellow of new oxford battles of english his tory with numerous plans fourth edition cr d a historical geography of the british empire second cr v h de b d m a in in england outlines with maps fifth edition s d the history of england with maps and plans edition cr english social second edition cr s d see also r a and commercial series edward of my life and writings by g hill ll d cr s the decline and fall of the roman empire with notes and maps by j b m a d professor of greek at in seven yo gilt top bs also crown s each see also standard library the romance of george first duke of and some men and women of the court with so illustrations second edition tv net a edition is also published b c s d d lord bishop of see westminster of and oxford rt a r see little books on art	33
m ro and m a ok of english gardens with illustrations in colour los d net a book of re being for every day in the year arranged by s d net english children in the time with illustrations second edition d net a d m a fellow of college oxford fourth edition ax d verses to order second edition x d second strings ix d the of with plates in by leather mo as d net see also i p l and standard library q l x see s books a in a saddle ns d net a edition is also published rt hon john the of the nation second edition d net h l x m a principal of college see westminster com a i n h n i am h y l i i n i v green o ma x k r w f i t n i n j n ax h j a i i t i l the tr i of the j u thine war k c t i don sec miniature r a vault of heaven a popular to illustrated cr ax t e c see of c see r a and ii b k a day cr a woman s m the e to with h aud a m ii second edition its hall k n aiid w q the ancient of illustrated edition v net a is bed r n ke t with plans and illustrations second edition lot d mr famous ii with so z i j m met a n ib p j d i see n iv d a short history of the royal navy i o i illustrated ir o jt td james o m v the spirit and of christian cf m of thk desert ta j j m t x ri hi t martin s r t i ox sc j i l iv s tr ti a j o ia w a t w e and i v d met h h light a and social of ci ture library w trade a seventh s d a day f d hey h ins and i wo work w a of sec al si hill henry high school south a cr with ii lu ant map f w j lu al c i general literature ii the problem of the third cr w s d b a the court of russia in the nineteenth century with o illustrations two volumes w af net a edition is also published t d c l see leaders of religion w how to identify old chinese with illustrations second edition s thomas at oxford with an introduction by r a net stone de see books on business sir t h x k ci e the indian being a personal record of years illustrated os a net a edition is also published w s x m a a history of english law in two volumes vol s d net holland h of st paul s see j h ti c late of college oxford of college his life work and times with illustrations i x d net a edition is also published the secret of how to achieve social success cr y d net a edition is also published q j the co of to day fourth ed cr w as d j see s books hook a humanity and its problems cr net see little galleries see classical e l s x m a with second edition cr x see also oxford a c see of r p d d see leaders of religion alexander with illustrations and a map second edition js d net a edition is also published how p d six great school masters with portraits and illustrations second edition js d a o days being for every d ny in the year from ancient writings cr d net q trade new and old fourth edition cr sir william k o m d c l f r s the royal society with as illustrations royal s d net c b the praise of shakespeare an english with a preface by d net n tom brown s with an introduction and notes by royal as d net q the new forest illustrated in colour with co pictures by and by third edition cr s a w m a see leaden of religion and library of devotion edward the cities of with ao illustrations in colour by a and other illustrations third edition cr s a c edition is also published the cities of spain with illustrations in colour by a w other illustrations and a map second edition cr s a edition is also published and the cities of northern with with illustrations in colour by william and z other illustrations second edition cr s a edition is also published english poems with an introduction s d net see leaders of sir more with portraits r h u see leaders of w h x m a the life of after drawings by second ed cr see also leaders of religion a q george and his times with illustrations s d net p a x history and art to the fall of the republic js d net brand a drama translated by william third edition cr y d w r m a fellow and of college oxford christian the lectures of or d net see of devotion b p see french a d x m a a history of the british in india with maps and plans cr vo s england under the with maps second edition lor d net c b b a senior master grammar school see of science s x m a see commercial series p see little guides jacob p m a see junior examination series e r j r i ii v i r	33
r t sir tt h l c r i tt v t u hack h t i i r i r s j i s a a r o v r lt v an r i j if i r m m i p t h v v s ri x of n v general literature t p a h see little guides p see lane a history of egypt in the middle ages fully illustrated cr bv s p m a brave poems of enterprise courage and constancy third cr w s d law william see library of devotion and standard library henry the duke of a biography with illustrations s d the spirit of the links cr tv a edition is also published see also james le the land of translated by m with illustrations in colour by t c and other second edition r lee captain l a history of police in england cr js d net v b x m a air and water illustrated cr d b m a of garden shrubs with ao illustrations y d de see little art h see s books lock walter d d of c st paul the master cr z w d the bible and christian life cr s see also j and leaders of religion f sec little library sir f r s the sub of faith allied with science a for parents and teachers ed cr as w p m a and with a net h wo see little library george letters from a self made merchant to his son sixteenth edition cr a o b also published old edition cr s a edition is also published l e v l and c l england day by day or the englishman s to illustrated by edition to net b v lamb with b illustrations and edition in one l js d net a edition is also published a wanderer in holland with illustrations in colour by illustrations after old dutch masters and a map eighth edition cr s a edition is also published a wanderer in london with x illustrations in o by other illustrations and a map sixth edition cr s a edition is also published the open road a book for twelfth edition india paper js d the friendly town a little book for the third edition j cap x paper d fireside and sunshine third edition y character and edition s the art a choice of letters by entertaining hands fourth edition v a swan and her friends with illustrations s d a ia published ci l l w ma s t r ki s mrs a cr m fi ck t and his f f c m a cr m a i il j c b m ah see ia series j a x see s library a mary with illustrations in a in new mid cheaper edition large cr s see also leaders of religion e r see books on m i a s see oxford a m x b a see s library w m a m d d p h etc the health of the l child cr a d w m a see s books m a h x b d see westminster of st gather ine of and her times with a illustrations ft d net m a a of cr is d j p d a history of the egypt of the fully illustrated cr s p w x m a ll d roman law in the church of england royal o js d m messrs s b b sc cr r u h ci u jl c ri s a c ba ik cf tht and duties of a m e m a of b a t m mo drama a ar m b f c n r s u a r v the and or with sm c e t i i la i in jn i il i e v life m v the or a o x the and or jo u tr as ts fl p x a k m a or egypt roman rule v a of ii ip iii m a of v sa j e e v al m on i f main r a en v i t a m ac l p i a ca a i an i h f ro e mi cf a vi bv r j t c n u r a j i i j f r rf m l n jf l f rat o f f a s of ic f q r x a a i l c e f c life r may v a r is m b fc f t r a i i woman in l n l r j s a rt of li h a m s v ma t h f jf africa d sc v k js n k t thk right i to t mn m p a c r f a m l i i a f i v l r on f w k em c v c a v u f i i h c a i v f e d m i i dr michael c li f e t l g f f fr y y le r t r a n t l pro p r i f r h r ter c r i i c a pa r ok of f v c v v v y i r y r h b i f f t pi k f of	33
fa f w v fro ti p c e colour a c y fo t a v i j e de f i i i ma a r l f k w ih r lu t o h e pa k i v f p e h on s lai v n with p traits c y v o v s c f o fo more sir thomas ir general literature is w ra college oxford a history of russia from peter the great to alexander ii with maps and plans cr d r j late of college see school examination series w founded on th e bee people with illustrations crown as td little thb story ok a mountain told by with many illustrations cr j a the makers of with illustrations d tut joseph b see little guides a see m h c q d d lord bishop of ham see leaders of religion m m m a the of fire cr tv ax v a m a see j t r m a ll d see s books a the complete player with many illustrations second edition ev lor net naval officer a see i p l w see hall r n x wolf with illustrations js net m d d p h f r s infant a social with tv t d net j h and others see library of devotion arthur m d f r the of lor d net see little library ta m a examination papers cr a see i p l o le the life of sir walter scott with by is d net b w the great siege the and fall of port arthur with maps plans and a illustrations td net a edition is also published a h past and with as coloured illustrations by second edition cr ts a edition is also published the at and other fragments by miss of td net officer an l w j m a of a of religion on thb op thb op england crown oo as d p m x b a see of science mrs see leaders of religion thomas m d diseases of occupation with illustrations vo d net c w c m a fellow of all souls oxford a history of the art of war in the middle ages f net r l d d see of y leaders j l leaders of religion st e on business n s of nursing edition oxford m n k a hand r si p if td w c the science of illustrated ly m p a love r s x a volume of poems a k small lessons on great truths vo is d in sole or a garden of all sorts of plea flowers fo io w net john es or new for by y d net see j mrs o his circle with illustrations second edition s d net a edition is also published see library of devotion george social c ture in the century with over illustrations imperial s d net lady mary and her times with illustrations second edition ly net see also little books on art and i p l w r swift life s cr d net a h notes east coast illustrated in o by f r b a second edition cr vo s nature in eastern with la illustrations in by r b a second js cr vo s wild life on a with illustrations by the author and a note by her grace the op vo d net see little books on art j b see french c m a f r h s a con of garden annual and plants th illustrations y d net v r r tr r i t e t h vi i i ki m ni ki s lo x v i tm i vn s i y sixth u m vol ii i a i i fourth f fi n vol iii i l v vol iv tin k v t if im i r i j r l vol v ko man k j i m a vol vi egypt in thk middle ai i s m a ion and conscience in ancient egypt lecture at university college london i cr j d and egypt from the tell el am a cr w s d egyptian tales from the first series to ist y by w m i iii by second hon cr egyptian tales ted from the second series tu illustrated by crown s m egyptian bi t ve art a course of i delivered at the l institution illustrated c t ui w a see my with by i second and cheaper cr j up along and down illustrated by cr t s net j trees in na i ture and art with illustrations crown s plan victor q see school histories se st library hi ti iti n price l l i i h f f ii of man aspect cr vi q a english d net r and b a ot t j nd hi tions de p english at college b second ed i d history words wo with net h r of al literature a m a d see j d c i e m p the real india d tut a edition is also doctor woman through the ages with illustrations two ro tut a edition is also published sir see uttle galleries j p see french w b see school histories h m a see french m b see c c aa d d lord bishop of the lectures of x a new and cheaper edition is td net c m a fellow of all souls college oxford select and documents p lor d net c and j q f r s e f r g s a his al and modern of	33
the british empire as td net s c s i thb story or a minor third edition illustrated cr d net robinson a w m a see s bible robinson the of with an tion by the late of cr v d p s see s library la see little library q b a new testament greek a course for with a preface by walter lock d d of college v d old oak furniture with many illustrations by the author including a colour second edition d net a q l x m a see books on business see little galleries b s i see little guides rose the rose reader illustrated cr vo d also in parts parts and ii d each part hi part iv rose q h x see hey h and s the imperial trade a rs ok the third edition cr as net n q the pillow book a op many moods collected by second edition cr as td net poets of our day selected with an introduction by i cap j a b x d d see junior school books b see w the life of admiral lord x d with illustrations by f fourth edition cr s m queens of the with illustrations lor d net m d f r c p js d net st see library of devotion st see library of devotion st see library of devotion st see oxford st off the little flowers of the glorious and of his done into english with notes by william with illustrations from italian painters net see also f w x library of de and standard library st francis de see library of devotion h second edition ar d net salmon a l see little guides c see john see a t m d hon hospital fun nerve diseases d net scott a m with and cr d see little guides s b de see john l v p m a the of daily life cr s d smith s illustrated by g w tenth edition as d school edition is d other animals illustrated by fourth edition as d school edition d george b sc d see of science shakespeare the four a each s net or a complete set ia i s net and are ready a is nearly ready the poems of william shake with an introduction and notes by gilt top d see also shakespeare standard library and little shakespeare a ii l y m ri ii i r s m a r f in and j s l l y f c n c m i in m a v j u il l i r c s s r v r l w m l i il r ny p v m a illustrated edition cr s td a c hon and the translated and by o k ll i i a net a w see little a p ee of daily for daily hon medium i mo si net also an i edition in superior a h w f k h s sec little un art and little m v chin k hook with illustrations and third l fl int net a edition i i m a d i in of a of verse and prose from the works of small cr at f tl net see also oxford and d and other poems second and k edition i ar e po t s new poems second edition large post ts m fellow of england l the with map and in third edition ns d net t j see i i tl l i i l j i i i iii ii k u a ti m s and its of the w history cr vo fix w m a sec m lions tion i hy and l o vol i t ii viii in a cr i ay on en il h ami classic f see i p l i general literature wells j m a college oxford and oxford life third edition cr s d a short history of rome i edition with maps cr y d see also little guides john see library of devotion f w a l brother to the birds the life story of st francis for children with illustrations of which are by a h cr ts c see w e l x m a fellow of cambridge greek their and character cr w ts o tl x m a see s bible white see standard library e b x m a see commercial series a w admiral of france with and plans vo i x r f i c of the science school west an text book of cr f miss see lady l staff teacher of the national training school of the complete cook with vo net a edition is also published w see smith john thomas a a b sc see books on business see little books on art de edition cr w a edition is o published the works a uniform edition i s d tut each volume the of a poems intentions and the soul of man a and or the lady s fan a play about a woman a woman of no importance a play an ideal husband a the importance of being ear nest a trivial comedy for serious people a house of the happy prince and other tales lord arthur s crime and other prose pieces de w h x b a the alien invasion cr d a peter or pretty stories and funny pictures in colour by a w mills d net m q m a see cities w x a see junior examination series junior school books and s books e m makers of europe outlines of history for the middle forms of schools with maps edition cr x d the ancient world with and illustrations cr y d a book of	33
with x illustrations cr vo s d a history of great britain from the coming or thb to thb with maps cr v y d see also s books bishop see library of devotion a j see books on business h a see books on business j a see french richard m a pas songs of nature church and home as d s b m a exercises in latin cr is d latin verse an aid to composition cr s ti w net b c a x d sc f r s f s a see s books little guides ancient cities and school histories m a b sc ll b see s library wood sir f m v d g c r g cm g from to field with illustrations and maps h and cheaper edition tf net a edition is also published wood j a b see of wood j dan illustrated third edition cr s a edition is also published wood w m a late scholar of college oxford and major j b r e d a q m g a history of the civil war in the united states with an introduction by h with maps and plans second edition d net m a see s books w the poems of with an introduction and notes by c smith late fellow of new college oxford in three volumes x net poems by william selected with au introduction by m j ii i i ap i i fl i j ti i y si i t i ii t c ai a i a a w robinson m a second edition by a w n d the of st paul the to the by c r d n d second the or st explained by h w m a the s bi i r net r i i two i thk ki the m the s d the the o the s general editor j vo the of christianity by w r i m a with map thk kingdom of and by m a n sc ll b the of prayer book literary and aspects j d d second edition and burn n j td ea some arthur a thk old tr third h com par ai classical crown i the ore translated by li i de i translated by r n p m a second edition v m by a d s general literature and colonies from to victoria by h b m a third edition as commercial examination papers by h de b d m a is d the or commerce by h de b m a second edition is td a german commercial reader by s e with as a commercial geography or the british empire by l w m a sixth edition as a commercial geography or foreign nations by f c boon b a as a or business by s m a fourth edition is d series crown a short c g m a fourth edition is d french commercial correspondence by s e with third edition as german commercial correspondence by s e with second edition as d a french commercial reader by s e with second edition as writing and correspond by e e m a second edition as a entrance guide to professions and business by h jones is d the principles of book keeping by double entry by j e b m m a as commercial law by w second edition as by with plates in by edward with plates in colour in and in by heath with plates in colour in and in by a with plates in and english furniture by f s robinson with i o plates in and one in second edition coloured books by martin with illustrations in colour and the s library royal european by henry h c b with plates in and half tone and plates in colour and work by with many plates in and a in second edition glass by edward with illustrations in and la in colour by walter de gray with illustrations in and a in by h smith with illustrations in and in colour the pocket library of plain and coloured books y d mt each volume coloured books old coloured books by with coloured plates as net the life and death of john esq by with coloured plates by henry and t j fourth edition the life of a by with coloured plates by henry cross by r s with coloured plates and in the text by john second edition mr s sporting tour by r s with coloured plates and in the text by john and by r s with coloured plates by h second edition ask mamma by r s with coloured plates and in the text by john the analysis of the hunting field by r s with coloured plates by henry and illustrations on the tour of dr in search of the picturesque by william with coloured plates the tour of doctor in search of consolation by william with coloured plates by t the third tour of doctor in search of a wife by william with coloured plates the history of the little of the late dr by the author of the three with coloured plates by the english dance of death from the designs of t with illustrations by the author of doctor two volumes this book contains coloured plates messrs s ic i ti li plain f of the art ot preferring game if by t illustrated by i tl in the day nd si of iu d hu f friend by j e n with j to hy r and g with l t on wood l e in x n or the am oi bob t il in the d hall by an a pierce with by and etc an fir with coloured plates by lane on d t ti fr with coloured plates by	33
t row the or fr with i by t or l in t fi l ly j t thk s ok a i c j v a naval coloured plates by mr an of und and by with ij i t an ac n tbe t for w p and with coloured plates witb a portrait of ch au thorn esq in w the day and ni ht of h arid hit elegant friend sir o by a with t by heath marks of t im nm by alfred with coloured plates by th tut old e t s a poem by john v with p r the style oft ro the e h by an original work ana in rank s i ii r i i i f t m il h with j i i y k and many on wood i plain books the ck wi a poem d l y i by louis the i invent c f william with an i n title c and a portrait ol l lake by i r a the illustration are in i il ns thi p ov n ted ami n by william i i ns ji in arc r pr in r s r s with by is p t f with it plates and in the text by george i r y w ain a with to plates and s u o in the te by b or r frank m i y f f with plates by c handy y lover with illustrations by the a i k p y i and s t r tion with i l and in the i e t f p y charles i s by m a i l i hi the two and the contemporary plates junior examination series l y a m w m a v if junior junior lai in i son p c f jacob m a n p p a key jl n ji n i f net w p a k c t k i m a junior lie p ii rs ion i i y w s beard v w s heard h s ir junior ion un i s w m a i p y w p m junior o i n p y t k l m a key v a e din m general literature s junior school books by o d ll d a class book or passages by w b a edition cr vo is i gospel according to st by e south m a with three maps cr u d the gospel st bv a e d d with three maps cr is tl english grammar by w william b a with numerous for and analysis and a chapter on essay g fourth edition cr vo as a junior by e a b a f with illustrations fourth edition cr vo as d the acts op the by a e d d cr tv as a junior french grammar by l a and m j second edition cr as science by w t a r c s by a e b sc with a plates and and w b a sixth edition cr as d a junior by s with edition cr as by a e b sc with plates and second edition cr as a junior french prose by r r n baron m a third edition cr as the gospel according to st with an introduction and notes by william b a with three maps cr vo as the first book op kings by a d d with maps cr s a junior greek history by w h m a with a and maps cr as a a school latin grammar by h g ford m a cr as d a junior latin prose by h n m a b d cr as d leaden of religion by h c m a of westminster with portraits cr cardinal by r h john by j h m a bishop by g w m a cardinal by a w m a charles by h c g d d by f second edition by r f d d ken by f a m a george fox the by t d c l third edition john by walter lock d d j net thomas by mrs by r l d d second edition op by l d d william by w h m a third edition john by d d thomas by a j d d bishop by r m and a j m a bishop butler by w a m a the of devotion with and where necessary notes small w cloth s leather s d the op st by c d d sixth edition the op christ called also the music by c d d fifth edition the christian year by walter lock d d fourth edition by walter lock d d second edition the temple by e c s d d second edition a book op by j w b d second edition a serious call to a devout and holy by c d d fourth ed a guide to eternity by j w b d by the inner way by j a w m a on the love op god by st francis de by w j little m a the op david by b w d d by cardinal and others by scott holland m a and h c m a the song op songs by b m a the thoughts op by c s m a a manual op consolation from the saints and fathers by j h bum b d continued messrs s catalogue tt e or st by c a j m a ia e to s n i hy s ci m a by a k b d a of by h	33
leaf tion oxford va st o volume s d ai li by r t i m a with with i i a i y k s m n general literature school series by a m m m a cr examination papers by a m m m a edition key sixth edition x net latin examination papers ly a m m a edition key sixth edition f net examination papers by a m m a ninth edition key fourth edition s ne examination papers by k j seventh edition key third edition s net m m i d history and geography examination papers by c h m a third edition examination papers by r e steel m a f general knowledge examination papers by a m m m a sixth edition key fourth edition js net examination papers in history by j b a school histories illustrated crown vo s d k school history of by d sc f r s a school history op by walter second edition a school history op by w e a school history op maiden m a a school history op and f w by h e by v s french by t r n m a one shilling each l d adapted by t r n m a second edition adapted by j a le adapted by w p fuller la au adapted by p b adapted by f w m la de adapted by h m a second edition de adapted by j f l de la adapted by t r n l de et adapted by j b s standard library is net double volumes is d net the meditations op translated by r graves sense and sensibility jane essays and counsels and the new francis bacon lord and urn burial sir thomas the text by a r the pilgrim s progress john on the french revolution the poems and songs of robert burns double volume the op religion natural and revealed joseph butler miscellaneous poems t tom jones henry vol mrs the history op the decline and fall op the roman empire e text and notes by j b bury seven double volumes the case ib altered every man in his every man out op his humour ben paper d net double volume is net the poems a nd plays op s ben the poems op john double volume the text has been by e de on the imitation op christ by thomas k translation by c a serious call to a devout and holy w law paradise lost john milton and the op kings and john milton and poems sir thomas more the republic op translated by and double volume by w h d rouse the little flowers op st francis translated by w the works op william shakespeare in volumes principal poems x i i t with an introduction by c d the op robert history and op white thk i ok v k m i r jl tt c j i castle fi v thk r n ih r i with a in colour l y a i i c u m a v k edition t c j f thk vi ro in widow cr j v thk of a s cr fix mrs w k y the getting well ok illustrated by cr a of summer medium m mr s crime o xi d thk secret agent a simple tale ed cr vo tt a in great waters o d a romance of two worlds twenty dr twenty fifth ed cr ith dr thirty ed cr ts the story of a dead self edition cr the soul of edition cr j sixteenth ed cr s a of the worlds tragedy forty third edition cr v ts th e so w s of satan fifty third edition cr s the master christian edition th thousand cr vo s power a study in su pr e m ac y so a thousand cr f i god s good man a sl story t h edition cr th k m n t v at m sixth n r f im a v f d mary r s v room no son wc second don s ae mary cr b o a lamp also san t america a thi also at mn mai the by g cr y j i of cr s edition c third over thk i thk s v s a r i i fiction in the shadow of the lord third edition crown s b and c b a mother s son fi h edition cr s second edition cr tom s folly vo td medium vo d mary td north and south medium d the woman cr s holy medium d made of money cr s also medium d the improbable third cr vo s the bridge of life cr s the conquest of london medium d the town second edition cr s also medium d the crown of life cr s also medium d the s sure illustrated cr y d also medium d the bride illustrated cr j d also o d charles s illustrated cr y d also medium d brothers s fairy tales illustrated medium d m the fir st claim second edition cr s in varying moods edition cr s the scholars daughter fourth edition cr s and the man twelfth ed cr s p the of the brute cr s a es q patience dean cr s robert the prophet of square second edition tongues of conscience third edition cr s fi edition cr vo s the woman with the fan sixth edition cr s cr s the garden of edition cr s the black cr s the call of the blood seventh edition cr s hope the god in the car tenth edition cr s a change of air sixth ed cr r also medium d a man	33
of mark ft cr s also medium d the of count an sixth edition cr s also medium d illustrated by h r seventh edition cr s also medium d seventh edition cr s the kings mirror fourth edition cr s fourth edition cr s he cr s also medium d a servant of the public fourth edition cr s tales of two people with a by a h third ed cr s hope the lady of second edition cr s e w dead men tell no tales d the life of sir cr s an english girl a romance second edition cr s von the fi ih edition cr s c j mr rocks fourth edition cr s prince the illustrated third edition cr s j h the throne of david d w w many car x es edition cr d sea edition cr o s d illustrated by will eighth edition cr v d light illustrated by will and others seventh edition cr s d the s ninth tion cr s d at port illustrated bv will ninth edition cr di e lane illustrated by will seventh edition cr u d odd craft illustrated by will seventh edition cr d the lady of the eighth edition cr s d james henry the soft side second cr s the better sort cr s the second edition cr s the golden bowl third edition cr s h a he that e bread with me cr s messrs s catalogue of science by g p d m a b sc and a r mills m a a s p s i t h b y a k du b st f c s with id jo s h w french cr br x p rt w french i examples in h cr e i a i in ic by c k and hy m w m e cr s u sc x d wilt i in i school n y t cr if rf f with o at a ti l cr pa if w by a e b st k a over o ti school hy f f b a with i by w t of i by g f m a b sc and g r mills m a fully illustrated w i m a l i a h i t i r am i m i y i a i w n d i man ii i u m ml i v c v a i li w ill l y a c l ih w an im l ii r k l l n j k a m r i l of thi tim oi i am r ii i c s il m n i i i an n i n a v i r i v v i v m a an k j fi i n v i r m i ml r c af r i i i r i v i i an i r to hi oi i i s r v a hum i i y tu i i ll ii mil v i i k i tm i m a i l a d h r i j a h i i i l l mi v i a h i v i v i i ii m a v a i v the westminster i l wai ri k i d l w n of k l r e d an m of l l is n the i i o d l h k t im i il l li tr i i u i i i m ii a v l i i y h i au ji ii aim not s l y s k i ip r i k u m v r mi f v t i hi i i i si ami with hu k f li l iv i c ih l i i ii n t la k j d i r v a v c i i i l i k f i ki i h a path ma i i tt v s v v m m i j in i v n mn il i l a m ii and thk a s thi ac iii ll h m a v r j ur i v ii ml al fiction part il fiction hon and rev james be hold the days come a fancy in christian second edition cr d maria and one other four a edition cr the blunder of an innocent second edition cr vo s capricious second edition cr s love and second edition cr vo s also medium d peter a cr tv the brown eyes of mary third edition cr t o s i know a maiden third edition cr s also medium vo d pride and medium oo d richard a roman mystery third edition cr s also medium d the fourth edition cr temptation edition cr b s love s a edition cr r second edition cr casting of th edition cr s also medium d by stroke of sword medium d s ft ih edition cr s fi ih edition cr s also medium vo da in the roar of the sea seventh cr s also medium d cheap jack fourth edition cr s also medium d of third edition cr s the queen of love edition cr dr also medium d third edition cr s alone fifth edition cr s also medium d illustrated fourth edition cr dr also medium d the squire illustrated fifth edition cr s also medium d cr s the third edition cr dr the illustrated second edition cr dr of the illustrated second	33
edition cr dr the priest cr dr illustrated second edition cr s also medium d royal illustrated cr s of all sorts cr dr second ed cr dr the crown s also medium d second ed cr s mrs of crown s little a new edition medium d bloom medium d a a wilderness second edition cr s james laughing through a wilderness cr dr robert in the midst of third edition cr s also medium d the fourth edition cr dr a so medium d the many third edition cr s also medium d the illustrated third edition cr dr the strong arm second edition medium d the curious and adventures of sir john or the op an mind with a cr dr m p den merchant with d by g k second ed cr dr b p a detail op the day edition cr dr also medium d the medium d subject to vanity cr y d a x the bad times second edition crown s a gun room box second ed cr d the mill cr dr medium d goes to oxford with illustrations third edition cr s j across the salt seas medium d mrs anne medium d f e r r i b y second edition cr dr messrs s catalogue hours i ai u til j j t v to house of e t v j o a the garden c m a fr m f v w f step the en garden j k the of e w lost property t edition cr tt ko medium li cr j a son of th e state t r u f n ire d a laws a tf f mrs ni i m a nt tr v i s l cr tu i or l c l thi i mc mrs david i man and r iii c k ed t ct k k p r k s c g d till hi k i n i r v elizabeth cr r h i ma is i i s own cr v s v v a k r ed cr ty s cl his i m sc n cr ov v ki sc y ui cr f ro master f s r i illustrated l v n third n c v v od a m a r r i c a t s e a v r for the ok cr rs the er of i he moat s edition cf s the passion of paul r f the quest of d a r r e l l cr tu the coming of this cr fir the progress of cr s money cr m the of j st k the yellow diamond ed al f i ti the love that overcame m w r the mess deck d ed cr pa j k mr the man e by c e cr v h miss cr ef fl t d deep sea cr e tke ha ai n r t ir s t l ml t mr si i l iii t m z i d ask mamma i m d wi cl m a i i in m m ni l e s c f van the i en i i ri s l s c h v r paul h i f a o f f i e s a n c f in iu l v v v t v thi of r mrs l b m r s m i h i l o ra n i m ol ii e r iu li or ins l v v v r general f i n h e r thi fair r t s k d i c thi mark romance c r s v m cr j rs l ri i e f n with s tr ns fi a i third edition r the h i n r ch ill the an i fo c t i k otherwise all j f the r a i with a i a i i r s n i i r h n i cr r mid r i s third n cr vn i o os rt j hb fiction the with illustrations by cr x a show being divers and tales cr ds the medium a a b the prisoners of war i wells h a the sea lady cr dr also medium d under the red robe with by r c wood twenty first edition cr vo s white the system third edition cr s a passionate pilgrim medium d the bar cr mrs c n the ad venture of princess second edition cr t the woman who dared cr s the sea could tell second edition cr s the castle of the shadows third edition cr s papa cr s c n an a m the lightning conductor the strange adventures of a car with z illustrations edition cr s the princess passes a of a with illustrations ninth edition cr s my friend the with i illustrations ninth cr s lady across the water tenth edition cr s the car of destiny and its errand in spain with fourth edition cr s the with a in colour by a h other illustrations and a map fi ih edition cr dr scarlet with a in colour by a h and other illustrations second ed cr dr the pathway of the fourth edition cr s c c s farm cr x the getting well of by mrs w k second edition only a guard room dog by e master s voyage by w third edition or the boy who would not go to sea by g second ed books for boys and illustrated	33
bringing with them from the soil as from some deep laid of precious these choice delights were the old by road s peculiar possession and through a wild of beauty and fragrance it strayed on with a careless awkwardness getting more and more involved in of green till at last abruptly as it were upon its own steps it stopped short at the entrance to a cleared space in front of a with this the old by road had evidently no sort of business whatever and ended altogether as it were with a rough shock of surprise at finding itself in such open quarters no trees or were here it was a wide clean brick paved place chiefly possessed by a goodly company of promising fowls and a huge cart horse the horse was tied to his in an open shed and and with all the and of the sailor s wife who offended s first witch beyond the was the itself a long low building with a broad roof supported by huge and crowned with many a building proudly declaring itself a of the days of elizabeth s and bearing about it the honourable marks of age and long stress of weather no such are built nowadays for life has become with us less than a temporary thing a coin to be spent rapidly as soon as gained too for any interest upon it to be sought or desired in times it was apparently not considered such cheap men built their homes her fancy and his fact to last not only for their own lifetime but for the lifetime of their children and their children s children and the idea that their children s children possibly fail to appreciate the and worth of their labours never entered their simple brains the was terminated at its other end by a broad stone which showed as in a frame the of scarlet in the distance and in the shadow cast by this was the small figure of a girl she stood idly watching the at food and driving away offspring from every chance of sharing bit or sup with them and as she noted the greedy triumph of the strong over the weak the great over the small her brows drew together in a di t frown of something like scorn yet hers was not a face that naturally expressed any of the unkind or harsh emotions it was soft and delicately and its rose white tints were by grave deeply set grey eyes that were full of wistful and questioning pathos in stature she was below the middle height and slight of build so that she seemed a mere child at first sight with nothing particularly attractive about her except perhaps her hands these were shaped and characteristic of refinement and as they hung at her sides looked scarcely less white than the white cotton frock she wore she turned presently with a movement of impatience away from the sight of tiie and fowls and looking up at the quaint of the uttered a low caressing call a white dove flew down to her instantly followed by another and yet another she smiled and extended her arms and a whole flock of the birds came fluttering about her in a whirl of wings on her shoulders and at innocent her feet one that seemed to enjoy a position of special flew straight against her breast she caught it and held it there it remained with her quite while she its neck poor she murmured tou love me don t you oh yes ever so much only you can t tell me so i m glad you wouldn t be half so sweet if you could she kissed the bird s soft head and still it scattered all the others around her by a slight gesture and went followed by a snowy cloud of them through the into the garden beyond here there were flower beds formally cut and arranged in hie old fashioned dutch manner full of sweet smelling old fashioned things such as stocks and and there were box borders of and and roses that grew in every possible way tliat roses have ever grown or can ever grow the on this garden and a magnificent glory rose covered it from its deep black porch to its highest it with hundreds of pale golden balls of perfume a real old rose it was without any doubt of its own worth and sweetness a rose before which the most highly trained might hang their heads for shame or away with envy for the air around it was wholly with its from peaceful years upon years of and dew the girl still carrying her pet dove walked slowly along the narrow paths that encircled the flower beds and box borders till reaching a low green door at the further end of the garden she opened it and passed through into a newly field where several lads and men were about busily employed in her fancy and his fact together the last of a full crop of hay and adding them to the last which stood in the centre of the ground and piled to an almost height one young fellow with a crimson silk tie knotted about his open shirt stood on top of the lofty fragrant load fork in hand tossing the additional heaps together as they were thrown up to him the afternoon sun blazed down on his uncovered head and bare brown arms and as he shook and turned the hay with energy his movements were full of the easy grace and which are often the unconscious of those whose labour keeps them daily in the fresh air occasional bursts of laughter and scraps of rough song came from the others at work and there was only one absolutely quiet figure among them that of an old man	33
are he leaned closer let go he pleaded i want to ride home on the last load with you alone another little peal of laughter escaped her i declare you think an actual person she said if he ll go he but i think he ll stay she loosened her hold of the dove which released gravely up to her shoulder and sat there its wing she glanced round at it i told you so she said he s a i don t mind him so much up there said robin and he ventured to take one of her hands in his own but he always has so much of you he imder your and is by your sweet lips he has all and i have you have one hand said innocent with gravity but no heart with it he said wistfully innocent can you never love me she was silent looking at him then she gave a little sigh i m afraid not but i have often thought about it you have and his eyes grew very tender oh yes often you see it isn t your fault at all you are well here she surveyed him with a air of admiration you are quite a beautiful man you have a splendid figure and a good face and kind eyes and well shaped feet and hands and i like the look of you just now with that open collar and that gleam of sunlight in your curly hair and your throat is almost white except for a touch of which is rather becoming innocent especially with that crimson silk tie i i suppose you put that tie on for effect didn t you he flushed and laughed lightly naturally to please you really how thoughtful of you well you are charming and i shouldn t mind kissing you at all but it wouldn t be for love wouldn t it what would it be for then her face lightened up with the of an inward mirth and mischief only because you look pretty she answered he threw aside her hand with an angry gesture of impatience you want to make a fool of me he said i m sure i don t you are just lovely and i tell you so that is not making a fool of you yes it is a man is never lovely a woman may be well i m not said innocent placidly that s why i admire the loveliness of others you are lovely to me he declared passionately she smiled there was a touch of compassion in the smile poor robin she said at that moment the hidden goddess in her soul arose and asserted her claim to beauty a rare in charm of exquisite tenderness and fascination seemed to her small and delicate personality with an atmosphere of tion the man beside her felt it and his heart beat quickly with a thrilling hope of conquest so you pity me he said pity is akin to love but seldom agree she replied i only pity you because you are foolish no one but a very foolish fellow would think me lovely her fancy and his fact he raised himself a little and peered over the edge of the hay load to see if there was any sign of the men returning with but there was no one in the field now except ie venerable personage he called uncle who was still smoking away his thoughts as it were in a dream of tobacco and he once more caught the hand he had just let go and covered it with kisses there he said lifting his head and showing an eager face lit by eyes now you know how lovely you are to me i should like to kiss your mouth like that for you have tiie sweetest mouth in the world and you have ihe prettiest hair not raw gold which i hate but soft brown with delicious little lost in it and such a lot of it i ve seen it all down remember and your eyes would draw the heart out of any man and send him yes innocent anywhere to heaven or to she coloured a little that s beautiful talk she said it s like poetry but it isn t true it is true he said with fond and i ll make you love me ah no a look of the scorn suddenly passed over her features that s not possible you could never make me do anything and it s rude of you to speak in such a way please let go my hand he dropped it instantly and sprang erect ah ri t i ll leave you to yourself and here he laughed bitterly what made you give that bird such a name i found it in a book she answered it s a name that was given to the god of love when he was a uttle boy innocent i know that please don t teach me my a b c said robin half she leaned back laughing and singing ve was once a little boy ho ho then twas sweet with him to toy ho ho p her eyes sparkled in the sun a of her hair ruffled by the hay escaped and flew like a little web of against her cheek he looked at her might go on with the song he said love is now a little man u t and a very naughty one she with a mischievous upward glance despite his inward vexation he smiled say what you like is a ridiculous name for a dove he said it to stupid she replied and the rhyme expresses the nature of the bird and the god you think	33
that clever i don t i never said a clever in my life i shouldn t know how everything clever has been written over and over again by people in books hang books he exclaimed it s always books with you i wish we had never found that old chest of volumes in the room do you then you are than i thought you were the books taught me all i know about love about love you don t know what love means he declared the hay he stood upon with impatience you read and read and you get the ideas into your head and all the time the world goes on in ways that are quite different from her fancy and his fact what you are thinking about and lovers walk the fields and lanes everywhere near us every year and you never appear to see them or to envy envy them the girl opened her eyes wide envy them oh hear envy them why should i envy who could envy mr aiid mrs what nonsense you talk he exclaimed mr and mrs are married folk not lovers but they were lovers once she said and only three years ago i remember them walking through the lanes and fields as you say with arms round each other and mrs s hands were always dreadfully red and mr s fingers were always dirty and they married very quickly and now they ve got two dreadful babies that scream all day and all night and mrs s hair is never tidy and himself well you know what he does gets drunk every night interrupted robin i know and i suppose you think i m another oh dear no and she laughed with the merriment you never could you never would be a but it all comes to the same thing love ends in marriage doesn t it it ought to said robin and marriage ends in innocent don t say innocent in that way it makes me feel quite guilty now you talk of names there s a name to give a poor girl innocent nobody ever heard of such a name you re wrong there were thirteen named innocent between the years and said robin promptly and one of them innocent the innocent is a character in s ring and the book dear me and her eyes flashed me with your wisdom robin but all the same i don t believe any girl ever had such a name as innocent in spite of thirteen and perhaps the thirteen had other names they had other names he explained with a learned air for instance pope innocent the third was cardinal before he became pope and he wrote a book called de de human se she looked at him as he uttered the latin with a respectful air of attention and then laughed like a child laughed till the tears came into her eyes oh robin robin she cried are simply delicious the most boy that crimson tie and that latin no wonder the village girls you de what is it and misery human conditions poor pope he never sat on top of a hay load in his life i m sure but you see his name was not innocent his name was said robin severely she was suddenly silent well i suppose was she after a pause i suppose so i wonder if i have any other name i must ask robin looked at her curiously then his thoughts were diverted by the sight of a stout woman in a brown spotted print gown and white who just then trotted bi ly into the hay field calling at the top of her voice her fancy and his fact you re wanted there s calling uncle in he said and making a hollow of his hands he shouted what is it the gave an upward jerk in his direction and the out doctor s come yer uncle the old man who had been so long quietly seated on the barrel now rose and knocking out the ashes of his pipe turned towards the but before he went he raised his straw hat again and stood for a moment in the glory of the sinking sun innocent sprang upright on the load of hay and standing almost at the very edge of it shaded her eyes with one hand from tiie strong light and looked at him she i come he turned his head towards her no no stay where you are with robin he walked slowly and with evident across the length of the field which divided him from the garden and opening the green gate leading disappeared the individual called walked or rather towards the hay and setting her arms on her broad looked up with a grin at the young people on top well ye re a fine couple up there what are ye a of never mind what we re doing said robin impatiently i say do you think uncle is really ill s face which was the colour of an ancient and almost as deeply marked with lines of brown and yellow showed no emotion innocent he ain t she said no said innocent seriously i m he isn t jerked her a little further back showing some of dusty grey hair he ain t been for this past year she went on mr bein only a kind of village bottle don t know much an yer uncle ain t bin satisfied now there s another doctor from london staying up ere for is own poor and yer uncle said he d like to ave is opinion so mr bein though ignorant as got im in to see yer uncle and there both is in the best parlour with special wine an on the table	33
oh it u be all right said cheerfully uncle is getting old of course and he s a bit fanciful the air and not what are you two for now for the men to come back with then we ll haul home tou u ave to wait a bit longer i m said they s all beer in the yard now an another barrel to drink at when the comes in there s no animals on earth as ever ty as men well good luck t ye i must go or u be a smell of she settled her anew and trotted away looking rather like a large spotted mysteriously set in motion and rolling rather than walking off the field when she was gone innocent sat down again upon the hay this time without he had flown off to join his mates on the her fancy and his fact is really not well she said thoughtfully i feel anxious about him if he were to die at the mere thought her eyes filled with tears he must die some day answered robin gently and he s old nigh on eighty oh i don t want to remember that she murmured it s the part of life that people should grow old and die and pass away from us what should i do without i should be all alone with no one in the world to care what becomes of me care he said softly yes you care just now she answered with a sigh and it s very kind of you i wish i could care in the way you want me to but will you try he pleaded i do try really i do try hard she said with quite a piteous earnestness i can t feel what isn t here and she pressed both hands on her i care more for tiie horse and the dove than i do for you it s quite awful of me but there it is i love i simply and she threw out her arms with an embracing gesture all the trees and plants and birds and everything about the farm and the itself it s just the sweetest home in the world there s not a brick or a stone in it that i would not want to kiss if i had to leave it but i never felt that way for you and yet i like you very very much robin i wish i could see you married to some nice girl only i don t know one nice enough nor do i he answered with a laugh except yourself but never mind dear we won t talk of it any more just now at any rate i m a patient sort of chap i can wait how long she with a wondering glance innocent all my life he answered simply a silence fell between them some inward touch of embarrassment troubled the girl for the colour came and went in her soft cheeks and her eyes drooped under his fervent gaze the glowing light of the sky deepened and the sim began to sink in a mist of bright orange which was reflected over all the visible landscape with a warm and vivid glory that strange sense of beauty and mystery which the air with the approach of evening made all the simple pastoral scene a dream of loveliness and the two youthful figures on their high of hay might have passed for the rustic adam and eve of some newly created they were both very quiet with the tense of hearts that are too full for speech a joy in the present was with a dim unconscious fear of the future in both their thoughts though neither of them would have expressed their feelings in this regard one to the other a in a hedge close by and the on the spread their white wings to the late t and again the man spoke with a gentle firmness all my life i shall love you innocent whatever happens remember that all my life chapter ii the swinging open of a great gate at the further end of the field disturbed the momentary silence which followed his words the returning appeared on the scene leading at their head and innocent up eagerly glad of ihe interruption here comes old she cried his heart now robin you must try to look very stately are you going to ride home standing or he was visibly annoyed at her light indifference unless i may sit beside you with my arm round your waist in the fashion i d rather stand he retorted you said s hands were always dirty so are mine i d better keep my distance from you one can t make hay and remain altogether as clean as a new pin she gave an impatient gesture you always take things up in the wrong way she said i never thought you a bit like your hands are not really dirty they are he answered besides you don t want my arm round your waist do you certainly not she replied quickly then i ll stand he said you shall be like a queen and i ll be your here wait a minute he piled up the hay in the middle of the load till it made a high cushion where in obedience to his gesture innocent seated herself the men leading innocent the horse were now close about the and one of them grinning at the girl offered her a made wreath of wild roses from which all the thorns had been carefully removed looks don t it he said she accepted it with a smile is it for me oh how nice of you am i	33
to wear it if ye this with another grin she set it on her uncovered head and became at once a model for a the wild roses with their delicate pink and white against her brown hair suited the hues of her complexion and the tender grey of her eyes and when thus adorned die looked up at her companion he was fain to turn away quickly lest his admiration should be too plainly made manifest before profane witnesses meanwhile was being to the he was a handsome creature of his kind and he knew it as he turned his bright soft glance from side to side with a conscious pride in himself and his surroundings he seemed to be perfectly aware that the knots of bright red ribbon tied in his long and heavy mane meant some sort of festival when all was done the gathered round good luck to the last load mr they shouted good luck to you all answered robin cheerily good luck t ye miss and they raised their sun faces to the girl as she looked down upon them as fine a crop and as fair a load next year good luck to you she responded then suddenly bending a little forward she said almost please wish luck to he s not well and he isn t here oh please don t forget hun her fancy and his fact they all stared at her for a moment as if startled or surprised then they all joined in a shout that s right good luck to the master many good years of life to him and better crops every year she drew back smiling her thanks but there were tears in her eyes and then they all started in a pretty procession the men who paced along the meadow with dignity shaking his ribbons now and again as if he were fully conscious of carrying more valuable than mere hay and above them all smiled the girl s young face framed in its soft brown hair and crowned with the wild roses while at her side stood the very type of a model englishman with all the promise of splendid life and in the build of his form the set of his shoulders and the of his handsome head it was a picture of youth and beauty and lovely nature set against the warm evening tint of the sky one of those pictures which though drawn for the moment only on the minds of those who see it is yet never forgotten arriving presently at a vast in which two loads of hay were being they were hailed with a cheery shout by several at work and very soon a smell of beer began to mingle with the of the hay and the scent of the elder flowers and sweet in the hedges close by have a drop mr said one tall powerful looking man who seemed to be a leader among the others holding out a full and over robin smiled and put his lips to it just to health he said i m not a drinking man innocent s thirsty work commented the other will miss do us the honour the girl made a little face i don t like beer mr she said it s horrid even when it s home i help to make it you see she laughed gaily they all laughed with her and then there was a little which ended in her putting her lips to the just offered to robin and the merest of its foam watched her and as she returned the cup put his own mouth to the place hers had touched and drank the whole draught off robin did not see his action but the girl did and a deep blush of offence her cheeks she rose a nervously i ll go in now she said must be alone by this time all right and robin jumped lightly from the top of the load to the and put the ladder up for her to descend she came down turning her back to him so that the hem of her neat white skirt like a little over each rung of the ladder not only her slim ankles but the very heels of her shoes when she was nearly at the bottom he caught her up and set her lightly on the ground there you are he said with a laugh when you get into the house you can tell uncle that you are a rose queen a hay queen and queen of everything and on farm including your very humble servant robin and your of slaves ned added with a quick glance his cap mr mustn t expect to have it all his own way what the devil are you talking about de i her fancy and his fact robin turning upon him with a sudden innocent gave him an appealing look don t oh don t quarrel die whispered and with a parting nod to the whole party of workers she hurried away with her disappearance came a brief pause among the men then robin turning away from proceeded to give various orders he was a person in authority and as knew was likely to be the owner of tiie farm when his uncle was dead went close up to him mr he said somewhat thickly you heard what i said just now you mustn t expect to have it all your own way there s other men after the girl as well as you i glanced him up and down i suppose he retorted and why not sneered only because there are two sides to every said carelessly with a laugh and no decision can be arrived at till both are heard he climbed up among the other men and set to work steadily and singing in a fine	33
soft the old century song comes a courteous knight over the hay he was well aware of a as she came wandering over the way then she sang a hey deny jove you speed fair he said among the leaves that be so if i were a king and wore a crown full soon f thou be then she sang a hey deny p looked up at him with a dark smile innocent those best who last he ed and a has had its neck wrung before now meanwhile innocent had entered the passing through the hall which since the days of its original building was high and heavily she went first into the kitchen to see who assisted by a couple of strong girls did all the and cooking of the farm she foimd that personage rolling out and talking as she rolled ah you ll never come to much good she cried what with a of dirty dishes in one comer and a of ragged in another you re the very model of a wife for a farm hand can t a gown for neither but bound to send it into town to be made for ye and couldn t put a button on a pair of breeches for fear of yer delicate fingers well god ye when the man comes as ye re for he ll be a fool anyhow for all men are that but he ll be twice a fool if he takes you for a life on his shoulders endured this patiently and went on with the washing up in which she was engaged only turning her head to look at innocent aa she appeared suddenly in the kitchen doorway with her hair slightly and the wreath of wild roses crowning her brows where s she asked lord save us you gave me a real scare coming in like that with them roses on yer head like a out of the woods the master he s just where the doctors left im in his and looking out o window was it was it all ri t do you think asked the girl hesitatingly her fancy and his fact now don t ask me about doctors i don t know and wants to know for they be close folk who never what they thinks lest they get their blessed selves into hot water and it s all right or all wrong i couldn t tell ye for the two o them went out together and mr good miss friday quite like and the other gentleman he lifts is at quite civil so i should say twas all wrong for if you mark me men s extra when they thinks there s goin to be trouble they ll get for out of it innocent hardly waited to hear her last words i m going to she said quickly and disappeared friday stopped for a minute in the rolling out of her some great stress of thought appeared to be working behind her wrinkled brow for she shook her head her lips and rolled up her eyes a great many times then she gave a short si and went on with her work the was a rambling old place full of quaint comers arches and odd little steps up and down leading to mysterious recesses and winding ways which turned into dark narrow passages right and left through the whole breadth of the house it was along one of these tiiat innocent ran swiftly on leaving the kitchen till she reached a closed door where pausing she listened a moment then hearing no sound opened it and went softly in the room she entered was filled with soft shadows of the gradually falling dusk yet partially lit by a golden flame of the after glow which shone through the open window from the western sky close to the light sat e master of the farm still clad innocent in his frock with his straw hat on the table beside him and his stick leaning against the arm of his chair he was very quiet so quiet that a late beam of the sun touching the rough silver white of his hair seemed almost as suggesting an interruption to the peace of his attitude innocent stopped short with a tremor of nervous fear she said softly he turned towards her ay what is it she did not answer but came up and knelt down beside him taking one of his brown wrinkled hands in her own and caressing it the silence between was for quite two or three minutes then he said last load in all safe tes ot a drop of rain to wet it and no hard words to it eh no she gave the answer a little hesitatingly she was thinking of ned he t ti ie slight in her voice and looked at her suspiciously been quarrelling with robin dear no we re the best of friends he loosened his hand from her clasp and patted her head with it that s right that s as it should be with robin child be friends be lovers she was silent the after glow warmed the tints of her hair to gold and turned to a deeper pink the of the roses in the wreath she wore he touched the blossoms and spoke with great gen did robin crown thee she looked up smiling her fancy and his fact o it s s wreath ay poor a good lad but he can eat for two and only work for one tis the way of men nowadays another pause ensued and the western gold of the sky began to fade into misty grey said the girl then in a low tone do tell me what did london doctor say he lifted his head quickly and his old eyes for a moment flashed as though suddenly by a	33
flame from within say what should he say but that i am old and must expect to die it s natural enough only i haven t thought about it it s just that i haven t thought about it should you think about it she asked with quick tenderness will not die yet not for many years you are not so very old and you are strong he patted her head again poor little he said if you had your way i should live for ever no doubt but an you were wise with modem wisdom you would say i had already lived too long for answer she drew down his hand and kissed it i do not want any modem wisdom she said i am your little girl and i love you a shadow flitted across his face and he moved uneasily she looked up at him tou will not tell me tell you what all the london doctor said he was silent for a minute s space then he answered yes i will tell you but not now to night after supper will be time enough and then yes then she repeated anxiously innocent then you shall know you will have to know here he broke oflf abruptly innocent tes how old are you now eighteen ay so you are and he looked at her quite a woman time flies you re old enough to learn i have always tried to she said and i like studying things out of books ay but there are worse things in life than ever were written in books he wearily things that people hide away and are ashamed to speak of ay poor things that ive tried to keep from you as long as but time presses and i shall have to speak she looked at him earnestly her face and her eyes grew dark and wondering have i done anything wrong she asked you no not you you are not to blame child but youve heard the law set out in church on that the sins of the fathers shall be visited on the children even unto the third and generation you ve heard that yes ay and who dare say the fourth generation are to blame yet though they are they suffer most no just god ever made such a law though they say tis god speaking say tis the devil his voice grew harsh and loud and his stick near his chair he took hold of it and struck it against the to his words i say tis the the girl rose from her kneeling attitude and put her arms gently his shoulders there she said soothingly don t her fancy and his fact worry church and church things seem to rub you up the wrong way don t think about supper will be ready in a little while and after supper we ll have a long talk and then you ll tell me what the doctor said his angry excitement subsided suddenly and his head sank on his breast ay after supper then then i ll tell you what the doctor said his speech faltered he turned and looked out on the garden full of luxuriant blossom the colours of which were gradually into masses under the darkening grey of the dusk she moved softly about the room setting things straight and lighting two candles in a pair of tall brass which stood one on either side of a carved oak press the room thus showed itself to be a roughly apartment in the style of the earliest times and all the furniture in it was of the same period the thick table the curious chairs picturesque but uncomfortable the two old the quaint three legged and upright settles were a collection that would have been precious to the art dealer and hunter as would the massive eight day clock with its painted face not only the hours and days but the months and possessing a which just now struck eight with a boom as deep as that of a cathedral bell the sound appeared to the old farmer with a kind of shock for he rose from his chair and grasped his stick looking about him as though for the moment of his bearings how fast the hours go by he muttered when we re young they don t count but when we re old we know that every hour brings us innocent nearer to the end the end the end of all another ni t closing in aad the last load cleared from the field innocent the name broke from his lips like a cry of suffering and she ran to him trembling dear what is it he caught her outstretched hands and held them close nothing nothing he answered drawing his breath quick and hard nothing no pain no not that i m only frightened i frightened think of it me frightened who never knew fear and i i wouldn t tell it to anyone but you i m afraid of what s of what s bound to come always have come i know but i never thought about it it never seemed real it never seemed real here the door opened admitting a flood of cheerful li t from the outside passage and robin entered uncle supper s ready the old man s face instantly its worn and scared expression smoothed into a smile and his hold of innocent he straightened himself and stood erect all right my lad you ve worked pretty late yes and we ve not done yet but we shall finish to morrow answered just now we re all tired and hungry don t say you re thirsty said the old farmer his smile how	33
many barrels have been tapped to day oh weu you d better ask and s light laugh had a touch of scorn in it lie s the man for the beer i hardly ever touch it innocent knows that more work s done on water after all said her fancy and his fact the horses that draw for us and the cattle that make food for us prove that but we we re a bit higher than the beasts and some of us get drunk to prove it that s one of our strange ways as men come along lad and you child here he turned to innocent run and teu we re waiting in the great hall he seemed to have suddenly lost all and walked with a firm step into what he called the great hall which was distinguished by this name from the lesser or entrance hall of the house it was a nobly very lofty apartment richly the roof being supported by huge arched beams curiously and carved long narrow on stout old occupied the centre and these were spread with of coarse but clean linen and furnished with antique plates and other vessels of which would have sold for a far larger sum in the market than solid silver a tall carved chair was set at the head of the largest table and in this farmer seated himself the men now began to come in from the fields in their work a day clothes escorted by ned their only attempt at a toilet having been a wash and brush up in the and soon the hall presented a scene of lively bustle and activity entering it from the kitchen with her two t in three huge smoking joints on enormous dishes then followed other good things of all sorts vegetables cakes and fruit which innocent helped to set out au along the boards in tempting array it was a generous supper fit for a harvest home yet it was only farmer s ordinary way of the end of the the real harvest home was another and bigger festival yet to come robin innocent ford began to a of beef ned who was nearly opposite him of roast pork the delicacy most favoured by the majority and when all the knives and forks were going and voices began to be loud and tongues innocent slipped into a chair by farmer and sat between him and for not only the farm hands but all the servants on the place were at table this ha supper being the annual order of the household the girl s small delicate head with its of wild roses looked strange and among the rough specimens of manhood about her and sometimes as the laughter became boisterous or some caught her ear a faint flush coloured the of her cheeks and a little nervous tremor ran through her frame she drew as closely as she could to the old farmer who sat rigidly upright and quiet eating nothing but a morsel of bread with a bowl of hot milk had put before him beer was served freely and was from man to man in leather such as were commonly used in times but which are now considered mere they were however ordinary wear at farm and had been so since very early days the great hall was lighted by tall windows reaching almost to the roof and traversed with shafts of solid the one immediately opposite farmer s chair showed the very last parting glow of the sunset like a dull red gleam on a dark sea for the rest thick home made candles of a torch shape fixed into iron round the walls the room and with unsteady giving rise to curious lights and shadows as though ghostly figures were passing to and fro the air with their unseen her yellow face just now to the her fancy and his fact tint of a winter apple by her recent exertions in the kitchen was not so much engaged in eating her supper as in watching her master her brown eyes from him to the slight delicate girl beside him with inquisitive she felt and saw that the old man s thoughts were far away and that something of an unusual nature was troubling his mind was an odd looking creature but faithful her were strong and her only a shade more violent and just now she entertained very sentiments towards them doctors who had as she put her master out of sorts with himself and caused anxiety to the darling child as she invariably called innocent when her to the guidance of the almighty in her daily and nightly prayers meanwhile the noise at the supper table grew louder and more incessant and sundry deep of home ale began to do their work one man seated near ned was holding forth in very slow thick accents on the subject of education be he said his words with difficulty that s what i says boys be then everything s right for us we can kick all the rich out into the mud and take their goods and enjoy em for ourselves does it makes us all we wants to be members o ment and what not i ve only one boy but he u be as his father never was and learn to despise his father said robin suddenly his clear voice ringing out above the s re right that s the best way to train a boy in the way he should go there was a brief silence then came a fresh murmur of voices and ned s voice rose above them m innocent i don t agree with you mr he said there s no reason why a well educated lad should despise his father but he often does said robin reason or no	33
reason well you re educated yourself retorted with a touch of envy won a at your grammar school and you ve been to a university what s that done for me demanded robin carelessly where has it put me just nowhere but exactly where i might have stood all the time i didn t learn farming at oxford but you didn t learn to despise your father either did you sir one of the farm hands respectfully my father s dead answered robin and i honour his memory so your own argument goes to the wall said education has not made you think less of him in my case no said robin but in of other cases it works out differently besides you ve got to decide what education is the man who knows how to plough a field rightly is as educated as the man who knows how to read a book in my opinion education interposed a strong voice is first to learn one s place in the world and then know how to keep it all eyes turned towards the head of the table it was farmer who spoke and he went on speaking what s called education nowadays he said is a mere and does no good the children are taught especially in small villages like ours by men and women who often know less than the her fancy and his fact children themselves what do you make of for example boys a roar of laughter went round the table exclaimed a huge red faced fellow at the other end of the board why he talks yer off about what he s picked up here and there like and when i asked him to tell me where my son is as went to if he didn t say it was a town near new york another roar went round the table farmer smiled and held up his hand to silence mr is a teacher selected by the government he then observed with mock gravity and if he teaches us that is a town near new york we poor ignorant farm folk are bound to believe him they all laughed again and he continued i m old enough boys to have seen many changes and i tell you all things considered that the worst change is the education business so far as the strength and the health of the country goes that and machine work when i was a nearly every field hand knew how to now we ve trouble enough to find an extra man who can use a and you may put a machine on tiie grass as much as you like you ll never get the quality that you ll get with a well curved blade and a man s arm and hand it longer work maybe and risk of rain but taking the odds for and against men are better than machines forty years we ve the grass on farm and haven t we had the finest crops of hay in the county a chorus of voices answered him ay that s right i never member more n two wet seasons and innocent then we got last load in showers observed one man thoughtfully there ain t never been wrong with farm hay crops way all the knows that for thirty mile round said another and the wheat and the com and the and the the same struck in the old farmer again all the seed sown by hand and the harvest by hand and every man and boy in the village or near it has found work enough to keep him in his native place spring summer autumn and winter isn t that so ay ay never a day out o work talk of trouble went on if the old ways were kept up and work done in tiie old fashion there d be plenty for all england s men to do and to feed fair and hearty but the idea nowadays is to rush everything just to get finished with it and then to play cards or and get drunk till the legs don t know whether it s land or water they re standing on it s the wrong way about boys it s the wrong way about you may hurry and along as fast as you please but you miss most good things by the way and there s only one end to your racing the grave there s no such haste to drop into that boys it ll wait it s always waiting and the quicker you go the quicker you ll get to it take time while you re young that time for me is past he lifted his head and looked round upon them all there was a strange wild look in his old eyes and a sudden sense of awe fell on the rest of the company farmer seemed all at once removed from them to a height of dignity above his ordinary bearing innocent s rose crowned head drooped and tears sprang involuntarily to her eyes her fancy and his fact she tried to hide them not so well however but that friday saw them now child she whispered don t take on it s only the doctors that s made him low like and blue and he ain t sup or morsel but we ll make him have a bite in his own room don t you swell your pretty eyes and make em red for tiiat won t suit me nor mr robin neither come come that it won t innocent put one of her little hands imder the board and pressed s rough tenderly but she said nothing the silence was broken by one of the oldest men present who rose in hand the time for good farming is never past he said in a hearty voice	33
and no one will ever beat farmer at that full cups boys and the master s health long life to him the response was immediate every man rising to his feet none of them were particularly unsteady except ned who nearly fell over the table as he got up thou he managed to himself in time farmer to farm and the master health and good luck these were roared loudly the table and then the whole company gave vent to a hearty hip that roused echoes from the roof and made its lights tremble one more shouted suddenly turning his flushed face from side to side upon those immediately near him miss followed a of cheering together and shone in the ing and every eye looked towards the girl innocent who colouring deeply shrank from the around her like a leaf shivering in a storm wind robin glanced at her with a half jealous half anxious look but her face was turned away from him he lifted his and bowing towards her drank the contents when the toast was fully pledged farmer got up amid much clap of hands stamping of feet and on the boards he waited till quiet was restored and then speaking in strong accents said boys i thank you you re all boys to me young and old for you ve worked on the farm so long that i seem to know your faces as well as i know the shape of the land and the trees on the youve wish me health and long life and i it that your wishes are honest but i ve had a long life already and mustn t expect much more of it however tiie farm will go on just the same whether i m here or elsewhere and no man tiiat works well on it will be turned away from it that i can promise you and the advice i ve always given to you i give to you again stick to the land and the work of the land there s finer in tiie world than the fresh air and the scent of the good brown earth that gives you the reward of your labour always providing it is labour and not service when i m gone you ll perhaps remember what i say and think it not so badly said either i thank you for your good wishes and here he hesitated my little girl here thanks you too next time you make the hay if i m not with you i ask you to be as merry as you are to night and to drink to my memory for whenever one master of farm has gone there s always been another in his place and always will be he paused then lifting a full which had been put beside him he drank a few drops of its contents god bless her fancy and his fact you all may you long have the will to work and the health to enjoy the fruits of honest labour there was another outburst of noisy cheering followed by a new kind of a song a song who u where s little be ye got to roared one old fellow with very white hair and a very red face ye re not so small as ye can hide in yer mother s a young giant of a man stood up in response to this blushing and smiling here i be sing away lad sing away wet yer pipe and whistle tune up my thus straightened himself to his full stature of over six feet and drank a of ale then he began in a remarkably fine and mellow tenor would you choose a wife for a happy life leave the town and the country take where and doll and and harry and john while harvest goes on and merrily merrily i he give me here as as my beer that knows how to a farm that can milk a cow or a sow make butter and cheese and gather green peas and guard the poultry from harm old song r innocent this this is the girl worth and pearl the wife that a home will make i we farmers need no quality breed but a woman that s won while harvest goes on and we merrily merrily a dozen or more voices joined in the refrain a woman that s won while harvest goes on and we merrily good for you first class here s to you my lad the shouting laughter and applause continued for many minutes then came more singing of songs from various rivals to the and presently all joined together in a boisterous chorus which ran thus a glass is good and a is good and a pipe is good in cold weather the world is good and the people are good and we re all good fellows together i in the middle of this performance farmer rose from his place and left the hall innocent accompanying him once he looked back on the gay scene presented to him the disordered the easy lounging attitudes of the well fed men the of the lights which cast a ruddy glow on old and young faces and sparkled over the then with a strange yearning in his eyes he turned slowly away leaning on the arm of the girl beside him and went the merry makers to themselves chapter in returning to the room where he had sat alone before supper he sank heavily into the he had previously occupied the window was still open and the scent of roses stole in with every of air a few stars sparkled in the sky and a faint line of silver m the east showed where the moon would shortly rise he looked out in dreamy silence and	33
for some minutes seemed too much absorbed in thought to notice the presence of innocent who had seated herself at a small table near him on which she had set a lit candle and was quietly sewing she had forgotten that she still wore the wreath of wild roses the fragile flowers were drooping and dying in her hair and as she bent over her work and the her delicate there was something in the shape of the leaves as they encircled her brow making her look like a young greek or goddess brought to life out of the poetic dreams of the elder world she was troubled and anxious but she tried not to let this seem apparent she knew from her life s experience of his ways and that it was best to wait till the old man chose to speak rather than urge him into talk before he was ready or willing she glanced up from her sewing now and again and saw that he looked very pale and worn and she felt that he suffered her tender young heart ached with longing to comfort him yet e knew not what she should say so she sat quiet as full of loving innocent thoughts as a lily may be full of tiie dew of heaven yet mute as the blossom itself presently he moved and turning in his chair looked at her intently the of his gaze drew her like a from her work and she put down her sewing do you want anything he rose and began to with the buttons of his ay just help me to get this off the working day is over the working clothes can go she was at his side instantly and with her light fingers soon him of the homely garment when it was taken off a noticeable was effected in his appearance clad in plain dark which was fashioned into a suit somewhat resembling the and of times his tall thin figure had a distinctly aristocratic look and bearing which was lacking when clothed in the s garb old as he was there were traces of intellect and even beauty in his features his head on which the thin white hair shone like silver was proudly set on his shoulders in that unmistakable line which the power and the will to command and as he unconsciously drew himself upright he looked more like some old hero of a hundred battles than a farmer whose chief pride was the excellence of his crops and the prosperity of his farm managed by hand work only for despite the of his who were never tired of with him for not going with the times had one fixed rule of farming and this was that no modem machinery should be used on his lands he was the best employer of labour for many and many a mile round and the most generous as well as the most exact and though people asserted her fancy and his fact that there was no re explanation for it nevertheless it happened that the hand crops of farm were finer and richer in grain and quality and of much better value than the machine sown machine crops of any other farm in the county or for that matter in the three adjoining he stood now for a minute or two watching innocent as she looked carefully over his frock to see if there were any buttons missing or anything to be done requiring the services of her quick needle and thread then as she folded it and put it aside on a chair he said with a thrill of compassion in his voice poor little child thou hast eaten no supper i saw thee playing with the bread and touching no morsel art not well she looked up at him and tried to smile but tears came into her eyes despite her efforts to keep them back dear i am only anxious she murmured you too have had nothing shall i fetch you a glass of the old wine it will do you good he still bent his brows thoughtfully upon her presently presently not now he answered come and sit by me at the window and i ll tell you i ll tell you what you must know but see you child if you are going to cry or fret you will be no help to me and i ll just hold my peace she drew a quick breath and her face i will not cry she said i will not fret i promise you she came close up to him as she spoke he took her gently in his arms and kissed her s a brave girl and holding her by the hand he drew her towards the open window look out there see how the stars shine always the innocent same no matter what happens to us poor folk down here they as merrily over our graves as over our gardens and yet if we re to believe what we re taught nowadays they re all worlds more or less like our own full of living creatures that suffer and die like ourselves it s a queer plan of the ty to keep on making wonderful and beautiful things just to destroy them there seems no sense in it he sat down a ain in his chair and she obeying his gesture t a low stool to his feet and settled herself upon it leaning against his knee her face was to his and the flickering li t of the tall candles quivering over it showed the wistful tender of its expression a look which seemed to trouble him for he avoided her eyes want to know what the london doctor said he began well child you ll not be any the better for knowing but it s as i	33
if that s the way you put it what man alive would leave his own lawful child at a strange farm off the high road and never claim it again you re a fool i tell you this man who brought you to me was by his look and bearing some fine gentleman or other who had just the one idea in his head to get rid of an and so he got rid of you don t go over the whole thing again she interrupted with weary patience i was an to him i ve been an to you i m sorry but in no case had you the right to set a on me which perhaps does not exist that was wrong she paused a moment then went on slowly i ve been a burden on you for six years now it s six years you say since the money stopped i wish i could do something in return for what i ve cost you all those six years i ve tried to be useful the pathos in her voice touched him to the quick innocent he exclaimed and held out his arms she looked at him with a very pitiful smile and shook her head innocent no i can t do that not just yet you see it s all so unexpected things have changed altogether in a moment i can t feel quite the same my heart seems so sore and cold he leaned back in his chair again ah well it is as i thou t he said you re more concerned about yourself than about me a few minutes ago you only cared to know what the doctors thought of my illness but now it s nothing to you that i shall be dead in a year your mind is set on your own trouble or what you choose to consider a trouble she heard him like one in a dream it seemed very strange to her that he should have dealt her a blow and yet reproach her for feeling the force of it i am sorry she said patiently but this is the first time i have known real trouble you forget that and you must forgive me if i am stupid about it and if the doctors really believe you are to die in a year i wish i could take your place i would rather be dead than live and there s nothing left for me now not even a name here she paused and seemed to reflect why am i called innocent why because that s the name that was written on every slip of paper that came with each six months money he answered that s the only reason i know was i by that name she asked he moved uneasily you were never never she echoed the words find then was silent for a minute s space could you not have done that much for me she asked at last would it have been impossible her fancy and his fact he was vaguely ashamed her eyes pure as a young s were fixed upon him in appealing sorrow he began to feel that he had done her a grievous wrong though he had never entirely it till now he answered her with some hesitation and an e fort at excuse not impossible no maybe i could have you myself if i had thought about it tis but a of water and in the name of the father son and holy ghost but somehow i never worried my head for as long as you were a baby i looked for the man who brought you day after day and in my own mind left all that sort of business for him to attend to and when he didn t come and you grew older it fairly slipped my remembrance altogether i m not fond of the church or its ways and you ve done as well without as with it surely innocent is a good name for you and fits your case for you re innocent of the faults of your parents whatever they were and you re innocent of my you re free to make your own life pleasant if you ll only put a bright face on it and make the best of an awkward business she was silent standing before him like a little figure of desolation as for the tale i told the he went on it was the best thing i could think of if i had said you were a child i had taken in to adopt not one of them would have believed me twas a case of telling one lie or t other the real truth being so and out of the common so i chose the easiest and it s been all right with you my girl whichever way you put it there may be a few stuck up young in the village that aren t friendly to you but you may take it that it s more out of jealousy of robin s liking for you than robin loves you you know he does innocent and all youve got to do is to make him happy marry him for tiie farm will be his when i m dead and it ll give me a bit of comfort to feel that you re settled down with him in the old home for then i know it ll go on just the same just tiie same his words oflf his head sank on his chest and some slow tears made their difficult way out of his eyes and dropped on his silver beard she watched him with a grave compassion but she did not at once go as she would usually have done to put her arms round his	33
acquainted with the of to day the same stout hand wrought linen which mended and each year lasted so long because never washed by modem methods but always by hand in clear cold running water there were presses full of this linen scented with and there were also the spinning wheels that had spun the and tke hand on which the threads had been woven these were witnesses to the days when women instead of abroad were happy to be at home when the winter evenings seemed short and because as they sat spinning by the blazing log fire they were cheerful in their occupation singing songs and telling stories and having so much to do that there was no time to indulge in the morbid analysis of life and the things of life which in our present day and idle and brains and now after more than three centuries the direct male line of de had in commonly called farmer who on of some secret love disappointment the de innocent tails of which he had never told to anyone had remained till the appearance on the scene of the child innocent who was by the village folk accepted and believed to be tiie offspring of this ill love it was understood that robin his nephew and the only son of his twin sister would be the heir to farm but when it was seen how much the old man seemed to cling to innocent and to rely upon her ever tender care of him tiie question arose as to whether there might not be an after all instead of an heir and the rustic as is their wont watching with no small degree of interest the turn of events which had lately taken place in the frank and open admiration and affection by robin for his cousin as it was thought she was and as farmer had allowed it to be if the two young people married everybody agreed it would be the ri t thing and the best possible outlook for the continued prosperity of farm for after all it waa the farm that had to be chiefly considered so they the farm waa an historic and valuable property as well as an excellent paying concern ttie great point to be attained was that it should go on as it had always gone on from the days of the and tiiat it should be kept in the possession of the same family this at any rate was known to be the wish of old ni though he was not given to any very free expression of his feelings he knew that his neighbours envied him watched him and commented on his actions he knew also that the tale he had told them concerning innocent had to a great extent whispered away his own good name and fastened a social upon the girl yet he could not according to his own views have seen her fancy and his fact any other way out of the difficulty the human world is always wicked and it is common knowledge that any man or woman introducing an adopted into a family is at once accused whether he or she be conscious of the accusation or not of passing off his own under the pretext was fairly certain that none of his s would credit the romantic episode of the man on horseback arriving in a storm and leaving a nameless child on his hands the story was quite true but truth is always precisely what people refuse to believe the night on which innocent had learned her own history for the first time was a it of beauty in the natural world when all hie gates and doors of the farm and its had been bolted and barred for the night the moon almost full rose in a heaven and shed pearl white showers of radiance all over the newly and clean swept fields the points of the old house and touching with luminous silver the roses up the walls one wide window was open to the full of the scented air and within its sat a lonely little figure in a loose white garment with hair tumbling carelessly over its shoulders and eyes that were wet with tears the of the old clock below stairs had struck eleven some ten minutes since and after the echo of its bell had died away there had followed a heavy and intense silence the window looked not upon the garden but out upon the fields and a suggestive line of dark foliage them softly in the distance away down there under a huge oak slept the old t de and his english rustic wife the of the farm family the little figure in the dark of the win innocent dow clasped its white hands and turned its eyes towards that ancient burial place and the moon rays shone upon its fair face with a silvery glimmer giving it an almost why was i ever bom sighed a trembling voice oh dear god why did you let it be the vacant air the vacant fields looked they had no sympathy to give they never have to great mother nature it is not important how or why a child is bom though she occasionally that it shall be of the greatest importance how and why the child shall live what does it matter to the forces of life whether it is brought into the world as the phrase goes or the child exists it is a human a being full of good or evil and after a certain period of growth it stands alone and its parents have less to do with it than they imagine it makes its own circumstances and shapes its own career and in many cases the less it is interfered with the better but innocent could not reason out	33
her position in any cold blooded or logical way she was too young and too unhappy that she had taken pride in was swept from her at once only that very morning she had made one of her many down to the venerable oak beneath whose trailing branches the de lay covered by the broad stone on which he had carved his own likeness and she had put a little knot of the glory roses between his hands which were folded over the cross on his breast and she had said to the silent it is the last day of the you would be glad to see the big crop going in if you were here she was accustomed to talk to the old stone her fancy and his fact knight in this fanciful way she had done so all her life ever since she could remember she had taken an intense pride in thinking of him as her she had been glad to trace her back over three centuries to the love french noble who had come to england in the train of the due d and now now she knew she had no connection at all with him that she was an nobody an of humanity whom no one wanted no one in all the world except robin he wanted her but perhaps when he knew her true history his love would grow cold she wondered whether it would be so if it were she would not mind very much indeed it would be best for she felt she could never marry him no not if i loved him with all my heart she said passionately not without a name not till i have made a name for myself if only that were possible she left the window and walked about her room a room that she loved very greatly because it had been the study of the it was a wonderful room oak from floor to ceiling and there was no doubt about its history the himself had taken care of that for on every he had carved with his own hand a verse a prayer or an so that the walls were a kind of open inscribed with his own personal over the wide chimney his coat of arms was painted the colours having faded into tender hues like those of leaves and the motto underneath was mon me then followed the inscription de of france who here did here f innocent every night of her life since she could read innocent had stood in front of these bearings in her little white night gown and had over these words she had taken the memory and tradition of to her heart and soul he was her hers she had always said she had almost learned her letters from the he had carved and through these she could read old english and a considerable amount of old french besides when she was about twelve years old she and robin playing about together in room happened to knock against one that gave forth a hollow sound and moved by curiosity they tried whether they could open it after some efforts robin s fingers closed by chance on a hidden spring which being thus pressed caused the to fly open a narrow secret stair full of burning excitement the two children ran up it and to their delight foimd themselves in a small square chamber in which were two enormous old locked their locks were no bar to the of robin who a forced the old asunder and threw back the the were full of books and written on a veritable sixteenth century treasure they hastened to report the find to farmer who though never greatly taken with books or anything concerning them was sufficiently interested to go with the eager children and look at the discovery they had made but as he could make nothing of either books or himself he gave over the whole collection to innocent saying that as they were found in her part of the house she might keep them no one not even robin knew how much she had loved and studied these old books or how patiently she had out the and her fancy and his fact no one could have guessed what a wide knowledge of she had gained or what fine taste she had developed from her silent communications with the parted spirit of the and his poetical remains she had even arranged her room as she thought he might have liked it in severe yet perfect taste it was now her study as it had been his the heavy oak table had a great upon it and a few loose sheets of paper with two or three pens ready to hand some quaint old bound volumes and a brown bowl full of glory roses were set just where they could catch the morning sunshine through the window one side of the room was with loaded and at its end a wide arch of roughly oak disclosed a smaller apartment where she slept here there was a quaint little four hung with quite and a still more rare and beautiful work of art an early italian mirror full length and framed in silver a worth many hundreds of pounds in this mirror innocent had surveyed herself with more or less since her infancy it was a mirror that had always been there a mirror in which the wife of the must have often gazed upon her own reflection and in which after her all the wives and daughters of the succeeding had seen their charms presented to their own admiration the two old which had been found in the upper chamber were placed on either side of ihe mirror and held all the simple garments which were innocent s only wear a	33
special joy of hers lay in the fact that she knew the management of the secret sliding and that she could at her own pleasure slip up the mysterious with a book and be thus removed from all innocent the household in a solitude which to her was ideal to night as she wandered up and down her room like a little ghost all the happy and romantic associations of the home she had loved and cherished for so many years seemed cut down like a of fair blossoms by a careless a sordid and miserable taint was on her life and she shuddered with mingled fear and grief as she that she had not even the simple privilege of ordinary she was a nameless dependent on the charity of farmer true the old man had grown to love her and she had loved him ah let the many tender prayers offered up for him in this very room bear witness before the throne of god to her devotion to her father as she had thought him and if what the doctors said was true if he was soon to die what would become of her she her little hands in unconscious agony what shall i do she murmured i have no claim on him or on anyone in the world dear god what shall i do her restless walk up and down took her into her sleeping chamber and there she lit a candle and looked at herself in the old italian mirror a little woe creature gazed sorrowfully back at her from its surface with eyes and quivering lips and hair all tossed loosely away from a small sad face as pale as a watery moon and she drew back from her own reflection with a gesture of i am no use to anybody in any way she said i am not even good looking and robin poor foolish robin called me this afternoon he has no eyes then a sudden thought flew across her brain of ned the tall powerful looking brute loved her fancy and his fact lier she knew every look of his told her that his very soul pursued her with a reckless and passion she hated him she trembled even now as she pictured his dark face and burning eyes he had annoyed and worried her in a thousand ways ways that were not open in their offence to be openly complained of though had farmer s state of health given her less cause for anxiety she might have said something to him which would perhaps have opened his eyes to the situation but not now not now could she appeal to anyone for protection from insult for who was she what was she that she should resent it she was nothing a mere stray child whose parents nobody knew without any lawful guardian to her rights or assert her position no wonder old had called her she was indeed a or weed growing up in the garden of the world destined to be pulled out of the soil where she had flourished and thrown contemptuously aside a wretched sense of utter helplessness stole over her of weakness and loneliness she tried to think to see her way through the fog of circumstance that had so suddenly her what would happen when farmer died for one thing she would have to quit farm she could not stay in it when robin was its master he would marry of course he would be sure to marry and there would be no place for her in his home she would have to earn her bread and the only way to do that would be to go out to service she had a good store of useful domestic knowledge she could and and wash and she knew how to rear poultry and keep bees she could spin and knit and indeed her list of household accomplishments would have startled any innocent girl fresh out of a modem government school where that are in life are frequently forgotten and things that are not by any means necessary are taught as though they were imperative one other accomplishment she had one that she hardly whispered to herself she could write write what she herself called nonsense scores of little poems and essays and stories were locked away in a small old in a corner of the room and expressions of pent up feeling which but for this outlet would have troubled her brain and her rest they were mostly as she frankly admitted to her own conscience in the style of the and were inspired by his poetic suggestions she had no fond or exaggerated idea of their merit they were the result of solitary hours arid long in which she had felt she must speak to exchange thoughts with or suffer an almost intolerable restraint that was for her the long dead knight who had come to england in the train of the due d to him she spoke to him she told all her troubles but to no one else did she ever breathe her thoughts or disclose a line of what she had written she had often wondered whether if she sent these struggling literary efforts to a magazine or newspaper would be accepted and printed but she never made the trial for the reason that such newspaper literature as found its way into farm filled her with amazement and disgust there was nothing in any modem magazine that at all resembled the delicate pointed and picturesque of strange coarse words were used and the news of the day was together in loose sentences and up of clumsy construction lacking au and eloquence so by the her fancy and his fact horror of twentieth	33
century style she had hidden her deeper than ever in the old under little silk of dried rose leaves and as though they were love letters or old lace and when sometimes she shut h up and read them over she felt like one of hamlet s guilty creatures sitting at a play her literary attempts seemed to reproach her for their and when she made some fresh addition to her store of written thoughts her crimes seemed to herself doubled and she would often sit musing with a little frown her brow wondering why she should be moved to write at all yet wholly unable to resist the impulse to ni t however she scarcely remembered these of her dreaming fancy the sordid hard matter of fact side of life alone presented itself to her depressed imagination she pictured herself going into service as what kitchen maid probably she was not tall enough for a house house were bound to be effective even dignified in height and appearance she had seen one of these superior beings in church on sundays a slim stately young woman with waved hair and a hat as fashionable as that worn by her mistress the squire s lady with a deepening sense of humiliation innocent felt that her very of inches was against her could she be a nursery hardly for though she liked good ten well behaved children she could not even pretend to endure them when they were otherwise screaming children ware to her less interesting than barking or pigs besides she knew she could not be an ef teacher of so much as one accomplishment music for instance what had she learned of music she could play on an ancient q innocent which was one of the chief treasures of the t est parlour of farm and she could sing old very sweetly and but of and style and au the latter day methods of musical and she was absolutely ignorant foreign languages were a dead letter to her except old french she could understand that and s famous verses ou les d were as familiar to her as s come my let us go a but on the whole she was strangely and poorly equipped for the battle of life her knowledge of and general would have stood her in good stead on some settlement but she had scarcely heard of these for the destitute as she so seldom read the newspapers old looked upon the cheap press as the curse of the country and never willingly allowed a newspaper to come into the living rooms of farm they were entirely to the kitchen and where the farm rs smoked over them and discussed them to their hearts content seldom venturing however to bring any item of so called news to their master s consideration if they ever chanced to do so he would generally turn round upon them with a few cutting observations such as how do you know it s true who gives the news where s the authority and what do i care if some human brute has murdered his wife and blown out his own brains am i going to be any the better for reading such a tale and if one government is in or t other out what does it matter to me or to any of you so long as you can work and pay your way the newspapers are always trying to persuade us to in other f s business i say take care of your own affairs her fancy and his fact t serve god and obey the laws of the country and there won t be much going wrong with you if you must read read a decent book something that will last not a printed sheet fuu of that s fresh one day and torn up for waste paper the next under the sway of these prejudiced and arbitrary opinions it was not possible for innocent to have much knowledge of the world that lay outside farm sometimes she found reading an old magazine or looking at a picture paper and she would borrow these and take them up to her own room for an hour or so but she was always more or less pained and puzzled by their contents it seemed to her that there were an extraordinary number of pictures of women with scarcely any clothes on and she could not understand how they managed to be pictured at all in such scanty attire who are they she asked of on one occasion and how is it that they are like this it must be so shameful for them explained as best she could that they were dancers and the like they lives by their legs she said soothingly it s only their legs that them their bread and butter and i s pose they re bound to show em oflf don t you worry ow they done you ll never come across any of em innocent shut her sensitive mouth in a firm proud line i hope not she said and she felt as if she had almost wronged the of the little study which had formerly belonged to the by allowing such pictures to enter it of course she knew that innocent and actors both male and female existed a whole of them came every year to the small theatre of the town which by breaking out into an of new slate houses among ttie few remaining picturesque and of an earlier period boasted of its advancement some eight or ten miles away but her father as she had thought him had an objection to what he termed abroad and would not allow her to be seen even at the annual fair in the town much less at the theatre moreover it happened once that a	33
tell me he murmured scarcely thinking of what he was saying and only conscious of the thrill and ecstasy of love which seemed to him the one thing necessary for existence in earth or heaven and so with her hands still warmly held in his she told him all in a sad voice with lowered eyes and quivering lips she related her plaintive little history her shame her her desperately forlorn and lonely condition and robin listened amazed and perplexed it seems to be all my fault concluded innocent and yet it is not really so of course i ought never to have been bom but i couldn t help it could i and now it seems quite wrong for me to even live i am not wanted and b innocent ever since i was twelve years old your uncle has only kept me out of charity but at this robin started as though some one had struck him innocent he exclaimed do not say such a thing do not think it uncle has loved you and you you have loved she drew her hands away from his and covered her face i know i know and her tears fell fast again but i am not his and he is not mine robin was silent the position was so unexpected and bewildering he hardly knew what to say but chiefly he felt that he must try and comfort this uttle weeping angel who so far as he was concerned held his life to her charm he began talking softly and cheerily why should it matter so much he said if you do not know who you are if none of us know it may be more for you than you can imagine we cannot tell your own father may claim you your own mother such things are quite possible you may be like the princess of a rich people may come and you away from farm and from me and you will be too grand to think of us any more and i only be the poor farmer in your eyes you will wonder how you could ever have spoken to me robin her hands dropped from her face and she looked at him in sadness why do you say this you know it could never be true never if i had a father who cared for me he would not have forgotten and my mother if she were a true mother would have tried to find me long ago no robin i ought to have died when i was a baby no one wants me i am a deserted child base bom as your uncle says and her fancy and his fact of course he is right but the sin of it is not mine she had such a pitiful fragile and fair appearance standing half in shadow and half in the mystic radiance of the moon that robin s heart with love and longing for her sin he echoed sin and you have never met each other you are like your name innocent of all oh innocent if you could only care for me as i care for you she gave a shivering sigh do you can you care she asked of course what is there in all this story that can change my love for you that you are not my cousin that my is not your own father what does that matter to me you are else s child and if we never know who that is why we vex ourselves about it you are you you are innocent the sweetest dearest uttle girl that ever lived and i you what difference does it make that you are not uncle s daughter it makes a great difference to me she answered sadly i do not belong any more to the de robin stared amazed then smiled why innocent he exclaimed surely you re not worrying your mind over that old knight dead and gone more than three hundred years ago dear little goose how on earth does he come into this trouble of yours he comes in everywhere she replied clasping and her hands nervously as i e spoke you don t know robin you would never understand but i have loved the ever since i can remember i have talked to him and studied with him i have read his old books and innocent all the poems he wrote and he seemed to be my friend i thought i was bom of his and i was proud of it and i felt it would be my duty to live at farm always because he would wish his line quite unbroken and i think perhaps yes i think i might have married you and been a good wife to you just for his sake and now it is all spoiled because though you will be the master of farm you will not be the of the no it is finished all finished with your uncle and the doctors say he can only live a year her grief was so touching and pathetic that robin could not find it in his heart to make a jest of the romance she had woven round the old french knight whose history had almost passed into a legend after all what she said was true the line of the family had been kept through three centuries till now and a direct heir had always inherited farm he himself had taken a certain pride in thinking that uncle s as he had believed her to be was at any rate love child or no bom of the blood and	33
that when he married her as he hoped and fully to do he would his own name of and take that of in order to keep the of associations unbroken as far as possible all these ideas were put to flight by innocent s story and as the position became more evident to him the expression on his face changed to one of gravity dear innocent he said at last don t cry it cuts me to the heart i would give my very life to save you from a sorrow you know i would if you ever thought as you say that you could or would many me for the sake of the you might just as well marry me now even though her fancy and his fact the is out of it i would make you so happy i would indeed and no one need ever know that you are not really the of the knight she interrupted him knows she said and no matter how you look at it i am base bom your uncle ha let all the village folk think i am his child and that is base bom of itself oh it is cruel even you thought so didn t you robin hesitated i did not know dear he answered gently i fancied do not deny it robin she said mournfully you did think so well it s true enough i suppose i am base bom but your is not my father he is a good upright man you can always be proud of him he has not though he has me with the shame of sin i think that is but i must bear it somehow and i will try to be brave i m glad i ve told you all about it and you are very kind to have taken it so well and to care for me still but i shall never marry you robin never i shall never bring my blood into the family of his heart sank as he heard her and involuntarily he stretched out his arms in appeal innocent he murmured don t be hard upon me think a little longer before you leave me without any hope it means so much to my life surely you cannot be cruel do you care for me less than you care for that old knight buried under his own r in the garden wiu you not think kindly of a living man a man who loves you beyond all things oh innocent be gentle be merciful she came to him and took his hands in her own innocent it is just because i am kind and gentle and merciful she said in her sweet grave accents that i will not marry you dear i know i am right and you will think so too in time for the moment you imagine me to be much better and prettier i am and that there is no one like me poor robin you are blind there are so many sweet and lovely girls well bom with fathers and mothers to care for them and you with your good looks and kind ways could marry any one of and you will some day good night dear you have stayed here a long time talking to me just suppose you were seen sitting on window ledge so late it is past midnight what would be said of me what could be said demanded robin i came up here of my own accord the blame would be mine she shook her head sadly smiling a little ah robin the man is never blamed it s always the woman s fault where s your fault to night he asked oh most plain she answered when i saw you coming i ought to have shut the window drawn the curtains and left you to down the wall again as fast as you up but i wanted to tell you what had happened and how everything had changed for me and now now that you know all good night he looked at her if she would only show some little sign of tenderness if he might just kiss her hand he thought but she withdrew into the shadow and he had no excuse for lingering good night he said softly good night my angel innocent good night my little love she made no response and moved slowly backward into tiie room but as he reluctantly left his her fancy and his fact point of and began to descend stepping lightly from branch to branch of the he saw the shadowy outline of her figure once more as she stretched out a hand and closed the window drawing a curtain across it with the drawing of that tain the beauty of the summer night was over for him and himself lightly on a tough stem which was twisted strongly enough to give him adequate support and which projected some four feet above the smooth grass below he sprang down scarcely had he touched the ground when a man leaping suddenly out of a thick of bushes near that side of the house caught him in a savage grip and shook him all the fury of an enraged shaking a rat taken thus unawares and rendered almost breathless by the swiftness of the attack struggled in the grasp of his and fought with him desperately for a moment without any idea of his identity then as by a twist of body he managed to partially himself he looked up and saw the face of ned livid and with passion he gasped what s the matter with you are you mad yes answered hoarsely and enough to make me so you devil you	33
ve ruined the girl with a rapid movement unexpected by his disengaged himself and stood free you lie he said and you shall pay for it come away from the house and fight like a man come into the grass meadow yonder where no one can see or hear us come paused drawing his breath thickly and looking like a beast of its prey innocent that s a trick he said tou u run come repeated vehemently you re more likely to run away than i am come glanced him over from head to foot the fell brightly on his figure and handsome face then turned on his heel no i won t he said i ve done all i want to do for to night i ve you like the you are to morrow we ll settle our differences for all answer sprang at him and struck him across the face in another moment both men were engaged in a fierce none the less deadly because so silent a practised and more and more closely with the bigger but man dragging him steadily inch by inch further away from the house as fought more desperate more determined became the struggle till by two or three got his opponent imder him and bore him gradually to the where kneeling on his chest he pinned him down let me go muttered you re killing me serve you right answered you scoundrel my uncle shall know of this tell him what you like retorted faintly i don t care get off my chest you re me slightly relaxed the pressure of his hands and knees will you he demanded for what for your insolence to me and my cousin cousin be hanged she s no more your cousin than i am she s only a nameless her fancy and his fact i heard her tell you so and fine airs she gives herself on nothing miserable spy and again held him down in a whatever you heard is none of your business will you oh i ll if you like to get your weight off me and made an effort to rise but i keep my own opinion all the same slowly robin released him and watched him as he picked himself up with an air of mingled scorn and pity laughed passing one hand across his forehead and staring in a dazed fashion at the shadows cast on the ground by the moon tes i keep my own opinion he repeated youve got the better of me just now but you won t always my cock robin you won t always don t you think it farm and i may part company but there s a bigger place than farm there s the world that s a wide field and plenty of crops growing on it and the men that sow those kind of crops and reap them and bring them in are better farmers than you ll ever be as for your girl here his face darkened and he shook his fist towards the window behind which slept the unconscious cause of the quarrel you can keep her a nice innocent she is talking with a man in her bedroom after t why i wouldn t have her as a gift not now choking with rage sprang towards him again stepped back hands off he said don t touch me i m in a killing mood i ve a knife on me you haven t you re the master i m the man and i ll play fair i ve my future to think of and i don t want to start a murder innocent with this he turned his back and strode off walking somewhat like a blind man feeling his way stood for a moment the angry blood burned in his face his hands were involuntarily clenched he was impatient with himself for having as he thought let off too easily he saw at once the possibility of mischief and hastily considered how it could best be the simplest way out of it is to make a clean breast of he decided at last tomorrow i ll see early in the morning and tell him just what has happened under the influence of this resolve he gradually down and re entered the house and the moonlight and then over the smooth and peaceful meadows of farm had it all its own way for the rest of the ni t and as it through the leafy branches of the elms and which the old tomb of the de it touched with a pale glitter the stone hands of his hands that were folded above the motto mon me chapter v as early as six o clock the next morning innocent was up and dressed and hastening down to the kitchen busied herself as was her usual daily custom in assisting with the and the preparation for breakfast there was always plenty to do and as she moved quickly to and fro the various duties she had taken upon herself and which she performed with care and the melancholy of the past night partially cleared away from her mind yet there was a new expression on her face one of sadness and seriousness to its almost child like features and it was not easy for her to smile in her ordinary bright way at the round of scolding which administered every morning to the maids who swept and and and the kitchen till no speck of dirt was visible till the copper shone like and the tables were nearly as smooth as polished silver or ivory going into the where of new milk stood ready for and looking out for a moment through the window	33
she saw old and robin walking together across the garden engaged in close and earnest conversation a little sigh escaped her as she thought they are talking about me then on a sudden impulse she went back into the kitchen where was for the moment alone the other servants having dispersed into various quarters of the house and going straight up to her said innocent dear why did you never tell me that i wasn t s own daughter started violently and her always red face turned then with an effort to recover herself she lord how you frightened me why didn t i tell you well in the first place t none of my business and in the second t have done any good if i had innocent was silent looking at her a piteous intensity and who is it that s told you now went on nervously some old fool innocent raised her hand hush himself told me well he might just as well have kept a still tongue in his head retorted sharply he s kept it for eighteen years an why he should let it go loose now the lord only knows there s no making out the ways of men they first plays the wise and silent game like bam door all on a like they starts for all the re worth like and what s the good of ye anyway no good perhaps answered innocent sorrowfully but it s right i should know you see i m not a child any more i m eighteen that s a woman and a woman ought to know what she must expect more or less in her life leaned on the newly kitchen table and looked across at the girl with a compassionate expression what a woman must expect in life is good ard and blows she said she can get a man to look her what s not of the general kicking it take my advice you marry mr robin as good a boy as ever breathed he u her fancy and his fact be a kind fond to ye and all that s what a woman best on kindness an you ve ad it all your life up to now interrupted innocent decidedly i cannot many robin you know i cannot a poor nameless girl like me why it would be a shame to him in after years besides i don t love him and it s wicked to marry a man you don t love smothered a sound between a and a sigh you talks a lot about love child she said but i m you don t know much about it them old books an papers you found up in the secret room are full of nonsense i m pretty sure an if you believes that men are always an for a woman you re mistaken yes you are they goes where they can be made most comfortable an it don t matter what sort o woman gives the comfort so long as they it innocent smiled faintly you don t know anything about it she answered you were never married thank the lord and his goodness no said with an emphatic i ve never been troubled with the of a man which is worse than all the of a woman any day i ve looked mr in a way but he s no sort of a man to worry about he just goes to the an that s all b decent creature always an steady as his own oxen what the plough an when he s gone if go he must i ll look you an mr robin an please god i ll dance your babies on my old knees here she broke off and her head away innocent ran to her surprised why you re crying she exclaimed don t do that why should you cry innocent why indeed that i m a fool i can t the thoughts of you yer back on the good that god gives ye an mr robin who s the best sort o man that ever could fall to lot of a little tender maid like you why you don t know the wickedness o world nor the ways of it an you talks about love as if it was wonderful an far away when here it is at yer very feet for the up what s the good of all they books ye ve bin if they don t teach ye that the old knight you re fond of got so weary of the world that in turn he found better than to marry a plain straight country and settle down in farm for all his days ain t that the lesson he s taught ye she paused looking at the girl through her tears but innocent s small fair face was pale and though her eyes shone with a as of suppressed excitement no she said he has not taught me that at all he came here to seek forgetfulness so it is said in the words he carved on the in his study but we do not know that he ever really forgot he only found peace and peace is not happiness except for the very old peace is not happiness re echoed that s a queer thing to say what do you call being happy it is difficult to explain and a swift warm colour flew over the girl s cheeks expressing some wave of hidden feeling your idea of happiness and mine must be so different she smiled dear good you are so much more easily contented than i am looked at her with a great tenderness in her dim old	33
grey eyes her fancy and his fact see here she said you re just like a young bird on the edge of a nest ready to fly you don t know the world nor the ways of it oh my dear it ain t all gold and apples rosy in the sun you ve lived all your life in the open country and so you ve always had the good god near you but there s places where the houses stand so close together that the sky can hardly make a patch of blue between the smoking chimneys like london for instance ah that s where you d find what the world s like where you feels so that you wonders why you ever were bom i wonder that interrupted the girl quickly don t worry me dear i have so much to think about my life seems so altered and strange i hardly understand myself and i don t know what i shall do with my future but i cannot i will not marry robin she turned away quickly then to avoid further discussion a little later she went into the quaint room where the of the past ni t had been revealed to her here breakfast was laid and the window was set wide open admitting the sweet scent of stocks and with every breath of the morning air she stood awhile looking out on the gay beauty of the garden and her eyes unconsciously filled with tears dear home she murmured home that is not mine that never will be mine how i have loved you how i shall always love you a slow step behind her interrupted her meditations and she looked around with a smile as timid as it was tender there was her the same as ever yet now to her mind so far removed from innocent her that she hesitated a moment before giving him her customary good morning greeting a pained of his brow showed her that he felt this little and she hastened to make instant amends dear she said softly and she put her soft arms about him and kissed his cheek how are you this morning did you sleep well he took her arms from his shoulders and held her for a moment looking at her from under his shaggy brows i did not sleep at all he answered her i lay broad awake of you thinking of you my little innocent lamb and you child you did not sleep so well as you should have done talking with robin half the night out of window she coloured deeply he smiled and pinched her cheek apparently well pleased no harm no harm he said just two young among the leaves at time robin has told me all about it now listen child i m away to day to the market town there s seed to buy and crops to sell i u take ned with me he paused and an odd expression of and resolve clouded his features yes i u take ned with me he s shrewd enough when he s sober and he s cunning enough too for that matter yes i ll take him with me we ll be off in the dog cart as soon as breakfast s done my time s getting short but i ll attend to my own business as long as i can i ll look after farm till i die and i ll die in harness there s plenty of work to do yet plenty of work and while i m away you can settle up things here he broke off and his eyes grew fixed in a sudden vacant stare innocent frightened at his her fancy and his fact unnatural look laid her hand on his arm dear she said soothingly what is it you wish me to do the stare faded from his and his face softened settle up things he repeated slowly and with emphasis settle up things with robin no more beating about the bush you talked to him long enough out of window last ni t and mind you somebody was listening that means mischief don t blame you poor but remember somebody was listening now think of that and of your good name child settle with robin and we ll have the put up next while he thus spoke the warm rose of her cheeks faded to an extreme her very lips grew white and set her hurrying thoughts for utterance she could have expressed in passionate terms her own bitter sense of wrong aad shame but pity for the old man s worn and haggard look of pain held her silent she saw and felt that he was not strong enough to bear any argument or opposition in his present mood so she made no sort of reply not even by a look or a smile quietly she went to the breakfast table and busied herself in preparing his morning meal he followed her and sat heavily down in his usual chair watching her as she poured out the tea such little white hands aren t they he said touching her small fingers when she gave him his cup eh the prettiest lily flowers i ever saw and one of them will look all the prettier for a gold wedding ring upon it ay ay we ll the put up on sunday still she did not speak once she turned away her head to hide the tears that involuntarily rose to innocent her eyes old meanwhile began to eat his breakfast with the nervous haste of a man who takes his food more out of custom than necessity presently he became irritated at	33
trembled under his caress and her heart was full of speechless sorrow she longed to yield to his wishes she knew that if she did so she would give him happiness and greater resignation to the death which confronted him and she also knew that if she could make up her mind to marry robin she would have the best and the tenderest of husbands and farm the beloved old home would be hers her very own her children would inherit it and play about the fair and fruitful fields as she had done they too could be taught to love the memory of the old knight the de ah but surely it was the spirit of the himself that held her back and prevented her from doing his name and memory grievous wrong she was not of his blood or race she was nameless and no good could come of her herself like a weed upon a branch of the old noble stock the farm would cease to prosper so she thought and so she felt in her dreamy imaginative way and though she allowed old to leave her without him by any decided opposition to his plans she was more than ever firmly resolved to abide by her own interior sense of what was right and fitting she heard the wheels of the dog cart grating the gravel outside the garden innocent gate and an affectionate impulse moved her to go and see her off as she made her appearance under the rose covered porch of the farm house door she perceived who at once pulled off his cap with an elaborate and exaggerated show of respect good morning miss he the with a touch of malice she coloured but replied good morning with a sweet composure he eyed her but had no opportunity for more words as old just then up into the dog cart and took the reins of the rather young mare which was to it come on he shouted impatiently t o time for then as up beside him he smiled seeing the soft wistful face of the girl watching him from beneath a of roses take care of the house while i m gone he called to her you ll find robin in the orchard he laid the of the whip on the mare s ears and she trotted rapidly away innocent stood a moment g after the retreating vehicle till it disappeared then she went slowly into the house robin was in the orchard was he well he had plenty of work to do there and she would not disturb him she turned away from the and flowers and made her way upstairs to her own room how quiet and it looked it was a beloved shrine full of sweet memories and dreams there would never be any room like it in the world for her she well knew she sat down at the table and turned over the pages of an old book she had been reading but her eyes were not upon it her fancy and his fact i wonder she said half aloud then paused the thought in her mind was too daring for utterance she was the possibility of going quietly away from farm all alone and trying to a name and career for herself through the one natural gift she fancied she might possess a gift which nowadays is considered almost as common as it was once and rare to be a poet and a of wonderful thoughts into musical language this seemed to her the highest of all the emperor of the most powerful nation on earth was to her mind far less than shakespeare and inferior to the simplest french of old time that ever wrote a d but the doubt in her mind was whether she personally had any thoughts worth expressing any ideas which the world might be the happier or the better for knowing and sharing she drew a long breath the warm colour flushed her cheeks and then faded leaving her very pale the whole outlook of her life was so barren of hope or promise that she dared not indulge in any dream of brighter days on the face of it there seemed no possible chance of leaving farm without some outside assistance she had no money and no means of obtaining any then even supposing she could get to london she knew no one there she had no friends sighing wearily she opened a deep drawer in the table at which she sat and took out a manuscript every page of it so neatly written as to be like copper plate and set herself to reading it steadily there were enough written sheets to make a good sized printed volume and she read on for more than an hour when she lifted her eyes at last they were eager and perhaps she half whispered perhaps there is something in it after all something just a little innocent new and out of the ordinary but how shall i ever know putting the manuscript by a lingering care she went to the window and looked out the peaceful scene was dear and familiar and she already felt a of the pain she would have to endure in leaving so sweet and safe a home her thoughts gradually to the old trouble robin and robin s love for her robin who if she married him would spend his life gladly in the effort to make her happy where in the wide world would she find a better truer hearted man and yet a curious reluctance had held her back from him even when she had believed herself to be the actual daughter of and	33
now now when she knew she was nothing but a stray deserted by her own parents and left to the care of strangers she considered it would be nothing short of shame and disgrace to him were she to become his wife i can always be his friend she said to herself and if i once make him understand clearly how much better it is for us to be like brother and sister he wiu see things in the right way and when he i am sure to be fond of his wife and children and and it will be ever so much happier for us all ril go and talk to him now she ran downstairs and out across the garden and presently made a sudden appearance in the orchard a little vision of white among the coloured trees with their burden of apples robin was there alone he was busied in putting up a sturdy under one of the longer branches of a tree heavily laden with fruit he saw her and smiled but went on with his work are you very busy she asked approaching him almost timidly her fancy and his fact just now yes in a moment no we shall lose this big bough in the next high wind if i don t take care she waited watching the and dexterity of his hands and arms and the movements of his light muscular figure in a little while he had finished all he had to and turning to her said now i am at your service you look very serious grave as a little judge and quite what have i done or what has anybody done that you should almost frown at me on this bright morning she smiled in response to his gay questioning look i m sorry i have such a aspect she said i don t feel very happy and i suppose my face shows it he was silent for a minute or two watching her with a grave tenderness in his eyes by and by he spoke gently come and stroll about a bit with me through the orchard it will cheer you to see tiie apples hanging in such rosy clusters among the grey green leaves nothing prettier in all tiie world i think and they are just enough to be fragrant come dear let us talk our troubles out she walked by his side and they moved slowly together imder the warm scented boughs through which the sunlight fell in broad streams of gold making the shadows darker by contrast there was a painful throbbing in her throat the of struggling tears which strove for an outlet but gradually tiie sweet influences of the air and sun ine did good work in her nerves and she was quite composed when robin spoke again innocent see dear i know quite well what is worrying you i m worried myself and i d better tell you all about it last night he paused she looked up at him quickly last night well well ned was in hiding in tiie bushes under your window and he must have been there all the time we were talking together how or why he came there i cannot imagine but he heard a good deal and when you shut your window he was waiting for me directly i got down he on me like a tramp thief and now there don t look so frightened he said something that i couldn t stand so we had a jolly good fight he got the worst of it i can tell you he s stiff and unfit to work to day that s why uncle has taken him to the town i told the whole story to uncle this morning and he says i did quite right but it s a bore to have to go on he bears me a grudge of course and i foresee it will be difficult to manage him he can hardly be dismissed the other hands would want to know why no man has ever been dismissed from farm without good and fully explained reasons this time no reasons could be given because your name might come in and i won t have that oh robin it s all my fault she exclaimed if you would only let me go away help me do help me to go away he stared at her amazed go away he echoed you why innocent how can you think of such a thing you are the very life and soul of the place how can you talk of going away no no not unless here he drew nearer and looked at her steadily and tenderly in the eyes not unless you will let me take you her fancy and his fact lot away just for a little while as a bridegroom takes a bride on a of love and sunshine and roses he stopped by her look of sadness dear robin she said very gently would you marry a girl who cannot love you as a wife should love won t you understand that if i could and did love you i should be happier than i am though now even if i loved you with all my heart i would not marry you how could i i am nothing i have no name no family and can you think that i would bring shame upon you no robin never i know what your uncle wishes and oh if i could only make him happy i would do it but i cannot it would be wrong of me aud you would regret it i	33
should never regret it he interrupted her quickly if you would be my wife innocent i be the man alive ah dear do put all your fancies aside and try to what good you would be doing to the old man if he felt quite certain that you would be the little mistress of the old farm he loves so much i will not speak of myself you do not care for me but for him she looked up at him with a sudden light in her eyes could we not pretend she asked what do you mean why pretend that we re engaged just to satisfy him couldn t you make things easy for me that way i don t quite understand he said with a puzzled air how would it make things easy why don t you see and she spoke with hurried eagerness when he comes home to night let innocent him think it s all right and then then i ll run away by myself and it will be my fault innocent what are you talking about and he flushed with vexation my dear girl if you dislike me so much that you would rather run away than marry me i won t say another word about it i ll manage to smooth things over with my for the present just to prevent his himself and you shall not be worried you must not be worried either she said tou will not understand and you do not think but just suppose it possible that after all my own parents did remember me at last and came to look after me and that they were perhaps dreadful wicked people robin smiled the man who t you here was a gentleman he said uncle told me so this morning and said he was the finest looking man he had ever seen innocent was silent a moment you think he was a gentleman to desert his own child she asked robin hesitated dear you don t know the world he said there may have been all sorts of dangers and difficulties anyhow don t bear him any grudge he gave you to farm she sighed and made no response they had walked beyond the orchard and were now on the very edge of tiie little thicket where tomb of the de through the shadow of the leaves innocent quickened her steps come die said he followed her reluctantly almost he hated the old stone knight which served her as a subject her fancy and his fact for so many fancies and feelings and when she beckoned him to the spot where she stood beside the he showed a certain irritation of manner which did not escape her tou are cross with him she said reproachfully you must not be so he is the founder of your family and the finish of it i suppose he answered abruptly he stands between us two innocent a cold stone creature with no heart and you prefer him to me oh the folly of it all how can you be so cruel she looked at him wistfully almost her resolution failed her he saw her momentary hesitation and came close up to her you do not know what love is he said catching her hand in his own innocent you do not know if you did if i might teach you she drew her hand away very quickly and decidedly love does not want teaching she said it comes when it will and where it will it has not come to me and you cannot force it robin if i were your wife your wife without any wife s love for you i should grow to hate farm yes i should i should pine and die in very place where i have been so happy and i should feel that le here she pointed to the would almost rise from this tomb and me she spoke with sudden almost dramatic vehemence and he gazed at her in mute amazement her eyes flashed and her face was lit up by a glow of inspiration and resolve you take me just for the ordinary sort of girl she went on a girl to caress and and marry and make the mother of your children now for innocent that you might choose among the girls about here any of whom would be glad to have you for a husband but do you think i am really fit for that sort of life always can t you believe in anything else but marriage for a woman as she thus spoke she unconsciously created a new impression on his mind a veil seemed to be suddenly lifted and he saw her as he had never before seen her a creature removed isolated and through the force of some intellectual quality which he had not previously suspected he answered her very gently dear i cannot believe in anything else but love for a woman he said she was created and intended for love and without love she must surely be unhappy ah yes she responded quickly but marriage is not love his brows contracted you must not speak in that way innocent he said seriously it is wrong people would you her eyes lightened and she smiled yes i m sure people would die answered but people don t matter to me it is truth that matters truth and love he looked at her perplexed why should you think marriage is not love he asked it is the one thing all lovers wish for to be married and to live always oh they wish for it yes poor she	33
said with a little of her brows and when their wishes are gratified they often wish they had not wished she laughed robin this talk of ours is making me feel quite merry i am amused i am not he replied you are much too young a girl to think these things her fancy and his fact she nodded gravely i know and i ought to get married while young before i learn too many of these she said isn t that so don t frown robin i look at the how peacefully he sleeps he knew all about love of course he did retorted robin he was a perfectly sensible man he married and had six children innocent nodded again and a little smile made two fascinating in her soft cheeks yes but he said good bye to love first he looked at her in visible annoyance how can you tell what do you know about it he demanded she lifted her eyes to the glimpses of blue sky that showed in deep clear purity between the boughs a shaft of sunlight struck on her fair hair and its pale brown to gold so that for a moment she looked like the picture of a young saint lost in heavenly musing then a smile wonderfully sweet and parted her lips and she beckoned him to a grassy slope beneath one of the oldest trees where little of wild grew thickly filling the air with fragrance come and sit beside me here she said we have the day to ourselves said so and we can talk as long as we like you ask me what i know not much indeed but i ll tell you what the has told me if you care to hear it i m not sure that i do he answered she laughed oh how ungrateful you are you ought to be so pleased if you really loved me as much as you say the mere sound of my voice ought innocent to fill you with ecstasy yes really come be good and she sat down on tiie grass glancing up at him he himself beside her and she extended her little white hand to him with a pretty condescension there you may hold it she said as he eagerly clasped it yes you may now if had been allowed to hold the hand of the lady he loved he would have gone mad joy much good he d have done by going mad growled robin with an of ill i d rather be sane sane and normal she bent her smiling eyes upon him would you poor robin well you will be when you settle down settle down he how what do you mean why when you settle down with a wife and shall we say six children she merrily yes i think it must be six like the and when you forget that you ever sat with me under the trees holding my hand so the lovely half laughing compassion of her look nearly upset his self possession he drew closer to her side innocent he exclaimed passionately if you would only listen to reason she shook her head i never could she declared an odd little air of penitent self people who ask you to listen to reason are always so desperately dull even when she asks you to listen to reason she s in the worst of besides robin dear we shall have plenty of chances to listen to reason when we grow older we re both young just now and a little folly won t hurt us her fancy and his fact have patience with me i want to tell you some quite unreasonable quite things about love if may too he answered kissing the hand he held with lingering tenderness the soft colour flew over her cheeks she smiled poor robin she said you deserve to be happy and you will be not with me but with some one much better and ever so much prettier i can see you as the master of farm such a sweet home for you and your wife and all your little children running about in the fields among the and a pretty sight robin i shall think of it often when when i am far away he was about to utter a protest she stopped him by a gesture hush she said and there was a moment s silence chapter vi when i think about love she began presently in a soft dreamy voice i m quite sure that very few people ever really feel it or understand it it must be the thing in all the world this poor asleep so long in his grave was a true lover and i will teu you how i know he had said good bye to love when he married all those books we found in the old chest that day when we were playing about together as children belonged to him some are his own written by his own hand the others as you know are printed books which must have been to get in his day and are now i suppose quite out of date and almost unknown i have read them all my head is a little library full of odd volumes but there is one a manuscript book which i never tire of reading it is a sort of journal in which the wrote down many of his own feelings sometimes in prose sometimes in verse and by following them carefully and them together it is quite easy to find out his sadness and how he loved once and never loved again you can t	33
tell that interrupted robin men often say they can only love once but they love ever so many times she smiled and her eyes showed him what a stupid blunder he had made do they she softly i am so glad robin for you will find it easy then to love somebody else instead of me her fancy and his fact he flushed i didn t mean he b an no i think you did but of course if you had thought twice you wouldn t have said it it was uttered quite truly and naturally robin don t regret it only i want to explain to you that the was not like that he loved just once and the lady he loved must have been a very beautiful woman who had plenty of admirers and did not care for him at all all he writes proves tiiat he is always grieved to the heart about it still he loved her and he seems glad to have loved her though it was all no use and he kept a little chronicle of his dreams and fancies all that he felt and thought about it is beautifully and tenderly written all in quaint old french i had some trouble to make it out but i did at last every word and when he made up his mind to marry he finished the little book and never wrote another word in it shall i tell you what were the last lines he wrote it wouldn t be any use he answered kissing again the hand he i don t understand i ve never even tried to learn it she laughed i know you haven t but you ve missed a great deal robin you have really when i made up my mind to find out all the had written i got to buy me a french dictionary and and some other french lesson books besides then i all tiie words carefully and looked them all up in the dictionary and learned the from one of the lesson books and by and bye it got quite easy for two years at least it was dreadfully hard work but now well i think i could almost speak french if i had the chance i m sure you could said robin looking at innocent you re a clever little girl and could do anything you wanted to her brows contracted a little the easy lightness of his compliment had that air of masculine indifference which is more provoking to an intelligent woman than downright contradiction the smile lingered in her eyes however a smile of mingled amusement and compassion well i wanted to understand the writing of the she went on quietly and when i could understand them i translated them so i can tell you the last words he wrote in his journal just before he married in fact on the very eve of his marriage day she paused abruptly and looked for a moment at the worn and battered tomb of the old knight green with moss and made picturesque by a trailing branch of wild roses that had thrown itself across stone in an attempt to reach some of its neighbours on the opposite side robin followed her gaze with his own and for a moment was more than usually impressed by the calm almost stem dignity of tiie figure go on he what were the words these and innocent spoke them in a hushed voice with sweet reverence and feeling tonight i pull down and put away for ever the golden banner of my life s ideal it has been held aloft too long in the of a dream and the lily on its web is but a withered flower my life is no longer of use to myself but as a man and faithful knight i will make it serve another s pleasure and another s good and because this good and simple girl doth truly love me though her love was none of my seeking i will give her her heart s desire thou mine own heart s desire shall never be accomplished i will make her my wife and will be to her a true and loyal husband so that she may her fancy and his fact receive from me all she of happiness and peace for though i fain would die rather than wed i know that life is not given to a man to live nor is god satisfied to have it wasted by any one who hath sworn to be his knight and servant therefore even so let it be i give all my existence to her who doth consider it valuable and with all my soul i pray that i may make so gentle and a creature happy but to oh to love a long farewell farewell my dreams farewell ambition farewell the glory of the vision farewell bright splendour of an earthly paradise for now i enter that prison which shall hold me fast till death release me close doors fasten locks be patient in thy silent solitude my soul innocent s voice faltered here then she said that is the end he signed it robin was very quiet for a minute or two it s pretty very pretty and touching and all that sort of thing he said at last but it s like some old or bit of romance no one would go on like that nowadays innocent lifted her eyebrows go on like what he moved impatiently oh about being patient in solitude with one s soul and saying farewell to love he gave a short innocent dear i wish you would see tiie world as it really	33
is not through the old style spectacles of the in his day people were altogether different from what they are now i m sure were she answered quietly but love is the same to day as it was then he considered a moment then smiled no dear i m not sure that it is he said those and poets and curious people of that innocent kind lived in a sort of imaginary ecstasy they exaggerated their emotions and lived at the top height of their fancies we in our time are much more sane and level headed and it s much better for us in the long run she made no reply only very gently she withdrew her hand from his i m not a knight of old he went on turning his handsome face towards her i m sure i love you as much as ever the could have loved his unknown lady so much indeed do i love you that i couldn t write about it to save my life i did write verses at ford once very bad ones he but i can do one thing the didn t do i can keep faithful to my of the glory and if i don t marry you i ll marry nobody so there she looked at him curiously and wistfully you will not be so foolish she said will not put me into the position of the who married some one who loved him merely out of pity he sprang up from the grass beside her no no i won t do that innocent i m not a coward if you can t love me you shall not marry me just because you are sorry for me that would be intolerable i wouldn t have you for a wife at all under such i shall be perfectly happy as a bachelor perhaps happier than if i married and what about farm she asked farm can get on as best it may he replied cheerily r i ll work on it as long as i live and hand it dawn to some one worthy of it never fear so there innocent be happy and don t worry keep to your old knight and your her fancy and his fact strange fancies about him you may be right in your ideas of love or you may be wrong but the great point with me is that you should be happy and if you cannot be happy in my way why you must just be happy m your own she looked at him with a new interest as he stood upright facing her in all the vigour and beauty of his young manhood a little crept round the comers of her mouth are really a very handsome boy she said quite a picture in your way some girl will be very proud of you he gave a movement of impatience i must go back to the orchard he said there s plenty to do and after all work s tiie finest thing in quite as fine as love perhaps finer a faint sense of moved her at his she was conscious of a lurking admiration for his cool strong attitude towards life and the things of life and yet she was that he ould be capable of considering anything in the world finer than love work what work trees and gathering apples surely there were greater than these she watched him thoughtfully under the fringe of her long as he moved off going to the orchard she asked tes she smiled a little that s right he glanced back at her had die known how bravely he restrained himself she mi t have made as much a hero of him as of the t for he was wounded to the heart his brightest hopes were and at the very instant he walked away from her he would have given his life innocent to have held her for a moment in his arms to have kissed her lips and whispered to her the pretty caressing love nonsense which to warm and tender hearts is the sweetest language in the world and with all his restrained passion he was irritated with what from a man s point of view he considered folly on her part he felt that she despised his love and himself for no other reason than a mere romantic idea bred of loneliness and too much reading of a literature alien to the customs and manners of the immediate time and an uncomfortable of fear for her future troubled his mind poor little girl he though she does not know the world and when she does come to know it ah my poor innocent i would rather she never knew meanwhile she left to herself was not without a certain feeling of regret she was not sure of own mind and she had no control over her own fancies every now and then a wave of conviction came over her that after all tender hearted old might be right that it would be best to marry robin and help him to hold and keep farm as it had ever been kept and held since the days of the perhaps had she never heard the story of her actual condition as told her by farmer on the previous night she might have consented to what seemed so easy and pleasant a lot in life but now it seemed to her more than impossible she no longer had any link with the far away who had served her so long as a sort of ideal she was a mere any name save tiie of innocent and she regarded herself as a sort of she went into house soon after robin had left her and busied herself	33
with the linen and her fancy and his fact looking over what had to be mended for when i go she said to herself they must find everything in order she dined alone with robin sent word that he was too busy to come in she was a little at this and almost cross when he sent the same message at tea time but she was proud in her way and would not go out to see if she could persuade him to leave his work for half the sim was slowly declining when she suddenly put down her sewing struck by a thought whidi had not previously occurred to her and ran across the garden to the orchard where she foimd robin lying on his back imder the trees with closed eyes he opened them hearing the light movement of her feet and the soft flutter of her gown but he did not she stopped looking at him were you asleep he stretched his arms above his head lazily i believe i he answered smiling and you wouldn t come in to tea this with a touch of oh yes i would if i had wanted tea he replied i didn t want it nor my company i suppose she added a little of her shoulders his eyes flashed oh i that had something to do with it he agreed a vexation fretted her she wished he would not look so handsome and yes so indifferent an impression of loneliness and desertion came over her he robin was not the same to her now so she fancied no doubt he had been thinking hard all the day while doing his work and at last had come to conclusion that it was wisest after all to let her go and cease to care for her as he innocent had done a little throbbing pulse struggled in her throat a threat of rising tears but she conquered the emotion and spoke in a voice which though it trembled was sweet and gentle robin she said don t you think wouldn t it be better perhaps he looked up at her she seemed nervous or frightened what is it he asked anything you want me to do yes and her eyes drooped but i hardly like to say it you see made up his mind this morning that we were to settle things together and he ll be angry and disappointed robin half raised himself on one arm he u be angry and disappointed if we don t settle it you mean he said and we certainly haven t settled it weu a faint colour flushed her face couldn t we pretend it s all right for the moment she suggested just to give him a little peace of mind he looked at her steadily you mean couldn t we deceive him for his good he has deceived me all my life i suppose for my good though it has turned out badly has it why it has left me nameless she answered and a sudden rush of tears blinded her eyes she put her hands over them he sprang up and taking hold of her slender wrists tried to draw those hands down he succeeded at last and looked wistfully into her face quivering with restrained grief dear i wiu do what you he said tell me what is your wish her fancy and his fact she waited a moment till she had controlled herself a little i thought she said then that we might tell just for to night that we are engaged it would make and perhaps m a week or two we might get up a quarrel together and break it off robin smiled dear little girl i m afraid the plan wouldn t work he wants the put up on and this is wednesday her brows something can be managed before then she said robin i cannot bear to disappoint him i he s old and he s so ill too it wouldn t us for one night to say we are engaged all right and robin threw back his head and laughed i don t mind the sensation of even imagining i m engaged to you is quite agreeable for one evening at least i can assume a sort of over you innocent i i he looked so and mischievous that she smiled though the still sparkled on her lashes well what are you thinking of now she asked i think i really think under the circumstances i ou t to kiss you he said don t you feel it would be right and proper even on the stage the hero and heroine act a kiss when they re engaged she met his laughing glance with quiet i cannot act a kiss she said you can if you like i don t mind don t mind no he looked from right to left the apple innocent loaded with rosy fruit were above them like a the sinking sun made mellow gold of all the air and touched the girl s small figure with a delicate his heart beat and for a second his senses swam in a giddy whirl of longing and ecstasy then he suddenly pulled himself together dear innocent i wouldn t kiss you for the world he said gently it would be taking a mean advantage of you i only spoke in fun there dry your pretty eyes you sweet strange romantic little soul you shall have it all your own way she drew a long breath of evident relief then you ll tell your uncle anything you like he answered by	33
the bye ou tn t he to be home by this time he may have been kept by some business she said he won t be long now you ll say we re engaged yes and perhaps went on innocent you mi t ask him not to have the put up yet as we don t want it known quite so soon i ll do all i can he replied cheerily all i can to keep him quiet and to make you happy there i can t say more her eyes shone upon him with a grateful tenderness you are very good robin he good not i but i can t bear to see you fret if i had my way you should never know a moment s trouble that i could keep from you but i know i m not a patch on your old stone knight who wrote such a lot about his ideal and yet went and married a country and had six children don t frown dear nothing will make her fancy and his fact me say he was romantic not a bit of it he wrote a lot of romantic things of course but he didn t mean half of them i m sure he didn t she coloured indignantly you say that b use you know nothing about it she said you have not read his writings no and i m not sure that i want to he answered gaily dear innocent you must remember that i was at oxford my dear old father and mother scraped and every penny they could get to send me there and i believe i myself pretty well but one of the best things i learned was the general and vanity of the fellows that called themselves literary they chiefly went in for and who did not agree with and think just as they did most of them and robin laughed his gay and laugh once more they didn t know that i was all the time comparing them with the honest type of farmer the man who lives an life with god s air blowing upon him and the soil turned beneath him i love books too in my way but i love nature better and do not poets help you to understand ture innocent the best of them do such as shakespeare and and but they were of the past the modem men make you almost despise nature more s the pity they are always studying themselves and themselves and pitying themselves now always say the less of one s self tiie better in order to other people innocent s eyes r him with quiet admiration yes you are a thoroughly good boy she said i have told you so often but i m not sure that innocent i should get on with anyone as good as you are she turned away then and moved towards the house as she went she suddenly stopped and clapped her hands a flash of white wings in the and her pet dove flew to her ch cling round and round till it dropped on her outstretched arm she caught it to her bosom kissing its soft head tenderly and murmuring playful words to it robin watched her as with this favourite bird she disappeared across the garden and into the house then he gave a gesture half of half of resignation and left the orchard the sun sank and the evening shadows began to steal slowly in their long lines over the quiet fields and yet farmer had not yet returned the women of the household grew anxious went to the door many times looking up the by road for the first glimpse of the expected returning vehicle and innocent stood in the garden near the porch as watchful as a and as silent at last the sound of trotting hoofs was heard in the far distance and robin suddenly making his appearance from the stable yard where he too had been waiting called cheerily uncle at last here he comes another few minutes and the mare s head turned the comer then the whole dog cart came into view with farmer driving it but he was quite alone robin and innocent exchanged surprised glances but had no tune to make any comment as old just drove up and throwing the reins to his nephew alighted her fancy and his fact aren t you very late said innocent then going to meet him i was beginning to be quite anxious were you poor little one tm au right i had business i was kept longer than i expected here he turned quickly to robin boy and come in to supper where s asked robin oh i ve left him in the town he off his driving gloves and his overcoat then strode into the house innocent followed him she was puzzled by his look and manner and her heart beat with a vague sense of fear there was something about the old man that was new and strange to her she could not define it but it filled her mind with a curious and inexplicable uneasiness who was setting the dishes on the table in the room where the cloth was laid for supper had the same uncomfortable impression when she saw him enter his face was unusually pale and drawn and the slight stoop of age in his otherwise upright figure seemed more than usual he drew up his chair to the table and sat down then his fine white hair over his brow with one hand looked round him with an evidently forced smile anxious about me were you child he said as innocent took her place beside him well you need	33
not have given me a thought i i was all right all right i made a bit of a bargain in the town but the prices were high and he broke off suddenly and stared in front of him with strange fixed innocent and looked at one another in alarm there was a moment s tense stillness then innocent said in rather a trembling voice innocent es you were saying something about the stony glare faded from his eyes and he looked at her with a more natural expression did i speak of him oh yes met with some fellows he knew and decided to spend the evening with them he asked me for a night off and i gave it to him yes i i gave it to him just then robin entered he exclaimed gaily at supper don t begin without me i say uncle is coming back to night turned upon him sharply no he answered in so fierce a tone that robin stood amazed why do you all keep on asking me about he loves drink more than life and he s having all he wants to night i ve let him off work to morrow robin was silent for a moment out of sheer surprise oh well that s all right if you don t mind he said at last we re pretty busy but i we can manage without him i should think so and gave a short of scorn farm would have come to a pretty pass if it could not get on without a man like there was another silent pause gave an anxious side glance at innocent s troubled face and decided to relieve the by useful commonplace talk well or no supper s ready she said and it s been waiting an hour at least say grace and i ll looked at her say grace he what for her fancy and his fact laughed loudly to cover the she felt what for lor if you don t know i m sure i don t for the beef and potatoes i suppose an all the stuff we eats f or what we are going to receive ah yes i remember may the lord make us truly thankful responded closing his eyes for a second and then opening t em again and i ll tell you what there s a deal more to be thankful for to night than beef and potatoes a great deal more chapter vn the supper was a very silent meal old was evidently not inclined to converse he ate his food quickly almost without seeming to be conscious that he was eating robin glanced at him now and again and with some anxiety an uncomfortable idea that there was something wrong somewhere worried him moreover he was troubled by the latent feeling that presently his uncle would be sure to ask if all was settled between himself and innocent strangely enough however the old man made no allusion to the subject he seemed to have forgotten it though it had been the chief matter on which he had laid so much stress that morning each minute innocent expected to turn upon her with the dreaded question to which she would have had to reply according to the plan made between herself and robin but to her great surprise and relief he said nothing that conveyed the least hint of the wish he had so long he was irritable and drowsy now and again his head fell a little forward on his chest and his eyes closed as thou in utter weariness seeing this the practical made haste to get the supper finished and cleared away be to bed she said the sooner the better for you look as tired as a lame dog that as ome twenty miles you ain t fit to be about an who says i m not he interrupted sitting bolt upright and glaring fiercely at her i tell you i her fancy and his fact am i can do business as well as any man and drive a bargain ah i should think so indeed a hard and fast bargain not easy to get out of i can tell you not easy to get out of and it has cost me a pretty penny too robin glanced at him how s that he asked tou generally make rather than spend gave a sudden loud laugh so i do boy so i do but sometimes one has to spend to make i ve done both to day ive made and ive spent and what i ve spent is better than keeping it and what i ve made ay what i ve made well it s a bargain and no one can say it isn t a fair one he got up from the supper table and pushed away his chair tu go he s right i m and bed s the best place for me he passed his hand over his forehead there s a sort of in my brain like the noise of a cart wheel i want rest as he spoke innocent came softly beside him and took his arm he looked down upon her with a smile yes i want rest we ll have a long talk out to morrow you and i and robin bless thee child good ni t he kissed her tenderly and held out one hand to who cordially grasped it good boy he said be up early for there s to do and won t be home till late no not tiu late get on with the field for if the clouds mean we shall have rain he paused a	33
moment and seemed to reflect then repeated slowly yes lad we shall have rain and wind and storm be ready the fine weather s breaking with that he went walking slowly and they innocent heard him once or twice as he went up the broad oak staircase to bedroom put her head on one side like a meditative crow and listened then she heaved a sigh smoothed down her apron and rolled up her eyes well if worn t as sober a man as any judge an jury she observed i should say bin l but that ain t it mr robin there s gone wrong with im an i don t like it nor i said innocent in a trembling voice suggestive of tears oh robin you surely noticed how strange he looked i m so afraid i feel as if something dreadful was going to happen nonsense and robin assumed an air of indifference which he was far from feeling uncle is tired i think he has been put out you know he s quick tempered and easily irritated he may have had some annoyance in the town ah and where s put in with a dark nod that do beat me why ever the master should ave let a man like that go on the loose for a night an a day is more than i can make out it s sort of tempting providence that it is flushed and turned aside his fight with was fresh in his mind and he began to wonder whether he had done rightly in his uncle how it came about but meeting innocent s anxious eyes which asked him for comfort he answered oh well there s nothing very much in that i wanted a holiday he doesn t ask for one often and he s kept fairly sober lately hadn t we better be off to bed things will out with the morning do you really think so innocent si ed as she put the question of course i think so answered robin cheerily her fancy and his fact we re all tired and can t look on the bright side sound sleep is the best cure for the innocent good night she said gently good night good night mr robin god bless ye he smiled nodded kindly to them both and left the room there s a man for ye murmured as he disappeared a tower of strength for a which the lord knows is rare you ll never do better but innocent seemed not to hear her face was very pale and her eyes had a strained wistful expression looks very ill she said slowly surely you noticed now child don t you worry tain t no use and lit two bedroom candles giving innocent one just go up to bed and think of nothing till the morning is dead beat and put out about something precious too for he ate his food as though he hadn t ad any all day you couldn t expect him to be pleasant if he was wore out innocent said nothing more she gave a parting glance round the room to assure herself that everything was tidy windows bolted and all safe for the night and for a fleeting moment the impression came over her that she would never see it look quite the same again a faint cold tremor ran through her delicate little body she felt lonely and afraid silently die followed up the beautiful staircase to the first landing where moved by a tender clinging impulse she kissed her good night you dear kind she said you ve always been good to me bless you my answered with innocent emotion go and sleep with the angels like the little angel you are yourself and mind you think twice and more than twice before you say no to mr robin with a shake of her head and a faint smile innocent turned away and passed through the curious little corridor that led to her own room once safely inside that quiet where the of long ago had found peace she set her candle down on the oak table and remained standing by it for some moments lost in thought the pale glimmer of the single li t was scarcely sufficient to the shadows around her but the window was open and admitted a shaft of moonlight which shed a radiance on her little figure clothed in its simple white gown had any artist seen her thus alone and absorbed in sorrowful musing he might have taken her as a model of after her god had flown she was weary and anxious life had suddenly assumed for her a tragic aspect old s manner had puzzled her he was unlike himself and she instinctively felt that he had some secret trouble on his mind what could it be she wondered not about herself and robin for were he as keen on putting up the as he had been in the morning he would not have allowed the matter to rest he would have asked straight questions and he would have expected plain answers and they would in accordance with the secret understanding they had made with each other have deceived him now there was no deception necessary he seemed to have forgotten at least for the present his own dearest desire with a sigh half of pain half of relief she seated herself at the table and opening its one deep drawer with a little key which she always wore round her neck she began her fancy and his fact to turn over her beloved pile of manuscript and this occupied her for several minutes presently she looked up her eyes growing brilliant with thought and a smile on	33
her lips i really think it might do she said aloud should not be afraid to try who knows what might happen i can but fail or succeed if i fail i shall have had my lesson if i succeed she leaned her head on her two hands up her pretty hair into soft golden brown rings if i succeed ah if i do then i ll pay back everything i owe to and farm oh no i can never pay back my debt to farm that would be impossible why the very fields and trees and flowers and birds have made me happy happier than i shall ever be after i have said good bye to them all good bye even to the quick tears sprang to her eyes and the light of the candle looked and dim after all she went on still talking to the air it s better and to try to do something in the world rather than throw myself upon robin and be cowardly enough to take him for a husband when i don t love him just for comfort and shelter and farm it would be shameful and i could not marry a man unless i loved him quite desperately i could not i m not sure tiiat i like the idea of marriage at all it a man and woman together for life and the time might come when they would grow tired of each other how cruel and wicked it would be to force them to endure each other s company when they perhaps wished the width of the world between them no i don t think i should care to be married certainly not to robin she put her manuscript by and shut and locked innocent the drawer containing it then she went to tiie open window and looked out and thought of the previous night when robin had swung himself up on the sill to talk to her and they had been all unaware that ned was listening down below a flush of anger heated her cheeks as she recalled this and all that robin had told her of the unprepared attack had made upon him and the fight between them but now was it not very strange that should apparently be in such high favour with that he had actually been allowed to stay in the market town and enjoy a holiday which for him only meant a bout of she could not understand it and her perplexity increased the more she thought of it leaning far out over the window sill she gazed long and lovingly across the quiet stretches of shining white in the splendour of the moon the tall trees the infinite and harmonious peace of the whole scene then shutting the she pulled the curtains across it and taking her lit candle went to her secluded inner sleeping chamber where in the small carved four bed furnished with ancient and linen and covered up under a embroidered three centuries back by the useful fingers of the wife of de she soon fell into a sound and slumber the hours moved on bearing with them different to millions of different human lives and the tall old clock in the great hall of farm told off with a and worthy of westminster itself it was a quiet night there was not a breath of wind to whistle through crack or key hole or swing open an door and hero the huge that always slept on her fancy and his fact t just within the hall entrance had surely no cause to sit up suddenly on his great and listen with uplifted ears to sounds which were to any other creature yet listen he did and intently raising his massive head he tiie air then suddenly began to tremble as with cold and gave vent to a long low dismal moan it was a weird noise worse positive howling and the dog himself seemed conscious that he was expressing something strange and unnatural two or three times he repeated this muffled cry then lying down again he put his nose between his great and with a deep shivering sigh appear to resign himself to tiie inevitable there followed several moments of tense silence then came a sudden dull overhead as of a heavy load falling or being thrown down and a curious inexplicable like smothered or groaning instantly the great dog sprang erect and up tlie staircase like a mad creature barking furiously the house was doors were flung open rushed from her room half dressed and innocent ran along the corridor in her little white her feet bare and her hair falling over her shoulders what is it she cried oh do tell me i what is it robin hearing the dog s persistent barking had hastily coat and trousers and now appeared on the scene hero hero he quiet but hero had bounded to his master s door and was against it with all the force of his big muscular body apparently seeking to push or break it open robin laid one hand on the animal s collar and pulled him back then tried the door himself it was locked innocent uncle there was no answer he turned to one of the frightened servants who were standing near his face was very pale fetch me a hammer he said something anything that will force the lock innocent and with deep tenderness he took her little cold hands in his own i wish you would go away why and she looked at him with eyes full of terror oh no no let me be with you let me call him and she knelt outside the closed door dear i want to speak	33
to you t i come in i m so do let me come in but the silence remained unbroken and robin beckoned to her keep innocent beside you i m afraid nodded turning her head aside a moment to wipe away the tears that were in her eyes she put an arm round innocent s waist don t kneel there she whispered it s no good and you re in the way when they open the door come with me there s a dear and she drew the trembling little figure tenderly into her arms there that ll be a bit warmer and die signed to one of the farm maids near her to fetch a cloak which she carefully wrapped round the girl s shoulders just then the hammer was brought with other tools and robin to save any needless took a and inserted it in such a manner as should most easily force the catch of the door but the lock was an ancient and a strong one and would not yield for some time at last with an extra powerful and movement of his hand it suddenly gave way and he saw what he would have given worlds that innocent should not have her fancy and his fact j old lying face forward on the floor mo there was a rush and a wild cry she was beside him in a moment trying with all her slight strength to lift his head and turn his face help oh help she he has fainted we must lift get some one to lift him on the bed it is only a faint he will recover get some brandy and send for the doctor don t lose time for heaven s sake be quick robin make them hurry robin had whispered his orders and two of the farm lads roused from sleep and hastily summoned were ready to do what he told them with awed hushed movements they lifted tiie heavy fallen body of their master between them and laid it gently down on the bed as the helpless head dropped back on the pillow they saw that all was over the pinched grey of the features and the fast eyes told their own fatal story there was no hope but innocent held the cold hand of tiie dead man to her warm young bosom endeavouring to take from it its chill he will be soon she said bring me that brandy just a little will revive him i m sure why do you stand there crying you surely don t think he s dead no no that isn t possible it isn t possible is it robin he ll come to himself in a few minutes a fainting fit may last quite a long time i wish he had not locked his door we could have been with him sooner so she spoke nursing the dead hand in her bosom no one present had the heart to contradict her and with the tears running down her face brought the brandy e asked for and held it while she the innocent lips of the corpse and tried to force a few drops between the clenched teeth m vain this futile attempt frightened her and she looked at robin with a wild air i cannot make him swallow it she said can you robin he looks so grey and cold but his lips are quite warm robin the emotion that half choked him and threatened to in weeping went up to her and tried to her away from the bedside dear if you could leave him for a little it would perhaps be better he said he might he mi t sooner we have sent for doctor he will be here directly i will stay here till he comes replied tiie girl quietly how can you think i would leave when he s ill if we could only rouse him a uttle ah that if if we could only rouse our beloved ones who fall into that eternal sleep would not all the riches and glories of the world seem tame in comparison with such joy innocent had never seen death she could not that this calm this cold and meant an end to the love and care she had known all her life love and care which would never be replaced in quite the same way the first peep of a silver dawn began to peer through the window and as she saw this suggestion of life a sudden dread clutched at her heart and made it cold it will be morning soon she said when will the doctor come scarcely had she said the words when the doctor entered he took a comprehensive glance round the room at the still form on the bed at the little her fancy and his fact crouching girl figure beside it at trembling and at robin deadly pale and at the farm lads and servants when did this happen he said robin told him i he said he must have fallen forward on getting out of bed i rather expected a sudden of this kind he made his brief examination the eyes of the dead man were open and staring upward he gently closed the over them and pressed them down nothing to be done he went on gently his end was innocent had risen she had laid the cold hand of the corpse back on its breast and she stood gazing before her in utter misery nothing to be done she faltered do you mean that you cannot rouse him will he never speak to me again the doctor looked at her gravely and kindly not in this world my dear	33
he said in the next perhaps let us hope so she put her hand up to her forehead with a bewildered gesture he is dead she dead oh robin robin i can t believe it it isn t true dear my only friend good bye good bye good bye farm good bye to oh her voice and broke in a passion of tears i loved him as if he were my own father she sobbed and he loved me as if i were his own child oh darling we can never love each other again chapter viii the news of s sudden death was as though a cloud burst had broken over the village dealing utter and hopeless destruction to the little community of simple folk living round farm it was a greater catastrophe than the death of any king nothing else was talked of nothing w s done men stood idly about looking at each other in a kind of consternation women and whispered at their cottage doors shaking their heads with all that melancholy of wisdom which is not wise till after the event the children were less noisy in their play checked by the grave faces of their the very dogs seemed to know that something had occurred which altered the aspect of ordinary daily things the last of the famous was no it seemed incredible and farm what would become of farm there ain t none o th folk left now said one man lighting his pipe slowly it s all over an done wi he s good but he ain t a though a were his mother tis the male side as tells an he s young an he ll want change an about like all young men nowadays an the place ll be broke up an the timber an th oak ll be sold to a dealer an ll come an buy the an the glass an the linen an by an bye we won t know ever was such a farm at all that s your style o is it put in an her fancy and his fact other man standing by with a round straw hat set back upon his head in a fashion which gave him the appearance of a village idiot well it s not mine no by no means there ll be a will an robin he ll find a way farm u be farm to my mind your mind ain t growled the first speaker so don t ye go store by it lord lord to think o farmer bein gone seems as if a right and ad bin cut off yesterday i met im along the road at a pace with ned beside im an fine too for the mare s a one with a mouth as ard as iron but e held er firm that e did no weakness about im an e was away to while e drove right or left e was that sure of an now e s cold as stone who would a it where s asked the other man i he s nowhere about this that i ve seen at that moment a figure came into view turning the comer of a lane at the end of the scattered cottages called the village a looking figure which t th men recognised as that of the parson of the parish and they touched their caps accordingly the reverend william m a was a great personage and his e of souls extended to three other villages the one of whidi farm waa the acknowledged centre good morning he said with condescension i hear that farmer died suddenly last night is it true both men nodded gravely sir it s true more s the pity it s took us all innocent ay ay and mr nodded no doubt no doubt but i suppose tiie farm will go on just the same there will be no lack of employment the man who waa smoking looked doubtful can tell m the place wiu be sold m it won t the hands may be kept or they may be given the sack there s only mr left now an e ain t a does that matter and the gentleman smiled with the superior air of one far above all of mere sentiment there is the girl ah yes there s the girl the looked at one another her position continued mr tracing a pattern on tiie ground with the end of his walking stick seems to me to be a little unfortunate but i presume she is really tiie daughter of our deceased friend the man who was smoking took the pipe from his mouth and stared for a moment daughter she may be he said bom out o anyhow an she ain t got no right to farm unless th man as made er legal an if e s done that it don t alter the in the eyes o tiie law which can twist ye any way for she was bom an there s never been a on farm all the hundreds o years it s been i mr m win again interested himself in a dust pattern ah dear dear he very sad very sad our follies always find us out if not we live then when we die i m sorry farmer waa not a no a circumstance still i m sorry i he was a useful person in her fancy and his fact tiie parish quite honest i believe and a very fair and good master none better his listeners true none better well well i ll just go up to the house and see if i can be of any service or or comfort one	33
of the men smiled darkly sure farmer s as dead as if so be you are a goin to farm mr he said why you never set foot in tiie place while e was a man quite correct and mr nodded pleasantly i make it a rule never to go where i m not wanted he paused conscious that he had but now that trouble has visit the house i consider it my duty to approach the and the good day he walked off then treading and wearing a composed and serious the men who had spoken with him were quickly joined by two or three others parson goin to the farm they ay we ll ave on next declared a young rough fellow in a can now we ve lost the last o the and such was the general impression throughout the district men met in the small public houses and over their of beer discussed the possibilities of to canada or new for there ll be no more farm work worth round ere they all declared wanted men an paid em well for like men but it u all be machines now meanwhile the reverend mr m a had arrived at everything was innocent silent all the blinds were down the were closed and the stable yard was empty the sunlight swept in broad rays over the brilliant flower beds which were now at their and best the lay sleeping on the roofs of sheds and as and forbidden to fly a marked loneliness clouded the peaceful beauty of the place a loneliness that made itself seen and felt by even the most casual visitor with a somewhat hesitating hand mr pulled the door bell in a minute or two a maid answered the summons her eyes were red with weeping at sight of the she looked surprised and a frightened how is miss miss he softly i have only just heard the sad news she s not able to see anyone sir replied the maid at least i don t think so i ll ask she s very upset of course of course said mr soothingly i quite understand please say i called mr a figure stepped out from the interior darkness of the hall towards him i am here said robin gently did you wish to speak to me this is a house of heavy mourning to day the young man s voice shook he was deadly pale and there was a strained look in his eyes of tears mr was conscious of nervous embarrassment indeed indeed i know it is he murmured i feel for you most profoundly so sudden a shock too i i thought that perhaps miss a young girl struck by her first great loss and sorrow might like to see me robin looked at him in silence for a mo her fancy and his fact ment the of the church i would they mean anything to innocent he wondered i will ask her he said at last abruptly will you step inside mr accepted the suggestion taking off his hat as he crossed the and soon found himself in the quaint sitting room where but two days since had told innocent all her true history he could not help being impressed by its old world peace and beauty furnished as it was in perfect taste with its window outlook on a paradise of happy flowers rejoicing the sunlight the fragrance of sweet scented the air and a big china bowl of roses in the centre of the table gave a of brightness to the old oak on the walls there are things in this room that are i the clergyman who was something of a if the place comes the hammer i shall try to pick up a few pieces he smiled the pleased air of one who feels that all things must have an end either by the hammer or otherwise even a fine old house the pride and joy of a long line of its owners during hundred years and then he started as the door opened slowly and softly and a girl stood before him looking more like a spirit than a mortal clad in a plain white gown with a black ribbon through h waving fair hair she was pale to the very lips and her eyes were swollen and heavy with weeping timidly she held out her hand it is kind of you to come she said and paused he having taken her hand and let it go again stood awkwardly mute it was the first time he had seen innocent in her home surroundings and he had innocent hardly noticed her at all when he had by chance met her m her rare walks through the village and so that he was altogether unprepared for the refined delicacy and grace of her appearance i am very sorry to hear of your sad he began at last in a conventional tone very sorry indeed she looked at him are you i don t think you can be sorry because you did not know him if you had known him you would have been really grieved yes i am sure you would he was such a good man one of tiie best in all the world i m glad you have come to see me because i have often wanted to speak to you and perhaps now is the right time won t you sit down he obeyed her gesture surprised more or less by her quiet air of sad self possession he had expected to tiie usual forms of religious consolation to a sort of child or farm girl nervous trembling and tearful instead of this he found a woman whose grief	33
was too deep and sincere to be relieved by mere talk and whose pathetic composure and patience were the evident result of a highly sensitive mental i have never seen death before she said in hushed tones except in birds and flowers and animals and i have cried over the poor things for sorrow that they should be taken away out of this beautiful world but with it is different he was afraid afraid of suffering and weakness and he was taken so quickly that he could hardly have felt anything so that his fears were all useless and i can hardly believe he is dead actually dead can you but of course you do not believe in death at all the religion you teach is one of eternal life eternal life and happiness her fancy and his fact mr s lips moved he murmured something about living again in ihe lord innocent did not hear she was absorbed in her own mental problem and anxious to put it before him listen she said when told me was really dead that he would never get oflf the bed where he lay so cold and white and peaceful that he would never speak to me again i said she was wrong that it could not be i told her he would wake presently and laugh at us all for being so foolish as to think him dead even hero our does not believe it for he has stayed all morning by the bedside and no one dare touch him to take him away and just now has been with me crying very much and she says i must not grieve because is gone to a better world then surely he must be alive if he is able to go anywhere must he not i asked her what she knew about this better world and she cried again and said indeed she knew nothing except what she had been taught in her i have read the and it seems to me very stupid and unnatural perhaps because i do not understand it can you tell me about this better world mr s lips moved again he cleared his throat i m afraid he observed i m very much afraid my poor child that you have been t up in a sad state of ignorance innocent did not like being called a poor child and she gave a little gesture of annoyance please do not pity me she said with a touch of i do not wish that i know it is difficult for me to explain things to you as i see them because i have never been t religion from a church i have read about the virgin and christ innocent and the saints and all those pretty legends in the books that belonged to the but he lived three hundred years ago and he was a roman catholic as all those french were at that time mr stared at her in blank bewilderment who was the she went on heedless of his perplexity believed in a god who governed all things rightly i have heard him say that managed the farm and made it what it is but he never spoke much about it and he hated the church the reverend gentleman interrupted her with a uplifted hand i know he sighed ah yes i know a dreadful thing a shocking attitude of mind i i fear he was not saved she looked at him i don t see what you mean she said he was quite a good man are you sure of that and mr fixed his shallow brown eyes upon her our affections are often very e a flush of colour her pale cheeks indeed i am very sure she answered steadily he was a good man there was never a stain on his character though he allowed people to think wrong things of him for my sake that was his only fault he was silent waiting for her next word i think perhaps i ought to tell you she continued because then you will be able to judge him better and spare his memory from foolish and wicked scandal he was not my father i was only his adopted daughter mr gave a slight a cough of in her fancy and his fact adopted is a phrase often used to cover the brand of i never knew my own history till the other day she said slowly and sadly the doctor came to see with a london a friend of his and they told him he had not long to live after that made up his mind that i must learn all the truth of oh what a terrible truth it was i thought my heart would break it was so strange so cruel i had grown up believing myself to be s own very own ter and i had been deceived all my life for he told me i was nothing but a nameless child left on his hands by a stranger mr opened his small eyes in amazement he was completely taken he tried to grasp the bearings of this new aspect of the situation thus presented to him but could not anything save what in his own mind was he pleased to call a cock and bull story most extraordinary he ejaculated at last did he give you no clue at all as to your actual innocent shook her head how could he a man on horseback arrived here suddenly one very stormy night me in his arms i was just a little baby and asked shelter for me promising to come and fetch me in the morning but he	33
never came and never knew who he was i was kept here out of pity at first then began to love me r the suppressed tears rose to her eyes and began can tell you all about it she continued if you wish to know more i am only explaining things a little because i do want you to understand that was really a good man innocent though he did not go to church and he must have been saved as you put it for he never did anything unworthy of the name of the thought a moment you are not miss then he said she met his gaze with a sorrowful i am nobody i have not even been he sprang up from his not he exclaimed not do you mean to tell me that farmer never attended to this imperative aad sacred duty on your behalf that he allowed you to grow up as a heathen she remained unmoved by his outburst i am not a heathen she said gently i believe in god as believed i m sorry i have not been but it has made no difference to me that i know of no difference and the clergyman rolled up his eyes and shook his head you poor unfortunate girl it has made all the difference in the world you are your soul is not washed clean all your sins are upon you and you are not she looked at him that is all very sad for me if it is true she said but it is not my fault i could not help it couldn t help it either he did not know what to do he expected that i might be claimed and taken away any day and he had no idea what name to give me except innocent which is a name i suppose no girl ever had before he used to get money from time to time in bearing different foreign and there was always a slip of paper inside with the words tor innocent written on it so that name has been my only name her fancy and his fact you see it was very difficult for him poor besides he did not believe in then he was an declared mr hotly her serious blue eyes regarded him reproachfully i don t think you should say that it isn t quite kind on your part she replied he always thanked god for prosperity and never complained when things went that is not an even when he knew he was hopelessly ill he never worried anyone about it he was only just a little afraid and that was perfectly natural we re all a little afraid you know though we pretend we re not none of us like the idea of leaving this lovely world and the sunshine for ever even hamlet was afraid shakespeare makes him say so and when one has lived all one s life on farm such a sweet peaceful home one can hardly fancy anything better even in a next world no was not an please do not think such a thing he only died last night and i feel as if it would hurt him mr was exceedingly embarrassed and annoyed there was something in the girl s quiet that suggested a certain intellectual superiority to himself he and making various unpleasant noises well to me of course it is a very shocking state of he said i hardly think i can be of any use or consolation to you in the matters you have spoken of which are quite outside my scope altogether if you have anything to say about the funeral arrangements but i presume mr mr is master here now she answered he will give his own orders and will do all that is best and wisest as i have told you i am a name innocent less nobody and have no right in this house at all i m sorry if i have vexed or troubled you but as you called i thought it was right to tell you how i am situated you see when poor is buried i shall be going away at once and i had an idea you might perhaps help me you are god s minister he wrinkled up his brows and looked at her you are leaving farm he asked i must i have no right to stay is mr turning you out a faint sad smile crept the girl s pretty sensitive mouth ah no no indeed he would not turn a dog out that had once taken food from his hand she said it is my own wish entirely when was alive there was something for me to do in taking care of him but now there is no need for me i should feel in way besides i must try to earn my own living what do you propose to do asked mr whose manner to her had completely changed from the politely to the sharply do you want a situation she lifted her eyes to his fat face yes i should like one very much i could be a lady s maid i think i can very well but perhaps you would me first he gave a sound between a cough and a eh you yes because if i am and my soul is not clean as you say no one would take me not even as a lady s maid her quaint perfectly simple way of putting the case made him angry i m afraid you are not aware of the importance of the sacred he said severely	33
her fancy and his fact at your age you would need to be instructed for some weeks before you could be considered fit and worthy then you tell me you have no name innocent is not a name at all for a woman i do not know who you are you are ignorant of your you may have been bom out of she coloured deeply i am not sure of that she said in a low tone of course you are not sure but i should say the probability is that you are and the reverend gentleman took up his hat to go the whole business is very and difficult however i will see what can be done for you but you are in a very awkward comer very awkward indeed life will not be very easy for you i fear i do not expect ease she replied i have been very happy till now and i am grateful for the past i must my own future her eyes filled with tears as she looked out through the open window at the fair garden which she herself had tended for so long and she saw the clergyman s form through a mist of sorrow as in half hearted fashion he bade her good day i hope i fervently trust that god will support you in your he said i had intended before leaving to offer up a prayer with you for the soul of the departed and for your own soul but the sad fact of your being places me in a difficulty but i shall not fail personally to ask our lord to prepare you for the unfortunate change in your lot thank you she replied quietly and without her salute he left her she stood for a moment considering then sat down by the window looking at the radiant flower innocent beds with all their profusion of blossom she wondered how they could show such brave gay colouring when death was in the house and the aching sense of loss and sorrow tiie air as with darkness a glitter of white wings flashed before her eyes and her dove alighted on the window sill she stretched out her hand and the bird stepped on her little rosy palm with all its accustomed familiarity and confidence she it tenderly poor she murmured are like me you are you have never been your soul has not been washed clean and all your sins are on your head yes we are very much alike for i don t suppose you know your own father and mother any more than i know mine and yet god made you and he has taken care of you so far she the dove s gently and then drew back a little into as she saw robin step out from the porch into the garden and hurriedly interrupt the advance of a woman who just then pushed open the outer gate a looking creature with dark hair and a face which might have been handsome but for its unmistakable impress of drink and eh mr it s you is it she exclaimed in shrill tones an farmer s dead who d a thought it but i d ave ad a bone to pick with im this if he d been that i would sack to ned without a warning to me innocent leaned forward listening eagerly with an beating heart through all the slow and aching hours that had elapsed since s death there had been a secret her fancy and his fact anxiety in her mind concerning ned and the various possibilities involved in his return to the farm when he should learn that his employer was no more and that robin was sole master i ve come up to speak with ye continued the woman it s pretty ard on me to be left in the ditch with a man ye off his horse an away where ye can t get at im she laughed ned s gone to gone to america robin s voice rang out in sharp accents of surprise ned why when did you hear that just now his own letter came with the s cart he left the town last night and takes ship from to day aad why because farmer gave him five hundred pounds to do it so there s some real news for ye five hundred pounds echoed my uncle gave him five hundred pounds ay ye may stare and the woman laughed again and the devil has taken it all except a five note which he sends to me to keep me goin he says like his cheek i m not his wife that s true but i m as much as any wife an s the kid robin glanced round at the open window hush he don t talk so loud the dead can t hear she said scornfully an ned says in his letter that he s been sent off all on account of you an your light o love innocent she s called a precious innocent she is an that the old man has paid im to go away an old his tongue so it s all your fault after all that i m left with the kid to rub along anyhow he might ave married me in a while if he d stayed i m only o mill now just as i ve always been innocent the toss an catch of every man but i ad a grip on ned with the kid an he d a done me right in the end if you an your precious	33
innocent t been in the way robin made a quick stride towards her go out of this place he said fiercely how dare you come here with such lies he stopped half choked with rage looked at him and laughed then snapped her fingers in his face lies is it she said well lies make good crops an s money ll them to grow lies indeed an how dare i come here why because your old uncle is stiff an cold an can t speak no more an no one would know what ad become o ned if i wasn t here to tell them an show his own letter i ll tell them all right enough you bet your life i will she turned her back on him and began to walk or rather out of the garden he went up close to her his face white with passion if you say one word about miss he began miss she exclaimed that s good we are grand and she dropped him a mock miss there ain t no miss an you know it as well as i do so don t try to fool me look here mr robin and she confronted him with arms you re not a neither there s not a left o the old stock they re all finished with one dead upstairs yonder and i u teu ye what you an your innocent are too an mighty altogether for the likes o we poor villagers ye ain t got to boast of neither of ye you ve lost me my man an i ll let know how an why her fancy and his fact with that she went the gate after her and stood furious within himself yet powerless to do anything save silently endure the she had flung at him he could have cursed himself for the folly he had been guilty of in telling his uncle about the fight between him and for he saw now that the old man had secretly worried over the possible harm that might be done to innocent through s knowledge of her real story which he had learned through his and listening whatever that harm could be was now and scandal b as a mere whispered suggestion would increase to loud and positive assertion ere long poor uncle and the young man looked up sorrowfully at the darkened windows of the room where lay in still and stem repose that was mortal of the last of the what a mistake you have made you meant so well you thought you were doing a wise thing in sending away and at such a cost but you did not know what he had left behind of the mill whose wicked tongue would an angel s reputation a hand touched him lightly on the arm from behind he turned swiftly and confronted innocent she stood like a little figure of white holding her dove against her breast poor robin die said softly don t worry i heard everything he stared down upon her heard i was at the open window there i couldn t help hearing it was of the mill i know her by sight but not to speak to told me something about her she isn t a nice woman is she innocent nice robin gasped no indeed she is well i must not tell you what she is f no you must not i don t want to hear but she ought to be ned s wife i understood that and she has a little child i understood that too and she knows everything about me and about that night when you climbed up on my window sill and sat so long it was a pity you did that t it yes when there was a dirty spy in hiding said robin hotly ah we never imagined such a thing could be on farm and she sighed but it can t be helped now poor darling he parted with all that money to get rid of the man he thought would do me wrong oh robin he loved me the tears gathered in her eyes and fell slowly like bright on the feathers of the dove she held he loved you and i love you murmured robin tenderly dear little girl come indoors and don t cry any more your sweet eyes will be spoilt and uncle could never bear to see you weeping all the tears in the world won t bring him back to us here but we can do our best to please him stiu so that if his spirit has ever been troubled it can be at peace come in and let us talk together we must look at things and and we must try to do all the things he would have wished all except one thing she said as went together side by side into the house the one thing can never be the one thing the chief thing that shall be answered robin fiercely innocent you must be my wife she lifted her tear wet eyes to his with a grave her fancy and his fact and piteous appeal which smote him to the heart by its intense helplessness and sorrow robin dear robin she said don t make it harder for me than it is think for a moment i am nameless a poor deserted creature who was flung on your uncle s charity eighteen years ago i am a stranger and intruder in this old historic place i have no right to be here at all only through your uncle s kindness and yours and now	33
things have happened so cruelly for me that i am supposed to be to you what i am not and the deep colour flushed her cheeks and brow i have somehow through no fault of my own lost my name though i had no name to lose except innocent which as the clergyman told me is no name for a woman do you not see that if i married you people would say it was because you were compelled to marry me that you had gone too far to escape from me that in fact we were a sort of copy of ned and of the mill innocent he uttered the name in a tone of indignant and despairing protest they were in the oak parlour together and she went slowly to the window and let her pet dove fly ah yes innocent she repeated sadly but you must let me go robin just as i have let my dove fly so you must let me fly far far away chapter ix no more impressive scene was ever witnessed in a country village than the funeral of the last of the impressive in its simplicity and lack of needless the containing all that was mortal of the sturdy straightforward farmer whose old world ways of work and upright dealing with his men had for so long been the wonder and envy of the district was placed in a low and covered with a curiously wrought purple cloth embroidered with the arms of the french knight de tradition asserting that this cloth had served as a pall for every male since his time the was drawn by four glossy dark brown cart horses each animal its master as a friend whose call it was accustomed to obey him wherever he went on the itself was laid a simple wreath of the glory roses gathered from the porch and walls of farm and offered as faintly on a little with a life s love and sorrow from innocent a long train of including farm lads stable men and villagers generally followed the corpse to the grave robin as chief and kin to the dead man walking behind the with head down bent and a face on which grief had stamped an impress as to make it look far older than his years groups of women stood about watching the procession with hard eager eyes and tongues held in check for a her fancy and his fact while only to wag more vigorously than ever when the ceremony should be over innocent dressed in deep black for the first time in her life went by herself to the churchyard avoiding the crowd aad hidden away among concealing she heard the service and watched all the proceedings dry eyed and heart stricken she could not weep any more there seemed no tears left to relieve the weight of her burning brain robin had tenderly m her to walk with him in the funeral procession but she refused how can i how dare i she said i am not his daughter i am nothing the cruel people here know it and they would only say my presence was an insult to the dead yes they would now he loved me and i loved him but nobody outside ourselves thinks about that or cares you would hardly believe it but i have already been told how wicked it was of me to be dressed in white when the clergyman called to see me the morning after s death well i had no other colour to wear till got me this sad black gown it made me shudder to put it on it is like the darkness itself you know always made me wear white and i feel as if i were him somehow by wearing black oh robin be kind you always are let me go by myself and watch put to rest where nobody can see me for after they have laid him down and left him they will be talking she was right enough in this not one who saw farmer s n lowered into the grave failed to notice the wreath of glory roses that went with it from innocent and her name was whispered from mouth to mouth with meaning looks and suggestive and when robin with tears thick in his eyes flung the first of innocent earth rattling down on the coffin lid his heart ached to see the lovely fragrant blossoms crushed under the heavy scattered mould for it seemed to his mind that they were like the delicate thou ts and fancies of the girl he loved being covered by the mud of the world s cruelty and and killed in the cold and darkness of a solitude all was over at last the final prayer was said the final was spoken and the gradually dispersed the reverend mr assisted by his young had performed the ceremony and before retiring to the to take off his he paused by the newly made grave to offer his hand and utter suitable to robin it is a great and trying change for you he said i suppose this i suppose you will go on with the farm as long as i answered looking him steadily in the face farm will be what it has always been mr gave him a little bow we are very glad of that very glad indeed he said farm is a great feature a very great feature indeed one may say it is an historical possession something would be lacking m the if it were not kept up to its old er reputation i think we feel that i think we feel it	33
do we not mr here to his with condescension mark a clever looking young man with kind eyes and intelligent features looked at robin i am quite sure he said that mr will take as much pride in the fine old place as his uncle did but is there not miss the daughter her fancy and his fact will probably inherit the farm will she not as nearest of mr and felt the warm blood rushing to his brows yet he re solved that the truth should be told for the honour of the dead man s name she is not my uncle s daughter he said quietly my uncle never married he adopted her when she was an infant and she was as dear to him as if she had been his own child of course she will be amply provided for there can be no doubt of that mr raised his eyes and eyebrows together you surprise me he murmured then there is no miss again robin coloured but he answered there is no miss mr s cough here troubled him considerably and though it was a fine day he expressed a mild fear that he was standing too long by the open grave in his he therefore retired his following him whereupon the a well known character in the village approached to finish the sad task of committing a es to dust to dust eh mr v remarked this worthy as he stuck his down in the heaped up earth and leaned upon it it s a black day the summer sun i never i d a thrown the on the last for last he is an there ll never be another like im you re ri t there said robin sadly i know the place can never be tiie same without him i shall do my best but ay ye ll do your best agreed with a innocent shake of his head t ut you re not a an your best ll be but a bad though there s blood in ye by ye r mother s side it s not the same as the male line do what we will an say what we like it s not your fault no this with a pitying look an no one s ye for what can t be but it s not a thing to be gotten over robin s grave nod of acquiescence was more eloquent than speech dug his a little deeper into the pile of earth if farmer ad been a man why that would a been the right thing he went on he might a had a fine son to come im a real bom an bred robin listened with acute interest why did not mention innocent did he she was not a he waited and went but ye see e wouldn t have none o that an he took the little as was left with im the night o the great storm nigh eighteen years ago that blew down three of our biggest elms in the churchyard did you know exclaimed eagerly did you see i saw a man on ride up to farm a baby in front o him with one hand and the reins in t other an he came out from the farm without the baby then one when farmer was a with tiie baby in the fields i said to im secret like that ain t your child an he ow do you know it ain t an i because i saw it come with a stranger an he laughed an said it may be mine for all that but i knew it tl a nice little girl she is too miss her fancy and his fact t cent poor soul i m downright sorry for er for she ain t got many friends in this village why robin asked half mechanically why well she s a bit too dainty like in er ways for one thing then there s who are you ay ay ye know they are sharp all of em an they can t abide er for they thinks you re a goin to marry er lord forgive me that i should be ere about over a but that s the trouble an it s the trouble au the world over a man an mad for their lives when they thinks another woman s im eh eh we should all get along better if there t no but bein men we ve got to put up with em are ye goin now well the lord love ye an comfort ye ye ll never meet a finer man this side the next world than the one i m a cold on silently turned away heavy hearted and lost in perplexed thought what was best to be done for innocent this was the chief question that presented itself to his mind he could no longer deny the fact that her position was difficult almost nameless and seemingly deserted by her kindred if any such kindred still existed she was absolutely alone in life now that was no more as he this to its fullest intensity the deeper and more passionate grew his love for her if she would only marry me he said imder his breath as he walked home slowly from the churchyard it was uncle s last wish then across his brain flashed the memory of ned and his malignant intention bom of baffled desire and fierce jealousy to the fair name of the girl he then his uncle s innocent and costly way of himself of such an enemy at any price he understood now old s talk of his bargain on the	33
last night of his life and what a futile bargain it was after all for was not of the mill fully informed of the reason why the bargain was made and she the woman in the whole neighbourhood would take delight in spreading the story far and wide five hundred pounds paid down as so she would report it thus even if he married innocent it would be under the shadow of a and what was wisest to do under the circumstances he could not decide and he entered the smiling garden of farm with the expression on his face that anyone had ever seen there met him as he came towards the house i thought ye d never here robin she said anxiously ye haven t forgot there s folks in the their feed an ll be to speak wi ye presently which is ye r s lawyer e wants to see ye mighty an there ain t no one to say to em for the dear little innocent she s come back from the cold churchyard like a little image o marble an she s gone an shut up in er own room ask robin to excuse me poor child she s fair wore out that she is an you come into the big all where there s the meat and the wine laid out for funeral folk eats more than folk bein longer about it an a bit in of it down robin looked at her with strained haggard eyes he said death is a horrible ay that it is and wiped the off her cheeks a comer of her apron an her fancy and his fact ive often thought it seems a silly kind o business to bring us into world at all for no special reason to take us out of it again just as folks ave learned to know us a bit and find us useful there s no wi the almighty an p it s us as makes the worst o death instead o the best of it now you go into the great hall mr robin you re wanted there he went as desired and was received with a murmur of sympathy by those assembled a gathering made up of the head men about the farm and a few other personages less familiar to the village but fairly well known to him such as com and cattle from the neighbouring town who had for many years done business with in preference to any other farmer these came forward and cordially shook hands with robin entering at once into conversation with him concerning his future intentions we should like things to go on the same as if th old man were alive said one a miller we don t like changes after all these years but you re up to it my lad or not we don t know and time u prove time prove answered steadily you may rely upon it that farm will be worked on the same methods which my uncle practised and approved and there will be no changes except the inevitable one and he sighed want of the tame master s brain and hand eh well you ll do your best lad i m sure of that and the miller grasped his hand warmly and we ll all stick by you there s no farm like farm in tiie whole country that s my opinion it gives the finest soil and the crops to be got anywhere you just manage it as managed it with men s work and innocent you ll come to no harm and as i say we ll all stick by you robin thanked him and then moved slowly in and out among the other funeral guests saying kindly things and in his quiet manly way creating a good impression among them and making more friends than he himself was aware of presently mr a mild looking man with round spectacles fixed very closely up against his eyes approached him him with one finger when you re ready mr he said i should like to see you in the best parlour and the young lady i believe she is called innocent yes yes and the young lady also oh there s no hurry no hurry better wait till the guests have gone as what i have to say concerns only yourself and er yes er the young lady before mentioned and also a a here he pulled out a note book from his pocket and studied it through his owl like glasses yes er yes a miss friday she must be present if she can be found i believe she is on the premises is our housekeeper said robin and a faithful friend yes i er thought so a devoted friend murmured mr and what a thing it is to have a devoted friend mr your uncle was a careful man very careful he knew whom to trust he thoroughly knew yes we don t all know but he did robin made no comment the murmuring talk of the funeral party went on in his ears like the noise of an enormous swarm of bees he watched men eating and drinking the good things had provided for the honour of the farm and then on a sudden impulse he slipped out of the hall and upstairs to innocent s where he knocked her fancy and his fact softly at the door she opened it at once and stood before him her face white as a and her eyes heavy and with tiie t of tears dear he said	33
gently you will be wanted downstairs in a few mr wishes you to be present when he reads uncle s wiu she made a little gesture of pain and i do not want to hear it she said but i will come he looked at her with anxiety and tenderness you have eaten nothing since early morning you look so pale and weak let me get you something a glass of wine no thank you she answered i could not touch a morsel not just yet oh robin it hurts me to hear au those voices in the great hall men eating and drinking there as if he were still alive and have only just laid him down in the cold earth so cold and dark i she shuddered violently i do not think it is right she went on to allow people to love each other at all if death must separate them for ever it seems only a cruelty and wickedness now that i have seen what death can do i will never love anyone again no i suppose you will not he said somewhat bitterly yet you have never known what love is you do not understand it she sighed deeply perhaps not she said and i m not sure that i want to understand it not now what love i had in my heart is au buried with and the roses i am not the same girl any more i feel a different creature grown quite old you cannot feel older than i do he replied but you do not think of me at all why should innocent you i never used to think you innocent you have always been so careful and considerate of the feelings of others yet now well are you not so much absorbed in your own grief as to be forgetful of mine for mine is a double grief a double loss i have lost my uncle and best friend and i shall lose you because you will not love me though i love you with all my heart and only want to make you happy her sad eyes met his with a direct half gaze think me selfish no no innocent but i see she said tou think i to sacrifice myself to you and to s last wish you would expect me to spoil your life by marrying you unwillingly and without i tell you you know nothing about love he interrupted her impatiently so you imagine she answered quietly t ut i do know one thing and it is that no one who really loves a person wishes to see that person unhappy to love anybody means that above all things in the world you desire to see the beloved one well and prosperous and full of gladness you cannot love me or you would not wish me to do a thing that would make me miserable if i loved you i would marry you and devote my life to yours but i do not love you and therefore i should only make you wretched if i became wife do not let us talk of this any more it me out she passed her hand over her forehead with a weary gesture it is wrong to talk of ourselves at all when is only just buried she continued say mr wants to see m very well in a few minutes i win come her fancy and his fact she stepped back inside her little room and shut the door walked away and despairing there was something m her manner that struck him as new and foreign to her usual sweet and nature a grave composure a kind of intellectual hardness that he had never before seen in her and he wondered what such a change might downstairs the funeral party had broken up many of the had gone and others were going some lingered to the last possible moment that their intimacy or friendship with the deceased would allow curious to hear something of the will what the amount of the net cash was that had been left and how it had been disposed but mr the lawyer was a cautious man and never gave himself away at any point to all suggestive hints and theories he maintained a dignified reserve and it was not until the last of the guests had departed that he made his way to the vacant best parlour and sat there with his chair pulled well up to the table and one or two legal looking documents in front of him robin joined him there taking a seat opposite to him and both men waited in more or less silence till the door opened softly to admit innocent who came in with mr rose i m sorry to have to disturb you miss er miss innocent he said with some awkwardness on this sad occasion it is no trouble she answered gently if i can be of any use mr waited tiu she sat down then again seated himself well there is really no occasion to go over legal he said opening one of the documents innocent before him uncle mr was a business man and made his will in a business like way briefly i may tell you that farm its lands buildings and all its contents are left to you who are identified thus to my nephew robin only son of my only sister the late elizabeth widow of john in french and formerly resident in the city of london on condition that the said robin shall keep and maintain the farm and house as they have always been kept and maintained	33
he shall not sell any part of the land for building nor shall he dispose of any of the furniture plate china glass or other effects belonging to farm house but shall carefully preserve the same and hand them down to his lawful in succession on the same terms as heretofore etc etc yes weu that is the of the business and we need not go over the details with the farm and lands he leaves the sum of twenty thousand pounds twenty thousand pounds i ejaculated robin amazed surely my uncle was never so rich he was a saving man and a careful one said mr calmly may take it for granted mr that his money was made through the course of his long life in a thoroughly honest and straightforward manner oh that of course but twenty thousand pounds it is a nice little fortune said mr and you come into it at a time of life when you will be able to make good use of it especially if you should be inclined to marry his eyes as they glanced from s face to that of innocent the young man s expression was absorbed and earnest but the girl her fancy and his fact looked lost and far away in a dream of her own i shall not marry said robin slowly i shall use the money entirely for the good of the farm and the work people if you do not marry you allow the tradition of to lapse suggested mr it has already he replied i am not a real of the by the mother s side you are said mr and your mother being dead it is open to you to take name of by law and continue the it would be entirely fair and reasonable robin made no answer mr settled his glasses more firmly on his nose and went on with his documents mr speaks in his last will and testament of the great love he entertained for his adopted child known as innocent and he gives to her all that is contained in the small oak chest in the best parlour this is the best parlour i round can you point out the oak chest mentioned innocent rose and moved to sl comer where she lifted out of a recess a small made brass bound with a heavy lock mr looked at it with a certain amount of curiosity the key he i believe the late mr always wore it on his watch chain robin got up and went to the here is my uncle s watch and chain he said in a hushed voice the watch has stopped i do not intend that it shall ever go again i shall keep it put by the precious treasures of the house mr no remark on this utterance which to him was one of mere sentiment and taking the watch and chain in his hand detached there innocent from a small k with this he opened the oak aad looked carefully inside taking out a sealed packet he handed it to innocent this is for you he said and this also here he lifted from the bottom of the a flat of antique leather in gold this he continued mr explained to me is a of pearls to have been given by the of the house de to his wife on their wedding day it has been worn by every bride of the house since i hope yes i very much hope it will be worn by the young lady who now it and he passed the jewel case over the table to innocent who sat silent with the sealed packet she had just received lying before her she took it and opened it a beautiful row of pearls not very large but wonderfully perfect lay within clasped by a small curiously designed diamond snap she looked at them with half wondering half indifferent eyes then closed the case and gave it to they are for wife when you marry she said please keep them mr a cough of remonstrance pardon me my dear young lady but mr was particularly anxious tiie pearls should be yours she looked at him gravely yes i am sure he was she said he was always good too good and generous but if they are mine i give them to mr there is nothing more to be said about them mr again weu that is all that is contained in this with the exception of a paper shall i read it her fancy and his fact she bent her head the paper is written in mr s own hand and is as follows continued the lawyer i desire that my adopted child known as innocent shall receive into her own possession the pearls valued by at and that she shall wear the same on her marriage morning the sealed packet placed in this with the pearls contains a letter for her own personal and private perusal and other matter which concerns herself alone mr here looked up and addressed her from these words it is evident that the sealed packet you have there is an affair of confidence she laid her hand upon it i quite understand he adjusted his glasses and turned over his documents once more then i think there is nothing more we need trouble you oh yes one thing er miss friday who during the whole conversation had sat bolt upright on a chair in the comer of the room neither moving nor speaking here rose and the lawyer looked at her attentively miss friday yes sir that s me said briefly mr thou t very highly of	33
you miss friday he said lie you in the following paragraph of his will i give and to my faithful housekeeper and good friend friday the of two hundred for her own personal use and i desire that she shall remain at farm for the rest of her life and that if she shall find it necessary to resign her duties in the farm house she shall possess that cottage on my es innocent known aa rose cottage free of all charges and be allowed to live there and be and comfortably maintained till the end of her days and er pray don t distress yourself miss friday for was crying and making no effort to hide her emotion bless is old art she he of everybody e did an what shall i ever want o rose cottage as is the sweetest o little places when i ve got the kitchen o farm an there i ll to do my work plain an true till i drops so there an i m much obliged to ye mr an ye ll tell me where to put the two so as i don t lose it for i never ad so much money in my life an if any one gets to ear of it i ll ave all the an lame an round me in a an as for money i never could an p it ud be best for mr robin to look it here she stopped out of breath talk and tears it will be all right said mr soothingly quite all right i assure you mr will no doubt see to any little business matter for you with great pleasure dear and innocent went to her side and put an arm round her neck don t cry you will be so happy living always in this dear old place and robin will be so glad to have you with him took the little hand that her and kissed it ah my she half whispered i should be enough if i thought you was a goin to be too but you re in the face o fortune that s what you re a innocent silenced her with a gesture and stood beside her patiently listening till mr had his business fancy and his fact i think mr he then said at last there is no occasion to trouble you further everything is in perfect order you are the of farm and all its contents with all its adjoining lands and the only condition attached to your inheritance is that you keep it maintained on the same working methods by which it has always been maintained you will find no difficulty in doing this and you have plenty of money to do it on there are a few minor respecting farm stock etc which we can go over together at any time you are sole of course and er i think that is all may i go now asked innocent lifting her serious blue grey eyes to his face do you want me any more mr surveyed her curiously no i er i think not he replied of course the pearls should be in your possession i have given them away she said quickly to but i have not accepted them he answered i will keep them if you like for you she gave a slight scarcely perceptible movement of vexation and then taking up the sealed packet which was addressed to her personally she left the room the lawyer looked after her in a little perplexity i m afraid she takes her loss rather badly he said or perhaps is she a little absent minded robin smiled sadly i think not he answered of course she feels the death of my uncle deeply she adored him and then i suppose you know my uncle may have told you that he hoped and expected you to marry her said mr nodding his head innocent i am aware that such was his dearest wish in fact he led me to believe that the matter was as good as settled she will not have me said gently and i cannot compel her to marry me against her will indeed i would not if i could the lawyer was so surprised that he was obliged to take off his glasses and polish them she will not have you he exclaimed dear me that is indeed most unexpected and distressing there is there is nothing against you surely you are quite a young man robin shrugged his shoulders whatever i am does not matter to her he said let us talk no more about it looked from one to the other eh well she said if any one knows er at all tis i as ave ad er with me night an day when she was a baby and as watched er grow into the little beauty she is an er ed s just fair full o strange fancies that she s got out o the books she found in the old knight s chest years ago we must give er time to think a bit an settle tis an awful blow to er to lose er as she called farmer she s like a little bird fallen out o the nest with no strength to use er wings an not where to go let er settle a bit that s what i an you ll see i m right you leave er alone robin an all ll come right never fear she s got the notions about love she picked em out o they old books an she ll ave	33
to find out they s more lies than truth love s a poor for most folks it don t last long enough mr permitted himself to smile as he took his hat and prepared to go i m sure you re quite ri t miss friday ue said you er most s i m sure i her fancy and his fact hope for the young lady s sake tliat she will settle down if she does not ay if she does not echoed well if she does not life may be difficult for her and the lawyer shook his head a girl alone in the world with no relatives ah dear dear me a sad look out a very sad but we must trust to her good sense that she will be wise in time chapter x upstairs shut in her own little room with the locked innocent opened the sealed packet she found within it a letter and some bank notes with a sensitive pain which thrilled every nerve in her body she unfolded the letter written in s firm clear writing a writing she knew so well and which bore no trace of weakness or failing in the hand that guided the pen how strange it was she thought that the written words should look so living and distinct when the writer was dead her head swam her eyes were dim for a moment she could scarcely see then the mist before slowly dispersed and she read the first words which made her heart swell and the tears rise in her aching throat my when you read this i shall be gone to that wonderful world which all the tell us about but which none of them are in any great hurry to see for themselves i hope and i sometimes believe such a world exists and that perhaps it is a place where a man may sow seed and raise crops as well and as as on farm however i m praying i may not be taken till ive seen you safely wed to robin and yet something tells me this will not be and that s the something that makes me write this letter and put it with the pearls that are by my will destined for you on your marriage morning i m writing it remember on the same night ive told you all about yourself the night of the day the doctor gave me her fancy and his fact my death warrant i may a year i may live but a week it will be hard if i may not live to see vou married but god s will must be done ttie bank notes folded in this letter make up four hundred and this money you can spend as you like on your clothes for tiie or on anything you fancy i place no on you as to its use when a maid there are many she needs to buy and the prettier they are for you the better shall i be pleased whether i live or whether i die you need say nothing of this money to robin or to anyone it is your own absolutely to do as you like with i am thankful to feel that you wiu be safe in robin s loving care for the world is hard on a woman left alone as you would be were it not for him i give you my word tiiat if i had any clue however small to your real i would write down here for you all i know but i know nothing more than i have told you i have loved you as my own child and you have been the joy of my old may god bless you and give you joy and peace in farm you and your children and your children s children i amen tour she read this to the end and then some in her brain seemed to and she wept long and bitterly her head bent down on the letter and her bright hair falling over it presently checking her sobs she rose and looked about her in a kind of dream the familiar little room seemed io have suddenly become strange to her and she thought she saw standing in one comer a figure clad in its was up showing a sad pale face and melancholy eyes the lips moved and a murmur floated past her ears mon me a innocent cold terror seized her and she trembled from head to foot then the vision or vanished as swiftly and mysteriously as it had appeared her forces she gradually mastered the overpowering fear which for a moment had possessed her and folding up s last letter she kissed it and placed it in her bosom the bank notes were four in number each for one hundred pounds these she put in an envelope and shut them in the drawer containing her secret manuscript now the way is clear she said i can do what i like i have my wings and i can fly away oh dear you would be so unhappy if you knew what i mean to do it would break your heart but you have no heart to break now poor it is cold as stone it will never beat any more mine is the heart that beats the heart that and and hurts me ah how it hurts aiid no one can understand no one will ever care to understand she locked her manuscript drawer then went and bathed her eyes which with the tears she had shed looking at herself in the mirror she saw	33
a pale plaintive little creature without any freshness of beauty all the vitality seemed gone out of her her ruffled hair she twisted it up in a loose at the back of her head and studied with melancholy dislike and pain the heavy effect of her dense black against her delicate skin i shall do for anything now she said no one will look at me and i shall pass quite in a crowd i m glad i m not a pretty girl it might be more difficult to get on and robin called me lovely the other day poor foolish robin she went downstairs then to see if she could help but would not allow her to do anything in the way of what she called her fancy and his fact t o she said you just keep quiet an by an bye you an me u ave a quiet tea together for robin he s gone oflf for the rest o the day an night with mr as there s lots o things to see to an e left you this little note here produced a small neatly folded paper from her apron pocket an e give this to miss innocent e an she won t mind my bein out o the way it ll be better for er to be quiet a bit with you an so it will for sometimes a man about the is a an a burden say what we will an good though e be innocent took the note and read i have made up my mind to go with into the town and stay at his house for the night there are many business matters we have to go into together and it is important for me to thoroughly understand the position of my s affairs if i cannot manage to get back to morrow i will let you know robin she heaved a sigh of intense relief for hours at least she was free from love s she could be alone to think and to plan she turned to with a gentle look and smile i ll go into the garden die said and when it s tea time you ll come and fetch me won t you i shall be near the old stone knight oh bother im muttered you do think too much o that there blessed old figure why what s e got to do with you my pretty nothing and the colour came to her pale cheeks for a moment and then fled back again he never had anything to do with me really but i seem to know him gave a kind of melancholy and the innocent girl moved slowly away through the open door and beyond it out among the radiant flowers her little figure in deep black was soon lost to sight and after watching her for a minute turned to work with tears blinding her eyes so thickly that she could scarcely see if she take robin the lord knows what ll become of er sighed the worthy woman for she s as lone i the world as a fallen out o the nest before it s grown strong enough to fly eh we we did a good deed an i when we er as a baby as er parents ud turn up an be sorry for the loss of er but never a sign of a soul an now she s grow d up she s in er ed which ain t easy to for since told er the tale of she s not been the same like she s got old the afternoon was very peaceful and beautiful the sun shone warmly over the smooth meadows of farm and the apples in the orchard yet a little more tenderly flashing in of gold on the glory roses and touching the wings of fluttering with silver no one looking at the fine old house with its picturesque and windows would have thought that its last master of lawful was dead and buried and that the funeral had taken place that morning farm though more than three centuries old seemed full of youthful life and promise a vital fact destined to many more human lives than those which in the passing of three hundred years had already left their mark upon it and it was strange and incredible to that the long chain of descended male ancestors had broken at last and tiiat no remaining link survived to carry on the old tradition sadly and slowly innocent walked across the stretches of warm scented grass to the an her fancy and his fact tomb of the and sat down beside it not far from the place where so lately she had sat with robin what a change had come oyer her life since then she watched the sun sinking towards the horizon in a mellow mist of orange coloured radiance the day was drawing to an end the wretched day which had seen the best friend she had ever known and whom for years she had adored and as her own father laid in the dust to perish among things i wish i had died instead of him she said half aloud or else that i had never been bom oh dear you know how hard it is to live in the world some one wants you unless some one loves you and no one wants me no one loves me except robin solitary and full of the heaviest sadness she tried to think and to form plans but her mind was tired and she could come to no decisive resolution beyond the one all convincing necessity that of leaving farm of course she must go	33
who deserted me dear me your own father deserted you how shocking of him and lady turned a pair her fancy and his fact of brilliant dark eyes full on the pale little face her and your mother she deserted me too what a couple here lady extended a delicately hand towards her come here and let me look at you but innocent hesitated excuse me she said with a quaint and simple dignity i do not know you i cannot understand why you have come to see me if you would explain while she thus spoke lady had surveyed her through a gold quite a proud little person it is she remarked and smiled quite proud i i suppose i really mv t explain only i do hope you will not make a scene nothing is so unpleasant and such bad form please sit down innocent placed a chair close to the table so that she could lean her arm on that friendly board and steady her trembling little frame when she was seated lady again looked at her through the then she continued well i must first tell you that i have always known your history such a romance isn t it you were brought here as a baby by a man on horseback and he left you with the good old farmer who has taken care of you ever since i am right yes i m quite sure about it because i knew the man the curious sort of parental who got rid of you in such a curious way innocent drew a sharp breath you knew him lady gave a delicate little cough yes i knew him rather well i was quite a girl and he was an artist a rather famous one in his way half french and very good looking yes innocent he certainly was remarkably good looking we ran away together most absurd of us but we did please don t look at me like that you remind me of in la innocent s eyes were indeed full of something like positive terror her heart beat violently she felt a strange dread and a that chilled her very blood people often do that kind of thing fall in love and run away continued lady placidly when they are young and silly it is quite a delightful sensation of course but it doesn t last they don t know the world and they never calculate results however we had quite a good time together we went to and and he painted pictures and made love to me and it was all very nice and pretty then of course trouble came and we had to get out of it as best we could we were both tired of each other and quarrelled dreadfully so we decided to give each other up only you were in the way innocent rose herself with one hand against the table i she exclaimed with a kind of sob in her throat you dear me how you stare don t you understand i suppose you ve lived such a strange sort of life down here that you know nothing you were in the way you the baby do you mean yes i mean what you ought to have guessed at once if you were not as stupid as an owl i ve told you i ran away with a man i wouldn t marry him though he asked me to i should have been tied up for life and i didn t want that so we decided to separate and he undertook to get rid of the baby her fancy and his fact me cried innocent wildly oh dear god it was me yes it was you but you needn t be tragic about it said lady i think on the whole you were fortunately placed and i was told where you you were told oh you were told and you never came and you you are my mother and overpowered by the shock of emotion the ml sank on her and burying her head in her hands sobbed bitterly lady looked at her in meditative silence what a tiresome creature she murmured under her breath quite no repose of manner no style whatever and apparently very little sense i think it s a pity i came a mistaken sense of duty aloud she said i hope you re not going to cry very long won t you get it over i thought you would be glad to know me and i ve come out of pure kindness to you simply because i heard your old farmer was dead why pierce should have brought you to him i never could imagine except that once he was painting a picture in the neighbourhood and was rather taken with the history of this place farm isn t it called you u make your eyes quite sore if you go on crying like that yes i am your mother most i hoped you would never know it but now as you are left quite alone in the world i have come to see what i can do for you innocent checked her sobs and lifting her head looked straight into tiie rather shallow bright eyes that regarded her such cold and easy scrutiny you can do nothing for me she answered in a low voice you never have done anything for innocent me if you are my mother you are an one and moved by a swift emotion she stood up with indignation and scorn lighting every feature of her face i waa in your way	33
at my birth and you were glad to be rid of me why should you seek me now lady glanced her over really you would do well on the stage she said if you were taller you would make your fortune with that tragic it is quite wasted on me i assure you i ve told you a very simple commonplace truth a thing that happens every day a silly couple run away together madly in love and by the idea that love will last they get into trouble and have a child naturally as they are not married the child is in the way and they get rid of it some people would have killed it you know your father was quite a kind hearted person and his one idea was to place you where there were no other children and where you would have a chance of being taken care of so he brought you to farm and he told me where he had left you before he went away and died died echoed the my father is dead so i believe and lady stifled a slight the was always a rather reckless person went out to paint pictures in all or to study effects as he called it how i hated his art talk and i heard he died in paris of or or something or other but as i was married then it didn t matter innocent s deep set sad eyes studied her with strange did you not love him she asked lady laughed lightly you odd girl of course i was quite crazy about him he was so handsome and very fascinating in her fancy and his fact his way but he could be a terrible bore and he had a very bad temper i was thankful when we separated but i have made my own private about you from time to time i always had rather a curiosity about you as i have had no other children won t you come and kiss me innocent stood rigid i cannot she said lady flushed and bit her lips as you like she said i don t mind the girl clasped her hands tightly together how can you ask me she said in low thrilling tones you who have let me grow up without any knowledge of you you who had no shame in leaving me here to live on the charity of a stranger you who never cared at all for the child you brought the world can you imagine that could care well really smiled lady i m not sure that i have asked you to care i have simply come here to tell you that you are not entirely alone in the world and that i knowing myself to be your mother although it happened so long ago i can hardly i was ever such a fool am willing to do something for you especially as i have no children by my second marriage i wiu in fact adopt you and she laughed a pretty musical like a of little silver bells lord will be delighted he s a kind old person innocent looked at her gravely and steadily do you mean to say that you will own me name me acknowledge me as your daughter why certainly not and lady s eyes flashed over her in cold disdain what are you thinking of you are not legitimate and you r y innocent have no lawful name besides i m not bound to do anything at all for you now you are old enough to earn your own living but i m quite a good natured woman and as i have said already i have no children and i m to adopt you bring you out in society give you pretty clothes and marry you well if i can but to own that i ever made such an idiot of myself as to have you at all is a little too much to ask lord would never forgive so you would make me live a life of deception with you said innocent you would make me pretend to be what i am not just as you pretend to be what you are not and yet you say i am your child oh god save me from such a mother madam and she spoke in cold deliberate accents you have lived all these years without children save me whom you have ignored and i though nameless and now you i have no mother i would not own you any more than you would own me my shame in saying that such a woman is my mother would be greater than yours in saying that i am your child for the of my birth is not my fault but s i am aa my father called me innocent her breath came and went quickly a crimson flush was on her cheeks she looked beautiful lady stared at her in wide eyed disdain you are exceedingly rude and stupid she said talk like a badly trained and you are quite blind to your own interests now please remember that if you refuse tiie offer i make you i shall never trouble about you you wiu have to sink or swim and you can do nothing for yourself without even a name have you never heard interrupted innocent her fancy and his fact suddenly that it is quite possible to make a name her mother was for the moment startled she looked so strong and inspired have you never thought she went on even you in your strange life of exclaimed lady	33
how dare you say such a thing of course it is said the girl resolutely are married to a man who knows nothing of your past life is not that you are a great lady no doubt you have everything you want in this world except children one child you had in me and you let me be taken from you yet you would pretend to adopt me though you know i am your own is not that lady for a moment her lips in a line of decided temper then she smiled it is tact she said and good manners society lives by certain and we must be careful not to outrage them in your own you should be glad to learn how to live without offence to others around you innocent looked at her with straight and scorn i have done that she answered so far i shall continue to do it i do not want any help from you i would rather die than owe you anything e understand this you say i am your daughter and i suppose i must believe it but the brings me sorrow and shame and i must work my way out of this sorrow and shame somehow i will do all i can to the life you have given me i never knew my mother was alive and now i wish to forget it if my father lived i would go to him innocent would you indeed and lady rose shaking her elegant skirts and herself like a bird preparing for flight i m afraid you would hardly receive a parental welcome fortunately for himself and for me he is dead so you are quite by any latent notions of filial duty and you will never see me again after to day no and the was put with the slightest of satire so fine as to be scarcely perceptible but lady caught it and angrily of course not she said do you think you in your position of a mere farmer s girl are likely to meet me in the greater world you without even a name would you have given me a name interposed the girl of course i should have invented one for you i can do that for myself said innocent quietly and so you are relieved from ail trouble on my score may i ask you to go now lady stared at her are you insolent or only stupid she asked do you what it is that i have told you that i lady wife of a peer and moving in the highest ranks of society am willing to take charge of you feed you clothe you bring you out and marry you well do you understand and still refuse i understand and i still refuse replied innocent i would accept if you owned me as your daughter to your husband and to all the world but as your adopted child as a lie imder your roof i refuse absolutely and entirely are you astonished that i should wish to live truly instead of her fancy and his fact lady gathered her lace round her elegant shoulders i begin to think it must have been all a bad dream she said and laughed softly my little affair with your father cannot have really happened and you cannot really be my child i must consider it in that light i feel i have done my part in the matter by coming here to see you and to you and make what i consider a very kind and reasonable proposition you have refused it and there is no more to be said she settled her dainty hat more on her rich dark hair and smiled agreeably will you show me the way out i left my car on the high road my did not care to bring it down your rather muddy back lane innocent said nothing but merely opened tiie door and stood aside for her visitor to pass a curious at her heart oppressed her as she thought that elegant self possessed exquisitely attired creature was actually her mother and she could have cried out with the pain which was so hard to bear suddenly lady came to an abrupt you will not kiss me she said not even for your father s sake with a quick sobbing catch in her breath the girl looked up her mother was a full head taller than she she lifted her fair head her eyes were full of tears her lips quivered lady stooped and kissed them lightly there be a good girl she said have the most extraordinary high flown notions and i think they will lead you into trouble however i d give you one more chance if at the end of this year you would like to come to me my offer to you still holds after that well as you said you will have no mother innocent i have never had one answered innocent in low choked accents and i shall never have one lady smiled a cold amused smile and passed out through the hall into tiie garden what delightful flowers she exclaimed in a sweet singing voice for the benefit of anyone who might be listening a perfect paradise no wonder farm is so famous it s perfectly charming is this the way thanks ever so much this as innocent opened the gate let me see i go up the old by road yes and the main road it at the summit no pray don t trouble to come with me i can find my car quite easily good bye and picking up her	33
at the motto mon me poor she murmured he sought forgetfulness shall i ever do the same how strange it will be not to wish to remember surely one must be very old or sad to find gladness in a faint little thrill of dread ran through her slight frame thoughts began to her and shake her courage she resolutely put them away and bent herself to the practical side of action re herself in the plain black dress and hat which had got for her mourning garb she waited patiently for the first peep of daylight si daylight which was little more than darkness and then taking her she crept softly out of her room never once looking back there was nothing to stay her fancy and his fact her progress for the great hero since s death had taken to such dismal howling that it had been found necessary to keep him away from the house in a far off shed where his melancholy could not be heard treading light footsteps down the stairs she reached the front door and unlocked it without any noise and as softly closed it behind her then she stood in the open slightly in the sweet coldness of the coming dawn and the fragrance of awakening flowers she knew of a gap in the hedge by means of which she could leave the garden without opening the big farm gate which moved on rather creaking hinges and she took this way over a couple of rough stepping stones once out on the old by road she paused farm looked like a house in a dream there was not enough daylight yet to show its distinctly and it was more like the shadowy suggestion of a building than any actual substance yet there was something solemn and impressive in its scarcely defined outline to the sensitive imagination it was like the darkened and disappearing vision of her youth and happiness a curtain falling as it were between the past and the future like a d op scene in a play good bye farm she whispered kissing her hand to ihe roof just dimly perceptible good bye dear beloved home i i all never forget you i shall never see anything like you i good bye peace and safety good bye the tears rushed to her eyes and for the moment blinded her then this weakness she set herself to walk quickly and steadily away up the old by road through the darkness of the overhanging trees here and there crossed by pale wandering of fitful light from the dawn die moved swiftly with noiseless footsteps innocent as though she thought the unseen spirits of wood and field might hear and interrupt her progress and in a few minutes she found herself upon tiie broad highway right and left and leading in either direction to the wider world farm had disappeared behind the trees it was as though no such place existed so deeply was it hidden she stopped considering she was not sure which was the way to the nearest railway station some eight miles distant she was prepared to walk it but feared to take the wrong road for she instinctively felt that if she had to endure any unexpected delay some one from farm would be sent to trace her and find out where she went while she thus hesitated she heard the heavy of slow cart wheels and waited to see what sort of vehicle might be approaching it was a large drawn by two ponderous horses and driven by a man who dimly perceived by the light of the lantern fastened in front of him appeared to be asleep innocent hailed him and after one or two efforts succeeded at last in rousing his attention which is the way to the railway station she asked the man at her railway station is it i be a goin there now to fetch a load o are ye to to was a country phrase to which innocent was well accustomed she answered yes i should be so glad if you d give me a lift i ll pay you for it i have to catch the first train to london quiet ye this to the sturdy horses who were dragging away at their shafts in stolid determination to move on s a good way off ever bin there her fancy and his fact no nor i service yes ye can ride along wi me if so be ye likes it we be goin main slow but we ll be there before first engine climb up that s right ere s a corner beside me ye could sit in the if ye liked but it s ard as nails ere s a bit of cloth for a cushion the girl sprang up as he bade her and was soon seated ye re a light un an a little un an a young un he said with a chuckle an what ye re all alone i the wake o tiie is more than yer own mother knows i bet i have no mother she said eh eh that s that s bad yet for all that there s bad mothers s worse than none on wi ye this in a voice to the horses accompanied by a sounding crack of the whip on the big strong creatures at tiie shafts and obeyed hoofs making noisy clatter in the silence of tiie dawn the daylight was beginning to declare itself more openly and away to the east just above a line of dark trees the sky showed pale suggestions of and of rose innocent sat very silent she was almost afraid of the coming light lest by chance the man beside her should ever have seen her before	33
and recognise her his sleep having been broken he was disposed to be ever bin by train afore he asked no no eh that s mighty cur ous a most goes somewhere by train nowadays there s such a sight o cheap i know a man got up i the middle o night e did an more fool e innocent an off e goes by train down to for tiie day never seen the sea before an it im such a scare as e ain t got over it yet e said there was such a sight o water that e it ud off altogether an wash away all the land and im with it ay ay e was main scared is cheap i ve never seen the sea said innocent then in a low clear tone but i ve read about it and i think i know what it is like it is always changing it is full of beautiful colours blue and green and grey and violet and it has great waves edged with white foam oh yes the poets write about it and i have often seen it in my dreams the dawning light in the sky deepened and the turned his head to look more closely at his girl companion ye talks mighty strange he said a most as if ye d been up to it i ain t been an i ve no notions above my but ye may be right about the sea if ye ve read about it though the papers is mostly lies if ye asks me telling ye one thing one day an another to morrow i don t read the papers and innocent smiled a little as in the light she began to see the stolid stupid but good natured face of the man i don t understand them i ve read about the sea in books books of poetry he uttered a sound a whistle and a books of poetry an ye re goin to seek service in take my word for t my they won t want any folks there wi sort o like that in their they re all on the make there an they don t care for money an ow to it i ain t bin there but i ve a good deal you may have heard wrong said innocent gathering more age as she that the light was her fancy and his fact now quite clear enough for him to see her features distinctly and that it was evident he did not know her london is such a large place that there must be all sorts in it good as well as bad they can t all be greedy for money there must be people who think beautiful things and do beautiful work oh there s plenty o work done there and the his long whip against the sturdy of his horses i t that an you ll ave to work my you you ll ave to wash down steps an sweep a good while afore you into the way of it why not take a service in the country i m a little tired of the country she answered i d like a change an a change ye re likely to he retorted somewhat lor bless yer art there ain t like the country all the trees a an the flowers a an the birds a ave ye ever of a place called farm she controlled the nervous start of her body and replied quietly i think i have a very old place ah old twas old in the tune o good queen an the same ly as ad it these years a ly o the name o ay if ye could a got service wi farmer ye d a bin in luck s way but e s dead an gone last week more s the pity an is nephew s got the place now e ain t a she was silent affecting not to be interested the went on that s the sort o place to seek service in safe an clean an as the sunshine good work an good pay a deal better than a place in innocent an country air my country air like it a sudden blaze of gold lit up the trees the sun was rising full day was disclosed and the last curtains of the night were withdrawn showing a heavenly blue sky lightly with wandering of white cloud like he pointed eastward with his long whip look at that he said fine isn t it no roofs and chimneys just the woods and fields like it anywhere innocent drew a long breath the air was indeed sweet and keen new life seemed given to the world with its freshness but she made no reply to the enthusiastic comments of her companion thoughts were in her brain too deep for speech not here not here in this quiet pastoral scene could she learn the way to the golden of fame from the hands of the silent it must be in the turmoil and rush of endeavour the swift pursuit of the flying i and the slow along she felt herself drawn as it were by a on on on on towards a veiled mystery which waited for her a mystery which she alone could solve presently they came within sight of several rows of ugly wooden sheds with iron roofs and short black chimneys a most there now said the ere s a bit o already dirt an and where man do make a mess o things e makes a mess all round spoils everything e	33
be involved in a or woven distinctly as a clue but which in any case lead to change in the formerly accepted order of things we may thank the gods this is otherwise in the trot of a carefully and of daily existence we should become the easy prey of who discovering our desire for the of a convenient and comfortable routine would us of all individuality our very servants would become our masters and would take advantage of our easy going ways to over us as in the case of lone ladies who are often half afraid to claim obedience from the they keep pay ignorant of the ways of the world and full of such dreams as the world considers madness innocent had acted on a powerful inward which pushed her spirit towards liberty and independence but of any difficulties or dangers she might have to encounter she never thought she had the blind confidence of a child that runs along heedless of falling being instinctively sure that some hand will be stretched out to save it should it run into positive danger the weakness of tears she dried her eyes and endeavoured not to think at all not to dwell on the memory of her whom she had loved so tenderly and all the sweet surroundings of farm which already seemed so her fancy and his fact far away robin would be sorry she had gone indeed he would be very miserable for a time she was certain of that and yes had loved her as her own child here her thoughts began running riot again and she moved impatiently just then the old gentleman with the morning post folded it neatly and bending forward it to her would you like to see the paper he a ed politely the warm colour flushed her cheeks she accepted it thank you very much she murmured and gratefully her tearful eyes behind convenient news sheet she began glancing up and down the front page with all its numerous from the agony column down to the latest new concert singers and of suddenly her attention was caught by the following advertisement a lady of good connection and position will be glad to take another lady as paying guest in her charming house in would suit anyone studying art or for a liberal table and refined surroundings please communicate with at here followed an address over and over again innocent read this with a sort of fascination finally taking from her pocket a little note book and pencil she copied it carefully i might go there she thought if she is a poor lady wanting money she might be glad to have me as a paying guest anyhow it will do no harm to try i must find some place to rest in if only for a night here she became aware that the old gentleman who had lent her the paper was her curiously yet kindly she met his glance with a mixture of innocent frankness and timidity which gave her expression a wonderful charm he ventured to speak as he might have spoken to a little child are you going to london for the first time he yes sm he smiled he had a pleasant smile distinctly humorous and good natured it s a great adventure he said especially for a little girl all alone she coloured i m not a little girl she answered with quaint dignity i m eighteen really and the old gentleman looked more humorous than ever oh well of course you are quite old but you see i am seventy so to me you seem a little girl i suppose your friends will meet you in london she hesitated then answered simply no i have no friends i am going to earn my living the old gentleman whistled it was a short low whistle at first but it developed into a bar of sally in our alley then he looked round the other people in the the husband and wife were asleep poor child he then said very gently i m afraid that will be hard work for you you don t look very strong oh but i am she eagerly i can do anything in or farming i ve been brought up to be useful that s more than a great many girls can say he remarked smiling well well i hope you may succeed i also was brought up to be useful but i m not sure that i have ever been of any use she looked at him with quick interest her fancy and his fact are you a clever man she asked the simplicity of the question amused him and he laughed a few people have sometimes called me so he answered but my cleverness or whatever it may be is not of the successful order and i m getting old now so that most of my activity is past i have written a few books books she clasped her hands nervously and her eyes grew brilliant oh if you can write books you must always be happy do you think so and he bent his brows and her more intently what do you know about it are you fond of reading a deep blush her fair yes but i have only read very old books for the most part she said in the farm house where i was brought up there were a great many on and curious things i read those and some books in old french books in old french he echoed and you can read them you are quite a scholar then oh no indeed she protested i have only taught myself a little of course it was difficult at first but i	33
soon managed it just as i learned how to read old english i mean the english of queen elizabeth s time i loved it all so much that it was a pleasure to puzzle it out we had a few modern books but i never cared for them he studied her face with increasing interest and you are going to earn your own living in london he said have you thought of a way to begin in old french or old english she glanced at him quickly and saw that he was smiling kindly yes she answered gently i have thought innocent of a way to begin i will you tell me of some book you have written so that i may read it he shook his head not i he declared i could not stand the criticism of a young lady who might compare me with the writers of the shakespeare for instance ah no she said no one can ever be compared with shakespeare that is impossible he was silent and as she resumed her reading of the morning post he had lent her he leaned back in his seat and left her to herself but he was keenly interested this young small creature with her delicate intelligent face and wistful blue grey eyes was a new experience for him he was a well and man of letters clever in his own line and not without touches of originality in his work but hardly brilliant or enough to the attention of the public to a large or successful issue he was however the right hand and chief power on the staff of one of the most influential of daily newspapers whose proprietor would no more have thought of managing things without him than of going without a dinner and from this post which he had held for twenty years he derived a sufficiently comfortable income in his profession he had seen all classes of humanity the wise and the ignorant the conceited and the timid men who considered themselves new in women in whom the unbounded vanity of a little surface cleverness was sufficient to place them beyond the pale of respect but he had never till now met a little country girl making her first journey to london who admitted reading old french and english as as she might have spoken of gathering apples or cream he determined not to lose sight of her fancy and his fact her and to improve the acquaintance if he got the chance he heard her give a sudden sharp sigh as she read the morning post she had turned to the middle of the newspaper where the events of the day were and where a column of fashionable intelligence announced the doings of the so called great of the world here one had caught and her attention it ran thus lord and lady have left town for where they will entertain a large house party to meet the prime minister her mother it was to believe that but a few hours ago this very lady had offered to adopt her adopt her own child and act a lie in the face of all the society she frequented yet strange and fantastic as it seemed it was true possibly innocent had she chosen could have been taken to she too might have met the f minister she almost laughed at the thought of it the paper shook in her hand her mother just then the old gentleman bent forward again and spoke to her we are very near london now he said can i help you at the station to get your luggage you mi t find it at first oh thank you die murmured but i have no luggage only this and she pointed to the b de her i shall get on very well here she folded up the morning post and returned it to him with a pretty air of courtesy as he accepted it he smiled you are a very independent little lady he said but just in case you ever do want to read a book of mine i am going to give you name and address here he took a card from his waistcoat and gave it to her that will always innocent find me he continued don t be afraid to write and ask me anything about london you may wish to know it s a very large city a cruel one and he looked at her with compassionate kindness you mustn t lose yourself in it she read the name on the card john and the address was the office of a famous daily journal looking up she gave him a grateful little smile you are very kind she said and i will not forget you i don t think i shall lose myself i ll try not to be so stupid yes when i have read one of your books i will write to you do and there was almost a note of eagerness in his voice i should like to know what you think here a loud and persistent scream from the engine whistle drowned all possibility of speech as the train rushed past a bewildering wilderness of houses packed close together under black chimneys then as the din ceased he added quietly here is london she looked out of the window the sun was shining but through a dull brown mist and nothing but bricks and mortar upon met her view after the sweet of the she had left behind the scene was hideous and her heart sank with a sense of fear and another few minutes and the train stopped	33
this is said john then noting her troubled expression let me get a for you and tell the man where to drive she submitted in a kind of stunned bewilderment the address she had found in the morning post was her rescue she could go there she thought rapidly even if she had to come away again almost before she could what had happened in all the noise and bustling to and fro she found her her fancy and his fact self in a cab and her kind fellow traveller standing beside it raising his hat to her courteously in farewell she gave him the address of the house in which she had copied from the advertisement she had seen in the morning post and he repeated it to the driver with a sense of relief and pleasure it was what is called a respectable address and he was glad the child knew where she was going in another moment the was off a parting smile brightened the wistful expression of her young face and she waved her little hand to him and then she was whirled away among the crowd of and lost to si t old john stood for a moment on the lost in thought a sweet little soul he mused i wonder what will become of her i must see her again some day she reminds me of let me see who does she remind me of by jove i have it pierce haven t seen him for twenty years at least and this girl s face has a look of his just the same eyes and intense expression poor old he promised to be a great artist once but he s gone to the dogs by this time i suppose curious curious that i should remember him just now and he went his way thinking and wondering while innocent went hers without any thought at all in a blind and simple faith that god would take care of hen chapter xii to be whirled along through the crowded streets of london m a cab for the first time in one s life must needs be a somewhat even alarming experience and innocent was the poor little prey of so many nervous fears during her journey to in this fashion that she could think of nothing and nothing except that at any moment it seemed likely she would be killed wide open terrified eyes she watched the huge almost bearing down upon the vehicle in which she sat and shivered at the narrow margin of space the driver seemed to allow for any sort of escape from instant collision and utter disaster she only began to naturally again when turning away out of the greater press of traffic the cab began to run at a and less noisy pace till presently in less time than she could have imagined possible it drew up at a modestly retreating little door under an arched porch in a quiet little square where there were some brave and pretty trees doing their best to be green despite london and smoke innocent stepped out and seeing a bell handle pulled it timidly the was answered by a very neat maid servant who looked at her in polite is mrs or miss at home she ed i saw her advertisement in the morning post the servant s face changed from to her fancy and his fact oh yes miss i please step in i ll tell miss thank you i ll pay the driver she thereupon paid for the cab and dismissed it and then followed the maid into a very small but prettily arranged hall and from thence into a charming little drawing room with french windows set open showing a tiny garden beyond a little green lawn smooth as velvet and a few miniature gay with well kept blossoms ould you please take a seat miss and the maid placed a chair miss is upstairs but she ll be down directly she left the room closing the door softly behind her innocent sat still in hand looking wistfully about her the room appealed to her taste in its extreme simplicity and it instinctively suggested to her mind resigned poverty making the best of itself there were one or two old on velvet stands set on the these were beautiful and of value some of famous pictures adorned the walls all well chosen the quaint china bowl on the centre table was full of roses carefully arranged and there was a very ancient in one comer which apparently served only aa a stand for the portrait of a man s strikingly handsome face near which was placed a containing a stem of lilies innocent found looking at this portrait now and again there was something familiar in its expression which had a ous fascination for her but her thoughts chiefly round a difficulty which had just presented itself she had no real name what name could she take to be known by for the moment she not call herself she felt she had no right to do so might pass muster for an innocent tion of innocent she decided to make use of that as a christian name but a that would be fitted to her ultimate intentions she could not at once select then she suddenly thought of the man who had been her father and had brought her as a helpless babe to farm pierce was his name and he was dead surely she might call herself while she was still her mind over the question the door opened and a little old lady entered a soft eyed pale pretty old lady as dainty and delicate as the of a child s dream with white hair on either side of her face and a wistful rather	33
plaintive expression of mingled hope and i m sorry to keep you waiting she began then paused in a kind of embarrassment the two looked at each other innocent spoke a little i saw your advertisement in the morning post she said and i thought perhaps i thought that i might come to you as a guest i have to live in london and i shall be very busy studying au day so i should not give you much trouble pray do not mention it said the old lady with a quaint air of old fashioned courtesy trouble would not be considered but you are a much younger person than i expected or wished to accommodate you said in the advertisement that it would be suitable for a person studying art or for a put in innocent quickly and i am studying for literature are you indeed and the old lady waved a little hand in courteous of all unnecessary explanation a hand which innocent noticed had a delicate lace on it and one or two sparkling rings well let us sit down together and talk it her fancy and his fact over i have two spare rooms a bedroom and a sitting room they are small but very comfortable and for these i have been told i should ask three guineas a week including board i feel it a little and the old lady heaved a sigh i have never done this kind of thing before i don t know what my poor father major would have said he was a very proud man very proud while she thus talked innocent had been making a rapid calculation in her own mind three guineas a week it was more than she had meant to pay but she was instinctively wise enough to the advantage of safety and shelter in this charming little home of one who was evidently a lady gentle kindly and well she had plenty of money to go on with and in the future she hoped to make more so she spoke out bravely i will pay the three guineas a week gladly she said may i see the rooms the old lady meanwhile had been studying her with great and now asked abruptly are you an english girl innocent flushed a sudden rosy red yes i was brought up in the country but all my people are dead now i have no friends but i have a little money left to me and for the rest i must earn my own living well my dear that won t hurt and an encouraging smile brightened miss s pleasantly wrinkled face you shall see the rooms but you have not told me your name yet again innocent blushed my name is she said in a low hesitating tone miss repeated the name with a kind of wondering accent are you any relative of the painter pierce innocent the heart beat quickly for a moment the little drawing room seemed to whirl her she collected her forces with a strong effort and answered ts o the old s wistful blue eyes with age yet retaining a beautiful tenderness of expression rested upon her anxiously are quite sure the feeling that prompted her to cry out he was my father she i am quite sure raised her little hand and pointed to the portrait standing on the that was pierce she said he was a dear friend of mine her voice trembled a little and i should have been glad if you had been in any way connected with him as she spoke innocent turned and looked steadily at the portrait and it seemed to her excited fancy that its eyes gave her glance for glance she could hardly breathe the threatening tears half choked her what strange fate was it she thought that had led her to a house where she looked upon her own father s likeness for the first time he was a very fine man continued miss in the same tremulous voice very gifted very clever he would have been a great artist i think is he dead the girl asked quietly yes i i think he died abroad so they say but i have never quite believed it i don t know why come let me show you the rooms i am glad your name is she led the way walking slowly innocent followed like one in a dream they ascended a small her fancy and his fact softly to a square landing and here miss opened a door this is the sitting room she said see it has a nice bow window with a view of the garden the bedroom is just beyond it both lead into one another innocent looked in and could not resist giving a little exclamation of pleasure everything was so clean and dainty and well kept it seemed to her a perfect haven of rest and shelter she turned to miss in eager oh please let me stay she said now at once i have only just arrived in london and this is the first place i have seen it seems so so fortunate that you should have had a friend named perhaps perhaps i may be a friend too a curious tremor seemed to pass over the old lady as though she shivered in a cold wind she laid one hand gently on the girl s arm you may indeed she said one never can tell what may happen in this strange world but we have to be practical and i am very poor and pressed for money i do not know you and of course i should expect from some respectable person who can tell me who you are	33
and all about you innocent grew pale she gave a little expressive e of utter i cannot give you any she said i am quite alone in the world my people are dead you see i am in mourning the last friend i had died a little while ago and left me four hundred pounds in bank notes i have them here and she touched her breast and if you like i will give you one of them in advance for the rooms and board at once the old lady heaved a quick sharp si one innocent hundred pounds i it would relieve her of a weight of pressing difficulty and yet she paused considering no my child she said quietly i would not on any account take so much money from you if you wish to stay and if i must omit and take you on trust which i am quite willing to do and she smiled gravely i will accept two months rent in advance if you think you can spare this can you yes oh yes the girl exclaimed if only i may stay now you may certainly stay now and miss rang a bell to summon the neat maid servant the rooms are let to this young lady miss will you prepare the bedroom and help her her things then turning round to innocent she said kindly you will of course take your meals with me at my table i keep very regular hours and if for any cause you have to be absent i should wish to know beforehand innocent said nothing her eyes were full of tears but she took the old lady s little hand and kissed it they went down together again to the drawing room innocent just pausing to tell the maid that she would prefer to and arrange the contents of her all her luggage herself and in a very few minutes the whole business was settled eager to prove her good faith to the gentle lady who had so readily trusted her she drew from her bosom the envelope containing bank notes left to her by and all four she spread them out on the table you see she said this is my little fortune please change one of them and take the two months rent and anything more you want please do her fancy and his fact a faint colour flushed miss s pale cheeks t o my dear no she answered you must not tempt me i will take exactly the two months rent and no more but i think you ought not to carry this money about with you you should put it in a bank we ll talk of this afterwards but go and lock it up somewhere now there s a little desk in your room you could use but a bank would be safest after dinner this evening i ll tell you what i think you ought to you are so very young and she smiled such a young little thing i shall have to look after you and play innocent looked up with a sweet confidence in her eyes that will be kind of you she said and leaving the one bank note of a hundred pounds on the table she folded up the other three in their original envelope and returned them to their secret place of safety in a little while i will tell you a great deal about myself and i do hope i shall please you i will not give any trouble and i ll try to be useful in the house if you ll let me i can cook and and do all sorts of things can you indeed and miss laughed good and what about studying for ah that of course comes first she said but i shall do all my writing in the mornings in the i can help you as much as you like my dear your time must be your own said miss you have paid for your accommodation and you must have perfect liberty to do as you like as long as you keep to my regular hours for meals and bed time i we shall get on well together and i hope we shall be good friends as spoke she bent forward and on a sudden impulse drew the girl to her and kissed her poor innocent lonely innocent thrilled all her being to the touch of instinctive tenderness and her heart beat quickly as she saw the portrait on the her father s pictured face apparently looking at her with a smile oh you are very good to me she murmured with a little sob in her breath as she returned the gentle old lady s kiss i feel as if i had known you for years did you know him and she pointed to the very long miss s eyes grew bright and tender yes d e answered we were boy and girl together and once once we were very fond of each other perhaps i will tell you the story some day now go up to your rooms and arrange aa you like and rest a little would you like some tea anything to eat poor innocent who had left farm at dawn without any thought of food and had travelled to london almost unconscious of either hunger or fatigue wa beginning to feel the lack of nourishment and she gratefully accepted the suggestion i lunch at two o clock continued miss but it s only a little past twelve now and if you have come a long way from the country you must be tired i ll send up to you with some tea she went to give the order and innocent left to	33
herself for a moment moved softly up to her father s picture and gazed upon it with all her soul in her eyes it was a wonderful face a face expressive of the highest thought and intelligence the face of a or a j though the finely mouth and chin had nothing of the which sometimes marks a mere of dreams timidly glancing about her to make sure she was not observed she kissed the portrait the cold glass which covered it meeting her warm caressing lips with a her fancy and his fact chill he was dead this father whom she could never claim dead as who had taken that father s place in her life she mi t love the ghost of him if her fancy led her that way as she loved the ghost of the but there was nothing else to love she was alone in the world with neither father nor knight of old to protect or defend her and on herself alone depended her future she turned away and left the room looking a fragile sad little creature with nothing about her to suggest either beauty or power yet the mind in that delicate body had a strength of which she was unconscious and she was already bending it instinctively and like a bow ready for the first shot with an arrow which was destined to go straight to its mark meanwhile on farm there had fallen a cloud of utter desolation the day was fair and brilliant with summer sunshine the birds sang the roses the flew to and fro on the roof and innocent s pet waited in vain on the comer of her window sill for the usual summons tliat called it to her hand but a strange darkness and silence like a wave the very light from the eyes of those who suddenly found themselves deprived of a beloved presence a personality sweet which had bestowed on the old house a charm and grace far greater had been fully recognised the innocent nameless and and therefore by the stupid scandal of commonplace had given the its quality her pretty fancies about the old sixteenth century knight had invested the place with a touch of romance and innocent poetry which it would hardly have possessed without her her gentle ways her care of the flowers and the animals and the never delight die had taken in the household affairs her part in the daily life of the farm had been as necessary to happiness as the of himself and without her nothing seemed the same poor went about her work crying silently and robin paced up and down the smooth grass in front of the old house with innocent s farewell letter in his hand reading it again and again he had returned early from the market town where he had stayed the night eager to explain to her all the details of the business he had gone through with the lawyer to whom his uncle had his affairs and to tell her how admirably everything had been arranged for the prosperous continuance of farm on the old methods of labour by which it had been worked to advantage had indeed shown plenty of sound wisdom and foresight in all his plans save one and that one was his fixed idea of innocent s marriage with his nephew it had evidently never occurred to him that a girl could have a will of her own in such a momentous affair much less that she could or would be so unwise as to refuse a good husband and a settled home when both were at hand for her acceptance robin himself despite her of him had stiu hoped and believed that when the first shock of his uncle s death had lessened he might by patience and tenderness move her heart to softer yielding and he had meant to plead his cause with her for the sake of the famous old house itself so that she might become its mistress and help him to prove a worthy of its long line of owners but now all hope was at an end she her fancy and his fact had taken the law into her own hands and gone no one knew whither was the last who had seen her only explain with many tears that when she had gone to call her to breakfast she had found her room vacant her bed in and the letter for robin on the table and that letter disclosed little or nothing of her intentions oh the poor child said all alone in a hard world with her strange little fancies and no one to take care of her oh mr robin whatever are we to do nothing and robin s handsome face was pale and set we can only wait to hear from her she will not keep us long in anxiety she has too much heart for that after all it is my fault i tried to persuade her to marry me against her will i should have let her alone sudden boyish tears sprang to his eyes he dashed them away in self contempt i m a regular coward you see he said i could cry like a baby not for myself so much but to think of her running away from farm out into the wide world all alone little innocent she was safe here and if she had wished it would have gone away i would have made her the owner of the farm and left her in peace to enjoy it and to marry any other man she fancied but she wouldn t listen to any plan for her own happiness since she knew she was not my	33
uncle s daughter that is what has changed her i wish she had never known ay so do i agreed but she s got the f notions all about that old stone knight in the garden an what wi the things he s left carved all over the wall of the room where she read them queer old books she s fair with ideas ti at don t belong to the ways o the world at innocent all i can t think what ll become o the child won t there be any means of out where she s gone i m afraid not answered robin sadly we must trust to her remembrance of us and her thoughts of the old home where she was loved and cared for his voice shook it will be a without her we shall miss her every minute every hour of the day i cannot fancy what the garden will look like without her little white figure flitting over the grass and her sweet fair face smiling among the roses hang it all if it were not for the last wishes of my uncle i d throw the whole up and go abroad don t do that robin and laid her rough work worn hand on his arm don t do it it s turning your back on duty to give up the work to you by a dead man you know it is an the may come back any day i shouldn t wonder if she got frightened at being alone and ran home again to morrow think of it mist robin suppose she came an you weren t here why you d never forgive yourself i can t think she s gone far or that she ll stay away long her heart s in farm all the while i d swear to that why only yesterday when a lady came to see if she couldn t buy something out q the house you should just a seen her toss her pretty little head when e told me how she d said it wasn t to be sold lady what lady and robin looked as he felt bewildered by s vague statement did come here to see the house not exactly i don t know what it was all about replied but quite a grand lady called an gave me her card i saw the name on it and she asked to see miss on business i ask if it was anything i her fancy and his fact could and she said no so i called the child in from the garden and she and the lady had quite a long talk together in the best parlour then when the lady went away innocent told me that she had wished to buy something from farm but that it was not to be sold robin listened attentively curious he ed very curious what was the lady s name lady repeated slowly he took out a note book and pencil and wrote it down you don t think she came to engage innocent for some service he asked or that innocent herself had perhaps written to an agency asking for a place and that this lady had come to see her in consequence such an idea had never occurred to s mind but now it was suggested to h it seemed more than likely it might be so she ed slowly but i can t bear to think the child was a part an me things that weren t true just to get away from us no i robin i i don t believe that lady had an to do with her going i keep the name by me he said and i shall find out where the lady lives who she is and all about her for if i don t hear from innocent if she doesn t write to us i ll search the whole world and never rest tiu i find her i looked at him tears springing again to her eyes aye you ve lost the love o your hearty my lad i i know that well enough die said an it s mi ty hard on you i but you must be a man an turn to work as though had happened there s the farm tes there s the farm he repeated innocent but what do i care for the without her you will stay with me stay with you surely i will robin where should an old woman like me go to at this time o day i and took his hand and clasped it don t you fear my place is in farm till the lord makes an end of me and if the child comes back at any hour of the day or night she ll find old ready to welcome ready an glad an thankful to see her pretty face here unable to control her sobs she turned away and made a hasty retreat into the kitchen he did not follow her but acting on e sudden impulse of his mind he entered the house and went up to innocent s deserted room he opened t e door hesitatingly the little study in its severe simplicity and neatness looked desolate like an empty shrine from which the worshipped figure had been taken he trod softly across the floor buying his footsteps as though some one slept whom he fear to wake and his eyes wandered from one familiar object to another till they rested on the shelves where the old bound books which innocent had loved and studied so much were ranged in orderly rows taking one or two of them out he glanced at their he knew that most of them were rare and curious though his oxford training had not impressed him as great a love of things literary as	33
it might or should have done but he that these strange black letter and manuscript volumes were of unique value and that their contents so difficult to were responsible for the formation of innocent s and romantic spirit colouring her outlook on life with a of rainbow brilliancy which though beautiful was unreal one quaint uttle book he opened had for its title her fancy and his fact te whole art of love setting forth ye noble manner of noble knights who serve their ladies in death as in this bore the date of he sighed as he put it back in its place ah well he said half aloud these books are hers and i ll keep them for her but i believe they ve done her a lot of mischief and i don t love them they ve made her see the world as it is not and life as it never will be and she has got strange fancies into her head fancies which e will run after like a child chasing pretty and when the are caught they die much to the child s surprise and sorrow my poor little she has gone out alone into the world and the world will break her heart oh dearest little love come back to me he sat down in her vacant chair and covered his face with his hands giving himself up to the relief of tears above his head shone the worn glitter of the old device of the with its motto mon me and only a could have thought or imagined it possible that the spirit of the old french knight of times might still be working through clouds of circumstance and weaving the web of the future from the torn threads of the past and when robin had regained his self possession and had left the room there was yet a presence in its very the silent assertion of an influence which if it had been given voice and speech might have said do what you consider is your own will and intention but am still your master and all your thoughts and wishes are but the of my desire it was soon known in the village that innocent had left farm run away the said eager innocent to learn more but they could get no information out of robin or friday and the on the farm knew nothing the farm work was going on as that was all they cared about mr was very silent miss friday very busy however all anxiety and suspense came to an end very speedily so far as innocent s safety was concerned for in a few days letters arrived from her both for robin and kind letters full of the tenderest affection do not be at all sorry or worried about me dear good she wrote i know i am doing right to be away from farm for a time and i am quite well and happy i have been very fortunate in finding rooms with a lady who is very kind to me and as soon as i feel i can do so i will let you know my address but i don t want anyone from home to come and see me not yet not for a very long time it would only make me sad and it would make you sad too but be quite sure it will not be long before you see me again her letter to robin was longer and full of restrained feeling i know you are very unhappy you kind loving boy it ran have lost me altogether yes that is true but do not mind it is better so and you will love some other girl much more than me some day i should have been a mistake in your life had i stayed with you you will see me again and you wiu then understand why i left farm i could not wrong the memory of the and if i married you i should be doing a wicked thing to bring myself who am base bom into his surely you do understand how i feel i am quite safe in a good home with a lady who takes care of and as soon as i can i will let you know her fancy and his fact exactly i am then if you ever come to london i will see you but your work is on farm that dear and beloved home and you will keep up its old tradition and make everybody happy around you will you not yes i am sure you will you if ever you loved me innocent with this letter his last hope died within him she would never be his never never some future beckoned her in which he had no part and he confronted the fact as a brave soldier fronts the guns with grim endurance aware yet not afraid of death if ever i loved her he thought if ever i cease to love her then i shall be as stone cold a man as her of a french knight the ah my little innocent in time to come you may understand what love is perhaps to your sorrow you may need a strong and i shall be ready sooner or later now or years hence if you call me i shall answer i find strength to rise from my death bed and go to you if you wanted me for i love you my little love i love you and nothing can change me only once in a life time can a man love any woman as i love you and a deep vow of fidelity sworn to his secret soul he sat alone watching the	33
shadows of evening steal over the landscape falling falling slowly like a gradually descending curtain upon all visible things till farm stood in the gloom like the ghost of its own departed days and in the windows like little eyes glittering in the dark then silently bidding farewell to all his former dreams of happiness he set himself to face the burden and heat of the day that long long day of life so difficult to live when deprived of love book two his fact book two chapter i in london the greatest metropolis of the world the smallest affairs are often discussed with more than things of national importance and it is by no means to find society more interested in the doings of some particular man or woman than in the latest and most money scheme of government in this way it happened that about a year after innocent had like a small boat in a storm broken loose from her and drifted out to the wide sea everybody who was anybody became suddenly thrilled with concerning the unknown personality of an author there are so many authors nowadays that it is difficult to get up even a show of interest in one of them everybody writes from in who considers the story of her social experiences expressed in questionable grammar quite equal to the finest literature down to the who essays a prize for a penny dreadful but latest to literary fame had two qualities which seldom to arouse the spirit of the reading public novelty and mystery to that scarce and seldom recognised power called genius he or she had produced a book not an piece of fiction not a wells effort of imagination under pressure not an hysterical outburst of desire and disappointment such as moves the souls of innocent and not even a sensation but just a book a real book likely to live as long as literature itself it was something in the nature of a marvel said those who knew what they were talking about that such a book should have been written at all in these modem days the style of it was exquisite and quaint expressive and all in its artistic simplicity thoughts true for all time were presented afresh with an admirable point and delicacy that made them seem new and singularly imperative and the story which like a silken thread held all the choice jewels of language together in even and brilliant order was pure and warm with a penetrating romance yet most sincerely human when this extraordinary piece of work was published it slipped from the press in quite a modest way without much preliminary announcement and for two or three weeks after its appearance nobody knew anything about it the themselves were evidently in doubt as to its reception and signified their caution by economy in the way of advertisement it was not in the newspaper columns as a book of the century or a new literary event it simply glided into the crowd of books without noise or the notice of just one of a pushing shouting multitude and quite suddenly found itself the centre of the throng with all eyes upon it and all tongues questioning the how when and where of its author no one could say how it first began to be thus busily talked about the critics had bestowed upon it nothing of either their praise or blame yet somehow the ball had been set rolling and it gathered size and force as it rolled till at last the woke up to the fact that they had by merest chance hit upon a paying concern they at once assisted in the general chorus of delight and her fancy and his fact tion taking wider space in the advertisement of the press for the work of genius which had fallen into their hands but when it came to answering the questions put to them respecting its writer they had very to say being themselves more or less in the dark the manuscript was sent to us in the usual way the head of the firm explained to john one of the and most influential of just on chance it was neither introduced nor recommended one of our readers was immensely taken with it and advised us to accept it the author gave no name and merely requested all communications to be made through his secretary a miss as he wished for the time being to remain we drew up an agreement on these lines which was signed for the author by miss she also corrected and passed the proofs perhaps she also wrote the book interrupted with an amused twinkle in his eyes i suppose such a solution of the has not occurred to you the smiled under different circumstances it might have done so he replied but we have seen miss several times she is quite a young girl not at all of the literary type thou she is very careful and accurate in her work i mean as regards business letters and tion to detail but at her age e could not have had the to produce such a book the author shows a close familiarity with sixteenth century literature such as could only be gained by a student of the style of that period miss has nothing of the t worm about her she is quite a simple young person more like a bright school girl than anything else innocent where does she live asked abruptly the looked up the address and gave it there it is he said if you want to write to the author she will forward any letters to him stared at the direction for a moment in silence he remembered it of course he remembered it	33

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