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see the oval face of a handsome young deep dark and long y clinging w e m to clasp in a anything they against tlie cheeks are paler the more regular d red lips thinner than is usual in a bred girl it is otherwise d changed tho same bnt not the same at the present s of her living as a stranger and an i though ib was no strange land that she was in long seclusion she had come to a i during the v under notice to undertake work in her native the season of the year in the al having arrived and nothing that she could do ti house being so for tho time as jl the fields the movements of the other women were more or u similar to s the whole of them drawing like in a at tho of a by every one placing her on end against of the rest till a shock or as it was here of ten or a dozen was formed they went to breakfast and again and the work proceeded as before as tho hour of di near i person her might have noticed that r flitted wistfully to tlie brow of the hill every now and then though she did not in her on the verge the hour the heads of a group of children of from six to fourteen rose above the of the hill tho face of flushed slightly but still did pause the eldest of the comers a girl who wore a shawl its corner oa tlie arms what at first sight seemed to he a doll but hi be an infant in long clothes another some maiden so more working took their and sat down against of the here fell lo the men a st no jar and passing round a cup had been one ot the last to ud her she sat down at the end of the shock her face somewhat away from her when she had deposited a man in a cap and with a red handkerchief tucked into his belt held the cup of ale over the top of the shock for her to but she did not accept his offer as soon as her lunch was spread she i led up the big girl her r and took the baby of her ho glad to be relieved of the burden went away t the u shock and joined the other children playing there less with a curiously stealthy yet courageous movement and with a stall rising color her frock and began the child the men who eat nearest turned faces towards tlie other end of the field some of them beginning to smoke one with absent minded fondness the jar that would no longer a stream all ii women but fell into animated talk and adjusted knots of their hair when tiie infant liad taken its fill tbe young mother sat it upright in her lap and looking into the far distance it a gloomy indifference tint was almost dislike then au of a sudden she fell to violently kissing it line of times as if she could never leave off tie ud ci at vehemence of an which strangely passion with contempt she s fond of that there child though mid pretend not to be and say she wishes th baby and her too were in i i ed the woman in the red shell soon leave off saying that replied the one in i lord tis wonderful what a body can get used to that sort in time a little more than persuading had to do wi the coming o t op the d i o t i reckon there were they that heard a sobbing last year in the chase and it mid ha gone hard a certain party if folks had come along a httle more or a little less twas a that it should have happened to she of all but tis always the the plain l e us as churches hey t the speaker turned to on the group who certainly was not ill defined as plain it was a thousand indeed it was impossible even an enemy t feel otherwise on looking at as eat there with her flower like month and tender neither black nor nor gray nor violet rather all tin shades together and a others which could be if one looked into their shade behind beyond tint round depths that had no bottom on tj woman but for the slight in of ter inherited i m her race a resolution which had surprised herself best into the fields this week for the first time during months after wearing and wasting her with every engine of regret that lonely devise common sense had her she felt that she would do well to be useful again to taste anew independence at any price the past was past it had been it was no more at hand er its time would close over them they would all in a few years be as if they had never l een and herself down aud forgotten meanwhile the were just as as before the birds sang and the sun shone as clearly now as ever the familiar surroundings had net darkened because of her grief nor because of her pain she might have seen that what had bowed n profoundly the thought of the world s concern ai ii u was founded on an illusion she was not an m ence an a passion a of j b no but herself to all besides only a pa thought if she herself the and day it was only this much to ah she makes herself unhappy if tried to be to dismiss all care to take in the the flowers the baby she only be this idea to	45
them ah she bears it very well alone in a desert island would she have been wretched at what had happened to not if she could have been but just created to discover herself as a mother with no experience of life except as the parent of a nameless child would the position have caused her to despair t no she would have taken it calmly and found therein most of the misery had been by her conventional aspect and not by her innate sensations whatever s reasoning some spirit had induced her to dress herself up neatly as she had formerly done and come out into the fields est hands being gi in demand just then this was why she had borne herself with dignity and had looked people in the face at times even when holding the baby in her arms the e t men rose from the shock of com and their limbs and their pipes the which had been and fed were again at to the scarlet machine having quickly n own meal beckoned to her st sister to come and ike away the baby fastened her dress put on the f ain and stooped anew to draw a bond from the last completed for the tj ing of the next k lo the afternoon and evening the proceedings of the were continued staying on till dusk with body of then they all rode in one of th largest in the company of a broad moon bad risen from the ground to the its face resembling the gold leaf of some worm saint s female companions of the i the o k l aad showed very and glad at doors though they could re from in n few of the about the maid who went t the merry wood t came back a changed person there are i in life and the want which had her a warning had also for tho nt made her most interesting personage in the to many thi friendliness won her still away from herself lively spirits were and she became almost but now that her al sorrows were fr h one arose on the natural side of her which knew social law when she home it was to learn to i grief that the baby had been suddenly taken ill since i afternoon some such had been probable so v der and was its frame but the event came aa a ne the baby s offence against society in coming into world was forgotten by the girl mother her soul s ae was to that offence by preserving the life of child however it soon grew that the hour of for that little prisoner of the flesh was to earlier than her worst had had discovered this she was plunged which that of the child s simple loss baby had not been had drifted a frame of mind which the consideration that if she should ha e to for what she had done bum she must and there was end of it like all village girls she was well the holy and had studied the of and and knew the lo drawn but when the same question arose w regard to the baby it had a different color her d ling was about to die and no salvation it was but she rushed downstairs i ko asked if she might send for the the moment to be one at which her father s sense of the antique nobility of family was highest and his to the had set upon that nobility most for he had just returned from his evening at s inn no son should come inside his door he declared into his affairs just then when to her shame it had become more necessary than ever b them he locked the door and put the key in his the household went to bed and distressed beyond retired also she was continually waking as she lay and in the middle of the night found that the i was still worse it was obviously and but none the less surely k ii her misery she rocked herself the bed the i struck the solemn of one that hour when reason and malignant possibilities firm as facts she thought of uie child i ned to the corner of as its double doom for lack of and lack of saw the arch send tossing it with his three fork like the one they used for the oven on days to which picture she added many other quaint and curious details of torment the young in this christian country the lurid so powerfully affected her imagination in the silence of the sleeping house that her became damp with perspiration and the shook with each throb of her heart the infant s breathing grew more and the a mental increased it was useless to tjie little thing with kisses she could stay in bed p longer and walked about tlie room god have pity have pity upon my poor she cried heap as much anger as you want to me and welcome but pity child op the d she against the chest of drawers and for a long till she l i u h up ah perhaps baby can be saved perhaps it will the same i she spoke so brightly that it seemed as though her fa might have shone in the gloom surrounding her she ut a candle and went to a and a third t under the wall where she awoke her little a brothers all of whom occupied the same room ont tlie washing so that she get behind it s poured some water from a and them around putting their hands together with e while tho children scarcely awake awe at her manner their eyes growing and lai er m in this position she took the baby from her s child	45
so as scarce to seem a personality to its with the t then stood erect with the infant on beside t basin the next sister held the prayer book open before h as tlie clerk at church held it before the parson and th the girl set about her her figure looked tall and imposing as i stood in her long white cable of t dark hair hanging straight down her to her the kindly of the weak candle d f her form and features the little which might have revealed tho upon her and the weariness of her eyes her high enthusiasm h vi a effect upon the face which had been i showing it as a of beauty wi an impress of dig which was almost i tho ut ones kneeling round their sleepy eyes and awaited her preparations full of a suspended wonder which their at that hour would not allow to become active maiden no more eldest of them be you going to him the girl n plied in a ave s his name going to lie she had not of that but a name came into her head as she proceeded with the and now sh e pronounced it i thee in the name of the father and b son and of the holy ghost ihe the water and there was silence say amen children b tiny voices in obedient response went on we receive tliis child and so forth and do sign with the sign of the cross here she dipped her hand into the basin and fervently an immense cross upon the baby with lier forefinger continuing with the customary sentences as to his fighting against sin the world and the devil and being a faithful soldier and servant his life s end she duly went on with s prayer the en it after her iu a thin like wail till at the conclusion raising their voices to clerk s they again into the silence amen then their sister with confidence in the of this poured forth fi om the bottom of her heart the that follows uttering it boldly and in the note which her voice acquired when her heart was in her speech which will never be forgotten by those who knew her the ecstasy of faith almost her it set upon her n glowing and brought a red spot into the ii l of each cheek while candle flame in her eye pupils shone like a diamond i ail up at her with more and more and no i had a will for questioning she did not look like of the d to them now but as a being towering awful a with whom they had nothing in poor sorrow s campaign against sin tho world and the devil was doomed to be of limited brilliancy luckily perhaps for himself considering his in the blue of tbe morning tliat fragile soldier and servant his last and when the other children awoke cried bitterly and begged to have another pretty baby the calmness which had possessed since tlie remained with her in s loss in indeed she felt her terrors about his soul to have been somewhat whether well founded or not had no uneasiness now reasoning that if providence would such an act of she for one value the kind of heaven lost by the t for herself or for her child so passed away sorrow the i creature tliat gift of nature who not the ci il law a to whom time had been a i matter of days merely who knew not that things as years and centuries ever e to whom the cottage j was the universe the week s weather climate new i human existence and the instinct to i knowledge who mused on tho a good deal wondered if it were to secure a burial for the nobody could tell tliis but of the parish and he was a new comer and a very man she went to house after dusk and stood by gate but could not summon courage to go in the would have been abandoned if she had not by met him coming homeward ns she turned away in gloom she did not mind speaking freely i should like to ask you something sir he l his to listen and she told l i i no more lot of the baby s and the and now sir she added earnestly can yon tell me will it be just the same for him as if yon had having the natural feelings rf n at finding that a job be should have been called in for had been by his among themselves he wag disposed to say no yet the dignity of the girl the strange tenderness in her voice combined to affect his nobler impulses or those that he had left in him after ten years of endeavor to belief on actual the man and the fought within him and the ry fell to the man my dear i ho said it will be just the same then will you give bim a christian i she asked the felt himself hearing of the baby s lie had come to the house after nightfall to perform the and unaware that the refusal to admit him had come from s father and not from he could not allow the plea of necessity h that s another matter he said a why asked rather warmly t would willingly do so if only we two were con bnt i must not for reasons t for once sir i must not sir for pity s sake she seized his band as he withdrew it shaking his head then i don t like you she burst out and i ll never ut your church no more ont so i	45
it will be just the same to bim if you don tt will it be just s sake e of the d as saint to sinner but as you yourself to me me how the reconciled his answer with the e tions he supposed himself to hold on these beyond a s power to tell though not to somewhat moved he said in this case also it will be just the same so the baby was carried in a small deal box ancient woman s shawl to the that night buried by lantern light at the cost of a and a of beer to the in that shabby corner of god s ment where he lets the grow and where all d notorious and the damned are in spite of the surroundings however bravely made a little c two and a piece of and having bound it flowers she stuck it up at the head of the grave one ing when she enter the seen putting at the foot also a of the some ft in a jar of water to keep them alive what e was it that on tlie of the jar the eye of noted the words s e of did not see them in its higher things xv by says we find short way by a long wandering not seldom wandering us for further travel and of what our to us then t s was of this kind at last she had what to do but who would now accept her doing t if before going to tlie d she had under the guidance of sundry and known to her and to the world in general no she would never have been imposed on but it had not been in s power nor is it in anybody s power to the whole truth of golden opinions when it is possible by them she and how many more might have said to god with saint thou hast c a better course than hast permitted she remained in her s during tlie winter fowls or keys and or making clothes for her sisters and brothers out of ome which d had given her and which she had by with apply to him she would not but would n her hands behind her and muse she po ed t be working hard noted dates as they came post in the of the year the disastrous night of lier at with its dark background of the the dates of the baby s birth and death also her own birthday and every other day by in h she had taken some she suddenly thought one afternoon when looking in the glass at her that there was yet another date of greater importance to her than those that of her own death when all these charms would have disappeared a day which lay sly and among the other days of the year giving no i ni or sound when she passed over it but not i less there when was it why did she not l the chill of each yearly encounter with such a cold relation f she had s thought that some time ill the future those who had known her would say it is the til the day that poor died and would bo singular to their minds in the of tliat day doomed to be her in ue through ud the ages she did not know the place in k season or year op the d almost at a leap thus changed from simple girl complex woman of into her face and a note of tragedy at times into her voice h i eyes grew larger and more eloquent she became would have been called a fine creature her aspect waa fair and her soul that of a woman whom the of the last year or two had quit c c to but for tjie world s opinion those liave been simply a liberal education she had held so aloof of late that her trouble never known was nearly forgotten in but it became evident to her that she could bo really comfortable in a place which had seen the of her s attempt to claim kin and through her e n closer union with the rich d at least not be comfortable there till long years should i her keen consciousness of it yet now felt the pulse of hopeful life still warm within her she might be happy in some nook which had no to escape the past and all that was to it and to do that she would have to get away j lost always of i would ask herself she might prove it false if she i veil the i power which pervaded or i nature was surely not denied to alone she waited a long time without finding tor a new departure a particularly fine spring and the stir of was almost audible in th l it moved her as it moved the wild animals and her passionate to go at last one day in early may a reached her from an old friend of her mother s to she had addressed inquiries long before a whom she had never seen that a skilful was at his and that he would be glad to ht for the summer months if she bad found nothing tu do a the maiden no more not quite so far off as could have been wished bit was probably far her of movement and having been so small to persons of limited miles are as degrees as as pro and on one point she was resolved there should be no more air castles in the dreams and deeds of her new life she would be the and nothing more her mother knew a feeling on this point so well though no words	45
had passed between them on the subject that she never alluded to the now yet such is human that one of the interests of to her was the accidental its ing near her forefathers for they were not men though her mother was to the bone the called for she was hound stood not from some of the former estates of the d near the great family of her ami their powerful husbands she would be able to look at them and think not only that d like had fallen but that innocence of a humble de could lap s as silently all the while she wondered if any strange good thing might come of her being in her and some spirit within her rose as the sap in the twigs it was np anew after its temporary cheek and with it hope and the in instinct towards s the xvi on a scented d morning in l two and three years the return two i years for she left her home for tlie second time having packed up her luggage so that it bt tn her later started in a hired trap for the little ti of through which it was necessary ui pass on her journey now in a direction almost to that her first on the curve of the nearest hill she looked back at and her father s although ha l so anxious to get a ay her kindred dwelling there would probably their daily lives as heretofore with no great of pleasure in their although she would tm far off and they deprived of her in a few children would engage in their games as merrily as i mt without the sense of any gap left by her of the younger she had d it the best were she to remain they would less good by her than harm by example went through without pausing i j to a of where she a van that ran to the for th rail this interior tract of country had ii l ba j v yet it waiting however there came along a farmer iq his spring cart di in the direction that she wished to sue though he was a to her she accepted his offer of a seat beside liim that its motive was a mere tribute to h r he was going to and by accompanying she walk the remainder of the instead of travelling in the van by way of l did not stop at after this long drive er t aa to make a meal at noon at ft cottage to which the farmer recommended her thence she started on foot basket in hand to reach the wide of dividing this district from the low lying of a f valley in which the stood that tlie aim and end of her day s pilgrimage h ha l never before visited this of the country t she felt akin to the landscape not so very tar to left of her she could discern a dark patch in the which inquiry her in supposing to be trees marking the of in the church of which the bones of her ancestors her useless ancestors lay ent mt ed she had no admiration for them now she almost g for the dance they had led her not a thing of all bad been theirs did she retain but the old seal ami i have as much of mother as father in the she said j jl my comes from her and site was a the journey over the intervening and of when she reached them was a more walk than she had anticipated the distance being actually but a f w miles in two hours after sundry wrong turning found herself on a commanding the long ought for the valley of the great tile valley iu which milk and grew to and were td more if less delicately than at her home ok the plain so well watered by uie river it was different from the of i which save during her at she had exclusively known till u the world was drawn to a larger here tlie c i es fifty acres instead of ten the a were more extended the groups of cattle formed i there only families these of c i stretching under her eyes from the far east to the far n any she had ever seen at glance i the green was as thickly with them as a by van or with hers the ripe i of the red and absorbed the evening sun which the white animals returned to the eye in r almost even at the distant elevation on which a the bird s eye perspective her was not so beautiful perhaps as that other one which she i bo well yet it was more cheering it lacked the intense blue atmosphere of tlie rival and its heavy b the new air was clearer more the river itself which nourished the i cows of these renowned flowed not like the in those were slow silent tinged bowing o beds of mud into which the might s i and unawares the waters were dear i the pure river of life shown to tlie i the shallow of a cloud with that the sky all day long there the r flower i lily the either tlie change in the quality of the air from i light or the sense m being amid new seen i there were no upon her sent np her s her mingled with the sunshine i ideal which l her as she i the rally along net tlie soft south wind she heard a pleasant very and in every bird s note seemed to k a joy her had with states of ind it might have been said t be between beauty and according a the were gay	45
or gi ave one day was pink and another she was pale and when she i pink was feeling less than when she was pale more beauty accorded with her less elevated mood her more intense mood with her less perfect beauty it was her best face physically that was now set against the south wind the irresistible universal tendency to find enjoyment which all life from the meanest to tlie highest had at length mastered her no longer by external being even now only a young and woman one who mentally and had not finished growing it was impossible that any event should have left upon an impression that was not at least capable of and thus her spirits and her and her hopes rose higher and higher she tried several but i them inadequate till the book that her a had often wandered over of a sunday morning be re she had eaten of the tree of knowledge she o ye sun and moon ye stars ye green things upon earth ye fowls of the air beasts and cattle o all children of men bless yo the lord praise him and him forever suddenly stepped and murmured but perhaps i ii ii t quite know the lord as yet ami probably the half was a in a women whose companions are the forms and forces of in their far more of the pagan instincts or tiie d i of their forefathers than of the r il taught race at later however foi at least for feelings in t that she had from and it i such high contentment with a slight and ii as that of having started n of independent living was a part of the t really wished to walk to k out whatsoever things were true and honest and of report while her father did nothing of the kind she resembled him with being content with immediate small achievements and iu having no mind for laborious effort towards such petty and social as could alone l o effected by a family so heavily as the once d were now e was of course the of her mother s family as well as the natural of tt s s y or and frame after the experience which liad ft overwhelmed her for the time let the k women do as a rule live such ami regain spirits and again look about them with an interested eye e s s not so entirely to the deceived as would have us believe in good heart and full of for life the lower and lower towards the of her pilgrimage the mai difference in the final the rival now showed itself the secret of was best discovered from the heights around aright the valley before her it was absolutely descend into its midst when t feat she found herself to ho standing on a i which to the east and west as far as i the river had stolen from the higher ts and to the all this land l aged and lay along throng the midst of its former spoils not quite sure of her direction stood still upon th hemmed expanse of like a fly on a of indefinite length and of no more to the than that fly the sole of her presence the placid valley so far had been to excite the mind of a which after descending to the ground not far from her path stood with neck erect looking at her m bnt suddenly there arose from all parts of the a and repeated call li i the farthest east to the st west the ones spread as if by accompanied in cases by the barking of a dog it was not the expression of the fi consciousness that beautiful had arrived bnt ordinary announcement of time r o clock when the set about getting in the the red and white herd nearest at hand which had been waiting for the call now towards tht ling in the their great bags of milk swinging under them as they walked followed slowly i in their i ear and entered the by the open gate i which they had entered before her long stretched round the their slopes b vivid green moss and their supported by wooden j rubbed to a by tlie of cows and of years now passed to no almost inconceivable in its between b posts e ranged the each exhibiting herself t present moment to an eye in tlie rear as a circle on d down the centre of a h moved wise while the sun lowering itself behind this par op the d row threw their shadows accurately upon tj wall there and thus it threw of and figures every evening with as t over each as if it had been the of a c beauty on a palace wall copied them aa diligently as had copied shapes on marble long or the outlines of ca and the ih they were the less that were that would stand still of their own ee will were j the middle of the yard where many of such better s stood waiting now all prime such aa v seldom seen out of this valley and not within i nourished by the feed which the water met supplied at this prime season of the year those of t that were spotted with white reflected tjie in d brilliancy and the polished brass oa glittered with of display their l hung ponderous as sand bags tho out like the legs of a s k and lis each il i lingered for her turn to arrive the milk fell in drops to u f the and men had down from i cottages and out of uie with the arrival of d cows from the the maids i in on account of the weather but to keep	45
their shoes a the of the girl sat down on lier t legged stool her fa ie her right cheek the cow and looked along th a flank at as she the male will i hat turned down on their and q l did not t the e ij y one of these was a middle aged man whose long while was somewhat finer and than the of the s and underneath had pi aspect the master d of whom was iu quest his double character aa a working and maker hero during six days and on the seventh as a man in iu his family eh being so marked as to have inspired a i dick all the on sundays mr c ing standing at gaze he went across to her the majority of have a cross manner at time but it happened that mr was glad to get a new hand for the days were busy ones now and he received her warmly inquiring for mother and the rest of the family though this as a matter of form mainly for he really had quite forgotten mrs s existence till of the fact by her daughter s letter o ay as a lad i your mother very well he and i heard of her marriage never heard of her since and a aged woman of that used to live nigh here but is dead and gone ago once told me that the family yer mother married in came originally from these parts and that a old ancient race that had all but perished the earth though the new generations didn t know it lord i took no notice of the old woman s l oh no it is nothing said the talk was of business only you can milk em clean my i don t want my going at tliis time o year ihe reassured him on that point and he surveyed said i i i iso of tub and down she had and had grown delicate sure you can stand it t tis here for rough folk bnt we don t live in a frame she declared that she could stand it and her zest an seemed to win him over well i suppose want a dish o or sort hey t not yet well do as you like but faith if twas i i should be as dry as a wi ling far i ll begin now to get my hand in said tes she drank a little milk as temporary refreshment to i indeed contempt of whose mind it had apparently never occurred that in was good as a oh if ye can that it so be said indifferently while holding up the she from tis what i t touched for years not i rot the stuff it would lie in my like lit ton can try your band upon she he pursued nodding the nearest cow not but what she do milk r hai we ve hard ones and we ve easy ones like other foil however you ll find out that soon enough when had changed her bonnet for a hood and k really on her stool under the and the milk was ing from her fists into the she appeared to fed she really hail laid a new foundation for her future t conviction bred serenity her and she a to look about her the formed quit a little of men a the men on the bard animals t maids on the natures it was a large there were more than a imder management all told and of the herd the master man six or eight with his own hands unless from home these were the cows the for his hi more or less hired he would not this to treatment lest from indifference they should not milk them clean nor to the maids lest they should fail in tie same way for lack of finger grip with the result that in course of time the cows would go that is dry up it was not the loss for the moment that made slack so serious bat that with the decline of demand came decline and of supply after settled down to lier cow there was for a time no talk in the and nut a sound interfered with the of the milk into the numerous except a momentary exclamation to one oi other of the beasts her to turn round or stand still the only movements were those of the hands np and down and the swing of the cows tails thus they all worked on by the vast flat which extended t either of the valley a level landscape of old long forgotten and no doubt in character very greatly from the landscape they composed now to my thinking said the rising suddenly from a cow he had just finished off and up his three legged stool in one and the in the other i on to the next hard in his vicinity to my the cows don t down then milk to day as upon my life if do begin keeping back like tliis shell not be worth going under by because there s a new hand come among us said noticed such things afore to be sure it be so i didn t o t been told that it goes np into their at such lull s b id a well as to going up into their horns replied in as though even might bo l by possibilities i couldn t i could not but as cows keep it back as i op the i well as tlie ones i don t quite agree to it do j know that riddle about the do con s give less milk iu a year than t i don t interposed the why	45
do thi because there t so many of em said the man these rs do certainly back their milk to day folks we must lift up a s two that s the cure for t songs were resorted to in as i to the when they showed signs i t m holding their usual and the band of at i request burst melody iu purely bu i tones is true and with no great the result ik ci ing to their own belief being a decided n ing the song s continuance they had gone th fourteen or fifteen verses of a cheerful ballad about a a who was afraid to go to bed in tlie dark because saw certain around him one of the said i wish singing ou the stoop t use ti so much of a man s wind you should get your harp not but what a fiddle is best who had given ear to this thought the words addressed to the but she was wrong a in the shape of f came as it were ont of the h of a cow in the it had been spoken by a behind the animal whom she had not hitherto ci oh yes there s nothing like a fiddle i man though i do think that are more if a tune than cows at that s my om there was a old man over at william dew name one of the family that used to do a good deal business as over do ye i the man by sight as well as i my a brother in a manner of speaking well this man i coming home along from wedding where he t his fiddle one fine moonlight night and for am the rally sake he a cut across forty es a field lying that a bull was out to grass bull seed aud took after and william his best and hadn t di in him considering a wedding and the folks well off he found he d never reach the fence and get over time to save himself well as a last thought he pulled out his fiddle as he and struck up a to the bull as he played and towards the corner the bull softened down and stood still looking hard at william who on and on till a sort of a smile stole over the a face but no sooner did william stop playing and turn to get over hedge than the bull would stop his smiling aud lower horns and step well william had to turn about and play on and twas only three o clock in the world and a that nobody come that way for and he bo and tired that a didn t know what to do when he d till al ont four o clock he felt that he verily would have to give over soon and he said to himself there s only this last tune between me and eternal welfare heaven save me or i m a done well then he called to mind how he d seed kneel o christmas in i i dead o the night it was not christmas eve then but into his head to play a trick upon the bull so he i into the hj mn just as at when lo and down went the bull on his knees in his ignorance just as if the true night and horn as soon as his friend were william turned off like a long dog and safe over hedge before the ing bull had got his feet again to take after him william used to y that he d seen a man look a fool a good many times jt never a fool as that looked when he found im had been played upon aud twas yes william that was the l h op the d name aud i can tell ye to a foot where he s a i churchyard at this very moment ix ti the second tree aud the north aisle it s a curious story it carries us back to times when faith was a living thing the remark i for a yard was murmured by tie voice l t cow but as understood the reference ma was taken except that the seemed to i might imply as to his well tis quite true sir whether or no i man weu oh yes i have no doubt of it d the person hind tlie cow s attention was thus to the s fl of whom she could see but the merest owing to his his head so j in the of the she could not understand why he be addressed as sir even by the himself but no explanation was he resigned under the cow long enough to liave three uttering a now and then as if he could not got on take it gentle sir take it gentle said the tis not strength that does it so i find said the other standing up at stretching his arms i think i have her i ever though she made my fingers ache could then see him at full length ho wore h ordinary and leather of a y f when and his boot were with the of the yard but this was au his local was educated reserved subtle sad but the details of his aspect she i readily observe so much was her mind arrested by t discovery that he was one whom she had seen such had pa ed through since thai t that for ft moment she not i where a the rally s seen bim aud then it lied upon her tiiat he was the who lad joined in the dan e at mai the passing stranger who had come she knew not whence liad danced with others but not with her	45
had left her and gone on his way with hia the flood of memories ht by this of in incident from a time ant h r troubles j a y dismay lest her also ti should by some means ry but it iy found no sign of remembrance in him she by degrees that since their first and only encounter liis face had grown more thoughtful and had ac a young man s and beard the r of the straw color where it began his and deepening to a warm brown farther its root under his and he wore a dark jacket ti s and a whit t the gear nobody have what ho was he might witli equal probability have ik an or a gentlemanly that he was but a at work she had in a moment from the time he had spent upon the of one cow meanwhile many of the had said to one an how pretty she is with something of real gen and though with a half hope that the would deny the assertion which strictly speaking fir might have done being but an of what the eye in when the ne finished for the evening th indoors where mrs the wife who was too respectable to go out herself and wore a hot stuff gown in weather because the maids wore prints was gi an eye to the leads and things only two or three of the maids learnt slept in ihe besides most of the going to homes she i of the m saw at supper of who d on the story and asked about the remainder of the evening being occupied iii her in the bed it was a large room over tl milk some thirty feet long the sleeping of other three n v maids being in the same they were blooming yo ng women and except one older than herself by was thoroughly tin li and fell asleep immediately but one of the girls who occupied an adjoining l ed wi more than and would insist upon i the latter various particulars of the i she had just entered the s whispered words with the shades and to tt ft mind they s to be by the darkness in which they mr angel re he that is learning i plays the harp never says to us he is a son and is too much taken up wi his own thoughts to is he is the pupil learning all its branches ho has learnt sheep farming place and he s now work b quite the gentle man bom his father is the m at t r a good many miles from hero i have heard of him said her com ij awake a very earnest clergyman is he not t yes that he is the man in all w s ex ti say the of the old low church sort they tell me i all here u what they call high all his our mr be made fi r had not at this car the to ask v i present mr was not made a parson like hi r and gradually fell asleep again the words of hei coming to her along the smell of the c adjoining cheese and the dripping of the i the downstairs a in j u ci rises out of past not as a distinct figure but as an t p a long regard of fixed and a of mouth too small and delicately lined for a man s though with an unexpectedly firm close of the lower up now and then enough to do away with any suggestion of vague in his and marked him as one who probably had im very definite aim or i about his material future yet h a people had sail of him that he was one might do anything if he tried lie was the t son of bis father a poor parson at the other end of the county and had arrived at as a six months pupil aft r going the round of some i ther farms his object being to acquire a practical skill in various of farming with a view either to the or the of a as i i ht decide his into the ranks of the and was a step in the young man s career wliich had been anticipated neither by himself nor by others mr the elder whose first wife had died and left him a a second late iu life tliis lady somewhat unexpectedly brought him three sons so between angel the ind his father the seemed to a g generation of i the angel the child of his old age was the son who had not taken a university p though lie was the single one of them whose early promise might have done full justice ui an training some before angel s at the op the liis studies at home a parcel came to from ti local s directed to the reverend james the having opened it and found it to a b read a few pages whereupon he jumped up from aud went straight to the shop with the book under his n why has this been sent to my house he holding up the volume it was oi sir not by me or any one belonging to me i am happy li say the looked into his order book oh i been sir ho said it was d by angel and should have been sent to him mr as if be had been struck he home pale and and called angel into his study look into book my boy ho said what do you know about it t i ordered it said angel simply what for to read how can yon think of reading it	45
but with living on re day after day the acute became conscious p of the d of a new aspect iu the spectacle without any whatever variety had taken the place of his host and his host s ills men a his maids as they became known t t to themselves as in a the of s was brought home to him on a d ou il y les du lie pas de les the ij and i varying ceased to exist he been into a number of varied fellow creatures beings of i minds beings infinite in difference some happy serene a few one and e bright genius some stupid s wanton austere j into i who had private views of each other as he of friends who could or condemn each other a or themselves by the contemplation of or vices men every one of whom walked in own individual way the road to dusty death unexpectedly he began to uke the life for i own sake and for what it brought t from its i on his own proposed career considering his position came wonderfully free from the melancholy i is taking hold of the civilized races with tjie decline of i in a power for the first time of yet he could l as his inclined him any to for a profession since the few farming which he deemed it desirable to master occupied him l nt little time ho grew away from old associations and saw new in life and humanity he close with phenomena which lie had but darkly the seasons in moods morning and ev n ing night and noon in winds in then al dispositions ti waters and clouds ac l the and tbe of things the early mornings were still cool to render fire acceptable in the large room wherein they break i and by mrs s s who held that he was ml genteel to mess at their table it was angel s tom t sit in the yawning r during the meal his and and plate being placed on a at his elbow the light from the long wide window shone in upon his nook and assisted by a secondary of cold blue quality which shone down the chimney enabled him to read there easily whenever disposed to do so between and tbe window was the table at which his companions sat their rising against the panes to the rear was the milk door through which were the leads in rows full to the brim with the s milk at the farther end the great seen revolving and its heard the moving being through the window in the form of horse walking in a circle and driven by a boy several days s arrival sitting ab reading from some book or piece of just come bv post hardly noticed that she was present able she talked so little and the other maids talked much that the did not strike him as possessing a new note and he was ever in the habit of the particulars of an outward scene for the general one day however when he had been one of hia scores and by of nation was hearing the in bis head he into and rolled to hearth lie looked at the fire of logs with its one flame on the top a ing dance after the breakfast cooking and and it seemed to to his inward tune also at the two chimney down from the bar with which op the quivered to tlie some melody also at tlie half empty ki an the at the t mixed in witli till he what a voice one of those has i an pose it ie the new one looked round upon bi seated with the others he was not looking towards him indeed owing to long his presence in the room was almost l i don t know about ghosts she was saying but i know that our souls can be made to go our when we are alive the turned to her with liis mouth full his e charged witli serious and his great and ft were here planted t on the like the beginning of a gallows what really no and is it so he said a very easy way to feel em go continued in lie on the grass at night and look straight up at some h bright star and by fixing your mind upon il soon find that you are hundreds and hundreds o away from your body which you don t seem to want at the removed his hard from toss fixed it on his wife now that s thing to g the miles i ve o nights last thirty or trading or for doctor or for er had tlie least notion o till now or f my rise so as an inch above ray the general attention being drawn to her of the s and remarking indifferently that it was only a fancy her continued to observe her she soon her eating and having a consciousness that was regarding her began to imaginary patterns on the with her with the of a animal that itself to be d th sally i s what a fresh and virgin daughter of nature tliat its he said to himself and then he seemed to in something that was familiar something carried him back into a and past before the of taking thought had made the heavens gray he concluded tliat he had beheld her before where he could not tell a casual counter during some country it certainly bad been and he was not greatly curious about it but the circumstance was sufficient to lead him to select b preference to the other pretty when he wished ft contemplate i i in general the cows were as	45
they presented without fancy or choice but certain cows will how a for a particular of bands sometimes this so far a to refuse to stand at all to their favorite the of a stranger being un kicked over was s rule to insist on breaking down and by constant in the event of a or maid going away from p he was otherwise placed in u difficulty the private aims however were the reverse of the s rule the daily selection by each of the eight or ten cows to which she had accustomed rendering the operation on their willing easy and like her soon discovered which of the bad a for her style of and tier fingers having become delicate from the long i of the i to which ho ha i herself at the last i or three years she been to meet uie views in this respect of the whole ed and five tl were eight in par lar fancy lofty old pretty pretty and loud who thou h the of one or h were as hard as gave to her a that made her work on a mere of the knowing however uie s wish she to take the animals just as they came the very hard which she not manage but she soon found a curious the position of the cows and her in this till at length she felt that order not be the result of a the s pupil lent a hand in the cows together of and at t fifth op sixth time she turned her face as it rested against the cow full of inquiry upon him mr you have ranged the cows i and iu making the accusation s of a lifted her upper up gently in the middle in of her i as t show tlie lips of her t tlie lower lip severely still well it makes no difference said he yon will i ways be here to milk do you so t i hope i shall but i she was with herself afterwards that h not aware of her grave reasons for this st might have mist her meaning t to liim as if his presence were somehow a in her her was such that at it the was over she walked in the ii i h that she had disclosed to him her ry of it was a typical summer evening in june tar and positive s i a o p tie j spot p s to f bit she h i t s of tub o es the weeping of the garden s c n though i the rank smelling as if tl would not close for and th waves of color q with the waves of sound the light which still shone was entirely f hole in the western of cloud it of day left behind by accident having t in elsewhere ho concluded his plaintive melody simple performance demanding no great skill u waited thinking another might be but t playing he had come the and f rambling up behind her her cheeks on fire m a away as if hardly moving all angel however saw her light summer gown i hia low tones her some distance off what makes you draw off in that way a are you afraid t oh no sir that is not of r l now when the apple is i everything so green but you have your h well j es sh what off i couldn t quite say the milk turning f no life in general sir ah bo have i very oft n tliis of ib rather serious don t you think it is now you put it that way sir all the same i shouldn t have expected a l like you to see it so just yet how is it you do she a hesitating silence come tell me in confidence the she thought that he meant what were the aspects of things to her and replied the trees have inquisitive eyes haven t they that is seem as if they had and the river says why do ye trouble me with your looks and you seem to see numbers of to just all in a line the first of em the biggest and the others getting smaller and smaller as they stand farther away but they au seem very fierce and cruel and as if they said tm coming beware o me beware o me but you sir you she exclaimed with almost bitter envy you can raise up dreams with your music and drive au such horrid fancies away he was surprised to find this young who though but a had just that touch of about her which might make her the envied of her such sad but he was more surprised when he considered that she was expressing in her own native phrases assisted a little by her sixth standard training feelings which might almost have been called those of the age the ache of the perception arrested him less when he reflected that what are called advanced ideas are really in great part but the latest fashion in definition a more accurate expression by words in and of sensations which men and women have vaguely grasped for centuries it was strange that they should have come to her while yet so young more than strange it was impressive interesting pathetic not the cause there was nothing to remind him that experience is as to intensity and not as to duration he did not know that s passing had been her mental harvest on her part could not understand why a man of family and good education and above physical	45
want should look upon it as a to be alive for the unhappy pilgrim herself there was very good reason but how could this admirable and poetic man ever have f lu op the d into the valley of felt i man of as she had foil two or three ago my and death rather my life i it i would not live it was true that he was at present ont of im class she knew that was because like r the great io s yard he was what he wanted to did not milk he was obliged to milk s but because to and he would become an american or commanding like a monarch his and his herds t spotted and his ring men servants and maids at times nevertheless it did seem to her that a decidedly musical thinking young man should have chosen deliberately to be a farmer and not a man like his father and brothers thus neither having the to tlie other s secret thi y were puzzled at what each revealed and new ledge of each other s and ii out attempting to into each other s history every day every hour brought to him one more stroke of her nature and to her one more of i li trying to lead a repressed life but little intensity of her own vitality at first seemed to regard angel as an rather than ns a man and as such she him with herself and at every discovery of the abundance of his of the immense between her own poor mental and the of his die became quite dejected from all further effort on her own part et he observed one day when he had i mentioned to her about the pastoral life in on the rally it nt greece she was tlie called lords aud ladies from the bank while he spoke do you look so all of a n he asked oh tis only about my own self she said with a laugh of beginning to a lady a flash of a sense of what might have been ith ine my life looks as if it had been wasted for want lit chances when i see what you know what you have r and seen and i feel what a nothing i am tin like the poor queen of who lived in the bible there is no more spirit in me bless my soul don t go troubling about that why i e said with some enthusiasm i should be only too glad dear to help you to in the way of or any line of reading you would like to take up it is a lady again interrupted holding out the bud she what i i meant that there are always more ladies than loi ds when you to them never mind about the lords and ladies would you like to take up any line of study history for example well sometimes i feel i don t want to know more about it than i know already not because what s the use of that i am one of a row only finding out that there is set down in some lid book somebody just like me and to know that i shall only act her part making me sad that s all the best is to remember that your nature and past doings been just like and thousands and that ur coming life aud doings be uke thousands aud what really then you don t want to learn t of the i t mind why die sun shines the just and on the she red with a in her voice eat that is what will tell me for such bitterness of e he spoke a conventional sense of duty only for tliat sort of worn ing had not been unknown to himself in and as he looked at the mouth and lips thought that a dew fresh daughter of the soil only have caught up the sentiment by she the lords and ladies till regarding for a ment the wave of her lashes as they drooped her bent gaze went away when he was she stood awhile the last bad then awakening from her reverie flung it and all crowd of nobility impatiently on the l in an of displeasure with herself for her ami with a warmth in her heart of hearts how stupid he must think her in au access of r for his good opinion she of what endeavored to forget so unpleasant u issues i the identity of her family with that of tho d barren attribute as it was di as its had been in many ways to her perhaps mr ci as a gi and a student of history would sufficiently to forget her childish conduct witli the loi and ladies if he knew that those marble and people in really d h r own forefathers that she was no of money and ambition like those lit bnt d tf tho bone but before venturing to make tho revelation indirectly sounded the man as to its upon mr by asking the former if mr bi great respect for old when they bad their and land u lt th the mr said the is one of the most you ever not a bit like the rest of his family and if there s one thing that he do hate more than another the notion of s called an old family he says that it stands to reason that old families have done their of work in past days and can t have anything left in em now there s the and the and the and the st and the and the used to own the lands for miles down this valley you could buy em all up now	45
the of his eyes rising above the seemed to have a sort of upon il looked ghostly as if she were merely a soul at reality her without appearing to do so had cold gleam of day from the his own tho he did not think of it wore the same aspect her it was then as has l een that she i moat she was no longer the but k essence of woman a whole sex form lie called her aud ol fanciful names half which did not cause did not understand them tee rally me would say and he did ti it would grow lighter and her es would become simply feminine they had changed from those of a divinity who could confer bliss to those of a being who it at these non hours they could get quite dose to the water fowl came with a great bold as opening doors and shutters out of the boughs of a plan ion which they d at the of the or already on the spot maintained their in the water as the pair walked by merely them by moving their heads round in a slow wheel like the turn of by they see the faint summer in level and apparently no thicker than spread about the meadows in detached of small extent on tlie gray moisture of the grass were marks where the cows had through the night dark islands of dry the size of their in the general sea of dew from each island proceeded a by which the had away to feed after getting up at the end of which trail they found her the breath fi om her nostrils when she recognized them making little fog of her own amid the n then they drove the animals k to the or it down to milk them on the spot as the case might re i the fog was more general and the lay like a white sea out of which the scattered rose like ous rocks birds rise il into the upper radiance and hang on tlie wing or alight ou the wet rails the which now shone like glass rods minute diamonds i moisture from the mist hung t o npon s id drops npon her hair like seed pearls when day quite strong and commonplace these dried off her i of the moreover then lost her ethereal and waa again the fair maid only who b to hold her own the other women of the this they would hear s the non resident for tn f late speaking sharply to old for not her hands for heaven s sake pop thy hands under the upon ray if the folk only thee and thy ways they d their milk and butter more than they do a ready and that s saying a good deal t j till towards the end in common with the rest could hear the hi table dragged out from the wall in the kitchen by s this being the invariable to each i the same scrape its the table had been cleared there was a great stir in the milk just after b fast the as usual but the butter not come whenever this happened the was si the milk i but never arose the sound tliey waited for and his wife the m r and the married om i the cottages also mr old and the rest stood gazing hopelessly at the and the boy who kept the horse going put on eyes to show his sense of the even tho horse himself seemed to look in ut the window m inquiring despair at each walk round the rally tis years since i to s son iii years aid the bitterly and he nothing to what his had been i e said fifty times if i have said once that i don t believe in him and i don t believe in him bnt i shall have to go to n oh yes i shall have u go to n if this sort of thing even mr began to feel at the s desperation c fall side of that they used to call wide was a very good man when i was a boy said but he s rotten as by now my grandfather used to go to out at and a man a were so i ve beard say continued mr but there s no such genuine folk about nowadays mrs s kept nearer to the matter in hand perhaps somebody in the house is in love she said heard tell in my younger days that that will cause it why that maid wo knew years ago do ye mind and how the butter didn t come then ah yea yes bnt that isn t the rights o t it had nothing to do with the love making i remember all about it tlie damage to the n he turned to jack a s bird of a fellow we had hei c as nt one time air a young woman o er at and deceived her as he had deceived many afore but he had another sort o woman to reckon with this time and it was not the girl herself one holy thursday of all lays in the we was here ns we mid be now only was no in hand when wo saw the girl s mother coming up to the door with a great brass umbrella in her hand that would have an ox and do jack work here because i want liim i a big bone to pick with he i assure n and her mother walked jack s young woman te s or the d l crying bitterly lier i a a time said jack o ut vm she b murder me where shall i get where	45
i t toll her e i be aiid witli that he j through the trap door and shut himself t as tlie s mother bu ted into the the villain where is he i says she i ll ills e for ii let me only catch him well she hunted about everywhere jack by side and by jack lying a most b inside the and the poor maid standing at the door crying her eyes out i shall never forget it never have melted a marble stone but she t find him nowhere at all the paused and one or two words of comment came from tho listeners but s stories ofl n ia when they were not really so aud strangers were into e of though old friends knew better the went on well how the woman should have had th wit to guess it i i could never but out that he was inside there without saying a word she took hold of the it was turned by hand power then and round i swung him and jack began to about inside stop let me out says he out hie i shall be into a he was a chap in his heart as such men mostly be not till make amends for her ti says the old woman stop tie you old h you call me old witch do ye you b s when ye ought to ha been me mother in law thi last five months and on went the and jack bones rattled round again well none of us lo interfere and at t a promised to make it right hy n her yes hi be as good as my word lu a and bo it ended that day i or ind h lai l l the rally the listeners re smiling their comments there was a behind their and they looked round pale faced had gone to the door how warm it ia to day i she said almost it was warm and of them her with the of the he went forward and opened the door for her ing with tender why he frequently with irony gave her this pet name the prettiest got in my you mustn t get so as this at the first breath of weather or we shall be finely to for want of ee by dog days shan t we mr i was faint and i think i am better out of she said and disappeared for her the milk in hie revolving at that moment its for a decided tis cried mi s and the attention of all was called off from that fair sufferer soon recovered herself bnt f be n much depressed all the afternoon when the evening was done she did not care to be with the of them and went out of doors wandering along she knew not whither she was wretched oh so wretched at the perception that to her companions the s had rather a humorous than other i e that none of them but herself seemed to see the of it to a certainty not one knew how cruelly it the tender place in her experience the evening was dow ugly to her a great wound in only a solitary cracked her from the by the river in a sad resembling that of a past friend whose she had now in these long june s the and indeed most if the went to bed at sunset or sooner the op the d s i tliis time of full her upstairs to however she to go to their chamber aud she had when the other came in them iu tht light of sun which hushed their with its color she a ain but she was d by tl voices and quietly turned her eyes towards neither of her three chamber companions had i t into bed they were standing in a group in j at the window the last red s of the west s warming their faces and necks and the around them all were watching somebody in the garden with deep interest their three faces close together a round one a pole one with dark hair and a fair one whose ti e don t push i you can see as well as i said tl haired and youngest girl without removing ei from the window tis no use for you to be in love with him any than me said jolly faced the his thoughts be of other cheeks than still looked and the others looked there he is again cried the pale i dark damp hair and keenly cut yoa needn t answered i seed you kissing his y did yon see her doing i asked why he was standing over the tub to let off and the shade of his face came upon the wall close to who was standing there filling a her mouth against the wall and kissed the of hit mouth i seed her though he didn t o a rosy spot came into the middle of k well ere was no harm in it she declared with at the tempted coolness and if i be in love with liim so is too aiid so be you come to that s full face could not blush past its she said what a tale ah there he is again eyes dear face dear mr there you ve owned it so have yon so we all with the dry frankness of complete indifference to opinion it is silly to pretend otherwise though we need not own it to other folks i would just marry n tomorrow so i slowly i too whispered the more timid the listener grew warm we can t all have him said we shan t either of ns which is worse still said the eldest there he is	45
again they all three blew him a kiss why asked because he likes best said lowering her voice i have watched him every day and have found it out there was a silence i but she care for him i at length breathed well i think that too but how all this is said impatiently of course he wouldn t any one of us or either ii t s son who s going to be a great and farmer abroad more likely to us to come wi en as farm hands at so much a year one sighed and another sighed and s plump figure sighed most of all somebody in bed hard by sighed too tears came into the eyes of the pretty red haired youngest last bud of the so im op tub i in the county they little longer faces still close together ix fore and the triple hues of their hair mingling but the mr had gone indoors and they saw him more and the shades to they crept their be in a few s they ladder to his own room was soon but did not drop into for a long time cried herself to the deeper was very far from even then this conversation was another of the r she had been obliged t swallow that day scarce feeling of jealousy arose in her breast for liar matter she knew herself to have the more finely formed better educated more woman either she ed that only the was necessary for holding her own in angel s hi against these her candid friends but the was ought she to do this there was to be sure hard ghost of a chance for of them in a serious but there was or bad been a chance of one or tlie inspiring him with a passing fancy for her and the pleasure of his attentions while he stayed here si unequal had led to marriage and she heard from mrs that mr had one day in a laughing way what he the use of n fine and all the while a acres of pasture to feed and to and com to reap a farm woman would be the only hen kind of wife r him but whether mr had spoken or not why should she who never allow my man to marry her now and who had that she never would be tempted to do so draw mr s attention from n for the brief happiness of herself in his eyes while he l t the rally xxii came downstairs yawning next morning j but and e proceeded witli as usual and went indoors to was discovered stamping about tlie he had received a letter in a customer had complained that the butter had a and have said the who held in his left hand a wooden on a lump of butter yes taste for yourself several of them gathered round him and mr tasted tasted also the other one or two of the men and last of all mrs who out from the waiting breakfast table certainly was a tn tile man who had thrown himself into abstraction to better realize the and bo divine the particular species of weed to which it suddenly exclaimed tis and i thought ther wasn t a blade left in tliat then all the old hands remembered tbat a certain dry into which a few of the cows had been admitted of late had in years gone by spoilt the butter in the same the had not recognized the taste at that le and thought the butter wo must examine that lie resumed n t con pan having armed themselves with old pointed knives went out together as the plant could only present in very dimensions to have escaped y observation it seemed rather a hopeless attempt find it in the of rich grass before them r they formed themselves into line all owing i k i i i i of the d to the the search tlie the ti end with mr who had to help th i and then bill and tlie married namely with hit black hair and rolling eyes and i from the winter of the vi who lived in their respective cottages with eyes fixed upon tlie ground they crept across a of the field returning a further down in such a manner that when tliey should have f not a single inch of pasture but would have under the eye of some one of them it was a most t business not more than half a dozen shoots of g ix in the whole field yet such was the tliat probably one bite o it by one cow liad h sufficient to season the whole s produce for the one from another in natures ai d greatly as they did they yet formed a curiously row noiseless and an alien observer down the neighboring lane might well have been for them as as they crept along ing low to the plant a soft yellow gleam from the into their shaded faces them an aspect though the sun upon their backs in all tjie strength of noon angel who stuck to rule taking part with the rest in everything glanced up now and then it was not of course by accident that he walked next to well how are you t he d very well you sir she replied as tliey had been discussing a score of personal only half an hour before the style a little but they got no in k h just then they crept and crept the hem of her touching his foot and his sometimes brushing the rally at t the who came next could stand it longer upon my soul and body this here stooping do fairly make my back open and he exclaimed slowly with on	45
up bo ihe ril carry you b tiie every of yon the four as if one heart beat i you can t sir it is for you to get past stand still nonsense you are not too heavy i d carry you all four together now attend he continued and put your arms my shoulders so now hold on that s well done had lowered herself upon his arm and shoulder os directed and angel off with her his slim figure as viewed from behind looking like the mere stem to the great suggested by they disappeared round the of road and only liis footsteps and the top ribbon of s bonnet told where they were lu a few minutes he i was the next in order upon tlie here he she murmured and they could hear that her lips were with emotion and i have to put mv arms round neck and look into his face as did there s nothing in that said quickly there s a time for a time to embrace aud a time to refrain from the first is now going to be mine it is scripture yes said l z i ve always a ear at h for good i to whom three quarters of this performance bs a act of kindness now approached quietly and lowered herself into his arms and marched off with her he was ard returning for the third time s throbbing heart seen to shake her he went up to the i seizing her he tes op the s his not liave pronounced more p y it will soon be you and i her comprehension mt in her face she not help it there was an understanding between p m r little though by far the weight was the most troublesome of s burdens had like a sack of meal or dead weight of i which he had literally staggered had ridden and was a bunch of hj however he got through with tlie deposited her and returned could see over the the distant three in a group standing as he bad d them on the next rising ground it was now her turn she was embarrassed to discover that tlie excitement at tin of mr s breath and eyes which had in her companions was in and as if fearful of betraying her secret she witli him at the last moment i may be able to dim along the bank perhaps sir ea u dim better than they you must be so tired mr no no said he and before sh aware she was seated in his arms and resting i his three to get one he they are better women than i she replied t her resolve not to me said angel he felt her grow warm at this and they went son steps in silence i hope i am not too heavy she said timidly oil no you should lift such a lump are like an by the sun and ill this of muslin about you is the it is pretty if i seem like that to yon do you know that i have undergone three ti this labor entirely for the sake of the fourth the no i did not expect such an event to day nor i the water came up so sudden that the rise in the water was what she understood him to refer to the state of her breathing stood still and inclined his face ds hers o he said pressing close against her the girl s cheeks burned to the breeze and she could not look into his eyes for her emotion it reminded angel that he was somewhat taking advantage of an accidental position and he went no further with it no definite words of love had crossed their lips as yet and at this point was desirable now however he walked slowly to make the remainder of the distance as long as possible f but at last they came to the bend and the rest of their progress was in full view of the other three the dry land was reached and he set her down her friends were looking with round thoughtful eyes at her and him and she could see that they had been talking of her he hastily bade them farewell and back along the stretch of road the four moved on together as before till broke the silence by saying no in all truth we have no chance against her she looked at what do you mean asked the latter he likes ee best the very best we could see it as he brought ee he would have kissed ee if you had encouraged him to do it ever so little no no said she the gaiety with which they had set out had somehow vanished and yet there was no enmity or malice between them they were generous young souls they had been reared in the lonely country where is a strong sentiment and they not blame her such was to be s heart ached there was no concealing from her of d fact that loved all more from that the others also i lost their hearts to him there is ag in especially among and yet that same heart of hers her friends ti ae s had fought against this but too feebly and ihe natural result had ed i will never stand in your way nor iu way of either of ee she declared to that in the her tears running down i can t help this m dear i don t think is in his mind at bnt it to ask me i should refuse him as i refuse any man would you i why i said wondering it be but i will be plain putting quite on one side i don t think he will either of yon i	45
have never expected it thought of it but i wish i was dead poor child torn bj a feeling which slip hardly turned to the two other girls who came we be friends with her again she said to them she thinks no more of his choosing her than we do so reserve went off and they were confiding and n i don t seem to care what i do now said i mood was to its lowest bass i was going to a at who s asked me t but mr word i would put an end to myself rather n bo his now don t ye speak t to then said i made sure to j y he was going to kiss me as he held me and i till against liis shoulder hoping and hoping and never at all but he did not i don t like lu t any longer i go the air of the sleeping seemed to with the hopeless passion of the girls they fe les tlie of an emotion on them by nature s law an emotion they had neither i nor denied the incident of the day had flame that was the inside of their hearts out md the was almost more than they could differences which them as individuals re abstracted by this passion and each was bnt portion t one called sex there was so much frankness so jealousy because there was no hope each one as a girl of fair common sense and she did lit with any vain or deny her love or give herself in the idea of the others the full recognition of the of their from a social of view its beginning its self bounded its lack of everything to justify its existence in i lie eye of ci nothing in the eye of nature the one fact that it did exist e to a killing joy all imparted to them a resignation a which a practical and sordid ex of winning as a would have destroyed they tossed and turned on their little beds and the downstairs b you awake t whispered one half an hour later it was s voice tes replied in the affirmative whereupon also and flung the off them and sighed ho be we i i wonder what she is like the lady they say his family have out for him i i wonder said k some lady looked out for him t sped starting x have never heard o that oh yes tis whispered a young lady of his own rank i by liis family a doctor of divinity s near i s parish of he don t care for they say but he is sure to marry her of the d they had heart ko very of this yet it to build lip wretched then hi shade of the night they all thi lu being won round to consent of the of the bride s happiness of her dress and veil of her home with when oblivion would have fallen themselves as far as he aud their love were thus they talked and a and wept till sleep their sorrow away after this nourished no ft thought that there any grave and deliberate import in s attentions to her it was a passing lo of her face for love s own sake mon and the crown of this sad vas that sin whom he really did prefer in a way to lo rest sin who knew herself to be more impassioned in more beautiful than they was in the eyes of far less worthy of him than tho ones ignored xxiv the and warm of at a season when the rush of could almost heard below the hiss of it was impossible thai the most fanciful love should not grow ready hearts existing there were by july passed over heads and the which came in its wake seemed an rt mi part of e to match the state of hearts at tail the air of the place so fo in tlie spring ami early summer was and i ner now heavy weighed upon them and at midday the seemed lying in n tbe upper slopes of tlie pastures but e was still bright u hei e where the water and as was oppressed by the outward so was ho inwardly by a of passion for tbe soft and silent tlie rains having passed the were the wheels of the s spring cart aa he sped from mai licked up the surface of the highway and were followed by white of dust as if tliey had get a thin powder on fire the cows jumped wildly the five gate by the kept his shirt sleeves permanently rolled b past his elbows from monday till saturday open windows produced no effect in without open doors and in garden the and crept about the bushes rather in the of than of winged creatures the flies in the i iti were lazy aud crawling about in places on the floor into drawers and li of the hands conversations were t while butter making and still more was a despair they entirely in tlie for coolness and driving in the cows during the day ill animals followed the shadow of the small t at hand as it moved round the stem with the roll and when the s came they could hardly stand for the flies on of these four or five cows chanced to stand apart from the general herd behind the corner of a hedge among them being aud old pretty who loved s hands above those of any other when she rose from her stool under a finished angel who had been ing her of tiie d the creatures next she assented i l with her stool at arm s and the st	45
i knee she went round to where they stood soon the of old s into the came through r hedge and then felt to go round the also to finish off a hard yielding who had i there lie now as capable of this a the ii himself all the men and some of the women when di i their into the cows and gazed into the a few mainly the younger ones rested heads ways this was s habit her temple ing the s flank her eyes fixed on the far end of ti meadow with the gaze of one lost in meditation she w old pretty thus and he sun to on i side it shone flat npon her led form ai her white curtain bonnet and upon her i it keen as a cut front the if t he cow she did not know that had followed her and that he sat under his cow her stillness of her head and features was d might have been in trance her eyes open yet nothing in the picture moved but old s tail i s pink hands the latter so gently as to be a i only the fancy tliat they were obey a merely like a beating heart how very her face was to him there nothing ethereal about it all was real vitality i real yet when all was thought and felt th could be and felt her features in general it was her mouth which turned out to be the then of eyes almost as deep and speaking he had i before and cheeks perhaps as fair bi as arched a and t as her mouth he had at all to ei on the face of the earth the young man with the least fire in bim that little upward lift m the middle of her top lip was he had never before seen a woman s lips and teeth which forced upon his with persistent the old of roses filled with perfect he as a lover might have failed thi m but no tliey were not perfect and it was thi touch of the imperfect upon the intended perfect that the sweetness because it was that wliich gave the had studied tlie curves of those lips so many hours that he could them mentally with comparative ease and now as they again confronted him with color and life they sent an over his flesh a cold breeze through his nerves which well nigh produced a and produced by some mysterious process a she then became conscious that he was observing her she would not show it by any change of position the curious dream like disappeared and a close eye might easily have discerned that the of her face slowly deepened and then faded till a tinge of it was left tlie that had passed into like on from the sky did not die down fears fell back like a defeated i up from his seat and leaving his to be i if the had such a mind went the desire of his eyes and down beside i r clasped her in his arms toss was taken c by surprise and she yielded it his with having ii ii it was really her lover who had advanced and no else her lips parted and she sank him in her joy with something veiy like an cry had been on the point of kissing that too tempting of hei s but he checked himself even for tender hi i of d forgave me dear he out lit to liave asked i did not know was i til not mean it ae a liberty at all i am devoted to j l dearest with all my soul old pretty by tliis time had looked puzzled a seeing two people under her where to custom there have been only oi lifted her leg she is angry she doesn t know what we mean sh kick over the milk exclaimed gently striving to fi herself her eyes c with the s her heart e deeply with hei and let me lift you up lean me he raised from her seat and they stood together arm still her s eyes fixed on di i to fill do you cry my darling he said i don t know murmured as saw and felt more dearly the position she in she came and tried to withdraw well i have betrayed feeling at last si he with a curious sigh of desperation that his heart had his judgment th i love you dearly and truly i not say but i it go no further now it you i am as surprised you are you will not think i have presumed k n been too quick and will yon i don t know he had reluctantly allowed her to free herself and minute or two the of each was resumed had beheld the of the into one and when round by that ii nook a few minutes later there was not a sign to r v l that the pair were more to each than mere acquaintance yet in the m k i view of them something had oe the the of the universe for their two natures whilst it should last something which had he known its quality the would have despised as a practical man yet which was based upon a more stubborn and tendency than a whole heap of so called a veil had been aside the tract of each one s was to have a new horizon for a short time or for a long i the consequence restless went out into the dusk as soon as f li on she who won him having retired to her chamber the iii ht was as as the day there was	45
no after dark unless on the gross roads garden the house fronts the walls were warm as and reflected the temperature into tiie the he calmly view the absorbing id without and it with of men women in the usual how you are to me resolve upon a plan for into that world anew but behold the absorbing scene en and what had been the world had dissolved into an outer dumb show while hero in this apparently dim and had started up as it had never for him started up elsewhere every window of the being open could hear across the yard each faint and trivial sound of the retiring that house so humble so insignificant so purely to him a of constrained that he had never hitherto deemed it of sufficient importance to be as an object of any quality whatever in the landscape what was it now f the aged and brick breathed forth the windows smiled the door and beckoned the blushed a within it was so far in her influence as to spread into and make the bricks mortar and whole sky throb with a sensibility whose was this mighty a s it was amazing indeed to bud how great a matter the life of the e had become to him and though new love was to bo held responsible for this it was not bo many besides angel have learnt that the magnitude of lives is not as to their external but as to their the peasant leads a larger fuller more dramatic life than the looking at it thus he found tliat life had much the same magnitude here ns elsewhere op the despite his and k a man witli a conscience was no i creature to t y with and dismiss but a living h precious life a life which to herself who or a it possessed as great a as the life of tl to himself upon her sensations the whole n depended to through her existence all her creatures existed to l the universe itself only into being for on the particular day in the year in which she was bom this upon which he had was t single opportunity of existence ever vouchsafed to by first cause her all her every and only i how then he look upon her as of less than himself as a pretty trifle to i caress and grow of and not deal in the with the affection which be knew that he had awakened in her so and so an sh was under her reserve in order that it might not and wreck her t to encounter her daily in the accustomed manner be to develop what had begun in such relations to meet meant to fall into i blood could not resist it and having arrived at no i sion as to the issue of such a tendency he decided to h td f aloof for tlie present from occupations in which they be engaged as yet the harm done was bnt it was not easy to out the resolution never to approach her he was continually burning to be with driven towards her by ever impulse within him he thought ho would go and see his friends it be possible to sound them upon this in less than months his t here would have ended and after a ft months spent upon other farms he would equipped in agricultural knowledge and in a to start on his own account not a want a i toe n ce wife and should a farmer s wife be a drawing room wax figure or a woman who understood farming t the pleasing answer returned to mm by the silence he resolved to go his journey one morning when tliey sat down to breakfast at some observed that she had not seen anything of mr that day oh no said mr ha s gone home to to spend a few days wi his relations for four impassioned ones around that table tlie of the morning went out at a stroke and the birds muffled their song but neither girl by word or gesture revealed her inner he s getting ou ds the end of his time wi me added the man with a which unconsciously d and so i suppose he is beginning to see plans elsewhere how much longer is he to stay here asked only one of the gloom stricken who could trust her ace with the question the waited for the s answer as if their lives hung it with parted lips gazing on the table cloth with heat added to her i and looking out at the well i can t mind the exact day without looking at my book replied witli the same intolerable and even that may be altered a bit he ll bide to get a little practice in the out at the straw yard for certain he ll bang on to the of the l ar i say four months or so of ecstasy in his society f pleasure about with pain after that the of unutterable night j of the d l in the of his father s at r ing as well as he could a little basket which some black and a bottle of sent by with her kind respects to his parents the lane stretched before him and his eyes were upon it they were staring into next year and not at the loved her ought ho to her dared he what would bis parents and his brothers say t would he himself say a couple of years after tlie i that would depend upon whether the of i i without which no should be the temporary emotion or it were a i joy in her form only with no of eve his s hill surrounded	45
little town tlie tower of red stone the of trees near the i a k came at last into view beneath him aud lie rode i wards the well known gate casting a glance in the of the church before entering hie ho standing by tlie door a gi of f twelve and sixteen awaiting tjie arrival of some other one who in a moment in th of a somewhat older than the wear ing a broad hat and highly lied gown with a couple of iu her hand w well he not be sun that she ob served him he hoped she did u t so as tu n it necessary that he should go and speak ta her tliat she was an overpowering h greet her made him that she had not m him j lady was miss mercy chant the only ii his a neighbor and friend whom it hi i quiet hope that ho might wed some day she w is mid aiid was l i h a now in the mind for ik i the ce in and to tbe most living of them all it was on the impulse of the moment that he had resolved to trot over to and hence had not written to his mother and father however to arrive about the breakfast before they should have gone out t j their parish duties he was a little late and they liad ah sat down to the morning the group at table jumped up to welcome him as soon as bo entered they were his father and mother his brother the reverend at a town in the adjoining county home for the of a fortnight and liis other brother the reverend the classical scholar and fellow and dean of his i a down from cambridge for the long his mother appeared in a cap and silver spectacles and his looked what in fact he was an earnest god fearing man somewhat gaunt in years about sixty five his pale fat e with thought and purpose over their heads hung tlie picture of angel s half sister the eldest of the family sixteen years his senior who had married a missionary and gone out to africa old mr was a of a type within the last twenty years has di out of contemporary life with well nigh suddenness a spiritual in the direct from io an of the a a man of in life and thought he had in his youth made up his mind once for all on the deeper of existence and admitted no further i hi them he was regarded even by those i own date and school of thinking as extreme while iii the other hand those totally opposed to him were unwillingly won to admiration for his and for the remarkable power he showed all questioning as to principles in his energy for applying them he d paul of liked saint i of the d as as ui e l and regarded mixed and tlie new less a than a to his than an his creed of was such that it almost amounted to a vice and on its to a which had that oi and led he despised the and s ai b and deemed himself consistent with the whole o which in a way he might have been one thing certainly was sincere to the pagan pleasure in natural life and womanhood which his son angel had lately been in his temper would have been in a high degree had he either by or imagination li n able t o apprehend it once upon a time angel so unlucky as to say tn his father in a moment of that it might have resulted far better for mankind if had the source of tlie religion of modern and not and his father s grief was of that description which not ri that there b part of a truth much less a half or a whole truth in such a proposition he had simply preached at angel for a long time after bnt the of his heart was such that he never resented anything for long and welcomed son to day with a smile which w bs candidly sweet as a child s angel down and the place like home he not so much as formerly feel himself one of tlie gathered there every time that he returned thither was conscious of this and since he had last shaped in tiie it had grown even more distinctly foreign to his own than usual its a still based on view of a a hell as remote from his own as if they had been the dreams ol the consequence on another planet he ha l seen only life felt only the gi eat of existence by which attempt ia cheek what wisdom would be content to on part saw a great difference in him a growing from the angel of former times it waa chiefly a difference in his manner that they noticed just now particularly his brothers he was getting to e like a farmer he flung his legs about the muscles of hia face had grown more liis eyes looked as much information as his spoke and more the manner of the had nearly disappeared still more the manner of the drawing young man a i would have said that lie had lost culture and a that he had become coarse such was the of fellowship with the and r breakfast ho walked with his two non well educated hall marked young men correct m their remotest fibre such models as are turned out yearly by the of a they were both somewhat short sighted and when it was the to wear a single and string they wore a single and string j when it was the custom to wear a double glass they	45
as he had not been put to the expense of sending angel np to cambridge he had felt it his to set by a sum of money every year towards the purchase or lease of land for him some day that he might not feel himself as far as worldly wealth goes continued his father you will no doubt stand far to your brothers in a few years this old mr s part led angel ard to the other and dearer subject he observed to lis father that he was then six and twenty and that when v should start in the farming business he would require s in back of his head to see to all matters some be necessary to the domestic labors of his establishment whilst he was would it not be well therefore for him to his father seemed to think this idea not unreasonable md then put the question what kind of wife do u think would be best for me as a hard working a truly christian woman who will be a help and a comfort to you in out and your in beyond that it really matters httle such an one can be found indeed my minded friend and neighbor or chant bat ought she not to be able to milk cows good butter make know how to t and and rear chickens to direct a field of in an and the oi i te s of the tes a s wife yes it be d mr e the elder liad plainly never though of these before i wiu going to add that for a ui e and will not o more to your true advantage and not i your mother s mind and my own than friend men whom yon to show a certain interest in it is t that my neighbor chant s daughter has lately caught i i the fashion of tlie younger round about ns for de the communion table altar as i was shocked i hear her call it one day with flowers and other stuff o i festival occasions but her father who is quite as to aa i says that can cured it is mere girlish outbreak which i am sure will not be i yes yes mercy is good and i know but father don t you think that a y woman and virtuous as chant but one who in of tl lady s accomplishments the of farm life as well as a himself would u better t his father persisted in that a i of a farmer s wife s duties came second to a v of and tlie impulsive angel wishing ta li i bis father s feelings and to advance the cause of i at the same time gi he said tliat i providence had in his way a woman who p to be the of an and was decidedly of a serious turn of mind he v not say whether or not had attached herself to sound low school of his father but she i probably bo open to c on that point she m church of simple faith d p intelligent graceful to a degree ns a i and in personal appearance is she of a family such os you would core to many ii the lady in short t asked his mother who had softly into the study during the she is not what in common is called a lady said angel for she is a s daughter as i am to say but she is a lady nevertheless in feeling and nature mercy chant is of a very good family what s the advantage of that mother said quickly how is family to avail the wife of a man who has to rough it as i have and shall have to do j mercy is and have their charm returned his mother looking al him through her silver spectacles as to external what will be the use of them in the life i am going to lead f while as to her reading i can take that in hand she ll be apt pupil enough as you say if you knew her she s of poetry if i may use the she what paper poets only write and she is an christian i am sure perhaps of the very tribe and species you desire to o angel you are mocking mother i beg pardon but as she really does attend almost every sunday morning and is a good christian girl i am sure you will any social for the sake of tliat quality and feel that i may do sm choose her angel almost unconsciously on that rather in his be r which never dreaming that it might stand in h good stead he had been prone to b ip ht when ol it practised by her and the other less l l of than of it obvious in lives essentially ij their sad doubts as to whether their son had right to the title he claimed for the unknown j woman mr and mrs began to feel it as an em op the d not to be that she at least was in her views especially as the of the have arisen by chance or l for i would have made a of his cl they said finally that it was better not to act in a but that they would not object to see her angel therefore refrained from more now he felt that single minded and his were there yet existed certain ut of theirs as middle class people which would some tact to overcome for at i to do as he chose and though their r iu could make no practical difference to their ii in the probability of her h far away from li	45
answer as an honorable woman o mr i cannot be your wife i cannot be the sound of her own decision seemed to break a very and she bowed her face in her grief but ho said amazed at her reply and holding her still more do you say no sorely you love me oh yes yea and i would rather be yours than any in the world returned the sweet honest voice of b distressed girl but i cannot many yon he said holding her at arm s length you to many some one else no no then why do you met j i don t want to many i have not thought o doing it i only want to love you but why t i driven to she stammered father is a and your mother wouldn t like you to marry will want you to marry a lady op the d nonsense i have to them both why i went home i feel i never she echoed is it too sudden to bo asked thus my pretty yes i did not expect it if you will let it pass please i will give j od time ho said it was very abrupt to come home and speak to you all at once i ll not allude to it again for n she again took up shining hi ld it tlie pump and began anew but she could as at other times hit the exact under surface of the with the delicate required as she mi it sometimes she was cutting down into the milk in the she could hardly see her eyes having with two ing tears drawn forth by a grief which lu this her best friend and dear she could never explain i can t i can t she said turning away from him not to a and hinder her any longer gentle began talking in a more general way tou t my they are the people and quite th y two of the few remaining school you an f i don t know you go to church veiy regularly and our is not ver high they tell me a ideas on the i of the parish w i ir she heard week seemed to be a s who had never heard him at all i wi fix my mind on what i hear mon firmly than i d marked it is a to he spoke no that angel was sin heart that his father could not object u on grounds even though she did not know whether pr i i the consequence were high low or broad he himself that in reality the confused which she held apparently in childhood were if an thing tract as to and as to essence confused or to them was his last desire leave sister ben she her early heaven views nor thou with il hint a life that leads he had occasionally thought the less honest than musical but he gladly to it now he spoke further of the incidents of ma visit of his father s mode of life of his zeal for his principles she k and the disappeared from her as she finished one lead after another he followed her and drew the for letting down the milk i fancied you looked a little downcast when you came hi d to observe anxious to keep away from the subject of herself yes well my father has been a good deal to of his ti and difficulties and the subject always to me he is so zealous that he gets many and from people of a different way of thinking from himself and i don t like to hear of to a man of his age the more as i don t think earnestness does any good when carried so far he has been telling me of a ver unpleasant scene in which he took part quite recently he went as the i f some missionary society to preach in the neighborhood a place forty miles from here and made it his business to with a hell he met somewhere about there son of some up that way who has an afflicted mother my father himself to the gentleman point blank and there was a disturbance it was very foolish of my father i te s op th must say to intrude his conversation upon a the were so obvious tliat it would he but whatever he thinks to be his duty that he ll do in season or out of season and of he makes enemies not only among the absolutely vicious but tlie y going who hate being d he says he glories in what and that good may done hut i wish he would not so wear out now that hu is getting old and would leave pigs to s look had grown hard and worn and her month but she no longer showed any thoughts of his father prevented him noticing her particularly and so they went on down white row of liquid till they had and drained them off when the other maids returned at ji took the and came to out tlie leads for the new milk as to go a field to the cows he said to her softly and my question oh no no replied she with grave firmness as one who heard anew the moaning and turmoil of her own put in the allusion to d it can t be she went out towards the joining tjie with a bound as if ing to make the open her sail all the girls drew onward t spot where the cows were in the farther advancing with the bold grace of wild animals reckless motion of women accustomed to m limited space in which they abandoned s t i air as a	45
to the wave it seemed to him now that was again in sight to chin from nature and not from the h art the did not permanently o his experience of women was great enough for l im to bo aware that the negative often meant nothing the jn to the affirmative and it was uttle t for him not to know that in the manner of the present negative there lay a great exception to the of co that she had already d him to love her be read as an additional assurance not fully that in the fields and pastures to sigh is by no ni love making being here e often ac and tor its own sweet sake than in ti f of the ambitious where a girl s craving for an establishment her natural thought of a passion as an end why did you say no in a positive way f he asked her in the course of a few days she started don t ask i told you partly lam not good enough not worthy enough i how t fine lady enough yes something like that murmured she your friends would scorn mc indeed yon mistake them my father and mother as ir my brothers i don t care he his fingers hind her back to keep her from slipping away now yon did not mean it sweet lam sure you did not ton i made me so restless that i cannot read or play or do i anything i am in no harry hut i want to know j to ht ar from your own lips that you will day i he mine any time you may choose hut some day i could only her and look away from him her attentively the characters of op the d f her face as if had been tlie i real i ought not to hold yon in this w ought it i have no right to yon no right to seek i i where yon are or walk with yon honestly do j love any other how can yon she said with continued self si i almost know that yoa do not bnt why do y pulse me i don t yon i like you to tell me yon me and you may always tell me as yon go with r oh yes you may and never offend me i but you will not accept me as a t ah that s different it is for your good indeed my dearest i o believe me it is only for sake i don i like to give myself the great happiness o promising to ht yours in that way because i am sure i to do it but yon will make me happy i ah you think so but you don t know i i at times as this the grounds of her refusal to be her sense of for tlie proper to the wife of a man like himself he ear that she was wonderfully well informed and which was certainly her natural and her admiration for having li d her to pick up his his and fragments of his knowledge to a i i extent after these tender a i l and her victory she go away by herself r in remotest cow if at time or into the or in ii her room if at a leisure interval and mourn silently not t minute after an apparently negative the struggle so fearful her own strongly on the side of his two ardent hearts a poor httle conscience that she tried to fort l i tion by every means in her power she ha l the consequence with a made up mind on no account she agree to a step which by reason of her history might cause bitter to her for blindness in wedding her and she that what her conscience had decided for her when her mind was ought not to be now for two or three days no e was said she guessed from the sad of her that they regarded her not only as the favorite but as the chosen but they could see for themselves that she did not put herself in his way had never before known a time in which the thread i of her life was bo distinctly twisted of two positive i pleasure and positive pain at the next cheese making the pair were again left alone together the man himself had been a hand but mr aa well as his wife seemed to have acquired a suspicion of mutual interest between these two though they walked so that suspicion was but of the faintest anyhow tlie left them to themselves they were breaking up the masses of before putting into the the operation resembled the act of bread on a large scale and amid the whiteness of the s bands showed themselves of the of the rose angel who was filling the his suddenly ceased and laid his flat upon hers bending lower he kissed th vein of her soft bare arm although the early september weather her arm from in the was as cold and to his mouth as a new gathered and tasted of the but she was such a of tliat her was by the touch her blood was driven to her finger ends and the cool arms flushed hot then as her t had said is longer necessary f th is truth between man and woman as between man i u of the d l u and man she turned up her eyes and beamed c into his as her rose in a tender half smile do you know why i did that t he said because you love veiy much she replied yes	45
and as a preliminary to a new entreaty not again she looked a sudden fear that her r ance might break down under her own desire he went on i cannot think why you are why do you me so t you almost like a upon my lift yon do a the first water they blow hot and blow as you do and it is the very last sort of to to find in a i like and yet be quickly added how the remark had cut i i know you to be the most honest ci e t ever lived so i suppose you a v don t you like the idea of being my wife if you n you seem to do i have never said don t like the idea bay it because it isn t true the stress now getting b endurance her quivered and she was tn go away was so pained and perplexed that he after and her iu the passage tell me tell me he id passionately clasping her in forgetfulness of hia hands do tell me that belong to anybody but me i will i will t ll you she exclaimed and i will give yon a complete r if you will let mo go now mr i will tell you my experiences all about au tour experiences dear yea any he expressed the assent in satire into i face my has no doubt almost as many as that wild out there on n that opened itself this morning for the first time toll j w mr to h l the anything but don t use wretched expression any more not being worthy of i will not and i ll give you my reasons to morrow next week say on sunday i tes on sunday at last she got away and did not stop in her retreat till she was in the thicket of at the lower of tie where she could be quite unseen here self down upon the rustling of spear as upon a bed and remained ci in broken by momentary shoots of joy which her fears l out tlie ending could not altogether suppress in reality she was drifting into acquiescence every saw of her breath every wave of her blood every in her ears a voice that joined with nature in revolt against her reckless of him to close with him at the altar revealing nothing and discovery at tliat st act in her drama to ripe pleasure before the iron t of could have time to upon her that was what love and in almost u ten or of ecstasy divined that despite her many months of lonely self schemes tt lead a future of love s counsel would prevail the afternoon advanced and still she remained among she heard the rattle of the when token im from tlie stands tlie wliich i the getting together of tlie cows but she did go to they would see her agitation and tlie thinking tjie cause to be love alone would good her and that could not i e borne her lover must have guessed her state and invented some excuse for her non appearance for no in were made or given at half past six the sun of the d ij e i down the of a ui tlie and presently a tiu il i like moon ai on the other the i tortured out of their natural shape f haired monsters as they up a i she went inland upstairs without a it was now aud j looked thoughtfully at her from a distance but c i no way upon her tlie t rest seemed to s that something did not force any remarks upon her in the ber friday passed saturday to was d i way i shall say yes let him i cannot help it she win with her hot face to the pillow that night tm of the other girls sigh his name in her sleep i bear to let anybody have him bnt me yet it u a n to and may kill him when he knows o o o o now who mid ye think i ve heard news o i said as ho sat down to t i next day with a gaze round upon th i men and s just who mid ye think f one guessed and another guessed mrs ud ii i guess because she knew already well said the man tis that i bird of a jack he s lately got l n widow woman not jack a villain to rf i a the name entered into s s o i the consequence for it was the name of the lover wronged his sweetheart and had afterwards been so used by the young woman s mother in the butter and has he married the matron s daughter as he promised i asked angel as he turned over the newspaper he was reading at the little table to he was s banished by mrs in her sense of his he sir never meant to replied the as i say tis a widow woman and she had money it seems fifty pounds a year or so and that was all he was after tliey were married in a great and then she told him that by marrying she had lost her fifty pounds a year just fancy the state o my gentleman s mind at that news never such a eat and dog life as they ve been leading ever since i serves well but the poor woman gets the worst o t well the silly body should have told him sooner that the ghost of her first man would trouble him said mrs ay ay responded the still you see exactly it was	45
she wanted a home and didn t like to run the risk of losing him don t ye think that was like it maidens t he glanced towards the row of girls she to ha told liim just they went to i when he could hardly have backed out exclaimed an yes she agreed she must have seen what he was after and should ha refused him cried and what do yon say my asked the man of ought women to tell everything at times i i think she ought to have told the state of or else refused him i don t know replied e bread aud choking her op the d be if i d la e done either i b married from one of the cottages all s i war i d la married t as did j j he d said two words to me about telling him au thing about my t that i r chose to tell i d ha him down wi tha pin a little fellow like he any do it the laughter which followed was r by a sorry smile for form s sake from tes t i was comedy to them was tragedy to and she could i hardly bear their table and with au impression that would follow her she along n httle path now stepping u one side of the channels and now to tlie till she i by main stream of men had been cutting water weeds higher up the river and masses of th m were floating past mo islands of green on i which she might almost have ridden long locks of which weed had lodged against the piles driven to the cow s i from crossing there was the pain of it this question of a i telling her the heaviest of crosses to herself m i but amusement to others it was as if people should laugh i at i came from her and i the beside her feet my wife no no i for your sake dear for k your sake i say no still i say no she repeated not expecting this he had put his arm lightly waist the moment after speaking lier of hair the younger ti with their hair loose on sunday mr building it up extra high for church a style could not when because of the s beads against the cows if she had said yes instead of no he would have kissed her it had evidently been his intention but ber negative his scrupulous heart their condition of put her as the woman to disadvantage by its enforced intercourse that he felt it to be unfair to her to exercise any pressure of which he might have honestly employed had she been better able lo avoid him he released her imprisoned waist and withheld the kiss it all turned on tbat release of her what had given her to refuse him this time was solely the tale of the told by the and that would have been overcome in another moment but angel said no more his e was perplexed be went away day after day they met less than before and thus two or three weeks went by the end of september drew near and she could see in his eye that he meant to ask ber again plan of was different now it seemed as though he had made up bis mind that her were after all only the result of and startled by the novelty of the proposal the fitful e of her when the subject was under discussion danced the idea so he played a more game and while never going beyond words or attempting the renewal of caresses he did his utmost in this way persistently her with never ceasing pressure in like that of the milk gently yet firmly at the cow s side at nt r at cheese among poultry and among pigs as no was over before by a sort of man knew that she must break down neither on the moral of the previous union nor a of to could hold out against it much g of d l le s longer she loved him bo and he so g like in her eyes ami though d her nature for his thus though kept repeating to herself i ain he his wife the words were vain a proof of her lay in the of what calm strength would have taken the trouble to sound o voice on the old subject stirred her with a t bliss and she the she feared his manner was what man s is so much who would love her and cherish her aud defend b under any conditions changes charges or revelations that her gloom lessened as she in it the season was drawing to the though it was still fine the days were much shorter the h worked by morning light for a long t and a fresh renewal of s pleading occurred one ing between three and four she had run up in her to his door to call as usual then had gone back to dress and call tlie other and in t n minutes was walking to the head of the with the candle in her hand at the same j came down his steps from the binding above in his without any shoes and put his arm now miss t before you go down he said it is a fortnight since spoke and tin won t i any longer you tell what yon mean or j have to leave this house my door was just now i saw you for your own safety i must go you c know well i is it to be yes at last i am only just up mr and	45
it is too early t take mo to task she you need not call me tis cruel aud wait till by and by please till by and by i will really think seriously about it now and then let me go the j a little like what he said she was ns holding the candle sideways she tried to smile away the i if her words call me angel then and not mr angel dearest why not mean that i agree wouldn t it it only mean that you love me even if you cannot many me and you were so good as to own that long ago well then angel dearest if i must she looking at her candle a curl coming her month notwithstanding her suspense e had resolved never to kiss her ho had ob lined her promise but somehow as stood there in i r prettily np her hair carelessly li upon her head till there should be leisure to arrange it when and were done he broke his and brought his lips to for one moment passed downstairs very never looking back it him or saying another the other maids were down and the subject was not except they all looked wistfully and suspiciously at uie in the sad yellow rays which the morning in with the first cold of the dawn without u was done which as the milk with the a i of autumn was a process by day and the rest went out the lovers followed them oar tremulous lives are so different from s are i y not he to her as he three figures before him through the of opening day not no i think she said why do you think op the d there be very few women s lives are no replied pausing over tlie new word as if il pressed ber there s more in those three what is in them t almost either of cm she began make perhaps would a wife than l perhaps they love you as well a i almost o there were signs that it was exquisite relief to hear the impatient exclamation though she had so to let generosity make one bid against self that was now done and she had not the power it attempt self a second time then they by a from one of the cottages and no was said on that which concerned them so knew that this day would decide it in the afternoon several of the s household ami went down to the as usual a long way from the where many of the were without being driven home the supply was getting lessen the animals were advancing in calf and the of the green season had been dismissed the work leisurely each i into tall that stood in a e spring wagon whidi h been brought the scene and when they were the cows away who was there with the rest his j per gleaming white against the leaden sky suddenly looked at his heavy why tis later i thought he said shan t be soon enough witli tliis milk at the station if d don t mind there s no time lo day to take it home a mix it with the bulk afore sending off it must go to tr tion straight from here drive it mr volunteered to do so though it none i his business asking to accompany the the consequence li had warm and for the season had come out with her hood only and and certainly not dressed for a she therefore replied by glancing over her scant but gently urged her she assented by her and stool to the to ike home and mounted the wagon beside the xxx f the daylight ihey went along the through the which stretched away into and were backed in tlie extreme mist of distance the and abrupt slopes of heath on its stood and stretches of fir trees whose tips in some spots a saw line upon the sky and others appeared like towers crowning castles of enchantment i they were so absorbed in the sense of being close to each lier that they did not begin talking for a long while the being broken only by the of the milk in le tall behind them the lane they followed was so that the nuts had remained on the boughs ii they slipped from their and the y clusters every now and then angel would fling le lash of his whip round one of these pluck it off and it to his companion dull sky soon began to tell its meaning by sending herald drops of rain and the air of the day into a fitful breeze which played about fa es be on the rivers and pools vanished s broad of light they changed to i no op d did affect her her slightly the its tinge with the beating of the rain drops a portion of her hair which the pressure of the cows had as usual caused to tumble n fi om its fasten hung below the curtain of her and the began to make it till it hardly was better weed i ought not to have come i suppose she looking at the sky i am sorry for the rain said he but bow glad i am to have you here r disappeared by degrees behind tlie the evening grew darker and being i ff ii by gates it was not safe to drive faster at a the air was rather chill i am so afraid you will get cold with nothing upon and shoulders he said her el x to me and perhaps it won t hurt you much i i still if i did think that the rain might be me she crept	45
closer and he i them both a large piece sail which was used i keep the sun off the milk s hold it m off him as well as herself s hands being now we are all right again ah no we an t runs down into ray neck a little and it must still i that s better tour arms are like wet nm i wipe them in the cloth now if yon stay t get another drop well dear about mine that long standing question f the only reply tliat he could hear for a of the horse s hoofs on the moist and of the milk in the them do you remember what you said t toe hi do she replied before we get home mind he said no more then as they drove the fragment of ail house of date rose against the sky ami was in due course passed and left behind that he observed to entertain her is an old place one of the several seats which belonged to an ancient family formerly of gi eat influence in this county the d t never pass one of their without thinking of them there is something very sad in the of a family of renown even if it is fierce yes said they t along towards a point in the expanse of before them at which a feeble light was beginning to its presence a spot where by day a fitful white streak of j steam at intervals upon the k green ba j moments of contact between their secluded i world and modem life modem life stretched out it steam t to this point or four times a day touched tiie i native and quickly withdrew its again as i if what it touched had been j they reached the feeble light which came from the smoky jump of a little railway station a poor enough yet in one sense of more importance to and mankind than the celestial ones to which it stood in humiliating contrast the of new milk were in the rain getting a little shelter from a i free there was the hissing of a train which drew up ii i st silently upon the wet rails and the milk was lifted into the van the light of tjie engine flashed for a second upon s figure motionless under great tree no object could have looked fl to the gleaming and wheels than o h of the l with uie i bore the hair the attitude of a friendly the gown of no date or and thi bonnet drooping on her brow she mounted again beside her lover with a mute ov characteristic of impassioned natures at times when they had up over head and in sail cloth again they hack into the now night was so that the few of t with the whirl of material progress lingered in her thoughts will drink it at their t she asked strange people that we never seen yea i suppose they will though not as send it when its strength has been lowered so that it may not p i up into their heads men and noble women and ladies and and babies who have seen a cow well yes perhaps particularly who don t know anything of and when il from or think how we two drive miles the to night in the rain that it might reach em in t we did not drive entirely on account of we drove a little on our on that matter which you will i am sur set at dear now permit me to put it in way y belong to me already you know your heart i does it you know as well as t oh yes then if your heart does why not your hand t my only reason was on account of on i have something tell you m but suppose it to be entirely for my ad m worldly convenience also m the yes if it is for your happiness and worldly bat my ufe afore i came here i want well it is for my as well as my happiness if i have a large farm either english or will he invaluable as a wife to me j better than a woman out of the largest mansion in the country so please please dear your mind of the feeling that you will stand in my wa but my i want you to know it you must let me t ll you j ou will not like me so well tell it if you wish io dearest this precious history then yes i was bom at so and so i was bom at she said eat at his words aa a help lightly as they were spoken and i grew up there and i was iu the sixth standard when i left school and they said i had great and should make a good teacher so it was settled that i should be one but there was trouble in my family my father was not very and he drank a little yes e poor child nothing new he pressed her more closely to his side and then there is something very about it me s breath quickened yes dearest never mind i i am not a but a n of the old family that owned the house we and we be all gone to nothing a d indeed and is that all the trouble dear i yea she answered faintly well why should i love yon loss after knowing was told by the man that you hated old families he laughed well it is true in one sense i do the of blood before everything and do y ink that the only we ought to	45
respect as reason those spiritual ones of the e and virtuous with i of the d out regard to but i am x d in this news you can have no idea how interested i am not you interested yourself in being one ut that well known line i have thought it once or twice since coming here and knowing tliat many of the mild fields i once belonged to my father s people but hills and fields belonged to s people and to s so that i don t value it yes it is surprising how many of the pre sent rs of i the soil were once owners of it and i sometimes wonder that a certain school of don t make capital of tht circumstance bat they don t seem to know it i wonder that i did not see the resemblance of your name to d and trace the manifest i and th was the secret at the last moment her had failed her she his blame for not telling sooner and her instinct j self preservation was stronger than her of course continued the have been glad to know you to be from the long suffering dumb rank and fl the english nation and not from the self seeking few i made themselves at the expense of the rest i am d away from that by my affection for he laughed as he spoke and selfish for your own sake i rejoice in your ut hopelessly and tliis fact of j our t make an difference to its acceptance of yon i ray wife aft r i have made you tlie well read h it i mean to make you my mother loo poor soul will ti bo much better of you on of it yon t spell your name correctly from tim day i like the other way but you dearest good heavens why the jump at such a by the by there s one of that who has taken the where have i heard of him t up iu tlie neighbor of the chase i think why he is tlie very man who had that with my father i told you of what an odd coincidence angel i i would rather not take the name i it is perhaps she was agitated now then mistress d i have you my name and so you escape the secret is ont so why should you any longer refuse mo i if it is to make you happy to have me as your and you feel that you do wish to marry me very very n h dearest of se mi an that it is only your wanting me very much and i hardly able to keep alive without me whatever my is that would make me feel i ought to say i will you will you do say it i know you will bo mine r er and ever he clasped her close and kissed her yes she had no sooner said it than she burst into a sobbing so violent that it seemed to her was not a hysterical by any means and he was ri why do you dearest i i can t tell quite i am so glad to of being rs and making you happy hut this doesn t seem veiy much like gladness my mean i cry because i have broken down in my vow li i would die int if you love ine you would like me to be your y s yes yes but sometimes wish i had never n bom r ow my if i did not know that you are op d es very much excited and very inexperienced should s j that k was not very how to wish that if care for me do you care for wish you would prove it in some way how can i prove il more than i have done f she in a distraction of tenderness will this prove it mon she clasped his neck and for the first time what an impassioned woman s kisses were like upon lips of one whom she loved b her heart and tn loved him there now do you believe f she wiping her eyes yes i never really doubted never never so they drove on through the gloom forming one the sail cloth the as he and tht rain against them she had consented she as well have agreed at first the appetite for joy all creation that tn force to its as the tide the weed was not to be controlled by va e the social i must write to my mother she said tou mind ray doing that j of course not dear dear child you are a child to mc to know how very proper it is to write to mother at a time and how wrong it would be in me object where does she at the same place on the farther i a t ah i you before this summer fl toe at that on the green but you would m dance with me hope that is of no ill for w dow i h n i the wrote a most touching and urgent letter to her mother the very next day and by the end of the week a response to her communication arrived in s wandering last century hand dear j write these few lines hoping they will find you well as they leave me at thank god for it de ur we are all glad to hear that you are really going to be married soon but with respect to your question j say between ourselves quite private but very strong that on no account do you say	45
a word of your trouble to him j did not tell everything to your father he being so proud on account of his respectability which perhaps your is the same many a woman some of the highest in the land have had a trouble in their time and why should you trumpet yours when others don t trumpet theirs no girl would be such a fool especially as it is so long ago and not your fault at all j shall answer the same if you ask me fifty times besides you must bear in mind that knowing it to be your childish nature to tell all that s in your heart so simple j made you promise me never to let it out by word or deed having your welfare in my mind and you solemnly did promise going from this door j have not mentioned either that question or your coming marriage to your father as he would it everywhere poor simple man dear keep up your spirits and we mean to send you a of for your wedding knowing there is not much in your ports and thin sour stuff what there i op the d is so no more at present and kind lore to j man from mother j o mother mother she was how light was the touch of the most oppressive mrs s elastic her mother did not life as saw it that of the past of which the still upon her soul concealed as it might be by was to her mother but a accident but her mother was right as to the course to be l what ever she might be in her reasons silence seemed on face of it best for her adored one s happiness should be thus by a command from the only person world who had any shadow of right to control her action grew calmer the responsibility was shifted aud her heart was lighter than it had been for weeks d declining autumn which followed her assent beginning uie month of october formed a season through she lived in spiritual more nearly approaching than any other period of her life there was a li of earth in her love tar to her ti he was all that be knew all that n guide philosopher and friend know she thought every in the of the perfection of his soul soul saint bis intellect that of a the wisdom of her for him as love sustained her dignity she seemed to wearing a crown tlie compassion of his love for hi she saw it made her lift up her t to him in di he would sometimes catch her large ey had no bottom to looking at him from their di she saw immortal before her the consequence she dismissed the past trod upon it and put it out as one on a coal that is and dangerous she had not known that men could be so disinterested in their love for women as he angel glare was far from au that she thought him in this respect but he was in truth more spiritual than animal lie had himself well in hand and was singularly fi ee from though not cold natured he was rather bright than hot less than could love desperately but his love more especially inclined to the imaginative and ethereal it was a fastidious emotion which could guard the loved one against his very self this amazed and whose slight experiences had l een so till now and in her reaction from indignation against the male sex she to excess of honor for they sought each other s company in her honest faith she did not disguise her desire to with him the sum of her instincts on this matter if clearly stated would have been that the quality in her sex which men in general must be distasteful to so perfect a man after an of love since it must in its very nature carry with it a suspicion of the country custom of out during was the only custom she knew and to her it had no strangeness though it seemed oddly to till he saw how normal a thing she in common with all the other folk regarded it thus during this october month of wonderful they along the by creeping paths which followed the of across by little wooden bridges to the other side and back again they were never out of the sound of some whose accompanied their own murmuring while the l of the sun almost as as the itself f a of radiance over the landscape they saw i tes op the d tiny in tlie shadows of trees and hedges au time that there was bright sunshine elsewhere the was so near the ground and the so shadows of aud would a ahead of them like two fingers pointing a where green ag st sides of the men were at work here and for it was the i for taking up the meadows or digging the little ways clear for the and thi i banks where trodden down by the cows the of black as jet brought there by the river when r was as wide as the whole valley were an essence of of the past refined and ui to extraordinary richness out of which came all the of the and of the cattle ther kept his arm round her waist lu of these with the air of a man who was to public though as as who with lips parted and eyes on the wore the look of a wary animal the while you are not ashamed of me as yours them she said gladly ob no no bat if it should reach the ears of your friends at tliat yon be walking about like this with the most ever seen they might	45
fee it n hurt to their dignity my dear girl a d hurt the it is a grand card to play that of your to such a family and i am it for a grand when we arc married and have the proofs of your from parson i ml from that my totally foreign to my family s it wiu not surface of their lives we shall leave this port of the consequence perhaps england itself and what does it matter how people regard us here you will like going will you not t she could answer no more than a bare affirmative so great was the emotion aroused in her at the thought of going through the world with him as his own familiar friend her feelings almost filled her ears like a of waves and up to her eyes she put her hand in his and thus they went on to a place where the reflected sun glared up from the river under a bridge with a glow that dazzled their eyes though the sun itself was hidden by the bridge they stood still whereupon little and heads up from the smooth surface of the water but finding that the disturbing had paused and not passed by they disappeared again upon this river brink they lingered till the fog began to close round them which was very early in the evening at this time of the year settling on the lashes of her eyes where it rested like and on his brows and hair they walked later on sundays when it was quite dark some of the people who were also out of doors on the first sunday evening after their engagement was suspected heard her impulsive speeches to fragments though they were too far off to hear the words heard the catch in her remarks broken into by the of her heart between joy and fear as she walked leaning on his arm noted her contented pauses the occasional little laugh upon which her seemed to ride the laugh of a woman in company the man she loves and has won from all other women unlike anything else in civilization they saw the of her tread like the of a bird which has not alighted her affection for him was now the breath and life of s being it enveloped her as a l into forgetfulness of her past sorrows keeping back of the d tbe gloomy that would persist in their attempts i touch doubt fear care shame that they were waiting like wolves just outside tjie ci i light but she had long of power to ke them in hungry there a spiritual with an j i ti remembrance she walked in brightness but knew tl in the background shapes of darkness were spread they might be receding or they might be c one or tlie other a little every day one evening and were obliged to sit keeping all the occupants of the away as they talked she looked up at hi and met his two eyes i am not worthy of you no i am not oi up from her low stool with wild suddenness though appalled at his homage and the fulness of her joy eat the whole h se of her excitement lo that which was only the smaller part of it said i have you speak like it dear i distinction does n consist in the use of a contemptible set of tions but in being ed among those who ore tn and honest and just and pure and lovely and of good i port as yon are my she struggled with the sob in her throat how oft had that string of made her heart ae in of late and how that ho have them now didn t yon stay and love me when i living with my little sisters and brothers and yon on the green why didn t you why didn t yon i cried her hands began to soothe and her truly what a creature of moods and i the consequence she was and how careful he have to be of her when she depended for her happiness on him ah why didn t i come he said that i i just what i feel i had only known but you must i i ii im bitter in your regret why should you be the woman s instinct to hide events uie answered hastily i should have had three years more of your heart than can ever have now then i should not have wasted my time as i have done i should have had so much longer happiness it was no mature woman witli a long dark vista of behind her who was thus by her past but girl of simple life not yet one and twenty who had been during her days of like a bird in a to calm herself the more completely arose from her little stool and left the room the stool with her skirts as she went he sat on by the cheerful thrown from a bundle green ash sticks laid across the dogs the sticks snapped and out of sap from their ends when she came back she was herself ag ain do you not think yon arc just a bit capricious he said good as he s read r her on the stool and seated in the settle beside er i wanted to ask you and just then you away yes i i am capricious she she approached him and put a hand upon each of his no angel i t really so by nature mean more to assure that she was not placed herself close to him in the settle i head to find a resting place against s shoulder hat did you want to	45
ask me am sure i will answer l s he continued humbly i op tub d well you love me and have agreed to me there follows a when the lay i like living like this but i must think of in on my own hook with the new year or a little later and before i gi t involved in the details of my new i should like to have secured my partner but she timidly ed to speak quite wouldn t it bo best not to till after ail that thou i t bear the o your going away and if me here of course you and it is not best in case i want you to help mo in many ways in my start when shall it be i why not a fortnight from now i g no she said becoming grave i have so many a to think of first but he drew her gently nearer to him the reality of marriage y as startling now that it so near before discussion of the question had further o walked round the comer of into full of the apartment mr mil and two of the sprang like an elastic ball from his side to her fi while her face flushed and her eyes in the i knew how it would be if i sat ho to him cried with vexation i said to myself they are come and catch us i but i wasn t really on bi though it might have seemed as if i was almost il well if so be you hadn t told us i am sure m ha noticed that you had been sitting an m oil in this the lie his wife with the mien of a who of the emotions relating to matrimony b ner that shows that folk should never other be supposing things when they t oh no i the r ha thought of her on his knee if she hadn t me not i wo are going t be married soon said with ah and he ye i am truly glad to it sir thought you mid do a for some time s i good for a i said st day i saw and a for any man and what s more a for a gentleman farmer s wife he won t be at i mercy of his wi her at his side somehow disappeared she had been even more with the look of the girls who followed bv s blunt praise supper when she reached bedroom were present a light was burning and each girl was tip ill her lied awaiting the whole like a row of ghosts but she saw in a few that there was no malice their mood they could feel as a loss what they never expected to have their condition was he s going to marry her never her eyes off how her do show it you be going to him t asked yes said some day perhaps that this was only tes to him a gentleman repeated and a sort of the three girls one after another out of their beds and came and stood ind put her hands upon s shoulders as ti realize her friend s after such a miracle i the other two laid their arms round her waist all look into her tes op the es how it do seem more than i of b id tes she was tliat because of love for or bet tip touched there by now it continued iy t i i wasn t that i y feeling all the ss ot that is wife and nobody else j don t say nay ui it nor t os we did not think of it only loved h u nobody else is to him in the world no ri nobody in jewels and g old in and l who do live like we are you sure you don t dislike for it i said b n low voice they about her in their flowing while i replying as if they d lie in her look i don t know i don t know i want to hate ee but i tiiat s how i feel echoed and i hate her somehow she do hinder me he ought to marry one of you d ton ore all than i wo better than said the girls in a low di whisper no no dear you are she contradicted am i i ti from their into a fit of tf bowing hen drawers and ing once given way she could sl ip w ho ought to have had one of i i t to make him even now yon would im r i don t know what i am saying o i they went up to and her round but sobs tore her water said sue by us poor thing i thing they led e consequence l k to the side of bed e tliey kissed you ai b foi n said mai more and a li scholar than we especially since he has taught ee su much but even yon to be proud you e proud yes i she said and i am ashamed at so down when they were all in bed and the light was out across to her you will think of us when you il his and of how we told ee that we loved how we tried not t hate you and did not hate you could you because yon were his choice and wi never ed to be chose by him not aware that at those words salt t ii s down upon s pillow anew und how she it with a bursting	45
heart to tell all her to despite her mother s command to let him for whom she lived and breathed despise her if he would and li t mother regard her as a fool rather than preserve a which might be deemed a treachery to liim and somehow a wrong to these this mood kept her from the the beginning of november found its date in though he asked her at the most tempting times but s desire seemed to be for a perpetual in which everything should remain as it was then tlie were changing now but it was still warm in early before to idle there and the state of y work at tliis time of year al a spare horn for looking over the te s op i in the direction of the sun e of was visible to their eyes the like track of moonlight on the sea knowing their brief wandered s the air pathway as if they bore fire within them passed out of its line and were quite extinct in the these he would remind her that the was still the or he would ask her at night when he accompanied i on some mission invented by mrs to give him opportunity this was mostly a journey to the on the slopes above the to inquire how the cow were getting on in the straw to which were for it was a time of the year that brought great changes to the world of of were away daily to this lying in hospital where they lived on straw tiu their were bom after h event and as soon as the calf walk mother and offspring were driven back to the in the which ed before the were sold there wan of course little to be done but ae soon as the calf had taken away the have to set to work as usual from one of these dark walks tliey a great gravel cliff immediately over the still and listened the water was now high in th streams through the and under the were all there was bo taking short cuts where and foot passengers were to follow the permanent ways from the whole la i tent of the invisible came a it forced upon the fancy that a great city lay below and that the murmur was the of it seems like of thousands of said holding public meetings in their market pi a preaching sobbing praying i cursing the consequence dare was not i did speak lu you o dear about hu wanting much the winter no the cows are going dry rapidly yes she answered six or seven went to the yesterday and three the day before making near twenty in the straw ah ah ia it that the don t want my help for the o i am not wanted here any more and i have tried so hard to didn t exactly say that he would no longer require you but knowing what our relations were he aid in the most od natured and respectful manner possible that he supposed on my leaving at i should take you with me and on my asking what he would do without you he merely observed tliat as a matter of it was a time of year when he could do with a very little female help i am afraid i was sinner enough to feel rather glad that he was in this way forcing your hand i don t think you ought to have felt glad angel be tis always mournful not to be wanted even if at the same time tis convenient well it is convenient you have admitted that he put his finger upon her cheek ah he i feel the red rising up at her having been caught but why should i trifle so we will not trifle life is too serious it is i saw that before you did he was seeing it then to decline to him after ill in obedience to her emotion of last night and leave meant to go to some strange place a for were not in request now was coming on to go to some farm where no divine being was she hated the thought and she more the thought of going home op the o so seriously dearest he j ou ly have u ut it is in ei way and tliat i should carry you then my ty besides if you were not the in ia the world would know could not go on like this forever i wish wc could that it would always be summer you always me and always tj as of me as you have done through the past time i always o i know yon will she cried with a sudden of in him angel will fix tlie day when i will yours for always thus at last it was il ik them during that dark walk home amid the i l of liquid voices on the right and left tliey reached the mr and mrs t promptly told with to secrecy i lovers was that the man i o private as possible the though he hail i i r of her soon now made a t a losing her what should he do about his u t make the ornamental butter for the m l ii and mrs ti i on tho ing having at last come to said that directly she eyes on she divined a wag to be the chosen one of somebody who was no i i man had looked so genteel and walked across the on that afternoon of h r ar rival tliat she was of a good family she could have sworn in point of fact mrs did distinctly think that was graceful and pretty as she	45
approached as for the and ihey mi ht have been a growth of the imagination aided by knowledge was now carried along upon the of the b the consequence without tlie sense of a wiu the bad bet n given of the day written down her bright intelligence bad begun to admit the convictions to field folk and those who associate more with natural phenomena with fellow i re at tire and accordingly into that passive to all things her lover suggested of the fi of mind but she wrote anew to her to the wedding day really to again her advice it was a gentleman who had chosen her which perhaps her had not sufficiently considered a post explanation which might be accepted with a light heart by a man might not be received with the same feeling by him but this communication brought no reply from mrs despite angel s plausible representations to himself and tt of the need for their immediate mar tiu f there was in truth an element of in the m p an became apparent at a later ho loved her rather and than ith the of her feeling for had entertained no notion when doomed as he had to an life that such charms as he beheld in this would be found behind the was a thing to talk of but he had not known how it really until he here but he was very far from seeing bis future track dearly and it might be a year or two before he be iii lie to consider himself fairly started in life the secret ly in the tinge of imparted to his career and i by the sense that he had been made to miss his true destiny through the prejudices of his family don t you think ha been better for us to wait till yon were quite settled in your farm once i timidly a was the idea just then i s te s op the d es to tell the truth my i don t like to lie left here away from my and the reason was a good one so far as it his i over her had been so marked tliat die had i his manner and habits liis speech and phrases his and his and to leave hi r in t arm be to let her slip bat t again out of with him wished to have her under his for another parents had naturally desired to see her at u before he her off to a distant settlement and as no opinion of theirs was to be his intention he judged that a of months life with him in lodgings whilst seeking for an opening would be of some social to her at she might feel to be a trying ordeal her to his mother at the next he wished to see a little of the working of a having an idea that lie might the of with corn growing the proprietor of a old mill at once the mill of an bad him the inspection of his time honored mode of and a hand in the for a few days should choose to come paid a to the plan some few miles distant one day at this time j and returned to in the him determined to spend a short time at the e flour mills and what had determined the opportunity of an insight into and than the casual fact that lodgings were to be obtained jn that y which before its had b the mansion of a bi of th d family was always how settled practical hy sentiment which ha i nothing to do with them they to go immediately after the wedding and for a instead of to sad inn then start off lo examine some oo the consequence of london that i heard of he said and by march or april will pay a to my and mother questions of as these arose and passed and tlie day the incredible day on which she was to his loomed large in the near future the thirty st of december new tear s eve was the date she said to ha could it ever be two selves together nothing to divide them every incident shared by them and yet why one sunday morning returned from church and spoke privately to ton was not called home this morning what it should ha the first time of asking to day she answered looking quietly at you meant to be married new tear s eve the other returned a quick and there must three times of asking and now be only two sundays left between felt her cheek was right of course there must be three perhaps he had forgotten if so there most be a week s and that was how could she remind her lover f she who hail been ro backward was suddenly fired with impatience and alarm she should lose her dear prize a natural incident relieved her anxiety mentioned of the to mrs and mrs i matron s privilege of speaking to angel on the point have ye forgot em mr the i mean no have not forgot em said as soon as he alone he assured her l t them you about the a license will be for ns and i have decided on a license without con called for publication nine s tes op the d ea you so if you go to b on you will not bear your name if you to i to it dearest she proudly to tbat were iii train wn relief to who had well nigh ft i that some would aud forbid history how events were bit i t feel she said to herself ah this good may bo out o mo afterwards by a lot of ill tliat s	45
i pulled out to day for packing i am occasionally to these in my sleep go to bed and think it no more this was the last required to turn the scale of r declare the past to him by of mouth f not but there was another way she sat down wrote on the four pages of a note sheet a j of toe d of of or four years ago put an and directed it to then lust should be weak crept upstairs shoes and slipped tlie note under his door her night was a bi as it well might be and for the first faint noise overhead it l he descended as ti she descended ui at tlie bottom of the and kissed her was as warmly as ever he looked a little and worn she but he said not a word to her about her revelation l viii when they were alone could he have had it i ir began the subject she felt that say nothing the day passed and it was evident that whatever he he meant to keep to himself yet he was frank n as before could it ho tliat her doubts that he forgave tliat he loved her fur m i was just as she was aud smiled at her l ii i foolish nightmare t had he n e j ed t sin l into his room and see nothing of it it v that he forgave her but even if he had not n ri il at had a sudden trust tiiat he sorely m her every morning and night he was the some and tear s eve the wedding day fl the lovers did not rise at time the whole of this last week of their at the ih en accorded something of tlie position being with a room of her own when tbey ri x d at breakfast time they were h see what effects had been produced iu the large hei their glory since they had last beheld il at home ti hour of morning the had to be and the k bt l v and u blazing yellow d in l the arch in the of the old cm tee consequence one with a black pattern wliich had done duty this aspect of what was tho indeed of the room oa a winter morning a smiling over the whole apartment i was determined to do in honor o t said the d tin man and as wouldn t hear of my a rattling good i and bass complete as we should ha done in old times this was all i could think o as a noiseless thing s friends lived so far off that none could conveniently have been present at the ceremony even had any been asked bnt as a fact nobody was invited from as for angel s family he had written and duly informed them of the time and assured them that he would be glad to see one at least of them there for the day if like to come his brothers had not replied at all seeming to be indignant witli him while bis father and mother had m n a rather l letter his in rushing into marriage but making the best of the matter by that though a was the last r in they could have expected their son an age at which he might be supposed to be the best judge this coolness in distressed less than it i would have done had he been without the grand card with i which he meant to sm them ere long to produce fresh fi om the as a d and a lady ia had to be and hence he had her till such time as with ways by a few months travel and reading with be could take her on a visit to bis parents and the knowledge while triumphantly producing her as of such an it wag a pretty lover s am if no more perhaps s had more value for himself than for anybody in the world besides her perception that angel s bearing ds her still remained in no whit ed bv lier own communication of the i u les if le have she rose from breakfast ore he bad aud i upstairs it to her to look once more i queer gaunt room which had ea c s or for so long and the ladder she stood at i open door of the ai regarding and pondering i stooped to the threshold of the way where she hi pushed in the two or three days earlier in such ment the carpet close tn the sill and under t edge of the carpet she discerned the faint whit margin the envelope containing her letter to him which lie had never seen owing to her ha ing in her te tho carpet as well as beneath the door with a feeling of withdrew there it was sealed up just as it bad left her ham the had not yet been removed she could fl let him read it now the house being in full bustle of n and descending to her own mom she the there so pale when he saw her again that he felt anxious the incident of tbe letter i bad guessed that it might be so overwhelmed her could she do at late moment thing waa in stir there waa coming and going all bad to and mrs having b en to them an witnesses and reflection or t well nigh impossible the only moment be alone with was when they met upon i am so anxious to talk to you t want t i cm ray faults aud she said with no un we can t have faults of von deemed t day at	45
t sweet shall have plenty of time i hope ti i will confess mine at same but it would be r or me to do it i that you could not say well you shall tell me say as soon as we st in our lodging not now i too will tell you my faults then but do not let us spoil the day with them they will be excellent matter for a dull time then you don t wish me to dearest i do not really the of di and starting left no time for more this those words of his seemed to her on i reflection especially that the subject was one on h hich he would not have liked to speak to her she was onward through the next couple of critical hours by the tide of her devotion to him which closed up further meditation her one desire so long resisted to make herself hia to call him her lord her own then if to die had at last lifted her up from her pathway in dressing she moved about in a mental cloud of many colored which all by its brightness the church was a long way off and tliey were obliged to drive particularly as it was winter a close carriage was o from a roadside inn a vehicle which had been kept there ever since the old days of post chaise travelling it had stout and heavy a great immense and springs and a like a the was a venerable boy of sixty a to the result of excessive exposure in youth by strong who had stood at inn doors doing nothing for the whole and twenty tb that had since he had no longer required ride as if expecting the old times to come again he had a permanent running wound on the of his right leg originated by tlie constant of aristocratic carriage poles during years he had been in regular employ at the golden crown inside this and creaking structure and behind k i op the d this decayed conductor the e took their the and bridegroom and mr aiid mrs ai would have liked at least of hie brothers to ie pi as but their silence after his gentle hint to effect by letter had signified that they did not care to they of the marriage and could not be to countenance it perhaps it was well that tl could not bo present they were not worldly young but with folk would have struck upon their apart from their views the match by the of the time knew of this did not see it did not know the road the were taking to the church she knew tliat angel was close to her all tlie rest a luminous mist she was a sort of celestial person who owed her being to poetry one those classical was to talk her out when they took their walks together the marriage being by there were only a di or so of people in the church had there been a they have produced no more effect npon her were at distances from her present world in tin solemnity with which she swore her faith to him the ordinary of sex seemed a at n pause in the service while they were kneeling tht r inclined herself ds him that li j shoulder touched his ami she bad been frightened by passing thought and the had been assure herself that he was really there and to that his would be proof against all thin e knew that she loved him ever curve of her showed that bat he did not know at that time depth of her devotion its its what long suffering it what honesty su what good faith as they came out of church the swung the the consequence their rests and a modest peal of three notes broke forth that limited amount of expression having been deemed for the joys of such a small parish by the tower with her husband on the path to the gate r feel the humming round them from tlie in a circle of sound and it matched ihe charged mental atmosphere in which she was living tliis condition of mind wherein she felt by not her own like the angel whom st john saw in the sun lasted till the sound of the church bells had died and the emotions of the wedding service down her eyes could dwell upon details more clearly now and my and mrs having directed their own to be lit for them to leave the carriage to the young couple observed the build and character of that conveyance for the first time sitting in silence she regarded it long i fancy you seem oppressed said yes she answered putting her hand to her brow i tremble at many things it is all so serious angel among other things i seem to have seen this carriage before to be very well acquainted with it it is odd i must have een it in a di o you have heard the legend of the d that well known superstition of this county about family when they were popular here and this old thing reminds you of it i have never heard of it to my knowledge said she what is the legend may i know iti well i would r not tell it in detail just now a certain d of the sixteenth or committed a crime in his family coach and since that time members of the family see or hear this old coach whenever but i ll tell yon another day it is evidently some dim knowledge of it has l i of d brought back to your by the sight of i don t	45
of the been told by the old folk that they were ladies of the family the ancient lords of this she said owing to their being into the wall they can t be removed the of the matter was that in addition to their effect upon her fine features were in their exaggerated forms he said nothing of this however and that his romantic plan of choosing this house for their time was proving to be a mistake went on into the adjoining room the place having been rather hastily prepared for them they washed their hands in one basin touched hers under the water which are my fingers and which are yours t he said looking up they are very much mixed they are all yours said she very prettily and endeavored to be than she was he had not been displeased with her on such an occasion it was what fi i i d i i eveiy sensible woman would show bat knew that had been thoughtful to aud the was so low on that last afternoon n year that it shone in through a and for a golden staff which d to made a spot like a paint mark set n her they down to till ancient parlor to tea and here they their first common meal alone such was their or his tliat he found it interesting to same bread and r as and to brush from lips with his own he wondered a little th did not enter into these witli his own zest looking at her silently tor a long time she is a hear i dear he thought to himself as on true construction of a difficult passage do i solemnly enough how utterly and in this womanly thing is the e of my good or bad faith and fortune f i think not i think i could not unless i wo i woman what i am is what i must become what i be she cannot be i ever neglect her or hurt her or even forget to r god forbid a they sat on over the tea table waiting for their lu ag which the had promised to send e it grew dark but evening began to in and the not arrive aud they had brought nothing more stood in with the departure of the sun the calm f the winter day changed out of doors there began as of silk the dead of preceding autumn were stirred to irksome o l whirled about unwillingly and tap ed against the it soon began to rain that cock knew the weather was going to add cure m the woman who had attended upon had gone hu b but die bad the consequence and now they lit them li drew towards the fireplace these old houses are so continued angel looking at the flames and at the down die sides i wonder where that luggage we even a brush aud comb i don t know she answered absent minded are not a bit cheerful this evening at all as you used to be those upstairs have unsettled j oa i am i bi here i wonder if you really love mc after all he knew that she did and the words had no serious intent but she was with emotion and like a wounded animal though she tried not to shed tears ho could not help showing one or two i did not mean it said he sorry you are worried lit not hai ing your things i know i cannot think why old not come with why it is seven i i clock ah there he is a knock had come to the door and there being nobody else to answer it went out he returned to the room with a in his hand it ia not utter all he said how said the been brought by a special messenger who arrived at s from im lately after the departure of the married couple and i followed them hither being under to deliver into nobody s but theirs brought it to the it was less than a foot long up in canvas ed in i ed wax with his father s seal and t d in his s hand t mrs angel it is a little wedding present for yon said he handing it to her how thoughtful they are looked a us she took it m u of i she after the parcel i don t like to break those great his j they look so please open it for me i he the parcel inside a case of leather on the top of which lay a and a key the note was for in the following words my dear son possibly you have forgotten that on the of mrs when you were a lad she vain kind woman that she was left to me a portion of the of her in trust for your wife if yon ever have one ae a mark of her affection fur you and yon should choose this trust i have fulfilled the diamonds have locked up at my banker s ever though i it to bo a somewhat act ia circumstances i am as you wiu see to o articles to the woman to whom they will now rightly and they are therefore promptly sent they i strictly speaking to the your s will the precise words of which that to this matter are enclosed i do remember said but i had quite f te h ten tie case they found it to contain a o with and ear rings and also some a small ornaments seemed afraid to touch them at bnt her j sparkled for a moment ds much as tiie stones when cur spread out the set are they mine she asked they arc certainly said	45
he he turned to the arc he how was a lad of fifteen his tie squire s only rich son witli ri the consequence s i had her faith to his had a career him there had seemed nothing at all out of keeping with a career in the up of these for his wife aad the wives of lier they gleamed somewhat ii he asked himself it was but a question of vanity throughout and if tliat were admitted into one side i f the it should bo admitted into the other his wife was a d whom could they become better than her he said with enthusiasm put them on on and he fi om the fire to help her as if by magic she had ah them rings and all but the gown isn t right said it ought to be a low one for a set of like that ought it t said yes said he he suggested to her how to in the edge of her so as to make it roughly to the cut for evening wear and when she had done this and the to the hung the whiteness of her throat as it was designed to do be stepped back to survey her my heavens said how beautiful you are she b him as everybody knows fine feathers e line birds a peasant girl but very to the casual er in her simple condition and attire will bloom us an amazing beauty if as a of fashion with the that art can render thi beauty of the midnight would cut but a e if placed the field woman s upon a monotonous of on a dull day he had never till now realized the artistic excellence of and features if you were only to appear in a he said no no dearest i think i love you best in the i i op the t ami cotton frock yes better than in t well j s sense of her striking appearance had given flash of which was yet not happiness i ll take them off she said iu case see me they are not fit for mo ai e they t must sold i let stay a few minutes longer sell them never it would be a breach of faith influenced by a second thought she readily obeyed ah had something to tell and there might be help in she sat down with the jewels upon her and they a indulged in es as to o p be with their baggage the ale they had poured o for his consumption when he came had gone flat with li standing shortly after this they began supper which was laid on a side table e they ha l finished there b jerk in the the rising of which into the room as if some giant laid his hand on top for a moment it had been of the outer door a heavy p was now in the passage and angel went out i e nobody hear at all by a for it was he at last and as out i opened the door i ve brought the thine air i am very glad see them but yon arc very late well yes sir there was something subdued in than s tone which had not been there in the day i lines of concern were upon his in u tion to the lines of years he continued we ve all h at the at what might ha been a most affliction since you and your bo to name n left us this a perhaps you nt i e crow the consequence dear me what some says it do mane one thing and some another j but what s happened is that poor little tried to drown herself no why she bade ns good by with the rest yes well sir when you and your mis ess so to name what she lawful is when you two drove away as i say and put on their and went out and as there is not much doing now being new year s eve and folks and from what s inside em nobody took much notice they went on to where they had some at to drink and then on they to armed cross and there they seem to have parted striking across the water as if for home and going on to the next village where there s another public house nothing more was seed or heard o the on his way home noticed some at by the great pool and twas her bonnet and shawl packed up in the water he found her he and another man brought her home thinking a was dead but she came round by degrees angel suddenly that was this gloomy tale went to shut the door between the passage and the room to the inner parlor where she was j but his wife flinging a shawl round her had approached and was listening to the man s narrative her eyes resting on the luggage and the drops of rain upon it and more than this there s she s been found dead drunk by the bed a girl who never been to touch anything before except ale though to be sure a was always a good woman as her face showed it seems as if the maids had all gone out o their minds and asked ih of the d is about house as usual bat a do say ft an how it h and she to be veiy low in ml about it pool maid as well she mid be and so sir all this d just when we was packing your traps and your mis ess s and dressing things into the cart why it me yes weu will you get the	45
trunks and drink a cup of ale and hasten hack as soon ni can in case you should he wanted had gone hack to the inner and down by the fire looking wistfully into it she heard s heavy footsteps up and down the stairs till he done placing the luggage aud heard him s the ale her husband took out to him and for ity he received s footsteps then died from i door and his cart away angel slid forward the massive oak bar ned the door and coming in to where she sat over the pressed her cheeks between his hands from r expected her to jump up gaily and the toilet that she had been so about but as she did not he sat down with her in the the candles on tb supper table being too thin aud glimmering to with it glow i am so sorry you should have beard this sad story still don t lot it you morbid you know without the least cause said while they have cause to be it and pretend they are this incident had turned the scale for her they met simple and innocent girls on the of q love had fallen they had deserved better at hands of fate she had ed worse yet she tb chosen one it wa s wicked of her to take all ing she would pay to tlie w j h i the there and then this final determination she came to when she looked into the fire he holding her hand a steady crimson glare from the now embers painted the sides and back of the fireplace with its color and the well i and the old brass that would not meet the of the mantel shelf was flushed with the blood colored light and the legs of the table nearest the fire s face and neck reflected the same warmth which each diamond turned into an or a a of white red and green flashes that their hues with her every do you remember what we said to each other this morning about telling our f f he asked abruptly finding that she still remained immovable we spoke lightly perhaps and you may well have done so but for me it was no light promise i want to make a confession to you love this from him so unexpectedly had the effect upon her of a you have to confess something she said quickly and even with gladness and relief you did not expect it ah you thought too highly of me now listen put your head there because i want you to forgive me and not to be indignant with me for not telling you before as perhaps i ought to have done how strange it was he seemed to be her double she did not speak and went on but darling i did not mention it because i was afraid of my chance of you the great prize of my life my fellowship i call you my brother s fellowship was won at his college mine at well i would not risk it i was going to tell you a month ago at the time you agreed to be mine but i could not i thought it might frighten you away from me i put it off op the i i would you yesterday to give to at least of me bat i did and i not this when yon pi our faults the that i was bnt i in i see you sitting o so solemnly wonder if will forgive me t oh yes i am sure that well i hope so but wait a you t to at the i my father fears that i am one of the lost for my i am of a in good morals a much as you i used to wish to lie a teacher of men it was a great to me when i found i et not enter the church i loved lay to it and hated i hope i now whatever one may think of i must heartily to these words of paul he tl an le in word in conversation in in in faith in it is tlie only for ua p beings says a poet strange company for st paul i the man of upright life e o needs ao bow well a certain is paved with good j having felt all that so strongly you will what a h ir remorse it bred in when in the midst of my high i for other i myself fell he then told her of that time of his life which has been made when about by doubts and like a cork on the waves he went to london aud into eight and fort hours a stranger happily i awoke almost immediately to a sense o be continued i would have no more to say to said i home i have never ence i should like to treat you with perfect and and i could not do so without telling this do l ive me i it his hand tightly for an answer n we will it at once and forever too is it is for the occasion and talk of something angel i am glad now yon a i have not made my confession i have a ion too remember i said so ah to be o now then for it wicked little one perhaps although you smile it is as serious as yours lore so rt can hardly be more serious dearest it cannot oh no it cannot she jumped at tj no it cannot be more certainly tis just the same i will tell you now heir hands were still joined the ashes under the lit by fire like a waste have beheld a last	45
in the same held just as slowly and as regardless of the hour and of the cheerless night as before it was only on account of his with his own affairs and the illness in his house that he did not bear in mind the curious incident however he recalled a long while after the interval of the s going and coming she had said to her husband i don t see how i can help being the cause of much misery to you all your life the river is down there i can put an end to myself in it i am not afraid i don t wish to add murder to my follies he said i will leave something to that i did it myself on account of my shame they will not blame you then don t speak so i don t want to hear it it is absurd to have such thoughts in this kind of case which is rather one for laughter than for you don t in the least understand the quality of the it would be viewed in the light of a joke by nine of tie world if it were known please ge me by returning to the and going to bed i will said she they had by a road which led to the of the abbey behind tlie mill the r having in centuries been attached to uie of the d l es the mill worked on food being a the abbey had perished one the of il temporary the of their walk having been they were still not from the house and in his direction she to reach tho large stone bridge across the main j and follow the road for a few ds when she gi it everything remained as she had left it the fire burning she did not stay downstairs for a few moments but proceeded to her chamber luggage had been taken hero she sat down on the edge ol the lied looking around and presently b w b in removing the light towards il rays fell upon tlie of wi hanging beneath it and she the candle to see it was a bough of angel had put it there knew tliat in an instant this was the explanation of that mysterious parcel which it had been so to bad bring he would not explain to her that time would soon show her tlie purpose in his zest and his gaiety he had hung it how and that looked now i having nothing more to fear having scarce w hope for that he would there no whatever she lay down when sorrow to li sleep sees her opportunity among happier moods which forbid was a welcomed it and in a few minutes the lonely t i foi existence by the of that had once possibly been the bride o own later on that night also his to house entering softly to the sitting room be lights and with tlie manner of one who had p he spread his upon the h the pays stood there and roughly shaped it to a couch before lying down he crept and listened at the door of her apartment her measured breathing told that she was sleeping profoundly god murmured and yet he was of a pang of bitterness at the thought ly true though not wholly so that having shift ed the burden of her life to his shoulders she was now wi til out care he away to descend faced round to her door again in the act bo caught sight of one of the portrait was immediately over the entrance to s bed chamber lu the candle light the painting was more than unpleasant r design in its features a concentrated of on the other sex so it seemed to him the of the was low precisely as s had been when he tucked it in to show the and again he experienced the distressing sensation of a resemblance between the cheek was he resumed his retreat and liis remained calm and his small compressed mouth his powers of self control his face wearing still that terribly expression which had spread since her disclosure it was the face of a man was no longer passion s slave yet who found no his he was simply the of human experience the of things nothing so pure so sweet so as had seemed possible all the long while that he had her np to an hour ago but l the little less and t worlds when he said to himself that her t not in the honest freshness of her face op the d but had no advocate to set him right could it possible he that eyes as tliey ne r expressed any from what tht ton e were yet ever seeing another world behind her me and t he on his in the sitting room and tlie night came in and its there and indifferent the night which hi already swallowed up his happiness and was now it and to swallow up the happiness i a thousand other people wit h as httle disturbance or of mien i arose in the light of a dawn that as though associated with crime the confronted him with its extinct embers the spread table whereon stood the two full glasses of w flat and her seat and his own lie other articles of furniture with their eternal look of not being able to help it their intolerable wm to be done from above there was no sound hut in few minutes came a knock at the door he n that it the neighboring s wife was to minister to their wants while they the presence of a third person in the house would awkward just now and being dressed v opened the window and that thej	45
could age to shift for themselves that morning she had a in her hand which he told her tu leave at il when tlie dame gone away he searched in tht r of tiie for fuel and lit n there was plenty of t bread and so on in the pays m t and had breakfast laid his at ie having i ed liim in domestic pi the smoke of the kindled wood rose from the without like a headed local people ho were passing by saw it and of the newly couple and their happiness angel east a final glance round and then going to the ot of the stairs said breakfast is ready he opened the front door and took a few steps in the air after a short space he he as in the sitting mechanically i breakfast things as she was folly attired and the si his her had been but two or three she must have been dressed or nearly so before ho ent to summon lier her hair was twisted np in a large und mass at the back of her head and had put on one the now a blue garment with of white her hands and appeared to be lid and she had possibly been sitting dressed in the bed om a long time without any fire the extreme civility s tone in calling her seemed fo have inspired her r the moment with anew glimmer of hope but it soon ed when she looked at him the pair were in truth but the of their former fires the hot sorrow of the previous night succeeded it seemed as if nothing could of to of sensation any more he spoke gently to her and she replied with a like un at she came up to him looking li sharply face as one who had no her own formed a visible also she said and paused him witli her rs as a breeze as though she hardly be ik there in the flesh the man who was lover k were bright her cheek though pale still though dried tears had left a of the d and tlie usually ripe red wa as pole b s her ck but she was still alive that under the stress of her grief the life beat so that a little further pull ni ii it might real illness render her eyes dull t and her mouth thin but she looked absolutely pure nature in her had set such a seal of upon s countenance that he gazed at her a air say it is not true no it is not true it is true word every word he looked at her as if he have taken a lie fi om her lips knowing it to lie one and have made of it by some sort of a denial however she only repeated it is true is he living angel then the baby died but the man t he is alive a last despair over s fat e is b in tes he took a few steps vaguely is this li said abruptly i any man would have that by giving up ill ambition to win a wife with standing with fortune with knowledge of th i should secure rustle ence as surely as i should pink hut however i am no man to n you and i will not felt his position so entirely that the not been therein lay just the distress of it saw that lie had lost angel i should not have let it on tn mi witli ee if i ha l not known that after all there a i a i thb woman pays way out of it for yon though i hoped yon would never her voice grew i mean to get rid of me yon can get rid of me by me good heavens how can yon be so simple how can i divorce can t yon now i have told yon i thought my confession would give you grounds for that o you are too childish crude i suppose i don t know what you are you don t understand the law you don t understand what you cannot for what happened before our marriage f indeed i cannot a quick shame mixed with the misery upon his listener s face i thought i thought she whispered now i see how wicked i seem to you believe me believe me on my soul i never thought but that yon could i hoped you would not yet i believed without a doubt that yon could cast me off if you were determined and didn t love me at at all you were mistaken he said o then i ought to have done it to have done it last night but i hadn t the courage that s just like me the courage to do what t as she did not answer he took her by the hand what were you thinking of doing t he inquired of putting an end to myself when she under this manner last she answered where t under your my good god how t he asked sternly ok the l ill tell you sir if you won t be with said shrinking it was witli tlie of my h v could not do tlie last i s il mi i a to your name till quality of this wrung from her and not shook bim ho held her and letting his glance fall from her downwards ho said now listen to t must not dare to think of h a horrible thing i h w ld you you will promise mo as husband m attempt that no more i am ready to i saw	45
how wicked it was wicked the idea was of yon but angel she pleaded her eyes in c j upon him it was thought of entirely on y ii account to set you free without the scandal of the that i ht you would have to got i dreamed of doing it on mine however to my own hand is too good for me after all it is yon my husband who ought to strike the blow i should love yon more if that were possible if you wn bring to do it there s no way of ii for ee i feel i am so utterly worthless very in the way i well since you say so i won t i have un wish to yours he knew this to be enough since the of the night her a had dropped to l was no further to ho ft tried to busy herself again over the t with more or less and they sat down on tl lie side so that glances did not meet w at first in hearing each r but this could not be moreover the if done was on both breakfast over le n se and telling her the hour at which he might be to dinner went off to the miller s in a mechanical of the plan of studying that business which had een liis only practical reason for when was gone stood at tbe window and saw his form crossing the great stone bridge which to the mill premises he sank behind it crossed he railway beyond and disappeared then without lie turned her attention to the room and began be table and setting it in order the soon came her presence was at first a train upon but afterwards an at twelve she left her assistant alone in the and turning to the sitting room waited for the if angel s form behind the bridge one he showed himself her face flushed although le was a of a mile off she ran to the kitchen to the dinner served by the time he should enter he rent first t i the room where they had washed their hands the day before and as he entered the sitting room he dish covers rose from the dishes as if by his own motion how punctual he said tes i saw you coming over the bridge said she the meal was passed in commonplace talk of what he had doing during the at the abbey mill of the of and the old fashioned machinery which le feared would not him greatly on modem methods some of it seeming to have been in use ver since the days it ground for the in the buildings now a heap of ruins he left he house again in the course of an hour coming home at and occupying himself through the evening his she feared she was in the way and when the old man was gone retired to the she made as well as she could for more ou hour of tlie e s appeared at door you work like this he said yoa are not my servant know you are my her face brightened i may think myself that indeed she in piteous you mean n name well i don t want to jl anything more you think so you arc what do mean i t know she said hastily with t in her i thought i because i am not respectable i mean told you i thought i was not i enough and i didn t want to you on that you d she broke into sobs and turned her back to him it would almost have won round any man but within the remote depths of his constitution so affectionate as he was in general lay hidden a logical deposit like a vein of metal in a soft li tlie edge of that attempted to it it had blocked his way with the church it li way with moreover his affection it was less than radiance and with regard to the other sex when i ceased to he ceased to follow iu tl with many natures who remain with what they put upon his his power of self waa appalling almost he waited till her sobbing wish half the women in england as as you he said in an of in general it a question of but one of principle he spoke things as these and more of a d sort to her being still swayed by the w n which direct souls with such when their finds itself by it in true underneath k ni i t the woman pays through which a woman of the world might have conquered him but did not think of this she took everything as her deserts and hardly opened her mouth the firmness of her devotion to him was indeed almost pitiful ed as she naturally was nothing that he could say made her she sought not her own was not provoked thought no evil of his treatment of her she might just now have been charity herself returned to a self seeking modem world this evening night and morning were passed precisely as the preceding ones had been passed on one and only one occasion did she the formerly free and independent venture to make any advances it was on the third occasion of his starting after a meal to go out to the as he was leaving the table he said gk od by and she replied in the same words at the same time her mouth in the way of his he did not avail himself of the invitation saying as he turned hastily aside i shall be home shrank into herself as if she had been struck often enough had he tried to reach those lips against	45
her consent often had he said gaily that her mouth and breath tasted of butter and eggs and milk and honey on which she mainly lived that he drew from them and other follies of that sort but he did not care for them now he ol served her sudden shrinking and said gently you know i have to think of a course it was imperative that we should stay together a little while to avoid the scandal to you that would have resulted from our immediate parting but you must see it is only for form s sake yes said he went out and on his way to the mill stood still and faint as his love for her had wished for a moment that he had responded yet more kindly and kissed her once at least thus they lived through this despairing day or two in of the the same house truly but more widely apart than they were lovers it was to her that be was said with in his to think of a plan of she was awe i discover such determination under such apparent no longer expected forgiveness now more than she of going away from him during his ut the mill but she feared that this instead of him might be the means of and humiliating him more if it should become known meanwhile was meditating verily his had been u i ended he was becoming ill with thinking eaten out iv ith thinking withered by thinking out of his former fi walked about saying to himself s to be done what to be done and by chance she overheard him it cats fi to the reserve about their future which prevailed i suppose you are not going live wi me long yon f she asked the sunk comers of her mouth how purely mechanical were the means by ii she retained that expression of face i cannot he said without myself and what is worse perhaps you i mean of course can not live with you in the ordinary sense at present i feel i do not despise you and since we have to speak let me speak plainly otherwise yon not perceive all my difficulties how can v v live while that man lives he being your husband in the sight ot nature if not really now i put it to you don t think of me or of yourself my feelings or your feelings thai not all the difficulty it in another bearing upon the future of other people than i think of years to c me and children bom to u past matter getting known for it must get known the woman pays t and the even uie yonder of it an parts of the earth that nobody ever comes from or goes to them from elsewhere well think f these wretches of our flesh and blood growing up under doubts which they will gradually get to feel the full force of with their years what an awakening for them what a prospect can you honestly say remain aft r contemplating tliis don t you think we had better endure the ills wo have than fly to others she did not lift her eyelids with trouble i cannot say remain she answered i cannot i had thought so far s feminine hope shall we confess it been so as to revive in her visions of a intimacy continued long enough to break down his coldness even against his judgment though in the usual sense she was would have deficiency of womanhood if she had not instinctively known what an argument lies in nothing else would serve her she if this failed it was wrong to hope in what was of the nature of she said to herself yet that sort of hope she could not his last representation had now been made and it was as said a new view she had truly never thought so far as that and his picture of possible offspring who would scorn her was one that brought deadly conviction to an honest heart which was to its centre sheer experience had already her that in some circumstances there was one thing better than to lead a good life and that was to be saved from leading any life whatever like all who had been by suffering she could in the words of i hear a in the be bom yet such is the of nature that till now had been bv her love for into tes of the for it might result in that upon others what she had ne a to herself she therefore could not hia nt but with the self of the u answer arose in s own mind he feared it it was based on her exceptional and she might have used it tr might have added on an or plain who ia to know or care my misfortune or lo reproach me or you i yet like the of she accepted the as if it the inevitable and she may have been right n not only its own bitterness but its band s and who say that even if the o reproaches were not likely to bo addressed to him or to hit strangers they might not have hm cars his own fastidious brain it was the third day of the some risk the odd that with e li have been the nobler man wo do not say it love was to a fault imaginative with these presence is r appealing than absence the latter on it m ideal that drops hie real she found that her did not ad ha cause so forcibly as she had anticipated tho phrase was true she was another woman who had excited his desire i have thought over what yon say she him moving her forefinger over the	45
table cloth hand which bore the ring that them both ing her forehead it is quite true all of it you must go away me but what can yoa do t i can go home i the had not thought of that are you sure he said sure we ought to t and wo may as well get it past aud done you once said that i was apt to wiu men against their better judgment and if i am before your eyes i may cause you to change your plans in opposition to your reason and wish and ds your repentance and my sorrow will be terrible he was silent and you like to go home he asked i want to leave you and go home though she did not look up at him she started there w i s a between the proposition and the wliich she had felt only too quickly i feared it would come to this she mm her countenance meekly fixed i don t complain angel i i think it best what you said has quite convinced me v though nobody else should reproach me if we should v together yet years hence yon might get iy with me for any ordinary matter aud knowing what of my you yourself might be tempted to words aud they might be overheard perhaps by my n what only hurts me now would torture il kill me then i will go to morrow i t not stay here though i did not like to it i have seen that it was advisable we should t st for a while till i can better see the shape that taken and can write to you st de a glance at her husband he was pale even but as before she was appalled by the determination i in the depths of this being she had married the will to subdue the emotion to the emotion tlie to the conception the to the tendencies habits were as dead the wind of his ascend of the he may liave ed her look for i think of people more when i am away from them adding god knows perhaps we shall down together some day for weariness done it that day he began to pack np and she went and began to pack also both knew that it was in two minds that they might part the next morning forever despite the of conjectures thrown over th r proceeding by reason of their being of the sort to whom any parting which has an air of about it is a torture he knew and she knew the which each had exercised over the other on her of accomplishments would probably in the first days of their separation be even more ut this ever time must that effect the ments against accepting her as a would pronounce themselves more strongly in the i t time moreover when two people are parted have abandoned a common and a common new bud upward to lu place accidents hinder and old plans are forgotten midnight came and passed for there wm nothing to announce it in the valley of the long after one o clock there a cr id darkened old once the of d who used the upper o heard it awoke it had come from the of f which as usual was loosely nailed the pays door of her bedroom open and the figure of her ban l crossed the stream of moonlight with a careful tread he was in his shirt and trousers only and her first flush of joy died when she perceived that his eyes were fixed in an unnatural stare on when he reached the middle of the room he stood still and murmured in tones of indescribable sadness dead dead dead under the influence of any strongly disturbing force would occasionally walk in his sleep and even perform strange such as he had done on the of their return from market just before their marriage when lie re in his bedroom his combat with the man who had insulted her saw that continued mental had wrought that state in him now her loyal confidence iu him lay so deep down in her heart tliat awake or asleep he inspired her with no sort of personal fear if he had entered with a pistol in his hand he would scarcely have disturbed her trust in his came close and bent over her dead dead dead he murmured after regarding her for some moments with the same gaze of woe he bent lower enclosed her in his arms and rolled her in the sheet as iu a then lifting her from the with as much respect as one would show to a dead body in such circumstances he carried her across the room my poor p dearest darling so sweet bo good so true the words of withheld so severely in his waking hours were sweet to her forlorn and heart if it had been to save her life she not by moving or struggling have put an end to position she found herself in thus she lay in venturing to breathe and wondering what he was going to do with her suffered herself to be it upon tlie te s of tiie d l les my wife lie ho paused in liis labors for a moment to lean with ho tlie was he going to throw self solicitude was near tion in her and in that ho had planned to t from her on possibly for always she lay in his arms in this precarious position with rather a sense of luxury than a sense of terror if they only fall together both bo dashed to how fit how desirable however he did not let her fall but took advantage of the support of the to a	45
kiss upon her lips in the scorned then he her with a renewed of hold and descended the the of the comer stair did not awaken him and they reached the floor safely one of his from its grasp of her for a moment he slid ba dow bar and pa out slightly striking his l toe against the edge of the door but this he seemed to and ha ing room for extension in the open air in got her upon his shoulder so that he could i more ease the absence of clothes taking much burden thus he bore her off the in the di of tht r a few yards distant his ultimate intention if ho had any she had and found herself on tjie as a third sou might have done so hat delivered her whole being up to liim that it pleaded hi to think he regarding her as his absolute to dispose of aa he should it was under the hovering terror of to morrow s separation to he really recognized her now as his wife and did cast her off even if in recognition he went o to himself the right of her ah now she knew he was of that morning when he had borne her along throng with the other maids who had loved him the woman as she if that were could hardly admit did not cross tho bridge with lier but proceeding several paces on the towards the adjoining mill at length stood still ou the brink of the its b in creeping down these of meadow land divided in cur es themselves around little islands that had no name returning and i e themselves as a broad main stream farther on opposite the spot to which he had brought her was a general and the river was and deep across it was a narrow foot bridge but now the autumn rains had washed the away g the bare plank only lying a few above the current formed a giddy for even steady heads and had noticed from the window of the house in the young men trying to cross upon it as a feat in her husband had possibly observed the same anyhow he now mounted tlie bridge and one foot advanced it was lie going to drown probably he was the spot was lonely tbe river deep and wide enough to make a purpose easy of accomplishment he might drown her if he would it would be better than parting to morrow to lead severed lives the swift stream and under them tossing and the moon s reflected face spots of travelled past and weeds waved behind the piles k they could both fall together into the current now their arms be so tightly clasped together that they not be saved they would go out of the world and there would l e no more i to her or to him for her his last half hour with i her would have been a lo ing one while if they lived till awoke his aversion would return and this remain to be contemplated only as a transient i i op the d the impulse in her jet she dared not indulge i to make a movement tliat would have l then both the gulf how she valued her own life had b b proved but liis she had no right to with it reached the other side with her in safety here they were a plantation which formed the abbey grounds and taking a new hold of her he went onward a few steps till they reached the ruined choir the abbey church the north wall was empty stone coffin f an without a lid in which v ery with a turn for grim humor was to in thia carefully laid ha ing kissed her lips a time he breathed deeply as if n desired end were attained then laid down her when he immediately fell into the deep dead of exhaustion and remained motionless as a log of mental excitement which had produced the was now over eat up in the coffin the night though mild for the season s more than sufficiently make it dangerous for him to remain here long in his clothed if he were left to himself he would ii probability stay there till the morning and he chilled certain death ha l heard of such deaths aft r walking but how could dare to awaken mm and him know what he had been doing when it liim to discover folly in respect of her t stepping out of her stone confine shook him slightly was unable to arouse him without being ii wi indispensable to do something for she vas shiver the sheet being but a poor protection her ment had in a measure kept her warm during e but that interval was over it occurred to her to try per i iu and she l in his ear with aa h and decision as she could summon let as walk on the pays ling at the same time taking by tlie arm to her relief lie lier words had apparently him into his dream to r on a new phase wherein be fancied she had risen as a and was leading liim to heaven she d him by the ami to the stone bridge in front of their residence which they stood at the door a feet were quite bare and the hurt her and chilled her to the bone bnt was m his stockings and appeared to feel no discomfort there was no farther she induced bim to lie down on his own sofa bed and covered him np lighting a t fire of wood to i y any ont of bim the noise of these attentions she thought night awaken him and secretly wished that tbey might but the exhaustion of bis mind	45
and body was such that he undisturbed as as they met the next morning divined that knew little or of bow far she had been in the night s excursion though as regarded himself s may an ng tliat lie had not lain still in be liad awakened that morning fi om a sleep deep aa and ing those st few moments in which the like a shaking himself is its he bad some dim notion of an unusual proceeding but the realities of liis situation soon conjecture on other subject he waited in to discern mental pointing be knew that if any intention of bis concluded over did not vanish in the light of morning it on n to one of pure reason even if by impulse of feeling that it was so far therefore to be l h beheld in the pale morning light the resolve to from her not as a hot and instinct but of had made it tes of the bam in bones nothing bnt a but none the less there no longer at breakfast and while tliey were tin i articles be showed his weariness from tin effort so tt ss was on the o ing and revealing all that had happened but the that it would anger him grieve him bv h him know that he had instinctively manifested a for her of which hia common sense did not a pro f that his inclination had his dignity when n s slept again her it was too much like n man when sober for his deeds during it crossed her mind too that he might n faint recollection of his tender and was fc allude to it from a conviction that she would of the it gave her to him anew not to gi he had ordered by letter a vehicle from the t wn and soon after breakfast it arrived she saw the be of uie end the end at least tjie revelation of hia tenderness by the incident of night led her to think of a possible future with him luggage was on the top and th drove them the miller and the old expressing some at departure which to hia that the mill work not of kind he wished to investigate a statement that true bo far as it went beyond this there was nothing the manner of their leaving to st or that were not going together to visit lay near from start d with such solemn joy in t nt i other n and as wished to wind up his with mr avoid mrs a i same time unless she would excite of their happy state t the woman to make the call as as possible they left the carriage at the end of the short lane leading down from the high road to the and descended the track on foot side by side the bed had been cut and they could see over the the spot on which had followed her when he pressed her to be his wife to the left the in which she had been fascinated by his harp and far away over the roofs of the the which had been the scene of their first embrace the gold of the summer picture was now gray the colors mean the rich soil mud and the river cold over the gate the saw them and came forward throwing into his face the kind of deemed appropriate in and its vicinity on the of tlie newly married then mrs emerged from the house and several others of their old acquaintance though and did not appear to be there bore their sly attacks and friendly which affected her far otherwise than they supposed in the agreement of husband and wife to keep their a secret they behaved as would have been ordinary and then although she would rather there had been no word spoken on the subject had to hear in detail the story of and the latter had gone home to her father s and had left to look for employment elsewhere they feared she would come to no good to the sadness of tliis recital went and bade all her favorite cows good by touching each of them with her hand and as she and stood side by side at leaving as if united body and soul there would have been something sorry in their aspect to one who should have seen it truly two of one life as they outwardly were his arm touching hers her skirts touching him facing one way as against all the facing the other speaking in their as we and yet d te s op the d es like t ie perhaps something mid in attitude some s iti ik m to their pi of unity different from tiie il of young couples may liave been apparent f r they were gone mrs said to ho the of her eyes did seem and bow the pair stood like images aud talked as if were in a didn t it strike ee that twas so t t sit bad always strange in tier aud she s not now the proud young bride of a well be they re entered the and were roads through and till y n when the fly and man th rested here awhile and entering the driven towards her home hy a did not know their new relationship at a point when many miles had been passed over aud were cross roads stopped the man aiid to that if she meant to return to her mother s here that he would leave her as talk freedom in the driver s presence he asked her to him for a few steps on foot along one of the di she assented and directing the man to wait a few they strolled away now let us each other be sail there is no	45
anger between as though there ia ij i i cannot at present i will try l i bring myself endure it i will let you know i tn as u know myself and if i can bring mj self to bear h if ij is desirable possible i kill come to yon but i com to on it will be better that you should not try to tlie severity of the decree seemed deadly t t saw his view of her clearly enough he could n l ir no other light th u that of one who had l i upon him yet could a woman who i the woman pays what had done deserve all this t bnt she contest the point with him no further she simply repeated after him his own words until you come to me i must not to come t you i just so may i write to you i oh yes if you are iu or want at all i hope that wiu not be the case so that it may happen that i write st to you i agree to the conditions angel because you know best what my punishment ought to be only only don t oe make it more than i can bear that was all she said on the matter if had been artful had she made a scene wept in that lonely lane notwithstanding the fury of with which he was possessed he would probably not have her but her mood of long suffering made his way easy for him and she herself was his best in her submission which perhaps was a symptom of that re in chance too apparent iu the whole d family the many effective which she could have stirred by an appeal were left untouched the remainder of discourse was on practical matters only he now handed her a packet containing a fairly ood sum of money which he had obtained fi om his for the purpose the the interest in which seemed to be s for her life only if he understood the of the he advised her to let him send to a bank for safety and to this she readily agreed these things arranged he walked with back to tlie and handed her in he paid the coachman and told him where to drive her taking then his own and umbrella the sole articles he had brought with him he bade her good by and they parted aod then ke moved up the hill and watched op d it go with an hope that would look out of window for one but that she thought of doing would not have ventured to do lying in i a half faint inside thus he oat of sight and in th of quoted a line of a poet with a few improvements of his own god s ml hie heaven bu s with the world when ha i passed over the crest of the hill he to go his own way and did not know that he loved her still as she drove ou through and the of her youth to open around her aroused herself from her her first was how would sh he able to face ber t she reached the gate which stood near the to the it was thrown open bj a not by the old man who had kept it for many years om to whom she had been known he had probably ir new year s day the date when wore mail having received no intelligence lately from her asked the keeper the news o nothing miss he answered is still folks have died and that john ld had a r this week to a not from john s own house you w married elsewhere being of that standing that john s own folk wan not considered well enough to have any part in it the bridegroom not knowing how t have been that is a old and ancient nobleman himself blood with busily the woman pays in their own to this day but done out of his property in the time o the however sir john as we call n now kept up the wedding day as well as he could and stood treat to everybody in the parish and john s wife sung songs at the pure drop till past eleven o clock hearing this felt so sick at heart that she could not decide to go home publicly in this fly with her luggage and she asked tlie keeper if she might deposit her things at his house for a while and on his offering no objection she dismissed her carriage and went on to the village alone by a back lane at sight of her father s chimney she asked herself how she could possibly enter the house inside that cottage her relations were calmly supposing her far away on a wedding tour with a comparatively rich man who was to conduct her to prosperity while here she was f creeping up to the old door quite by herself with no better place to go to in the world she did not reach the house unobserved just by the garden hedge she was met by a girl who knew hei one of the two or three with whom she had been intimate at school after making a few inquiries as to how came there her friend her tragic look interrupted with but where s thy gentleman hastily explained that he had been called away on business and leaving her over the garden hedge and thus made her way to the house as she went up the garden path she heard her mother singing by the back door coming in sight of which she perceived mrs on the in the act of wi a sheet having performed this without	45
ing she went indoors and her daughter followed her the washing tub stood in the same old place on the same old quarter and her mother having thrown the sheet aside was about to plunge her arms in anew of the why my i thought yon was to be some days ago really and truly this time we the yes mother ao i am going to be t i mean i am married married then where a thy t o he s gone away for a time gone away when was you married then i thi day you said t tea tuesday mother and now tis on y saturday and he gone a yes j he s gone what s the meaning f that j nation seize such as you seem to get say i mother went across to laid her face upon the matron s bosom and burst into sobs i don t know how to tell ee mother you said to me and to me that i was not to tell him bat i did him i couldn t help it and he went away o you little fool you little fool burst out mrs field my good god that ever i should ha lived v it but i say it again you little fool was with weeping the of so many d s having relaxed at last i know it i know i now she gasped through her sobs but o my i could not help it he was so good and i felt the wickedness of trying to blind him as t i what ned if if it were to be done again i should an i could not i dared not so sin against him but yon enough to marry him first yes yes that s where my misery do lie but i he could get rid of me by law if he were determined not t overlook it if yon knew if oo only know how i loved him how i was to have and how wi i was between l e fair to him was so that she do further aud a helpless thing into a well done can t be undone i m sure i ff why children o my bringing forth should all bo than other people s not to know better j hb such a thing as that when be couldn t ha f too late here mrs began shed on her own account as a mother to be pitied our father will say i don t she continued been talking about the wedding up at a j l ire drop every day since and about his family ck to their position through you poor i and now you ve mode this mess of it the w bring matters to a s father was heard at that moment ho did not however enter hy and mrs said tliat she would i bad news to him herself keeping out of the present began to take the as j such after her first burst of i aa she bad taken s original trouble as she ire taken a wet holiday or a failure iu the ii thing which had come upon them j law or desert or folly a chance external b to be borne with not a lesson upstairs and beheld casually that the beds i shifted and new made her old j ken adapted for two younger children there ice here for her now im below being she could hear most of i on there presently her father entered a live hen he was a foot now hav i obliged to sell his second horse and he travelled on his arm the hen been carried with j it was often carried to show j in work though the bird had really lain of the s i with its l tiie table at for f than an hour we ve had np a story about fi m be i f au related in detail to his wife a on i had arisen at the inn about the clergy i nt his daughter ha married into a i family they was formerly sir like my own i ho said nowadays their true style is only as had wished that u i great should be given to the event he had no particulars he hoped she would remove thai soon he proposed that the couple should take s own name d as d it was it r than her husband s he a if any letter from her that day then informed him that no letter had i ome unfortunately had come herself when at length the was explained to him n mortification not usual with ni the effect of the glass yet the of the event affected his less than effect upon the minds of others to think now that this was to be the end ot i sir john and i with a family vault th tv i church of as big as squire s and my folk lying in and as bones and as any recorded in history al now to be sure what they at s and the drop will say to mo how they ll and glance say this is yer mighty grand match is it this w getting back to tlie true family level of yer rs king s time i feel is too much shall put an end to myself title and all i can bear it i h but she can make him keep her if he s ma i why yes but she won t think o doing that the woman pays he really have married her or is it ti t other who had heard as far as this not the	45
perception that her word even here in her own parental house set her mind the spot as nothing else could have done how ted were the attacks of destiny and if lier father a little would not and acquaintance i much she could not live long at i days accordingly were all that she allowed her j i at the end of which she received a short not ire her that he had gone to the to look at a farm in her craving for the dig er true position as his wife and to hide from hei the vast extent of the division between them i t of this letter as her reason for again departing i under the impression that she was se ting still further to screen her husband from of to her she took twenty five pounds had given her and handed the sum per mother as if the wife of a man like angel ul afford it saying that it was a slight return foi pie and humiliation she had brought upon them i ut with this assertion of her dignity she bad and after that there were lively doings field household for some time on the i her and believing quarrel which had arisen the young itself under their strong feeling f not live fi om each jt i ok the i i it was three weeks after the marriage that himself descending on foot the hill led to the known of his with his the tower of the rose into the still sky in a manner of inquiry as to why he had come and e living person in the town seemed to less to expect him he was arriving like a an the bound of his own footsteps was almost an to be got rid of the picture of life had changed for before th time he had known it only now he he knew it as a practical man though ib he did no even yet nevertheless humanity stood before liim n longer in the pensive sweetness of italian art but in ti and attitudes of a au with the of a van his conduct during first weeks had been beyond description after mechanically i pursue his plans as though nothing had happened in the manner by the great and wise men of ages he concluded that very few i those gi eat and wise men had ever gone bo far themselves as to test the f of their counsel is the chief thing be not said tlie that was just e s own opinion but lie w pi let not your heart be hi it bo afraid said the in but hie heart was ti all the same how be have to ont those two great aud earnestly appeal to them as fellow man to fellow men ask them to toll him their method the woman pays is mood itself into a dogged indifference at length he fancied he was looking on his own existence li the passive interest of an e was by the conviction that oil this had been brought about by the accident of her being t he found that came of that d ancient line and was not of the new tribes from w as he had fondly dreamed why liad he not her in fidelity to his principles this was it he had got by and liis punishment was he became weary and anxious and his anxiety he wondered if he had treated her he without knowing that he ate and drank without lasting the hours dropped past as the motive of each act in the a series of days presented itself to liis view he how intimately the notion of having as a r possession was mixed up with all schemes and words ways a going hither and thither he observed in the outskirts small town a red and blue setting forth the advantages of the empire of as a field for the grating land was offered there on advantageous terms somewhat attracted i as a new idea could eventually join him there perhaps in that country of scenes and and habits the would be so opera made life wit h her seem o him t in brief be was strongly inclined to tr as the season for going thither was just at hand vith this view he was returning to to d plan to his parent and to make the best explanation ou d make of without short of revealing it had separated them as he reached the door new moon upon his face just as the old had a the small hours of that morning he had car tt of the d s tried his wife in his across uie river to the tbe but ms face was thinner now had his parents no warning of his vi t and arrival the atmosphere of as the of the a pool his father and were both in the drawing room bnt neither of his was now at home angel entered and tha i door quietly behind hint but where a your wife dear angel cried i how you surprise ua is at her s have come i rather in a i ve decided to go to why tliey are all surely are they t i hadn t thought of that but even the novelty and of his going i to a land could not for loo i ml mi a s natural interest in their son s i we had your brief note three weeks ago that it had place said mrs and your sent your s gift to her as you know of i it was best that of ua should be present especially a you preferred to marry her from tlie ami not at hi home wherever that may be it would have you and given us no pleasure your very strongly of course now it is done we	45
do not plain iy if she suits for ihe chosen to follow instead of the of i yet i wish i have seen her first a known a httle more about her we sent hi r ent of own not knowing what li t pleasure but you must suppose it only a there is no irritation in my mind or your s you for this but we have thought it much to reserve our liking for your wife till we st and now you have not hei it wliat has happened f be replied that il va n best by them woman he should go to her parents home for the present whilst he came there i mind j dear he said that i always meant to keep her away rom this till i should feel she could come with credit to you but idea of is a recent one if i do go it will for to her on this my first journey she will remain at her r a till i come back and i not see her before you t he wn afraid they would not his oi plan had he i as he had said to refrain from her there for some little while not to wound their prejudices feelings in any way and for other reasons he had to it he would have to visit home in the course of a year if he went out at once and it would for them to see ber before he started a second time with her a hastily supper was brought iu and gave ther explanation of his plans his mother s at seeing the bride still remained with her s enthusiasm for had her ber maternal till she had fancied that a good thing could come out of a woman of she watched her son as he ate yon describe her i am sure she is very pretty angel of that there can be no question he with a zest which covered its bitterness and that she is pore and virtuous goes without question t pure and virtuous of course she is i can see her quite distinctly yon said the other day tliat she was fine in figure built had deep red lips like s bow dark and brows an im rope of hair like a s and i did mother of d i quite see her and living in such she naturally had ever seen any young man from the worm till she saw you you were her love t tes e are worse wives than these simple rosy robust girls of the farm i liave well since my is to be an it is but proper that his wife should have been vi an life his father was less bnt the time came for the chapter from the bible which was always read fore evening prayers the observed to mrs i think since angel has that it will be more to read the first of than r which we should have had in the course of our tes certainly said mrs the words of kin she could and verse a well t husband my dear son your father has it l us tlie chapter in in praise of a virtuous we shall not need to be reminded to apply the words the absent one may heaven shield her in all her s a lump rose in s throat the taken out from the comer and set iu the middle of the fireplace the bible opened upon it the two old in and angel s father began to read at the tenth verse ot the chapter who can find a virtuous woman for her she while it is yet night i meat to her household she her with in ij and her arms she th that ni is good her candle not out by well to the ways of her household and i at th ni e bread of idleness her arise up and call the woman lier also and he her many daughters hare done but au when prayers were over his mother i could not help thinking bow very that chapter your dear father read applied in some of its particulars to the woman you have chosen the perfect you see was a working woman not an not a lady but one who used her bands and her head and her heart for the good of others her arise up and call lier blessed her husband also and he her many daughters have done vii but she all well i wish i could have seen her angel since she is pure and she would have been refined enough for me could this no longer his eyes were full of t which seemed like drops of lead he bade a i quick good night to these sincere and simple souls whom v he loved so well who knew neither the world the flesh i nor the il in their own hearts only as something vague i and to themselves he went to his own chamber his mother followed mm and tapped at his door d it to discover ber standing without with angel she asked is there something wrong that you i go away so soon t i am quite sure yon are not yourself i am not quite mother said he about now my son i know it is that i know ia about her have you quarrelled in these three weeks have not exactly quarrelled he said but we lave had a difference angel is she a woman whose ry will bear j with a s instinct mrs e had t her finger on the kind of ti that would cause such e as seemed to her son she is he replied and felt that if it had sent x to eternal hell there and then	45
he would have told that i te s of tub d then never the rest after all are few r things m nature than im il maid any of manner wliich may offend your i educated sense at first will i am disappear the i influence of your and such sarcasm of blind mo home to the gloomy perception that ht had h wrecked his career by this marriage which had not among his early thoughts after the disclosure true mi his own account he cared very little about his career he had wished to it at least a om on of his parents and brothers and now n he ti into the candle its flame expressed to him that ji was made to on sensible people and that it lighting the face of a and a failure j when his agitation cooled he would be at i lis for causing a situation in he was obliged to practise deception on his parents almost talked to her in his anger as if in im and then her voice plaintive in bed the darkness the velvet touch of over bis brow and he could distinguish in tlie m the of her this night the woman of his wa thinking how great and good her husband w over both there hung a deeper than which namely the i own with all his ol judgment tliis advanced and well meaning young n product of the last aud twenty was j tlie slave and when hack into his early no prophet had told li and he was not prophet enough to tell himself that e this young wife of his was as deserving of the p of king as any other woman endowed i ic dislike of evil her moral having to t tbe woman not by achievement but by tendency moreover the figure near at hand suffers on such occasions because it shows up its without shade while vague figures afar off are honored in that their distance makes artistic virtues of their in considering what was not he over looked what she was and forgot that the deficient can be more than the i xl at breakfast was the topic and all endeavored to take a hopeful view of s proposed experiment with that country s soil notwithstanding the reports of some farm who had thither and returned home within the twelve months after breakfast went into the little town to wind up such trifling matters as he was concerned with there and to get from the local bank all the money he possessed on his way back he encountered miss mercy chant by the church from whose walls she seemed to be a sort of she was carrying an of for her class and such was her view of life that events which produced in s wrought smiles upon her an result although in the opinion of angel it was obtained by a curiously unnatural sacrifice of humanity to she had learnt that he was about to leave england and observed what an excellent and promising scheme it seemed to be yes it is a likely scheme enough in a commercial sense no doubt he replied but my dear mercy it the of existence perhaps a would be a o angel bim ob the es why you wicked man a a a and sin and sin thou art is a state angel glory in my said she severely thrown by sheer misery of the d moods in which a man does despite ta his principles called her close to him and p t tl in her ear the most ideas he could think of hi momentary laughter at the horror which appeared oh her fan face ceased when it in pain and for lis welfare dear mercy he said you must me i think i am going crazy she thought that he was and thus the interview and re entered the with the ai he deposited the jewels till happier days should arise u also paid into the bank thirty pounds to bo sent to t in a few as she might require aud wrote to her i her parents home in to inform her m what he had done this amount witli the sum he bad al ready placed in her hands about fifty pounds he would be amply sufficient for her wants just at pre as in an emergency she liad n hi apply to his father he deemed it best not to put his parents into with her by informing them of her ess being unaware of what had really happened to the two neither his father nor his mother he should do so during the day he left th for what he had to complete he wished to get as the last duty before leaving this part of l i was necessary for him to at in which he had spent with tlie first their marriage the trifle of rent ha ing to lie given up of tiie rooms they had occupied and two the woman pays articles fetched away that they had left behind it was this roof that the deepest ever thrown upon his life had stretched its gloom over him yet when he liad unlocked the door of the sitting room and looked into it the memory which returned first upon him was that of their happy arrival on a similar afternoon the first fresh sense of sharing a habitation the first meal together tlie by the fire with joined hands the and bis wife were in the fields at the moment of his and was in the rooms alone for some time inwardly swollen with a renewal of sentiments that he had not quite reckoned with he went to her chamber which had never been his the bed was smooth as she had made it with her own hands on	45
the morning of leaving the hung under the as he had placed it been there three or four weeks it was turning color and the leaves and were wrinkled angel took it down and crushed it into the grate standing he for the first time doubted whether bis course in this had been a wise much less a generous one but had he not been cruelly blinded i in the of his emotions he knelt down at the bedside wet eyed o if you had only told me sooner i would have yon he hearing a footstep below he rose and went to the top of the stairs at the bottom of the flight he saw a woman standing and on her turning up her face recognized the pale dark eyed mr said she i ve called to see yon and mrs and to inquire if ye be well i thought you would be back this was a girl whose secret he had but who had not yet guessed his au honest girl who loved him one who would have made as good or nearly aa good a practical farmer s wife as i am here alone ho said we are not here of tub why he had come he asked which way ore you going home i home at now sir she said why is that f looked down it was so tht re that i u fl i am out this way she in a contrary tion the direction in which lie was well are yon going there i i n take you if you wish for a lift her olive complexion grew richer in hue thank v mr she said he soon found the farmer and settled i his rent and the few other which had to be i by reason of the sudden of the on s return to his horse and jumped up lam going to leave england ht said as on going to and do mrs like tlie notion of such a journey she asked she is not going at present say for a year or ao i going out to to see what life there is like they sped along eastward for some considerable making no observation how are tlie he in how is she is in a sort of nervous and so thin and low that a do seem in a decline nobody will fall in love wi her any more said and t lowered voice drinks indeed yes the has got rid of her and yon t i don t drink and i lu a decline but i am mj great things at singing afore breakfast now how is that do yon remember how neatly you the woman pays til turn twas in s gardens aiid the tailor s at morning ah yes when yon first sir that was not when you had been there a bit why was that off t black eyes up to his face for one way of answer how weak of you for such aa i he said and fell into reverie then suppose i had asked you to me if you had i should have said tes and you would have married a woman who loved ee really down to the ground she whispered my god i did you never guess it till by and by they a branch road to the village i must get down i live out there said never having spoken since her the horse he was his fate bitterly disposed towards social for they had him up iii a comer out of which there was no legitimate pathway why not be on society by ruling his future himself instead of kissing the rod of in this lonely i am going to alone said be i have separated from my wife for personal not may never live with her again i be able to love you i but will you go with ine instead of her f do you truly wish me to go i do i have been badly used enough to wish for re and you at least love i tes i win go said after a pause you will f you know what it means i if means that i shall with you for the time p there that s good enough for me remember you are not to trust me in i te s of the but i ought to you that it will be doing in the eyes of civilization western d that is lo i don t mind that no woman do it s to agony point and there s no other way then don t get down but sit where you arc he drove past the cross roads one two showing any signs of affection you love me very much t he suddenly asked i do i have said i do loved yo i all the time we was at the together more than she shook her head no she not more than she how s that t because nobody could love ee more than she would have laid down her life for ee i could no more like the prophet on the top of would have spoken per er at such a moment but the tion exercised over her e by s compelled her to grace was silent his heart had risen at forward words from such an unexpected in his throat was something a if b sob there his ears repeat d hit life for ee i could do im forget our idle talk lie said turning bu head suddenly i don t know what been l will now drive you back to where your lane ff so much for honest towards e i b it how can i how if	45
burst into tears and beat her forehead as she saw what the had d do you regret that poor little act of justice to la sent one o t spoil it by regret she hei self by the pays very well sir perhaps i didn t wliat i was sa i either when i agreed to go i wish what be because i have a loving wife already yes yes you have they reached the comer of the which they had half an hour and she down you will forget my momentary he said it i as ill considered ill advised forget it never never it was no to me he felt how richly he deserved the reproach that the cry conveyed and in a sorrow that was leaped down and took her hand well but vl mu t friends anyhow you don t know what i ve bad to bear she was a really generous girl and allowed no further bitterness to mai their i forgive ee sir she said now he said while she stood beside him forcing himself to the s part he was far from i want yon to t ll when you see her that is to a good woman and not to give way to folly t and tell that there are more worthy men than i in the world that for my sake she is to ai t wisely and well remember the words wisely and sake i send this message to them as a dying man to the dying for i shall never see them again and you l you have saved me by your honest words about my fe from an of f and may be bad but they are not so as men in these on that one account i can never forget yon be rays the good and sincere girl yon have hitherto been think of me as a worthless lover but a faithful heaven bless and keep bill gave tjie promise gravely sir good by ho on no sooner bad turned into the and was out of sight than she flung herself of the m in a fit of and it wa witli a unnatural fact that she her mother s i late night over knew la the dark hours that between angel c a i art fi om her and e too after bidding the girl farewell was lo aching but not for that evening he was within a tm n of his i to the station and driving ai tliat elevated line of south wi divided him from his s home it was a contempt for her nature nor the probable state of her heart which deferred him no it was a sense that despite love as i hy s the facts had not changed if lip n i right at first he was right now and the c the course on which he had embarked tended to going in it unless diverted by a stronger u i force than liad played upon him this soon come back to her he took the train that and five days after hands in farewell f i brothers at the port of rom the foregoing events of the winter i t t i m to an october day more than eight to the parting of and we discover in changed conditions instead of a bride vith trunks which others bore we see her a lonely worn i basket and a bundle in her own as ai time when she was no bride instead of the i i that were anticipated by her for hi r j the woman this period she can produce only a purse after a leaving her home got through the spring and summer without any great stress upon her physical powers the time being mainly spent in rendering light irregular vice at work near port to the west of the valley remote from her native place and from she preferred this to living on his allowance mentally she remained in utter a condition which the mechanical occupation rather than checked her was at that at that other season in the presence of the tender lover who had confronted her ho who the moment she had gi him to keep him for her own had disappeared like a shape in a vision the y work lasted only till the milk began to lessen for she had not met with a second regular engagement as at but had done duty as a only however as harvest was now beginning she had simply to remove from the pasture to the to find plenty of further occupation and this continued till harvest was done of the and twenty pounds which had remained to her of s allowance after the other half of the fifty as a contribution to her parents for the trouble expense to wliich she had put them she had as yet spent but little but there now l an al of wet weather which she was obliged to l upon her sovereigns she could not bear to let them go angel had put them into her hand had obtained them bright and new from his bank for her his touch had consecrated them to of himself they appeared to have had as yet no other than such ns was created by his and her own and to them was like giving away she had to do it and one by one they left her hands she had n compelled to send her mother her address i of thk il from time to tune bat she concealed her when her money had gone a letter from her mo i her stated that they were m the rains had gone through tjie of the house which required entire renewal but this con not bo done because	45
preferred the fertile of the to the farm for which she was now bound because for it was nearer to the home of her husband s father and to about that region with the notion that might decide to call at tie some day gave her but having once decided to try the higher and er she pressed on marching towards the of chalk where she meant to pass the night the lane was long and and owing to the rapid of the days dusk came upon her before she was she had reached the top of a hill down which the i io stretched its length in glimpses when ai d footsteps behind her and in a few moments op the d she overtaken by a man he up and said good pretty maid to w replied the light still remaining in the sky lit np her fact was nearly dark the man and at hei why surely it is the young who was at awhile young squire d a i at that time though i don t live there she recognized in him the well to do whom angel id knocked down at the for addressing her they went together before ir of anguish shot through her and she d him answer be honest enough to own it and that what i said at public was true your fancy man was so about it hey my sly you ought lo beg my pardon that blow of his considering still no answer came from there seemed for her hunted she suddenly took to bi ith the speed of the wind and without ran along the road till she came u a which d into a plantation into this she and did dot pause till she was deep enough in its shade tu bu against any possibility of discovery under foot tlie leaves were and the of bushes grew among the to keep off draughts she d e dead leaves till she had formed them int n bt making a of nest in the middle into this sleep as she got was fitful she heard noises but her that were caused by the breeze she thought of in home warm on the other of this while she was here in the cold was there wretched being as she in the world t a the woman pays and thinking of her wasted life said ah is vanity she repeated the words till she reflected that this was a most inadequate thought for modem days solomon had thought as far as that more than two thousand years ago she herself though not in the van of had got much further if all were only who would mind ail was alas worse than vanity the wife of angel put her hand to her brow and felt its curve and edges of her eye as perceptible under the soft skin and thought as she did so that there would be a time when that bone would be bare i it were now she said in the midst of these fancies she heard a new strange sound among the leaves it might be the wind ct there was scarcely any sometimes it was a sometimes a flutter sometimes it was a sort of or soon she was certain that the me from wild of some kind the more so when in the boughs overhead they were followed by the fall of a body upon the ground had she been other and more pleasant would have become alarmed but outside humanity she had at present no fear day at length broke in the sky when it had been day aloft for some while it became day in the wood directly the assuring and of the world s active hours had grown strong crept from under her of leaves and looked around boldly then she per what had been going on to disturb her the plantation she had taken shelter ran down at this spot into a peak which ended it outside the hedge being ground under the trees several lay about their rich with blood some were dead some feebly ing their wings some staring up at the k some feebly some some mt all of in agony except tho op tub d fortunate ones liad ended during tlie n by the of nature to bear more ed at once the of this tbe birds b been driven down into this corner the day before by shooting party and while those tliat had dropped under the shot or had died e nightfall had for and off the slightly wounded birds h escaped and hidden themselves away or among t thick they had maintained their c they grow weaker with loss of blood in the ti when they had n one by one as she had heard she had glimpses of the e men over hedges or peering and pointing their guns a light in their eyes she had been told that e as they seemed y were not uke this a tlie year round but were in fact quite civil s during weeks of autumn and winter when like ill inhabitants of the they ran o made it their purpose to destroy life in this ease creatures brought into being by solely to gratify these at u and so towards their weaker in nature s family with the impulse of a soul who f i el for as as for herself s first thought wm put the still living birds out of their torture and u ll end with her own trembling she the as many as she could find leaving them to lie it had found them till the should probably would come to look for them a second poor to suppose myself the being on earth in the sight of such misery as she exclaimed and not a of all i be not and	45
i be not bleeding and i ll two hands to feed and clothe me she l hi l t the pays herself for her gloom of the night based on more than a sense of condemnation under an law of society which had no in e it was now broad day and she started again ag cautiously upon the highway but there was no need for caution a soul was at hand and went onward with fortitude her recollection of the silently enduring their night of e ny upon the of sorrows and the tolerable nature of her own if she could rise high to despise opinion but that she could not do so long as it was by she reached and at an inn several young men were complimentary to her good looks somehow she felt hopeful for was it not possible that her husband also might say these same to j surely she was bound to take care f on the chance of it to this end resolved to mn no farther risks from her appearance as soon as got out of the village she entered a thicket and took fi om her basket one of the old gowns which she had never put on even at the never since she had worked the at she also by a took a handkerchief from her and tied it her face her bonnet covering her chin and half her cheeks and her temples as if she were suffering from then with her little by tbe aid of i looking glass she her eyebrows t and thus against admiration she on her way what a of a maid said the nest man who her to a companion gone away ana ne him just the same ai em think scornful o thus walks o a field woman gray cape a red by a brown every thread of that o thin under the stroke c and the stress of winds in her now the ma her hail fold binding inside this exterior ov as over a thing scarcely was the record of a months of pleasure an heart which had learnt of the of lust next day the weather honesty the woman pays being the reverse of tempting first she inquired for the lighter kinds of employment and as acceptance in any variety of these grew hopeless applied next for the less light til beginning with the and poultry that she liked best she ended with the heavy and coarse pursuits that she liked least work on land work of such indeed as she never have deliberately volunteered for towards the second evening she reached the irregular chalk table land or with as if the many were extended there which stretched between the valley of her birth and the valley of her love here the air was dry and cold and the long cart roads were blown white and dusty again within a few hours after rain there were few trees or none those that would have grown in the hedges being down with the by the tenant farmers the natural enemies of tree bush and in the middle distance ahead of her she could see the of and of and they seemed friendly they had a low and aspect from this though as seen on the other side from in her childhood they were as lofty against the sky at many miles distance and over the hills and she could discern a surface like polished steel it was the english channel at a point far out towards france before her in a slight depression were the remains of a village she had in fact reached ash the place of s there seemed to be no help for it hither she was doomed to come the stubborn soil around lier showed plainly enough that the kind of labor in demand was of the kind but it was time to rest from searching and here she resolved to stay particularly as it began to rain at the entrance to the village was a cottage into the road and before applying for of i a lodging she stood under its shelter and lied i evening dose io who would think i was mrs she s the wall felt worm to her shoulders aj found that within the was ihe fireplace the heat of which came through the her hands upon them and also put and moist with the against their face the wall seemed to be the only friend she bad slip had so wish to leave it that she have there all night tes t hear the of the cottage together after their day s labor to each other w in and the rattle of their plates was but in the village street she had seen no soul as yet solitude was at last broken by the approach of nine figure who though the was cold wore t print gown and the of time i thought it might be and when she n near enough to be in the gloom su enough it was she was even and in the face than formerly and decidedly in i at any of her existence would ti have to renew the in such condition but her was excessive and she responded r to s greeting was quite respectful in her inquiries but much moved by the fact that should still no better i than at first though she bad din heard of the separation mrs the dear i of dear t and rt really so bad as this my child is your comely tl tied up in such a way been beating he no no no i i merely did it to keep off she in disgust it which suggest such wild i the woman pays s and you ve got no on had been to wear a collar at the i know	45
if they did not work they not be j aid so they worked on it wo w a situation this field that the rain had no to fall but ed along upon the yelling into them like glass till by degrees they j wore wet through had not known till now j few le of either sex know what is really nt by that there are degrees of and a very little is i called being wet through iu common talk but id i slowly in a field and feel of rain r i first in legs and shoulders then on and head then a ba front and sides and yet to work on till the i light and marks that the is down distinct of even of yet tliey did not feel the so much as might be i they were both young and they were the time when they lived and loved together at i s that happy green tract of land where v been liberal in her gifts in substance to all to these would not conversed k the woman df the man who was if obviously her but the irresistible of the subject i d her into s remarks thus as said though the curtains of their into their faces and their about them to they lived all this afternoon in memories of green sunny romantic ton can see a gleam of a hill within a few miles of valley from here when it is said ah can you t said awake to the new value of the locality so the two forces were at work here as everywhere the inherent will to enjoy and the will against enjoyment s will had a method of assisting by taking from her pocket as the afternoon wore on a pint bottle with a white rag from which she invited to drink s power of dreaming however being enough for her at present she declined except tlie merest and then took a pull herself from the bottle i ve got used to it she said and can t leave it off now my only comfort you sec i lost you didn t and you can do without it perhaps toss thought her loss as great as s but by the dignity of being angel s wife in the letter at least accepted s amid this scene in the morning and in the afternoon rains when it was not king it was in which process they off the earth and the with a hook before the roots for future use at this occupation they could by a if it rained but if it was frosty even their thick leather gloves could not prevent l n frozen masses hey handled from biting their fingers still hoped she hail a i on that sooner or later which she in reckoning as ii i op the d chief of s would lead him her and what would a r of matter if it resulted in such a they often looked across the country to was known to stretch even though they might i be able to see it and fixing eyes on the gray the old they had out ah said how i should like another or t of our old set t i come hero then we could every day here and talk of he and c what we had there and o the old things w to know and make it all come again a most in ing i s eyes and her voice grew v as the returned i ll write to she k she s at home doing now i know and tell her we be here and ask her t and is well enough now had nothing to say against the ti next she heard of this plan for i joys was two or thi ee days later when her that had to her inquiry and had to come if she there had not be n a winter for years it on iu stealthy and like the moves of a player one morning the few lonely trees and tlie of the i as if they put off a l lt for un animal every was lu f r i with a whit nap as of grown from the night giving it four times its usual dimensions ih h bush or tree forming a in white n mournful gray of the sky and horizon n their presence on sheds and walls where none t been till brought ont into by the atmosphere hanging like of from points of the posts and ft alter this season of d the woman pays frost when birds from l id tjie north pole to arrive silently on the of creatures witli eyes eyes had witnessed scenes of horror in inaccessible regions of a magnitude such as no human being had ever conceived in that no man could endure which had beheld the crash of and the slide of snow hills by the shooting light of the been half blinded by the whirl of colossal and and retained the of feature that such scenes had nameless bu ds came quite near to and but of all they liad seen which would never see they brought no tlie traveller s ambition to tell not and with dumb they dismissed experiences which they did not value for the immediate incidents of this the trivial movements of the two girls in disturbing the with their fragile s so as to over something or other that these as food then one day a peculiar quality invaded the air of this open there c me a moisture wliich was not the moisture of rain and a cold which was not the cold of frost it chilled the of the made their brows ache penetrated to their affecting the surface of the body less than its core they	45
knew that it meant snow in the night the came who continued to v at the cottage with the wai m that cheered the i who paused it awoke in the night and heard above the noises which to signify that the roof had turned itself into a of all the winds when lit her lamp to get up in the morning found that the snow had blown a in the forming a white of the finest powder against tho iu and had also come down he chimney so that it upon the floor on which her shoes left tracks of hie d when she moved about without the drove so as to create a snow mist in the kitchen but as j ut it vi too dark out of doors to see anything knew that it was to go on with i and by the time she had finished breakfast by tl light of the solitary little lamp arrived to tell fa that they were to join the rest of the women at ing in the barn till the weather as soon fore as the uniform cloak of darkness without begun turn to a disordered of feeble they blew the lamp wrapped themselves up in their tied their round their necks and i their and started for the barn the snow had i the birds from the basin as a white pillar a cloud and individual could not be seen smelt of seas and bi c ing the snow so that it licked the land but did not lie oa j they with bodies through i fields keeping as well as they could in the of hedges which however acted as s rather t the air to with the that it twisted and spun them ot suggesting an chaos of things but both women were fairly cheerful such weather on a n is not in itself northern birds knew this was said depend upon t they kept just in it all the way from the star tour husband dear is i make no doubt having m this time lord if he could only see his pretty wife h not that this weather your beauty at all in a s rather does it good fl you mustn t talk him to me said severely well but surely yon care for him do instead of with teu ia the woman pays faced in the direction in which she imagined south america to lie and putting up her lips blew out a passionate kiss upon the snowy wind well well i know you do but my body it is a rum life for a married couple there i won t say another word well as for the weather it won t hurt us in the wheat bam j but reed drawing is fearful hard work worse than i can stand it because fm stout but you be than i i can t think why should have set ee at if they reached the wheat bam and entered it one end of the long structure was full of com the middle was where the reed drawing was carried on and there had already been placed in the reed press the evening before as many of wheat as would be sufficient for the women to di aw from during the day why here s said it was and she came forward she had walked all the way from her mother s home on the previous afternoon and not the distance so great had been arriving however just before the snow began and sleeping at the ale house the farmer had agreed with her mother at market to take her on if she came to day and she had been afraid to disappoint him by delay in addition to and there were two women from a neighboring village two sisters whom with a start remembered as dark car the queen of and her junior the queen of diamonds those who had tried to fight with her in the midnight quarrel at they showed no recognition of her and possibly had none they did all kinds of men s work by preference including well sinking and without any sense of noted reed drawers were they too and looked round upon the other three with some putting on their gloves they all set to work ta i p op the a row in front of the press that was formed two upright by a beam the to be drawn from were laid the beam being down by pins in the lowered as tlie diminished each woman of the ears and drew out the thereby the straw so drawn now straight and ca li d t her left arm where when a lai ge was red she cut off the ears with a bill hook the day hardened in color the light coming in at bam from the ground instead of from the sky the pulled handful after the press but by reason of the presence of the women who were local i x j could not at first talk of old times an they wished to a presently they heard the muffled tread of a horse and i former rode up to the barn door lie had and entered he came to and remained look at the side of her face she had not tamed first but ms fixed attitude led her to look round when perceived tliat her employer was the native of from whom she had taken flight on the high road h of his allusion to her history he waited til she had carried the drawn bundles to th pile outside when he said you bo the yoimg v who took my civility in such ill be drowned if ii didn t think you might be as soon as i heard of your h hired well you you had got the better	45
of me i first time at the inn with your man and the time on the road when you bolted but now think v got the better of you he concluded with a hard a between the and tlie like a caught in a clap net n no answer ing to pull ihe straw she l read r well to know by this time that she had nothing to her employer s it was rather the ti the pays s treatment of him upon the pi that in man and felt brave endure it i was in love with ee i suppose f some fools to take every look as serious i nothing like a winter for taking that women s bead and you ve signed and day now are yon going to beg my par you ou ht to b mine as yon like but we ll see which is master they all the you ve done to day r show just see what they ve done over to the two women the rest lone better than you b all practised it e and i have not and made no difference to you as it is task work and f paid for what we do it does i want the bam cleared to work all the instead of leaving be others will do d sullenly at her and went away felt tliat not have come to a much worse place but than gallantry in her state i o clock arrived the professional reed drawers last half iu their put down their their last and went away and have done likewise but on hearing that to make up by longer hours for her k of not leave her looking out at the snow fell exclaimed now we ve got it all to and so at last the conversation turned to their at the and of course the incidents for angel said mrs angel with a dignity op the h was extremely pretty and seeing how ny little of a wife was i can t join in talk with you os i used to do about mr you will see that i although he t gone away from ie for i present he is my husband was by nature the and most of all four girls who had loved he was a splendid lover doubt said but i don t think he is a good husband to go away from you so soon he had to go he was obliged to go to see land over pleaded he might have ee over t ie m ah tliat s owing to an accident a and we won t it answered with in her words perhaps there s a good deal t i said t t him he did not go like some husbands me and i can always find he u after this they continued to seize pull and mt off ih ears for some long time in a reverie nothing sounding in the but the of the drawn straw and tht of the then suddenly sank upon the heap of wheat ears ut her feet i knew you wouldn t be able to stand it v it wants harder flesh than yours for work just then the farmer entered o hint s how ou when i am away he to her but it is my own loss she not i want it finished he said ns he bam and went ont at the other door don t ee mind him there s a dear said worked here now you go and lie down then and i will make up your number i don t like to let you do that i m taller than wm she was so overcome that she d down awhile and on a of i use after the straight straw the woman been thrown up at the farther side of the bam her had been as largely owing to agitation at the subject of her separation from her husband as to the hard work she lay in a state of without and the rustle of the straw and the cutting of the ears had the weight of bodily touches she could hear from her comer in addition to these noises the murmur of their voices she felt certain that they were continuing the subject already but their voices were so low tiiat she could not catch the words at last grew more and more anxious to know what they were saying and persuading herself that she felt better she got up and resumed work then broke down she had walked more than a dozen miles the previous evening had gone to bed at midnight well nigh and had risen again at five o clock alone thanks to the bottle of liquor and her of build stood the strain upon back and arms without suffering urged to leave off agreeing as she felt better to finish the day without her and make equal division of the number of accepted the offer gratefully and disappeared through the great door into the snowy track to her lodging as was the case every afternoon at this time on account of the bottle she had emptied began to feel in a romantic vein i should not have thought it of him never she said in a dreamy tone and i loved him so i didn t mind his having you but this about is too bad in her start at the words narrowly missed cutting off a finger with the bill hook is it about my husband t she stammered well yes said don t ee tell her but i am sure i can t help it it was what he wanted to do he wanted her to go off to with him s face faded as white as the scene without and its curves straightened and did refuse to go	45
t she c te s op the d l i t know anyhow he his mind then he didn t mean it twas a jest yes he did for he drove her a good way towards station anyhow he didn t take her pulled on in silence till without any tory symptoms burst ont crying there said now i wish i hadn t t no it is a very good that you have done have been living on in n have not seen what it may lead to i ought to have liim a letter oft ner ho said i could not go to him he didn t say i was not to write as often as i liked i stay like this any longer i have been very wrong in leaving thing to be done by him the light in the barn grew and see to work no longer when had reached home that evening and entered into the privacy of her chamber she began letter to but falling into doubt she could not it afterwards she took the ring from the ribbon on i she wore it next her heart and retained it on her finger i night as if t herself in the sensation that she really tlie wife of this of who could pr pose that should go with him abroad so shortly after he had left her knowing that how could she write n to him or show that she ed for him any more by the in the bam lier were led m in the direction which bad taken more than d j the woman pays lier husband s parents that she had been charged to send a letter to if she desired j and to write to them direct if in difficulty but that sense of her having morally no upon had always led to her impulses to send these notes and to the family at the therefore as to her own parents since her marriage she non this self in both directions had been quite in with her independent character of desiring nothing by way of favor or pity to which she was not entitled on a fair consideration of her deserts she wished to stand or fall by her qualities and to such merely claims upon a strange family she had established by the fact of a member of that family having in a moment of impulse written liis name in a church book beside hers but now that she was stung to a fever by s tale there was a limit to her powers of why had her not written to her he had distinctly implied that he would at least let her know of the locality to which lie ha l but he had not sent a line to his address was he really indifferent but was he ill was lie waiting for her to make some advance surely she might summon the courage of solicitude call at the for intelligence make herself known and express her at his silence k father were the good man she had heard him represented to be he would be able to enter into her heart starved situation her social hardships she could conceal to leave the farm on a week day was not in her power sunday was the only possible opportunity ash being in the middle of the table land over which lo railway had climbed as yet it would be necessary to and the distance being fifteen miles each way it be necessary to allow a long day for the by rising early a fortnight later when the snow had gone and had been i the d followed by a hard black frost le to take ta e of the of the roads tu try the three o clock that sunday she and stepped out into the the weather still favorable the ground ringing under her and were much interested in her knowing that the journey concerned her husband lodgings were in a cottage a little farther along the but they came and assisted in her argued that she should dress up in her very prettiest to the hearts of her in law though knowing of the austere and of old mr was indifferent and even doubtful a had now elapsed since her sad marriage but she had preserved from the wreck of her then full to clothe her very as a simple girl no pretensions to recent fashion a soft gray gown with white against the pink kin but and neck and a black velvet jacket and hat tis a thousand your husband can t ee you do look a real beauty said as she stood on the threshold between the si aud the candle light within a of herself to she could not be no woman with a heart bigger nut could be to in her pi the influence which she exercised over those of her oh being of a warmth and strength quite the less worthy feminine of and witli a final and touch here and a slight they let her go and she was absorbed into the of tlie fore dawn they hi ard her footsteps w hard road as she step ed out to her full v vn m hoped she would win and though any i the pays respect for her own virtue felt glad she had been pre vl d her friend when tempted by it was a ago all but a day that o had married and only a few days less a year that he had been absent from still to start on a brisk walk aud on such an errand as hers on a dry dear winter morning through the air of these backs not and there is no doubt that her dream at starting was to win the heart of her mother in law tell her history to that matron her on	45
her side and so gain the she soon reached the edge of the vast below stretched the wide and of lying now misty and still in the dawn instead of the air of the the atmosphere down there was a deep blue lust ad of the great of fifty to a acres in which she was now accustomed to toil there were little fields below her of half a dozen acres so numerous that they looked from this height the of a net here the landscape was bi own j down as in valley it was always green yet it was in that that her sorrow had taken shape and she did not love it as formerly beauty to her as to all who have felt lay not in the thing but in what the thing keeping the on her right she steadily westward i passing above the crossing at right angles the high road from to c hill and high with the between hem devil s following the f way she reached cross in where the stone j i i desolate and silent to mark the site of a i li op murder or both three miles she cut lt and deserted roman i called long a b io tes of the d s down the by a lane into small n i of nd being now way over ih she a halt and a s heartily enough not at the sow and for a bnt at a i f tt hy the church the second half of her journey was through a mon tie country by way of but as the mill i lessened her the ot of her pilgrimage s and her enterprise oat she saw her purpose in such staring the so faintly that she was in di of losing her way however about noon stood on edge of the ha in and its mounting upon a gate by tjie she sat the scene the tower she knew that at that the and and congregation were had a se look in eyes she wished that she had somehow ud to com oil a week day a od man might w i against a woman who had n sunday never n the necessities of her case but it was to go on now she took off tlie thick in had walked thus far on her pretty thin ones v f i leather and the into the hedge n might readily find them again descended the hill the ft ness of color she had derived from the keen air away in spite of her as she drew near the for some accident that might ij i nothing favored her tlie shrubs on the ii in the frosty breeze ij feel by any stretch of imagination dressed to h v as she was that the house was the residence of h i r tions and yet nothing essential in nature or in her from them in pains thoughts and after death they were tlie same fi s r to u ting i the woman pays rang the door bell the thing was done there could i no ri treat no the was not done nobody d to her ringing tlie effort had to be risen to and made again she rang a second time and the agitation of the act coupled with her weariness after the een miles w led her to support herself while she waited by resting her hand on her hip and her elbow against the wall of the porch the wind was so drying that the ivy leaves had become and gray each tapping incessantly upon its neighbor with a stir of her nerves a piece of blood stained paper caught up from some meat s dust heap beat up and down the road without the gate too to rest too heavy to fly away and a few kept it company the second peal had been louder and still nobody then she walked out of tho porch opened the and through and though when she had half closed it sh rt it in her hand looking at the as if to it was with a breath of i that she t he a haunted her that she might have been ed and recognized though how she not tell and that orders had been given not to admit her went as far as the comer with a sense that she had all she could do but determined not to escape present at tlie expense of future distress walked back again quite past the house looking up at all the windows ah tlie explanation was tliat they wore all at church one she remembered her husband saying that his insisted upon the household servants included going to morning service and as a consequence cold food when they came home it was only necessary to wait till the ce was over she would not make herself conspicuous bj waiting on the spot and d to get church into bat as of the reached the churchyard gate the people out and found herself in tho midst of them the r d at her as only of small walking bum its leisure can look at a whom it to she her pace aud th by which she had come to find a retreat ix its hei till the s family should have and it mi t for them to receive her she soon i d except two men who had the rear of t he majority and linked in ann up behind her at a quick step as they drew nearer could hear their in discourse aud with the natural of woman in lier situation did not fail to recognize in voices the quality of her husband s tones the were his two ob n forgetting all her plans s one dread was lest they should overtake now in	45
her condition before she was prepared to for though she knew that they could identify her she instinctively dreaded their scrutiny more they walked the more briskly tliey were plainly bent upon taking a short before going s to lunch or dinner to to limbs chilled with sitting through a long only one person had preceded up the hill b like young woman somewhat interesting though a trifle and had nearly her when the speed of her brothers in law brought i nearly behind her back that she could hear every their conversation they said nothing however which interested her till observing the young lady farther in front one of remarked is m chant let ns overtake her knew the name it th destined for angel s life tee woman pays and whom he probably would have married but for her self she would as much without if she liad wait d a for one of the brothers proceeded to say ah i poor poor i never see that nice girl without more and his in throwing away upon a or whatever may be it is a queer business whether has joined him yet r not i don t know but she had not done so some months ago when i heard him i can t say he never tells me anything s his ill considered marriage seems to have completed that from me which was begun by his opinions beat up the long hill still faster but she could not them without exciting notice at last they her altogether and passed her by the young lady farther ahead heard their footsteps and turned then was a greeting and a shaking of hands and the three went on together they soon reached the summit of tlie hill and evidently intending this point to be the limit of their they pace and turned all three aside to the whereon had paused an hour before that time to the town before descending the hill during discourse one of the brothers the hedge carefully with his umbrella and dragged something to light here s a pair of old boots he said thrown away i suppose by some tramp or other some who wished to come into the town perhaps and so excite our said miss chant yes it must have been for tliey are excellent walking boots by no means worn nut what a wicked to do i ll carry them home for some poor person k who had been the one to them t ul the picked them up for with tlie of his stick and i a boots were i she who had ard walked past under the screen ot i vl il till presently buck she i that party had left the gate with her boots and i d down the hill i our heroine resumed walk tears blind i tt were running down her face she know it i was all sentiment all which i caused her to read the scene as her own condemnation i she could not get over it she could not i in her own person all these i it was to think of to i angel s wife felt almost as if she hat i up that hill like a scorned thing by t to her innocently as slight had i inflicted it was somewhat unfortunate that she ha l i the sons and the father despite his narrow i ness was far less and than they and l i to the full the gift of charity thought her i dusty boots she almost pitied those for t i to which they been subjected felt i i hopeless life was for their m i ah she said still weeping iii r f fa i didn t know that i wore those over the of tl i road to save these pretty ones me ik ih f f did not know it and they didn t think that m i the color o my pretty no how could they t if tiu i had n they would not have for i don t much for him poor thing h i then she wept for tlie beloved man whose n i of judgment ha l caused her these t f i rows and she went her way without knowing that m i greatest misfortune of her life was tliis lo h i courage at the last and critical h h r e i woman pays was precisely which would have the of old mr and mrs their hearts went t of them at a towards extreme cases the subtle mental troubles of the less desperate among mankind failed to win their interest or regard in jumping at and they would forget that a word might be said for the of and and thi s or might have recommended daughter in law to them at this moment as a fairly choice sort of lost person for their love thereupon she began to back along the by which she had come not altogether full of hope but at a that a crisis in her life was approaching no apparently had come and there was nothing left u her u do but to continue for the remainder of tlie r upon that starve acre farm she did indeed take sufficient interest in herself to throw up her on tliis return journey as if to let the world ace tha she could at least exhibit a face such as mercy chant could not show but it was done witli ft sorry shake of the head it is it is nothing she said nobody loves it nobody sees it who cares about the looks of a like me her journey back was rather a a march it had no no purpose only a tendency along the tedious length of lane she began to grow tired and she	45
leaned upon s and paused by she did not enter any house till at the or eighth mile she descended the steep long hill below which lay the or of where in the morning she with such expectations the by the church in which she again sat down the first at that end of the village and while tho woman fetched her some milk from the the street perceived tliat the place seemed quite l i i of the the people ai e gone to afternoon service i she said no my dear said the old woman tis too a that the bells out yet they be hear the preaching in bam a r there between ihe services a excellent fiery man they say but lord i don t go to hear n comes in the regular way over the pulpit ia hot for i soon went onward into the her echoing against the houses as though a c dead the part her on by other sounds and seeing the bam her guessed these to bo the of the preacher his voice became so distinct in the still clear i soon cat his sentences though she was on closed side of the bam the sermon as might be l s i waa the type on justification faith as in the of t paul this d idea of the was delivered with animated in a manner entirely for he had i no skill a although had not heard beginning of the address she learned what the text been from its constant hath you that y not the before christ been set forth among you t was all the more interested as she stood behind in finding that the preacher s doctrine was n v of the views of angel s father and her when the speaker began to his own experiences of how he had come by those views r had he said been the greatest of he had i ho had associated with the reckless and l but a day awakening had come and in a i it had been brought fi the the woman p whom ho had at first but parting words had his heart and liad remained there till by the grace of heaven they had worked this change in him and made him what they saw him but more to than the doctrine had been the voice impossible as it seemed had been precisely like that of d her face fixed in painful she came round to the fi ont of the bam and passed before it the low winter sun shone directly upon tlie great double entrance on this side one of the doors being open so that the rays stretched far in over the floor to the preacher and his audience all sheltered from the northern breeze the listeners were entirely villagers among them being the man whom she had seen carrying the paint pot on a former memorable occasion but her attention was given to the central figure who stood upon some of com facing the people and the door the e o clock sun full upon him and the strange conviction that her d her which had been gaining ground in ever since she had beard words distinctly was at last established as a fact indeed t t the convert till this moment she bad never or i since her m the at a heavy mi iu moments was calculated to permit its but such was the i ing memory that though he stood there i a converted man who was for i a sense of fear overcame her i so that she neither retreated nor advanced to think of what i she saw it last and to behold it now there was the same handsome i bat now lie wore dark neatly i f i was half a expression sufficiently to abstract the il i ea and to hinder for a second to s sense there was at a grim in the march of i words of scripture out of a this less than four years earlier had ears expressions of such purpose that ur i quit sick at the mere irony of th vi he was in earnest j i the convert it was less a reform than a the curves of were now to hues of passion the lip shapes that had meant were now made to express divine the glow on the cheek that yesterday could be translated as was to day into the splendor of pious enthusiasm bad become bold i eye that bad flashed shrinking form in the old time with such gross now beamed with the rude energy of a that ferocious those hard black which his t ai e bad used to put on when his were by her modesty now did duty in the who would insist upon turning again to his in tlie mire the as such to complain they had been diverted from then hereditary to signify impressions for which nature did not intend them strange tiiat heir very was a that to raise to it bo so was she not wrong in she admit the sentiment no longer d was not the first wicked man who had away from his wickedness to save his soul and why should she deem it in mm t it was but the usage of which had been in her at hearing good new words in had old notes the greater the sinner the greater the saint it was not y to far into history to discover that such impressions as these moved her vaguely and without strict ne ts as soon as the pause of her would allow her to stir her impulse was to pass hi out of his sight he had obviously not discerned her yet in her position against the sun but the moment that she moved again he recognized her upon her old lover	45
he was not man to insist its importance every must work as ho could l est work and in the method towards which he felt impelled by the spirit d read and re read this letter and seemed to himself thereby he also read some passages from his bible as he walked till his face assumed a calm and the image of no longer troubled his mind she meanwhile had along the edge of the hill by which lay her nearest way home within this distance of rt mile she met a solitary shepherd what is the meaning of that old stone i have passed t asked of him was it ever a holy cross i cross no not a cross tis a thing of ill miss it was put op in times by the relations of a who was tortured there by his hand to a post and afterwards hung the bones lie they say he sold his soul to the devil and that he walks at she felt the at the and left the solitary man behind her it was dusk when she drew near to and in the lane at the entrance to the hamlet she approached a girl and her lover without their ing her were talking no secrets and tlie voice of the woman in response to the warmer accents of the man s read into the chilly air as the one soothing thing within the dusky horizon full of a obscurity upon which nothing else for a moment the voices cheered i he heart of till reasoned that this interview had it origin on one side or the other in the game attraction been the to her own ihe came close the girl turned serenely recognized her the young man walking off in the woman whose interest in s excursion her own proceedings did not ex c m i a has followed me these two year but i several days had pa was the r machine w seemed t are cut the fi h by tht i the legs being those of two those of the man the between them turning up the ground for a spring for hours nothing relieved the monotony of things then far beyond the a speck was seen it had come from tlie corner of a fence where there was a gap and its tendency was up the incline towards the from the proportions of a mere it advanced to the shape of a and could soon be perceived to be a man in black arriving from the of ash the man at the having nothing else to do with his eyes continually ob er ed the comer but who was occupied did not perceive him till he was quite near when her companion directed her attention to ills approach it was not her hard farmer it was one in a semi costume who now represented what had been the dare de il d he had been hoping to find her there alone and the sight of the seemed to him not being caught in the midst of his there was less about hi til now a pale distress was already on s face and she pulled her hood further over it came up and said quietly i want to speak to you tt t you have refused my last request said she not to near me but i have a good reason well t u it lu is more serious you may think he glanced md to if he were overheard they were at some the ho turned the and the of the machine too sufficiently prevented s words other ears however d er placed himself lis to screen from the turning his back to the latter it is this he continued with impetuous of the d gravity in of soul and mine when we met i neglected to e as to worldly you were well dressed and i did not think of it bo see now that it is hard harder than it used to be when knew you harder than you deserve perhaps ft good of it is owing to me she did not answer and there they stood he watch her she with bent head her face by the hood her of the by going on with her work she felt better able to keep outside her emotions he added with a tiiat veiled on a yours was the very worst ease i ever was wretch that i was to foul that innocent life blame was mine the whole blackness of the sin hm awful you too the real blood of which i am the imitation what a blind young thing you were u i say in all that it is a i shame for parents to bring up their girls in such i ignorance of the and that the wicked may set them whether their motive be a good one or tha simple indifference still did no more than listen throwing down root and taking another with ity the pensive of the mere field woman marking her but it is not that i came to say t le went my are these i have lost my you were at and the place is my own intend to sell it and devote myself to africa either as an ordained or as an i i care veiy little which now what i want to i will you it in my power to do my duty only i make for wrong i did is will you be my and go with me t i h i this to save time he drew ft the con ment from his pocket with a slight of embarrassment what is it t said she a marriage license oh no sir she said quickly ton will not why is as he asked	45
the question a strange wretchedness which was not entirely e of duty crossed d s face it was a that something of hie old for her ha i n and desire ran hand in hand surely ho began iu more impetuous tones and then looked round at the who turned the too felt that the argument could not be ended there informing the man that a friend had come to see lier with whom to walk a little way she moved off with d across the striped field when tliey tlie first newly section he held out his hand to help her over it but stepped forward on the of the em th rolls as if she did not see him you will not me ho repeated as soon as they were over the i cannot but why have no affection for yon but you would get to feel that in time perhaps as soon as you really could forgive met never why positive f i love somebody else the him you dot somebody else but ha not a sense of what is morally right and proper any weight wit h yon f no no don t say that anyhow then your love for this other man may be a passing feeling which you overcome op the i no for i have married him i ah he exclaimed and he stopped dead aud i at her i did not wish to tell i did not mean to she i on rapidly it is a secret here or at any rate but i known yo i will you keep from i me t you must tliat we are now strangers are we t strangers for a moment i of ms old irony marked his face hut he determined i it down is that man your f i asked by a sign the er i turned the machine i that she said proudly i should think i who i do not ask what i do not wish to t u i she i aud iu her eagerness flushed an appeal to bim m her i face aud lash eyes i was bed i only asked f r y i sake he plead thunder of heaven i ea i here i swear as i thought i or your good don t li i at me so i cannot stand your looks there never w i such eyes surely before christianity or since there i won t lose my head i dare not i own that the tight i you has revived my love for you which i believed i extinguished with ou but i i i our might be a for us i husband is by the wife and tiie i believing wife is by the husband i to i self but my plan is prevented and i must bear tlie i hu reflected with his eyes ou the i married married well that being so he added quit i calmly the license slowly into aud i thorn in his that being prevented i should ck i to do some good to you and your husband cr i be there ai e many questions that i am d in the con ask but i will not do so of course in opposition to your though if i could know your husband i might more easily benefit him and you is he on this farm t no she he is ear away far away from you t what sort of husband can h do not speak against him it was through you ah is it so t that s bad yes but to stay away from yon t leave you t i work like this he does not leave me to work she cried springing to the defence of the absent one with all her he don t know it it is by my own arrangement then does he write i i cannot tell you there are things which are private to ourselves of course that means that he does not you are a deserted wife my poor in an impulse he turned to take her hand the glove was on it and he seized only the rough leather fingers which did not express life or shape of those within yon must not you must not she cried her hand from the glove as from a pocket and it in his grasp o will yon go away for the of me my husband go in the name of your own yes yes i will he said hastily and thrusting the e back to her turned to leave facing round however le said a s god is my judge i meant no sin in our hand a of hoofs on the of the field which they had not noticed in their ion ceased close bi hind them and a voice reached her ear the devil je doing away from work at this time o day i op the d j had the two the and had ridden across to learn is their in his field i don t speak like that to her said n face with something that was not indeed and what mid pa had o do with she t i who is the fellow i asked d i she went up to go i do beg yon m said i what and leave yon to that tyrant i can see his what a he is i he won t hurt me he s not in love with me i cm leave at lady day i well i have no right but to obey i suppose well good by i her whom she dreaded more her as having reluctantly disappeared the farmer d im which took the ms that sort of attack being independent of	45
sex to i as a master this man of stone who would have u if he had dared was almost a relief after her l i she silently walked back towards the j of the field that was the scene of her labor bo m the interview which had taken place that she was hard aware that nose of horse almost tou l shoulders if so be you make an ment to n me till lady day i ll see that you carry it out he i od rot tlie women now tis one thing and then ti sm other but i ll put up with it no longer i knowing well that he did not the women of the as he harassed her out of spite for td he had once d she did for one moment tore what might have l een the result if she had tm to accept the offer just made to her of the it would have lifted her completely out of not lo her oppressive employer but to a whole world who to despise her but no no she i not have married him now he ie so un to me that ver night she began an appealing letter to fi om him her and him of affection any one who had been in a position to read the lines would have seen that at the back t f her great love was some monstrous fear almost a desperation as to some secret which were not but again she did not finish her he had asked to go witli him and perhaps ho did not care for her at all she put the letter in her box and wondered if it would angel s hands after this her daily tasks were gone through heavily enough and brought on the day which was of gi eat import to the day of the fair it was at this fan that new engagements were into for the twelve following the lady day and those the farming population who thought of changing their es duly attended at the where the fair was held ly all the on flint ash farm intended flight and early in the morning there was a general in the direction of the town lay at a distance if from ten to a dozen miles over country though also meant to leave at the quarter day she was one of uie few who did not go to the fair having a vaguely that something would happen to render out r engagement it was a peaceful day of wonderful softness for the time and one would almost have thought r was over she had hardly finished her dinner when d s figure darkened the windows of the cottage she was a which she had all to herself top of the d jumped up bnt her visitor had i at the door aud she could hardly in reason run s his walk np ta tiie door liad i quality of difference from his air when she li saw him they to be performed as acts of the is ashamed at first she thought that s je not open the door but as there was no sense in ti either she arose and having lifted the latch stepped ba quickly he came in saw her before him aud hung hi self down in a chair before s i couldn t help it he began as wiped his heated face which had a of excitement i felt that i must call to at oak hi you are i assure you i had not been thinking of you all till i saw you that sunday now i cannot get of yo image try how i may it is hard that a good should do harm to a bad man yet so it is if you only pray for me the distraction of his manner was pitiable a yet did not pity him how can i for yon i i said when i am forbidden to believe that the great f who moves the world would alter his plans on my ton really think that i yes i have cured of the presumption of ing otherwise i cured i by whom t by my husband if i must tell ah your husband ur husband how seems i remember you hinted something of the sort t other day what do you really believe in thee i he asked you seem to have no religion owing to me but i have looked at her with ing do yon think that the j t take is all wrong t v good deal of it the convert and yet i ve felt so about it he said uneasily i believe in the spirit of the on the mount and u did my dear husband but i don t believe here gave her the fact is said d ly whatever your r believed you accept and whatever he re ted you reject without the least inquiry or reasoning on your own part that s just you women your is t ms ah because he knew everything she with a triumphant simplicity of faith in angel that the most perfect man could hardly have deserved much less her husband yes but yon should not take opinions from person like that a fellow he must be to teach you such he never forced my judgment he would never argue on the subject wi me but i looked at it in way what he believed r deep into doctrines was much more likely to be right than what i might believe who hadn t looked into the doctrines at au what used he to he must have said something she reflected and with her acute memory for tlie letter of angel s remarks even when did not comprehend their spirit she l a	45
merciless that she had heard use when as it he indulged in a species of thinking aloud with her at his side in delivering it she gave also s accent and manner with fidelity say that again asked who had listened the attention repeated the argument and d murmured the words after her thing else i he presently asked i ho said at another time something like this and she another which might possibly have been tb of i s in many a work of the from the j to ah ha how do you remember them i wanted to believe what he believed he d wish me to and i managed to him to toll me a of his thoughts i can t say i quite understand that c but i know it is right fancy your being able to teach me what j don t know self he teu into thought and so i throw in my spiritual lot wi his she v i didn t wish it to be different what s good enough fl him is good enough for me does he know that you are as big an as he i no i never told him if l am an well you are better off to day than i am all all you don t believe that you ought to preach my di and therefore do no despite to your conscience in i do i ought to it bnt uke devils i and tremble for i suddenly leave off ing it and give way to my passion for you how i why he said i have come all the way to see you to day but i started from home to go to c i pair where i have undertaken to preach th word from a wagon at half past two afternoon m where all the brethren are expecting me this i here s the he drew from his breast pocket a whereon printed the day hour place of meeting at which d would preach as but how can you get there t said looking clock get there i have come here wliat you have really arranged t l have arranged to preach and i h th convert of my di to see a whom i no by my and i never despised you i if i lad i should not love you now i did not despise you was on of your purity in of all you withdrew yourself from so quickly and you saw the situation you did not remain i my pleasure bo there was one victim in the world for whom i had no contempt and you she but you may well despise mo i thought i worshipped on tlie mountains but i find i still serve in the groves ha ha d what does this moan f wliat have done he said with a sneer at himself but you have been the the means of my ba as they call it i ask myself am i indeed one of servants of corruption who after they have escaped the of tlie world are entangled and overcome whose latter end is worse than their beginning he laid his hand on lier i was on the way to it least social salvation till i saw yon he said her us if she were a child temper and mood showing in him j nd then have you tempted met i as a man could bo till i saw that mouth f there never was such a mouth since eve s voice sank and a hot shot fi om his black eyes ton you dear damned witch if i could not resist you as soon as i met you again i couldn t help your seeing me again said i know it i repeat i do not blame you but the fact remains when i saw you ill used on the farm that day i was nearly mad to think that i had no legal right to protect you that i could not have it whilst he who has it seems to neglect you don t against him ho is absent i she cried op the treat him he has never t leave his wife before any scandal that n do harm to his name i will i will he said like a man lurid dream i have broken my engagement to the gospel to those poor it is the first time hi done a thing a month ago i should lu been at such a possibility ill go an y to it and ah can i pray then suddenly one one only for old friendship am without defence a good man s honor is my keeping think think oh yes yes my god he his s fled himself for his weakness his eyes were barren of and hope the of till old black passions which had lam amid the of his ace ever since his seemed to woke a come together as in a he went ont hardly i for his acts though ha l declared that this breach of engagement to day was the simple of a s words as echoed from angel had made n de impression npon him and continued to do so after be h left her he moved on in silence as if his s wi by the possibility faith was vain reason had had to do witli and the drops of logic that let tall ii the sea of his enthusiasm served to chill it to he said to himself as he d ii and again over the phrases that she had hand on to him that fellow little that by t g t those things he might be my way ba k	45
to her i the it is tlie of the la t wheat at farm the dawn of the march is and there ie to show when the horizon lies against the twilight rises the summit of the which has stood here through the washing and of the winter weather when and arrived at the scene of operations only a that others had preceded them to which as the light increased there were presently added the of two men on the summit they were busily the that ie off the before beginning to throw down the and while this was in progress and with tie other women in their whit y brown stood wait and having insisted upon their being on the spot thus early to got the job over if possible by the end of the day close under the shadow of the and as yet barely visible was the red tyrant that the had come to serve a timber framed construction with and wheels the ma which whilst it was gi ing kept up a do upon the endurance of their muscles and nerve a little way off there was another indistinct figure this one black with a sustained hiss that spoke of strength very in reserve the long running np an ash tree and the which from the spot explained without the of much daylight that here was the engine which was to act as the of this little world by the engine stood a dark motionless b being a and of in a sort with a heap of coals by his side it was the engine tes of the t man the of his t him t of a creature from who hail in the of this of aiid pale soil with which he nothing iu and to its i what he looked he felt he was in the world but not of it he served fire and of the fields served vegetation weather frost a sun he travelled with this engine from farm ut far from county to county for as yet the steam machine was iii ho spoke in a strait northern accent his thoughts turned upon self his eye on his iron charge hardly the seen around him and caring for them not at all holding on strictly necessary intercourse with the natives as if sob ancient doom compelled liim to wander here against will in the service of his master the long which ran from the driving wheel of his engine t the i under the was the sole tie line between and him i while they uncovered the he stood i his of force round i blackness the quivered he bad nothing i do with preparatory his fire was waiting i cent his steam was at high pressure in a few could make tlie long move at on invisible beyond its extent the might bo corn or chaos it was all the same to him if any of the n asked him what he called himself he replied an engineer the was by full the men i took their places the women und the or as they called him he ere and by his orders waa on the of the machine close to the man who fed it her the who stood next but on the j so that the seize it and it over the revolving drum out every in one moment they were soon in full progress hit h or two which rejoiced the hearts of those who hated machinery the work sped on till breakfast time when the was stopped for half an and on starting again after the meal the whole strength of tht farm was thrown i the labor of the straw which began to grow beside the of corn a hasty was eaten as they stood without leaving their and then another couple of hours brought them near to dinner time the inexorable wheels continuing to spin and the penetrating hum of the to thrill to the au who were near the cage the old men on the rising straw talked of the past days when they had been accustomed to with on the barn floor when everything even to was effected by labor which to their thinking though slow produced better too on the com talked a little but the ones at th not their duties by the exchange of many words it was the of the work which tried her so severely and began to make her that she had never come to ash the women on the who was one of them in could stop to drink ale or cold tea from the now and then or to exchange a w remarks while they wiped their faces or the of straw and from their but for ii re was no for as the drum never stopped the iu who fed it not stop and she who had to supply the man witli not stop either except nt intervals of relief which were absolutely for some probably economical reason it was usually a woman who was chosen for this particular duty and motive in that du was one of it combined ss iu oo i power and this may have trot of the prevent to a ver the of com in d the regular quantity and the man who l c never torn beads she did not know that before i the dinner hour a person had silently into the field by i the gate and had been standing under a second watch ing the scene and in lie was in a suit of pattern and he a gay i i who is that said to she bad first addressed the inquiry to bat the could not hear it i s i s pose said i ll lay a guinea bo s after i ob tis a i son who s been i her lately	45
and in the primitive days of mankind had been i and had nothing in common bat long association owing to angel s to her training in and to he r being a vessel of rather than reasons she could not t on well never mind he resumed here i am my love as in the old times not as then never as then it is different site and there was never wai with me why yon keep faith if the loss of it have brought to to me like this because you ve knocked it out of me so the be upon your sweet head husband how his teaching would upon him hu ha i m awfully you have le an of tne all iii same i am more taken you than ever pity yon too for all i see you are in a bad way neglected y one who ought to cherish the words of the prophet that i used to come back to me don t you know them and follow after her lover but not overtake him and she shall seek him but shall find him n f hi she say i will go and return to my first husband for tht u was it better with me than now she could not get her of food down her her lips were dry and she was ready to choke thi and laughs of the work folk eating drinking under came to her as if they were a quarter of a mile off it is to me said how how can treat me to this talk if you care ever so little for true true he said ft little i did not ci to reproach you for my fall i came to say that i di like yon to be working like thi and i have come on pose for yon say yon a husband i is not i well yon j hut i ve we ft hj the con dot told name and altogether he seems rather a personage however even if you have i think i nearer to you than he is i at any rate try to help you out of trouble but he does not bless his face my trap is waiting just under the hill and darling mine not his you know tlie rest her face had been rising to a dull crimson fire while he spoke but she did not answer tou have been the cause of my he continued stretching his arms towards lier waist yon should be willing to share it and leave that mule you call forever one of her leather gloves which she had taken off to eat ber cake lay in her lap and without the slightest passionately swung the glove by the iu his face it was y and k as a warrior s and it struck him flat on the mouth fancy might have the act as the of a in which were not men fiercely started up from his i position a scarlet appeared where her blow had alighted and in a moment the blood di from his mouth upon the straw but he controlled himself calmly drew his from his pocket and his bleeding lips she too had sprung up but she sank down now punish me she said turning up her eyes to his with the hopeless de of the s gaze before its its neck whip me crush me you need not mind those people under tlie i shall not cry out victim always victim that s the law oh no no he said i can make full al for this yet you most forget one tliat i would have married you if you had not put it out of power to d so did i not ask you to be my wife answer me h you did tes op the and you cannot be bat one thing bu hai as his temper got the better of him n ij recollection of his sincerity in asking her and her pre ingratitude and he stepped across to ber side and held by the shoulders so that she shook under his grasp member my lady i was once r i will be your master again if you are any man s wife you are mine the now began to stir below so ma h our quarrel he said letting her go now i shall you and shall come again for your answer during t afternoon you don t know me yet but i know yon she had spoken again remaining as if stunned d retreated over the and descended the ladder the workers below rose and stretched their arms and shook down the beer they had then ti machine started afresh aud amid of the straw resumed her position by tjie drum after in endless in the afternoon the farmer made it known ihe t was to be finished that night since there was a i which they could see to work and the man with the was engaged for another farm on tjie morrow he ti and humming aud proceeded with less than was usual it was not till time about three tin raised her es and gave a t she felt but little surprise at seeing that j fl had come back and was under tlie hedge by l gate he had seen her lift her eyes and waved hb to her he w the down again and in that thus the afternoon dragged on the wheat shrank lower and the straw grew higher and the corn away at six o clock the wheat was about i from the ground but the untouched seemed still the t numbers that had been down by the fed by the man and through whose two young hands the greater part of them had passed and the enormous of straw where	45
in the there had been nothing appeared as the ace of the same i ed the west sky a shine all that wild march could afford in the way of sunset had burst forth after the cloudy day the and faces of the and them a light as also the flapping garments of the which clung to them like dull i a panting ache ran through the man who i was weary and could see that the red e of his neck was covered with dirt she still stood at her post her flushed and face with the corn dust and her white by it she was the only woman place was upon the machine so as to be shaken by its spinning and this incessant mid quivering in which every fibre of her body thrown her into a reverie in which her arms on of her consciousness she hardly knew where she was and did not hear who with the sinking of the had necessarily l further down from her side offer to change places with her by degrees the among them began t grow ti us and eyed lifted her head i always the great straw with the men u it against the gray north sky in front like a jacob s lad of tile s which a perpetual stream of straw ascended a liver up aud out on the i the she that d was still on the her from point ir though she vm not bay where there was an for his r when the drew near its final a lit was always done and men with i dropped in fur that sporting of all descriptions with t i aud pipes with sticks and stones but there was another hour s work e the live rats at the base of the would i o reached and the light in the direction of the giant s hill s dissolved away the face l the season arose from the horizon lay t and d on the other side for the last hour two had felt uneasy whom she not get near enough t speak to the other women hav kept tip their strength by drinking ale and done without it through dread owing to at her home in childhood but still kept if she not fill her part she have to leave this which she would have regarded aud even with a month or two had become a terror since d to h i round her the and had now r bo low that people on the ground could talk to them s sm farmer came up on the her and said that if she ed to join her friend he not wish her w keep on any longer and would send body else to take her place the friend was she knew and also that this concession had u granted in obedience to the request of that friend or t t my she her bead and on fl the con the time for the rat catching arrived at last and the hunt began the creatures had wept downwards witli the of the till they were all together at the bottom and being now uncovered from their last refuge they ran across the open ground ui all directions a loud shriek from the by this time half informing her companions that one of the rats had invaded her person a terror which the rest of the women had guarded against by various schemes of skirt and self elevation rat was at last and amid tlie barking of the dogs masculine shouts feminine screams oaths and confusion as of her last the drum ceased and stepped from the of the machine to the her lover who had only looked ou at the rat was at her side what after all my insulting slap too said she in an she was so utterly that she not strength to speak louder i should indeed be foolish to feel offended at anything you say or do he answered in the voice of the time how the little limbs tremble yon are as weak as a calf you know you are and yet you need have done nothing since i arrived how could you be obstinate however i have told the farmer that he has no right to employ women at steam it is not proper work for them and on all the better class of it has been given np as he knows very well i will walk with you as far as your home oh yes she answered with a gait walk with me if you will i do bear in mind that you came to marry me before you knew of my perhaps perhaps you a little better and kinder than i have been thinking you whatever is meant as kindness i am grateful for is meant in any other way i am at i cannot sense your sometimes of the d es if i cannot our former nt ic i assist and i will do it an for your feelings than i formerly my or it was is over but i retain a lit good i hope i do toss by all d and strong between man and woman trust me i i i and more than enough to put you out of i for and your and sisters i make them all comfortable if you will only in me have yon seen them lately she quickly d yes they didn t know e you ware it v by that i found yon here the cold moon looked upon s r l the twigs of the garden hedge as she the cottage was her temporary home d beside her don t mention my little and sisters don t make me break down quite she s if you want to help them god knows they need without telling	45
heart now said old mr to his wife when he had read the envelope if angel ing for n visit home at the end of month as he told us that he hoped to do i tliis may hasten his plans for believe it to be from wife he deeply at the thought of her and the letter was to he promptly sent on to angel dear fellow i he i get home safely murmured mrs to my d day i shall feel that he has been ill you should have sent him to cambridge in of his and given him chance as the other he would have gi own out of it under proper influence and perhaps would liave taken orders aft r church or no it would have fairer to him this was the only wail with mrs ever her husband s peace in i of their sons and she did not vent this often for she was as aa wa devout and knew that his mind too was troubled doubts as to his justice in this matter only tt o often op the d liad she him awake at night stifling si is i angel with prayers but the i did not even now hold tiiat he would have been i i giving his son an tiie same at i that he had given to two brothers when it m i possible if not probable that those have been to the doctrines which he had i it life s mission and desire to and t b i of his ordained likewise to put with one a w i under the feet of the two faithful ones and with t i other to the by the same i he deemed to he alike nt with i i i and his hopes he loved his mi i named angel and in secret over this i of bim as might ha e mourned the doom i while they went up the hill together his silent m regrets were tar than the which his wife rendered audible they blamed themselves for this unlucky marriage had never been destined for a he w i have been thrown with girls they did n distinctly know what had separated him and his wife ii i the date on which the separation had place at they had supposed it must be something of the i a serious aversion but in his later letters he to the intention of coming home to her fro which expressions they hoped division might not on its origin to anything so hopelessly permanent as that had told them that she was with hi r relatives and in the doubts they had not u intrude into a they knew no way of the for which s letter had been intended f gazing at this time on a expanse of fro the back of a mule which was hearing him from the i of the continent towards the the his of this strange land had been sad severe illness from which he had suffered shortly after his arrival had never wholly left him and he by degrees almost decided to his hope of farming here though as long as the bare possibility existed of his remaining he kept this change of view a secret fi om his parents the crowds of agricultural who had come out to the country in his wake dazzled by representations of easy independence lad suffered died and wasted away he saw mothers from english farms along with their in their arms when the child would be stricken with fever and would die the mother would pause to dig a hole in the loose th with her hands would bury the infant therein with the same natural grave tools shed one and again on angel s original intention had not been to but a northern or eastern farm in his own country he had come to this place in a fit of desperation the t among the english having by chance with his desire to escape from his past xi during this time of his absence he had mentally aged a dozen years what arrested him now as of value in life was less its beauty its pathos having long d the old ms of he now began to dis the old of morality he thought wanted sting w ho was the moral man t still who was the moral woman f the or of a character lay not only in it achievements j but in its aims and impulses its true history lay not among things done but among things willed how then about i her in these lights a regret for his hasty judgment began to him did he reject her of the d or did he not he could no longer say that be always reject her and not to say that was in spirit accept her now this growing fondness for her memory in of time with her residence at j but it w before she had felt herself at liberty to trouble bim her or her feelings he was gi p and in his perplexity as to her motives m holding intelligence he did not inquire thus her of was how it really s if he had understood that she with ness to orders which he had given and forgotten th despite her natural of nature she asserted rights made no claim admitted his judgment to be in eve respect the true one bent her head in the ore men journey by t of the country another rode beside a s companion was also an englishman bent on the errand though he came from another part of the they were both in a state of mental ami ti spoke of home affairs confidence confidence w that tendency men more especially wh in distant lands to to strangers details of their lis which they would on no account mention to friends	45
an admitted to this man as they rode along the sorrowful tm of his marriage the stranger had in many more lands b among many more than angel to his mind such de nations from the social so immense were no more than are the and mountain chain to the whole cur he viewed the matter in quite a different light from thought that what had been was of no important side what she would be and plainly told that h n wrong in coming away from her the next day they in a the angel s companion was struck down with fever and died by the week s end waited a few hours to bury him and then went on his way the remarks of the large minded stranger of whom he knew absolutely nothing beyond a commonplace name were by his death and influenced more than all the reasoned of the philosophers his own made him ashamed by its contrast his rushed upon him in a flood he had persistently elevated at the expense of christianity yet in that civilization an surrender was not certain surely then he might have regarded that of the un state which he had inherited with the creed of as at least open to when the result was due to treachery a remorse struck into him the words of never quite in his memory came back to him he had asked if she loved him and she had replied in the affirmative did she love him more than did no she had replied would lay down her life for him and she herself could do no more he thought of as she had appeared on the day of the wedding how her eyes had lingered upon him how she had hung upon his words as if they were a god s and during the terrible evening over the hearth when her simple soul uncovered itself to his how pitiful her face had looked in the rays of the fire in her inability to realize that his love and protection could possibly be withdrawn thus from being her critic he grew to be her advocate cynical things he had uttered to himself about her but no man can be a and live and he withdrew them the mistake of expressing them had arisen from his allowing himself to be influenced by general principles to the disregard of the particular instance but the reasoning is somewhat lovers and husbands have gone over the ground before to f te s op the i her j there is no doubt of it men i i too often harsh with women they love or have i i women with men and yet these tend i ness itself when compared with the i out of which they grow the of the i i towards the temperament of the means towards the n i of to day towards yesterday of hereafter towards to i i the historic interest of her family that ancient i i line of d whom he had despised i a spent force touched his sentiments now why had i not known the difference between the political value fl l the imaginative value of these things in the latter i hei d descent was a fact of great i worthless to it was a most i the to the on and falls ii vi i a that would soon be forgotten that bit of i in poor s blood and name and oblivion would fall n i her hereditary link witli the marble monument s and leads i at so does time t hia own in recalling her face again and again i ho thought now that he could see therein a flash of tho di i which must have her grand and tin i vision sent that veins which he bad i felt and which left behind it a sense of i despite her not past what still abode in i a woman as the freshness of her i was not the of the grapes of better than the of r so spoke love preparing the way for s i devoted which was th ii just being i to him by his father owing to his distance inland i it was to be a long time in reaching him i the expectation that angel would i come soon in response to tlie entreaty was i great and small wliat lessened it was that the ii i which had led to the parting had not i the convert sh never change and that if her presence had not her absence not nevertheless her to the tender question of what she do to please him best if he should arrive sighs were expended on the wish that she had taken more notice of the tunes he played on his harp that she had inquired more curiously of him which were his among those the girls sang she inquired of who had followed from and by chance remembered among the of melody in which they had indulged at the man s to induce the cows to let down their bad seemed to like s gardens i have i liave hounds and the break o the day and seemed not to care for the tailor s breeches and such a i i did grow excellent as they were to perfect the was her desire she them privately at odd moments especially the break o the day pick your love a all of the sweetest flowers in the garden grow the in every bough a building so early iu the time at he break o day it have melted the heart of a stone to hear her these whenever she worked apart from the n t of the girls in this cold dry time the t running down her cheeks all the while at the thought that perhaps he not after all come to	45
hear her and the simple silly words of thi songs in painful mockery of the heart of the singer was so wi apt up in this fanciful dream that she ted not to know how the season was advancing that downstairs room body knocked at the the doorway she saw with the height of a tall thin girlish the twilight till the t is it her sister whom a lit home as a child had s form of this self scarce able to under visible below her once l ing and her youth and yes i have been with very tired what is the matter a mother is took very ing and as father is n wrong for a man of such at common do i i that night would be a gain of twelve hours r was too ed to a distance t row tes ran down to when and live j i them of what liad and begged t best of her case to the farmer returning s k a and after that having tucked the own bed packed up as many of her a go into a basket and d directing j low her next into the chilly darkness as ten for her fifteen miles walk under the lonely districts night is a protection rather r to a noiseless and knowing this from pursued the est se along by she would almost have ed in the but were lacking now and fears were driven mind by thoughts of her mother thus she mile after mile ascending and descending till she and about midnight looked from that into the abyss of shade which was all that i of tho on whose side she was saving already ti about five miles on the she had now some ten or eleven in the un journey would be finished the winding road became visible to her the wan she followed it and soon she paced a soil so j with that above it that the difference was ei p tho tread and to the smell it was the and a part of the to b roads had er penetrated j at you as you in them still and tlie at sh in response u not a human soul roofs her mind s eye muscles spread out in of little purple process at the hands ol row as soon as a hint o hill at three she turned she had and e which as a club girl he had not danced with remained with her yet house she saw a light and a branch waved in f as soon as she could d newly with hei upon s imagination seemed to be the the broken all im at the con f just prepared herself a breakfast and then took as in mother s chamber in the morning when she contemplated the they had all a although she bad been away little more than a their growth was and the necessity of herself heart and soul to their needs took her out of her her father s ill health was of tlie same indefinite kind and he sat in his chair as but the day after her arrival he was unusually bright he had a scheme for living and asked him what it was i m thinking of sending round to all the old in this part of he asking them to to a fund to maintain me i m sure they d see it as a and proper thing to do they spend ii t o money in keeping up old ruins and finding the o things and such like and living remains must he resting to em still if they only l o me would that somebody would go round and tell em what there is living among em and they thinking nothing of him if pa son who discovered me had lived he d ha done it i m sure postponed her arguments on this high project till she had with pressing matters in hand which seemed little improved by her when necessities had been she turned her attention to external things it was now the season for and many gardens and of the liad already received their but tlie garden and the of the were found to her dismay that this was owing to their having eaten all the seed potatoes that last lapse of the with slender means she obtained what others she could and in a few days her father was well enough to see to the garden under s efforts herself undertook the which they i i ta tim te s op the d il m a field a of yards oat of the i she liked doing it after the confinement of the sick chamber where she was now required by reason of her s improvement violent motion thought plot of ground was in a high dry open there were forty or fifty such pieces and where labor at its when the hired labor of the day had digging began at six o clock and extended into tiie dusk or moonlight now heaps of dead weeds and refuse were burning on many of the dry weather their one fine day and lu worked on here with neighbors till the last rays of the sim flat upon white that divided the plots as soon as twilight to sunset the of the couch grass and fires began to light up the appearing and disappearing under the dense smoke m by the wind when a fire glowed banks of blown level along the ground would themselves illuminated to an lustre the one and the meaning of the pillar of cloud which was a wall by day and a light by night be understood as evening some of the men ami women gave over for the night but the greater to get their planting done being them she sent her sister home it was on	45
and there s a lot is a good deal better but i the child i the yet its sadness and stood importance till beholding she said what more but father was only a lu up i the doctor who was there chance for him because hi yes the c dying one was out of dan dead the news meant e father s life had a value c ments or it would the little of their independence of and when a lease determined it was never renewed thus the fields d saw them the destiny which no doubt when they were among the of the county they had caused to descend many a time and severely enough upon the heads af ones as they themselves were now so do and the of change alternate and persist in everything under the sky li at length it was the eve of old lady day and the world was in a fever ot as only at that particular date of the year it ia a of i or service during tht year entered into at are to be now car i ll out tlie or as they used to ill till the other word was from without who wish i no longer in old are ing to the new farms these from farm to farm were on the i here s was a child the major of the folk had all their on one farm which had been the home also of their i and but the desire for yearly had risen to a high h witli the younger s it was a pleasant excitement which might possibly im iii the it of one family was ihe land of i to the family who saw it from a distance till by there it became in turn also j and so lit v changed and changed however all the so i workers other tha who owed a certain of their being life or occasionally small fell in they were se and were mostly pulled d the farmer for his hands employed on the land rule and the o who were thus obliged to formed the of were the of tl refuge in the large by as tion towards the large to w r to flow up hill when accommodation at m considerably by remained standing was work people ever since t had cast such a shadow family whose descent was looked on as one which w ended if in tl p w the convert s to be kept e so on this the first lady on thi fields were tiie bein was ed for a with ii large family aud widow her daughters and lu the now the representative of the d male line and the younger en to go e on the preceding their removal it was getting dark by reason of a rain which tho sky as it was the last night they would spend in the which had been their home and mrs lu and had gone out to bid ome friends good by and was keeping house till they should return she was kneeling in the window bench her face close to the where an outer pane of rain water was sliding down the inner pane of glass her eyes rested on the web of a spider probably star ed long ago which had been placed in n where no flies ever came and shivered in the slight draught through the was reflecting on the position of the household in which she perceived her own evil influence had she not come home her mother and the children might probably have n allowed to stay on as weekly but s he had ii seen almost on her return by some character and great influence they had seen her in the restoring as well as she could a baby s grave by this means they had foimd that she vas living here again her mother was for her sharp words had ensued from who had to leave at once she had been taken at her word and here was the i ought never to have come home said to herself she was so intent upon these thoughts that she hardly at took note of a man in a white whom she saw riding don q the street possibly it was owing to her te s op the d face being near to the pane that he saw her ci ted his horse so close to the cottage front that hoofs were almost upon the narrow for plants under the wall it was not till he touched the with his riding whip that she observed him the rain bud nearly and she opened the in m to his didn t you see me t asked d i was not attending she said i heard yon i though i fancied it was a carriage and horses i was in i sort of dream ah i you heard the coach perhaps you know the legend i suppose no my somebody was going to tell it me once bill didn t if you are a genuine d i ought not to yon either i suppose as for me i m a sham one so it doesn t matter it is rather dismal it is that this of a non coach can only be heard by one of d d ber blood and it is held to of ill omen to th who hears it it has to do with a murder d ij of the family ago now you have begun it finish it very well one of the family is said to al du beautiful woman who tried to escape from the coal in which he was carrying her off and in the struggle i killed her or she killed i forget which such is if t ale i see that your and are packed	45
going away aren t you yes to morrow old lady day i heard you were but could hardly e it j it s so sudden why is it t father s was the last hfe on the property and that dropped we had no further right to hide might perhaps have stayed as weekly tenants if it l been for about the convert i am not a bright example d s face flushed what a shame miserable may their souls be burned to he exclaimed iu tones of fierce resentment that s why you are going is it turned out i we are not turned out exactly but as they said we should have to go soon it was best to go now was moving because there are better chances where are you going to we have taken rooms there mother is so foolish about father s people that she will go there but your mother s family are not fit for lodgings and in a little hole of a town that now why not come to my garden house at there are hardly any now since my mother s death but there s uie house as you know it and the garden it can be in a day and your mother can live there quite comfortably and will put the children to a good school really i u i do something for you but we have already the at re she and we can wait there wait what for that nice husband no doubt now look here i know what men are and bearing in mind the of your separation i am quite positive he will never make it up with you now though i have been your enemy i am your friend even if you won t believe it c ome to this of mine we ll pet up a regular colony of fowls and your mother can attend to them aiid the children can go to school toss breathed more and more quickly at length she how do i know that you would do all this your may and then we should be ray mother ould be again oh do no i would yon such as that in writing if necessary think it over shook her head but persisted oo a he emotion she i owe you something and you cured glad i would rather you had kept the practice which we i am glad of this to morrow i shall expect t give me f ul with the last sentence he mm and put his hand in at pulled the stay bar i arm between the i i you are v out his arm no no i pose well i shall expect children at least i shall not come i where at my father in law s if ask for it but you ll never ask for it you v the convert sense of injustice caused the region of her to swell with the rush of hot t thither her husband angel himself had like others dealt out hard measure to her surely he had she had never before admitted thought but he had surely never in her life she could swear it from the bottom of her had she intended to do wrong yet these hard judgments had come whatever her they were not sins of but of and why should she have been punished so persistently t she passionately seized the first piece of paper that t hand and the following lines o why have you treated me so angel i do not deserve it i have thought it all over carefully and i can never never you you know that i did not intend to you why have yon so wronged me i you are cruel cruel indeed i will try to forget you it is all injustice i have received at your hands t she watched till the passed by ran out to him with lier and then again took her place in the window it just as well to write like that as to write tenderly how could ho give way to entreaty i tho facts had not changed was no new event to r his opinion it grew darker uie fire light shining over room tho two biggest of tho younger children had gone out with mother the four smallest their ages from and a years to eleven all in black were gathered round the hearth their own little subjects at length joined them without lighting a this is the last night that we shall sleep here in the where we were bom she said quickly we to think of it t wet they all became silent with tho of their op the d age tliey were ready to burst into tears at the picture t she had ap though all the day had been rejoicing in the idea of a new place the sing to me she said what shall we anything you know i don t mind what there was a pause it was broken by one little note then a voice tl it and a third and a fourth in in with words they had learnt at the school here ne softer t and pain wo to part again in heaven we part no more the four sang on with the of i sons who had settled the question a long time ago a there being no mistake about it felt that further thou was not required with features strained hard to the they continued to regard the centre of i flickering fire the notes of the youngest over ii the pauses of the rest turned from them and went to tjie window darkness had now fallen without hut she put her face the pane as though to peer into the gloom it was to hide her tears	45
been fruitless the driver of the wagon said the goods must be lis he was bound to return part of the way that night very well it here said shelter somewhere the wagon bad drawn up under the wall in n spot from view and the driver nothing loth noon hauled down the poor battered heap of household she paid him witli almost her last shilling and be n off and left only too glad to get out of farther with such a family it was a dry night and be guessed that they would come to no harm gazed desperately at the pile of f the cold i t ui a round about were d into little where the stretch of to the estate hard d aisle isn t your family mother as she and wh will camp girls till th roof now and we ll make a nest for another look round lent a the old four post goods and erected und part of the building ki which the huge was a beautiful its date being the fifteen window and ii like spoon the ac k by lu and the boy she again ascended the little lane which secluded the church from the soon us they got into the street tliey beheld a man oil np and down ah i m looking or you he said riding up to them is a family gathering on the historic spot it was where is he asked personally had no liking for she the of the church and went on d saying that he would see them again in ease they be again unsuccessful in their search for a house of he had just heard when they had gone d rode to tht inn and shortly after came out on foot ill ihe left with the children inside the remained talking with a while till seeing that no more could he done to make tht m comfortable just then she walked about the d now beginning to be by the shades of nightfall the door of the church was and she ent it for the first time in her life within the window under which the stood were the of the family covering in their dates si they were altar shaped and plain their being and broken their torn from ihe the holes remaining like in ii sand cliff of all the that she had ever received that her people were extinct there was none forcible as this she di near to a dark stone on wa inscribed did not read latin like a bnt she know that this was the door of her and that the tall knights of whom her father had in lay inside of the d d withdraw passing near an tile st t f iii au ou was a l ill the dusk she had not noticed it before and have d it but for an odd fancy that the i moved as as she di close to it she tr d ill a moment that the was a ing the to her sense of not having been was bo she was overcome and sank down nigh i i iii mill not however till she had d f l ill form ill ii oil tlie and supported her i s you i ome in he said smiling and not your meditations a family gathering is it no with these old fellows under us here listen lie stamped with his heel heavily on the floor n a hollow echo fi om below shook them a bit i ll warrant he continued and thought i was the stone ot of but no tlie old order the r tlie sham d il e can do more for vou than the con connection with s previous history had mi heard and partly guessed ere this t aa though she had never known him his having won her once makes all the in the world be a i if he were o her away again mr can never bo thing o us and why should we grudge him to her and not ay to mend this quarrel f if he could on y know what she s put to and what s hovering round he might ome to take care of his own could we let him know they thought of this all the way to their destination mt the of re nt in their new place took ip all attention then but when they were settled a r they heard of c lai e s approaching return they had learnt nothing more of upon tliat d anew by their to him let to her the ink they and a few lines were between the two d sm to your wife if yon do love her as much as die i you for she is sore put to by an enemy in the u of a sir there is one near her who ought to le away a woman should not be try d beyond lier strength and continual dropping will wear away a stone a diamond from two well addressed to angel at the place er heard him to be connected with after wliich they continued in a mood of at their own generosity which made sing a hysterical and weep at the same time i u j i j t it was evening at ei shaded candles but he had not been sit in stirred the small fire of spring and v at the front door going turning again to the it faced westward there was still light mrs who had hither plenty of time yet s chalk till six eve and ten miles of lane are not horse but he has done it in tears sum v a form which they affected to recognize but would actually have	45
passed by in the street without had he not got out of their carriage at the particular moment when a particular person was due mrs rushed through the dark passage to the door and her husband came more slowly r the new arrival who was just about to r saw their anxious faces in the doorway and the gleam of the west in their spectacles because they confronted the last rays of day but tliey could only see his shape against the light o my boy my boy home again at last cried mrs who no more at that moment for the of which had caused all this separation for the upon his clothes what woman indeed among tiie most faithful to the truth believes in the promises and threats of the word in the sense in which she believes in her own children or would not throw her to the wind if weighed against their happiness v as soon as they reached the room where the candles were lighted she looked at his face it is not not my son the angel who wont away she cried in all the irony of sorrow as she turned away his father too was shocked to see him so reduced was t figure from its former by worry and the bad which had experienced in the to which he had so hurried in his first aversion to the mockery e events at home ton could see the skeleton behind the tn and almost the ghost behind the on his sunken e of morbid hue and the light in his eyes had d tlie and lines of his aged to their reign in his face years io their time i was ill over there you know he said i am all right now aa if er to this assertion his legs seemed v sooner it was from i it was a only one other ha t it on to him knowing he hastily opened disturbed to read in pressed in her last o why have you i do not deserve it i and i can never not intend to wrong y you are cruel cruel ii is all injustice i have r it is quite true si perhaps she will don t angel be s soil said his mother of the soil soil but let me now e before that he line of one of the e fulfilment of her loving it had seemed the easiest thing id the world to rush hack into her arms now he had it was not so easy as it had sl she was passionate and her present showing that her estimate of him had changed imder his too changed he sadly owned made him ask himself if it would l e wise to her in presence of her parents supposing that her love had indeed turned to dislike ing the separation a sudden meeting might lead to bitter words therefore thought it be best to prepare aud her family by sending a line to his and his hope that she was still living with there as he had arranged for her to do when he left england he despatched the inquiry that very day and before the week was out there come a short reply from mrs which did not remove his embarrassment for it bore no address though it was not written from j wrote these few lines to say that ray daughter is away from home at present aud j am not when she will return but j will let you know as soon as she do j do not feel at liberty to tell you she is staying j should say that me aud my family have left mai for some time yours j it was such a i to to that waa at least still alive that her mother s n as to her whereabouts not long distress him he would wait till mrs inform him of toss s return her letter implied to be soon he deserved no more his been a love which when it alteration finds hu had undergone some strange in his he seen the in the a of the es in a he had it thi taken and set ill the midst as one i ii bt of the wife of being made a queen and he had asked himself why had he not judged than by the will rather by the deed day after day passed he waited at his father s for the promised second letter from indirectly to recover a httle more strength the ir showed signs o coming back but there was no ii oe the letter then he hunted up the old letter sent i to in had written from ash and had brought him back he re read it the sentences touched him as much as when he i i l y to you in my trouble i have no one else i i must die if you do not come soon or tell me lo to you please please not to lie just only a little kind to me if vou would come i could die in fulfilment recent and regard of him but go and find he asked father if she had applied for any y during his his father returned a and then for the first time it occurred to angel that her pride had stood in her way and that had ri d his remarks his parents now the real reason of the separation and their christianity was such that rt being their especial care the tenderness towards which her blood her simplicity even her poverty had not was instantly excited by her san whilst he was hastily packing together a few articles for his journey he glanced over a poor plain lately come u hand the one fi om and begin d sm look to	45
your wife if you do love her as much as she do love you and signed two well in a of an hour was leaving the house his watched his thin figure as it disappeared into the street he had declined to borrow his father s old mare well of its necessity to the household he ut to the inn where he hired a trap and could hardly during the in a very few minutes r lie was di up the bill out of uie three or four months earlier in the year had descended with such hopes and ascended with such shattered ill lane soon stretched before him its and purple witli but he was looking at other things op the d and only recalled himself to the scene to him to keep the way in less an hour a half be t d the south of the king s est and ascended to the solitude of cross in hi the whereon liad been compelled b d in his converted character to swear the oath that she would never tempt him again and stems of the preceding year now lingered in the banks young green the present spring growing from their roots thence he went along the verge of the ing the other and turning to the right tl into the region of ash address from which she had n to him in one of lie and which he supposed to lie the of referred to by her mother here of coarse he did not her now and what to his depression was the that no mrs had ever been heard of by or by the farmer himself though was t l well enough by her christian name his she had never used during their separation ami her dignified sense of their total was wn much less by this than iy the hardships he hail chosen to undergo of which he now learned for the time than apply to his for more this place they told him i ld had without due notice to the home of her parents on the side of and it therefore became n she had told him she was not now at hut had been as to her actual and the only course was to go to and for it the farmer who had been so with waa quite smooth to and lent a and to drive him to the he had g sent back to for the limits of a di journey with that horse was reached or ft i i i m n i p b tl ih til of lie i rt i n e hail fir r il would not accept the loan of the farmer s vehicle fur a farther distance than to the outskirts of the aiid blinding it hack the man who had driven him he put up at an inn and next day entered on foot the region wherein was the spot of his dear s birth it was as yet too early in the year for much color to appear in the gardens and foliage the was but winter witli a coat of green and it was of a parcel with his expectations the house in which had passed the years of her was now inhabited by another family who had never her the new were in the garden taking as much interest in their own doings a if the had never passed its time in with the histories of others beside which the histories of would as a tale that is told they walked about the n paths with thoughts of their own concerns entirely bringing their actions at moment into j with the dim figures behind them talking as though the time when lived there were not one in story than now even the spring birds sang over their heads as if they thought there was nobody missing in particular on of these precious to whom even the name of their was a fading memory learned that john field was dead that his widow and had left declaring they were going to live at but instead of doing so they had gone u to a place near by time al i the house for ceasing to contain ti ss and hastened from its d presence without back his way was by the field in which he had first beheld her at the dance it was as bad as the house even worse he passed on through the churchyard where among the new s he saw one of a somewhat design to the rest the inscription ran thus i te s op the in memory of john rightly d the once powerful family of that name and direct f through an line from sir i d one of the knights of the d march loth how are the fallen man apparently the had observed standing and drew nigh all now that s a who didn t want to lie hero but wished to be carried to where his ancestors be and why didn t they respect his wish o no money bless your soul sir why there i t wish to say it everywhere but even this for all the flourish wrote upon en is not paid far ah who put it up t the man fold tlie name of a in the and on leaving the churchyard called at the i he found that the statement was true and paid the bill this done he turned in the direction of c the distance was too long for a walk but felt a strong desire for that at first he would neither hire a conveyance nor go to a line of railway which he might eventually reach the place at s however he found he must hire but tlie way was such thi he did not approach s retreat till about seven o in	45
the evening having a distance of over miles since leaving mai the village being small he had difficulty in mrs s which was a house in a garden remote from the main street where she had away her awkward old furniture as best she could it wi plain that for some reason or other she had not wished hi to visit her and he felt his call to be t if on she came to the door herself and the light from the evening sky upon her face this was the first time that had ever met her but he was too to observe more than that she was still a handsome woman in the garb of a respectable widow lie was obliged to explain that he waa s and liis object in coming there and he did it awkwardly enough i want to see hei at once he added ton said yon would writ to me again but you have not done so she ve not come home said do you know if she is well i don t but yon to sir said she i admit it where is she staying t the beginning of tho interview lad disclosed lier nt by keeping her hand to the side of her cheek i don t know exactly where she is staying she answered she was but where was she i well she is not there now in her she paused again and the younger children had by this time to tho door where pulling at his a skirts the murmured is this the gentleman who is going to marry t lie has married her go inside saw her efforts for and asked do j oa ik would wish me to try and find if not of i don t she would are you sure i am sure she wouldn t he was turning away and then be thought of s letter i am sure she be l i know her better yon do s very likely sir for i have never really known i i v say i don t know more for myself it was apparent that he pressed her no are you in want of no sir she replied without entering the was a station mile man he walked thither shortly after and it bon at eleven o clock that of the hotels and on his arrival it was too one and he reluctantly iii w ment ns tliis pleasure city had chosen to spring within space of a mile from ite outskirts ever of the was every au british not a sod ha ing turned lee till of the yet the had grown re the prophet s and had drawn b the midnight lamps he went up and down the ways of new world in an old one and could discern the trees and against the stars the lofty roofs and towers of the numerous fanciful of which the place was composed it was a city of a lounging place on the channel and as seen now ty night it seemed even ire imposing than it was the sea was near at hand but not it murmured il he thought it was the pines the pines murmured in the same tones and he thought they were the sea could possibly be a cottage girl his young ee amidst all tliis wealth and the more he the more was he puzzled were there any cows milk here t there certainly were no fields to tiu she probably engaged to do something in one of these ge houses and ho sauntered along at the windows and ir lights going out one by one and which of them might i e hers conjecture was useless and just after twelve o clock he and went to bed before putting out his light he read s impassioned letter sleep however ho could t so near her yet so far from her and he ted window blind and the backs of opposite uses and wondered behind of tlie she at that moment might almost aa well have sat np all night in the he arose at and shortly after went out of the chief poet a o addressed there as you know sir i house tis impossible i one of his name was repeated i know no name of d at t that s it cried to the real w a bless ee received hastened thither though an ordinary certainly the last find lodgings so n were a here door to that also however in h rang the hour being ei door field tt is rather early what name i angel mr no angel she ll understand i ll see if she is awake he was shown into the front room the dining room and looked out the spring curtains at the little and the and other upon it obviously her position was by no means bad aa he had feared and it crossed his mind that she must somehow have claimed and sold the jewels to attain it he did not blame lier for one moment his sharpened ear l footsteps upon the stairs at which his heart so painfully that he could hardly stand firm dear me what will she think of me so altered as i am ho said to himself j and the door opened appeared on the threshold not at all as he had d to sc her otherwise indeed her great natural beauty was if not heightened rendered more obvious by her attire she was loosely wrapped in a dressing gown embroidered in tints and she wore of the same hue her neck rose out of a of down and her well remembered cable of dark brown hair was partially up in a mass at the back of her head hanging on her shoulder	45
tjie evident result of haste he held out his arms but they had fallen again to his for she had not come d remaining still in tht opening of the doorway mere yellow skeleton tliat he was now ho felt the contrast between them and thought his appearance distasteful to her he said can you forgive mo for can t you come to me how do yon get i like this t it is too late i she voice sounding hard the room and her eyes shining of i did not think rightly of you i did not sec you were he continued to plead i have learnt to dearest mine too late too late said waving her hand in u impatience of a person whose every to feel an hour don t come close to me must not keep away but don t you love me my dear wife i been so pulled down by ton are not so am come on purpose for you my mother and father yon now yes oh yes yes but i say i say it is too late i almost she seemed like a fugitive in a who tried to move away but could not don t you all don t you know it yet how do you come here if do not know t i inquired here and there and i found the way i waited and waited for yon she went on her suddenly then old pathos but yon li not come and i to you and you did not el kept on saying you would never come any more and was woman he was very kind to me and to all of us after a death he i don t stand he has won me back to him looked at her keenly then gathering lier i like one stricken and his glance sank fell on her which once rosy were now w r she continued he is upstairs i hate liim j ik cause he told me a lie that you would not a and you come these clothes are what he upon me i didn t care what he did wi me bnt go away angel please and never come any more they stood fixed their baffled hearts looking ont of d jt until a pitiful to see tu to shelter them from reality ah it is my fault said but he could get on speech was as as silence but he n consciousness of thing though it was not to him till r that his original had to recognize the body him as hers allowing it to t uke a corpse upon the current in a direction from its h will a few passed and he found that gone his face grew colder and more as he stood concentrated on the moment and a minute or two after he found himself in the street walking along he did not know whither bs the lady who was the at ms and owner of all the handsome furniture nut of an unusually curious tm n mind she was ik or woman hy her and enforced bondage to t i to retain much curiosity for its own sake apart from ble pockets nevertheless the visit of to her well ing tenants mr and mi s was sufficiently exceptional in of time and to the feminine had been stifled down as save in its on the letting trade ti ss had g to her husband from the doorway the dining room and mrs who stood i the partly closed door of her own sitting room at hack of the passage could hear fragments of the if conversation it could be called between those i te s of the two wretched souls heard the first floor bud the of and the ut the front door behind mm then the door of the ro above was shot and mrs knew that had entered her apartment as the young lady was not h mrs that she would not ofi for some time she accordingly ascended the stairs softly and stood the door of the front room a drawing room connect with the room immediately it which was a by folding doors in the common this first containing mrs s best apartments ba l ta by the week by the d the back room was in silence but from the drawing room came all that she at first distinguish of them was syllable continually repeated in a low note of moaning if it came fi om a bound to some wheel then a silence then a heavy sigh and again the landlady looked through the only a space of the room inside was visible but within that came a comer of the breakfast table which was spread for the meal and also a chair beside over tlie seat the chair s face was bowed her posture being a one in front of it her hands were clasped over her h tlie of her dressing gown and the nt flowed upon the floor behind her and upon i hair and her feet from which the slippers fallen upon the carpet it was from her li that came the of unspeakable despair then a man s voice fi om the adjoining bedroom t ho matter i she did not answer but went on in a tone which was k rather than an exclamation and a than a mrs only fulfilment and then my dear dear husband came home i did not know it and you had used your l sion me yon did not stop using it no y u did not stop my sisters and brothers and my mother s needs they were the things you moved me by and yon said my never come	45
ii ver and you me and said what a i is to expect him at last i you and and he a second time and i have lost him now forever and he will not love me the bit ever any more only hate me oh yes i have lost him now again because n you i in with her head on tho chair she turned her li e towards the door and mrs see the pain it and that her tips were bleeding from uie f her teeth upon them aud that the long lashes of her eyes stuck in wet to her cheeks she continued and he is dying he looks as if he is dying and my will kill him and not kill mo o you have torn my life all to pieces made me a a my own true husband will never r heaven i can t bear this i cannot there were more and from the man then a sudden rustle she had sprung to her feet mi s thinking that the speaker was to rush of the door hastily retreated down the stairs she need not have done so however for the door of the sitting room was not opened mrs it til listen on the again and entered her own below she hear nothing through the although listened int and thereupon went to the to finish her breakfast c up presently to tin front room ou tlie ground took up some waiting for her rs to that she might take may the breakfast which to do hers to s of the i cover what waa the matter if possible as sh i bat she now hear the floor boards slightly ao i i some one were walking about and presently was explained by the rustle of garments the ban s the opening and the of the front door and th i form of passing to the on her way into the she was fully dressed now in the walking of a do young in had with the addition that over her hat and black feather a veil w drawn mrs had not been able to catch any of farewell temporary or otherwise between the of the rooms above they might have quarrelled or mr i d might still be asleep for he was not an early f she went into the back room which was more her and continued her sewing ths la ly did not return nor did the gentleman ring bu bell mrs pondered on the delay and on what probable relation the who had called so early to the couple upstairs in reflecting she back in her chair as she did so her eyes glanced casually over the till they were arrested by a spot in the middle of its surface she had never there before it about the size of a when she first observed it but il speedily grew as large as the palm of her hand and thia she could perceive that it was red the ing with its scarlet blot in the midst had the of a gigantic ace of ts mrs had strange of she go upon the table and touched the spot in the ceiling with ti i fingers it was damp and she fancied that it wi i stain descending from the table she left the parlor and wet i upstairs intending to enter the mom overhead which l the eh am her at the back of the drawing room u b woman as she had now become she could not bring self to attempt the handle she listened the dead within was broken only by a regular beat mrs hastened downstairs opened the front door ran into the street a man she knew one of the work employed at an adjoining villa was passing by and d him to come in and go upstairs her she d something had happened to one of her the assented and followed her to the landing she o the door of the drawing room and stood back for him to pass in entering herself behind him the room was empty the breakfast a substantial of coffee eggs and a cold ham lay spread upon the table as when she had taken it np excepting that the was missing she asked the man to go through folding doors into tjie adjoining room he opened the door entered a step or two and come back almost instantly with a rigid face my good the gentleman in bed is dead i think he has been hurt with a knife a lot of blood has run down upon the floor the alarm was soon given and the house which had lately been so with the tramp of many footsteps n surgeon among the rest the wound was deep the point of the blade had the heart of the victim who lay on his back pale fixed dead as if he had scarcely moved after uie of the blow in a quarter of an hour the news that a gentleman who was a temporary visitor to the town had been to tlie heart in bed spread thi every street and villa of the popular ii i am ii vi i the way by which he down over the break on eating and drink demanded his bill hi bag in his hand the o and went out at the moment of to him a few words were glad to know his brother had mercy chant up tl the station reaching it train leaving for an and having waited a qui wait there no longer i nothing to hurry for b which had been the seen to walk to the first him up there the highway that he distance dipped into a v running from fulfilment ut was a human running	45
food bottles of should any emergency they sat down meal between one ai and went on i i feel strong i think we may as the interior of the con and are less likely to b coast gotten us we can she i d an ornamental te a large board which was letters desirable mansion to be let witb directions to apply to london agents passing tlie gale they could p the house a dignified building of design and l i know it said it is yon can see tliat it is shut up and grass is growing on the drive some of the windows are open said to ail the rooms i suppose all these rooms empty and wo without a roof to beads you are getting tired my ho said well stop soon and kissing her sad mouth he again led her he growing likewise for they had walked not less twenty miles and it became to consider what thej should do for rest they looked afar at isolated cottages and little and were inclined to ap one of the r when hearts failed and they off at length their gait dragged and tbey stood still could we sleep the trees f asked h i thought the season advanced i have been of that empty mansion we passed he let us gi back towards it again they their steps but it was on before they stood without the entrance gate as he then her to stay where she was whilst be went to see who was within ie sat down among the bushes within the gate and t crept toward s the house his absence lasted some time and was wildly not for but for him he had cut from a boy that there was only an old woman in charge as care and i by a flight of steps open except the hall tl ascended the tightly closed the vi the day at least by an window be large chamber felt h to the width of sunlight fashioned furniture enormous four post be carved running rest at last parcel of they remained in have come to shut th themselves in total m fore lest the woman si for any casual reason came but did not n the night was strangely solemn and still in the small she whispered to him the whole story of how he had walked in his sleep with her in his arms across the stream at the imminent risk of both their lives and laid her down in the stone at the ruined abbey he had never known of that till now why didn t you tell me next day f he said it might have prevented much misunderstanding and woe don t think of what s past said she i am not going to think outside of now why should who knows what to morrow has in store f but it apparently had no sorrow the morning was wet mid and rightly informed that the care only opened the windows on fine days ventured to creep out of their chamber and explore the house leaving asleep there was no food on the premises but there was water and he took advantage of the fog to from the mansion and fetch tea bread and butter from a shop in the little town two miles beyond as also a small tin kettle and spirit lamp that they might get fire without smoke his re entry awoke her and they on what he had brought they were to stir abroad and the day passed and the night following and the next and the next till almost without their being aware five days had slipped by in absolute seclusion not a sight or sound of a human being disturbing their such as it was the changes of the weather were their only events the birds of the new forest their only company by consent they hardly once spoke of any incident of the past subsequent to their wedding day the gloomy intervening time seemed i j i is se peeped section and fear what you o comes for you t to that you j cannot ere hope i cannot s we to help g s cleared and ti the cottage awoke unusually brisk a ent tlie door and softly tried the handle the lock was out t order but a piece of furniture had been moved d n the inside which prevented her opening the door an inch or two a stream of morning light through the fell npon the faces of the pair wrapped in pi r s lips parted like a n flower near his cheek the was so struck their innocent appearance and with the elegance ot s gown hanging across a chair her silk stockings ie it and uie habits in which she had arrived be she had none else that her first indignation of the of and gave way to a j sen ti over this el as it seemed she closed the door and withdrew as softly as she had come to go and with her neighbors on the odd discovery not more than a minute had elapsed aft r her woke and then both had a sense that had disturbed them though they could not say and the uneasy feeling which it grew stronger as soon as he was dressed he narrowly the lawn through the two or three inches of i think we will leave at once said he it is a fine day and i cannot help somebody is about the house at any the woman will be sure to come to day assented and putting the room in order they took up the few articles that l to them and noiselessly when they had got into the forest she turned to take a last look at the house ah	45
happy good by she said my life can only l e a question i f a few weeks why should we not have stayed don t say it we shall soon get out of this district altogether we ll continue our course as we have begun it and keep straight north nobody will think of looking for us that way we shall e looked for at the ports if we are sought at all when we are in the will get to a port and i op the i having thus her the plan was pursued i they kept a line northward their long repose at i house lent them walking power now and midday they approached the of m which lay directly in their way ho decided to rest her i a of trees during the afternoon and push i under cover of darkness at dusk purchased food i usual and their night march began the boundary f upper and mid being crossed about eight o to walk across country without much regard to was not new to and she showed her old uie the city ancient et they were obliged to pass through in order to take of the town bridge for crossing a large river thai u them it was about midnight when they wa along the deserted street lighted their few lamp i keeping off the pavement that it might not echo their t steps the graceful pile of architecture rose their right hand but it was lost upon them now once t of the town they followed the road which across an open plain the was dense with a diffused from some fragment of a moon had hitherto them i little but the moon had now sunk the clouds seemed settle almost on their heads and the night grew an a a they found their way along lu much on the turf as possible that their might n fi i which it was easy to do there no hedge or fence of any kind all around was open loneliness i black solitude over a stiff breeze blew they ha l proceeded thus several miles ii on a sudden became of some vast close in his front rising sheer from the grass they almost struck themselves against it h what monstrous place is said m i it said she h fulfilment he listened the wind playing upon the edifice produced a tune like the note of some gigantic harp no other sound came from it and lifting his hand and advancing a step or two felt the surface of the wall it seemed to be of solid stone without joint or carrying his fingers onward he found that what he had come in contact with was a colossal pillar by stretching out his left hand he could feel a similar one adjoining at an indefinite height overhead something made the black sky which had the semblance of a vast the pillars they carefully entered beneath and between the echoed their soft rustle but they seemed to be still out of doors the place was drew her breath fearfully and angel perplexed said what can it be sideways they encountered another tower like pillar square and as the first beyond it another and another the place was all doors and pillars some connected above by continuous a very temple of the winds he said the next pillar was isolated others composed a others were prostrate their forming a wide enough for a carriage and it was soon obvious that they made up a forest of upon the grassy expanse of the plain the couple advanced farther into this of the night till they stood in its midst it is said the heathen temple you yes older than the centuries older than the d well what shall we do darling t we may find shelter farther on but really tired by this time flung herself upon an that lay close at hand and was sheltered from the wind by a pillar owing to the action of the sun during the preceding day the stone was warm and dry in contrast to the rough and chill grass around i of the d es which had her skirts and shoes i don t want go any farther angel she said stretching out her h for his can t we bide here f i not this spot is visible for miles by d y though it does not seem so now one of my mother s people was a shepherd now i think of it and you used to say at s u i was a heathen so now am at home he knelt beside her outstretched and pot upon hers sleepy are you i yon i lying on an altar i hke very much to be here she murmured it is solemn and lonely after my great happiness with but the sky above my face it seems as if there were folk in the world but we two and i wish there were n except lu thought she might as well rest here till it s a httle lighter and he flung his overcoat upon her i sat down by her side angel if anything happens to me will you watch oi for my sake f she a ed when they had a long time to the wind among the pillars i will she is so good and simple and pure angel i you would marry her if you lose me as you will do shortly o if you if i lose you i lose all and she is my id law that s dearest people marry sister law about ana lu u so and sweet o i could share you with her willingly when w are spirits if you would u ain her angel and bring up for your own self she has all the best mo l	45
the bad of me and if she were to l yours it almost seem as if death had not divided ns s have said it i won t mention it again how could i it she ceased and he fell into thought id fl s he could see between the pillars r level of light tlie uniform ity of black l bodily like the lid of a pot letting in at the s edge the day against which the towering and began to be did they to god here asked she said he who to t i believe to the sun that i stone set away by itself in the direction of the sun which will presently be ind it this reminds me dear she said tou remember you would interfere with any belief o mine before we e married t but i knew your all the same and i as yon thought not from any reasons o my own t because you thought so tell me now angel do yon ink we shall meet again r we are i n ant to low i he kissed her to avoid a i at such a time o angel i fear that means no said she with a bob and i wanted so to see you again so so much wliat not even you and i angel who e each other so well f a greater than himself to the critical question at b critical time he did not answer and they were in a or two her breathing became more her clasp of his hand relaxed and she fell s band of silver along the horizon made i n the distant parts of the great plain ear dark and the whole enormous landscape that impress e and hesitation which is usual just day tlie eastward pillars and their up against the light and the great i stone them and the stone of sacrifice presently the night wind died out and the pools in the cup hollows of the stones lay of the d t still at the same seemed to move on verge of tlie dip d a e dot it was the l of a approaching from the hollow t i sun they had gone but in tl i circumstances decided to remain quiet the figure i straight towards circle o pillars iu which they were i he heard behind him the brush of i turning lie saw over the prostrate column i then before he was aware another was at hand on the i right under a ti and another on the left the i shone full on tlie fi ont of the man westward and i could discern from tliis that he was tall and walked as i trained they all closed in with evident b f i story was true springing to his feet he look l i around for a weapon means of escape by i time the nearest man was upon liim i it is no use sir lie there are sixteen of us oa i the plain and the whole y ia reared i let her finish her sleep ho implored in i the men as they gathered round i when they saw where lay which they had not i till then they showed no objection and stood i her as still as the pillars around he went to the i and bent over her holding one poor little bi i now was quick small like that of a lesser i than a woman all waited hi the growing light their and hands as if they were tlie remainder of their i figures dark the stones glistening a green gray the plain still a mass of shade soon the light was strong and s i ray shone upon her form under her i eyelids and waking her i wliat is it angel t she said i come for me f tea est e said it is as it should be she murmured angel i a fulfilment us d it too i have had and now i not live for you to despise she stood up shook herself and went forward neither i the men having moved i am ready she said the of that fine old city i of we sex lay amidst its and in all the brightness and warmth of a july the brick aud tile and had almost d off tor the season o the iu the meadows were low and in the sloping high street from the to the and fi om tlie cross to the bi y and sweeping was iu progress which usually s iu market day from the western gate the as eveiy i knows a long and regular incline the exact length of a measured mile leaving the houses i behind up this road from the of the two persons were walking rapidly as if unconscious of ascent unconscious thi and not through they had emerged npon this road a narrow barred in a high wall a little lower down they seemed anxious to get out of the o the and of their kind and this road appeared to offer t he means of doing so though they were young walked witli bowed which gait of grief the sun s r iy on one of the pair was angel the other a tall creature half girl half woman a l e of the d es h image of than she but with the same b fill s sister in law lu their pale seemed to have to half their natural size th y on in and never spoke a word the i their heads being that of s two when they had nearly reached the top of the great hill the in the town struck eight each gave a s at the notes and walking onward yet a few steps thi reached	45
a with a record and that being so i naturally paid little heed to the with which the boy proceeded to favour me i had heard that kind of thing so many many times before what was really interesting and inexplicable was madame de s conduct in the matter and i will not deny that i went that evening to a party at which i thought it likely that she might be present for the express purpose of observing her and giving her a chance to me i can t say whether or not she attended that madame de party for the express purpose of meeting the reader s humble servant but she behaved very much as though that had been her motive for no sooner had i shaken hands with my hostess than she sailed straight across the room towards me and beckoned me aside with a certain imperious air which was habitual to her she was always pale but i fancied that she looked rather than usual that evening so i opened the conversation by saying i am afraid you have one of your yes she answered i am in great pain and i have been in great pain all day that is one reason why i could not see your friend mr when he called he was with you this morning i presume i answered that he had been with me and looked politely well said she and of course you told him all that there was to be told i the romance of i am not sure that it was in my power to do that replied i i told him of certain which as you are aware are le secret de and i should not have informed him of them if i had not gathered that you wished me to do so of course i wished you to do so and what did he say oh he simply snapped his fingers at them he attached no more importance to than he did to such a trifle as changing his religion at your a faint tinge of colour came into her cheeks and the slightly severe expression of her face relaxed for a moment she resumed it however in order to remark you are a this was quite but no matter you believe a great deal more in politics than you do in religion and i should never be able to persuade you that a man who the only true faith is not what madame de you would call a perhaps it may have been my good fortune to do mr one very real service although it may be impossible for me to grant him all he asks me for can you really be contemplating such an trick as that i exclaimed and can you imagine that it has the remotest chance of success she did not to answer but indeed i required no answer her face told me plainly enough that she was actually in love with that impetuous youth and that she wished if she could to accept him i fancied also that she was not less grateful to me than he had been for merely mentioning as reports what i might almost have ventured but for my cautious disposition to as ascertained facts she dismissed me presently with a friendly little motion of her head and turned to speak to one of the men who had been hovering near her during our short i don t mind i the romance of acknowledging that i should have been glad if she had been a little more still i was not altogether sorry that she had refrained from me by asking my advice for had she seen fit to do so i could not in common honesty and charity have her to do otherwise than refuse a whom it would have been wiser to refuse in the first instance she was one of the best and one of the most charming women in the world but well the huts appeared to me to be of overwhelming why had she not adopted that easy and obvious plan nobody possessing the most acquaintance with her sex would attempt to answer such a question but as regards this particular case i have a theory which may or may not be correct i think madame de was a curiously conscientious woman i think she would not under any circumstances have consented to tell madame de ai a lie and i suspect that when young asked her point blank whether she loved him or not she felt unable to reply in the negative being thus situated she had or at least so i imagined imposed a couple of trying upon him half hoping half fearing that they would prove a little too severe for him to face be that as it may i neither saw nor heard any more of her or of him for a full week at the of that time i was strolling down the one afternoon on my way back from the de where i had been with a few friends when a pair of past me in whom i recognized the fair and her impossible i was sorry to see them together for although i knew that madame de was in the habit of riding every day and that their meeting might have been purely accidental i could not but be aware that she would never have the romance of allowed the young fellow to join her if she had not contemplated him greater privileges than that and really for her own sake it would have been so very much better to grant him no privileges at all that my were only too well founded was proved to me long ere i reached the place de la young came galloping back jumped off his horse and me by the arm said congratulate me mr i know you re a true	45
friend of hers as well as of mine and i m sure you ll be glad to hear that it s all right do you mean i inquired that you have obtained j our father s consent to your marriage my father s consent good gracious me no as if i had had any excuse to ask him for it but i have obtained hers which is a good deal more to the purpose she says she s madame de i i willing to trust me if i am willing to trust her she says that if i will consent to be received into her church and if i will never allude again to that that infernal for i really can t call it by any other name which you mentioned to me the other day and which of course you are prepared to treat with the contempt that it deserves i my dear sir am i a born fool i thought it extremely probable that he was but i was too polite to say so and he went on is it likely that knowing her as i do i should believe there was even the remotest possibility of her ever having done anything of which she ought to be ashamed is it likely that i should wish to insult her by into which she would rather not talk about do you suppose i should enjoy relating to her the whole history of my own past the romance of life and what business have i to refuse her an indulgence which i claim for myself he proceeded to point out at great length and in glowing language how infinitely higher nobler and purer madame de must needs be than himself i was not concerned to contradict him i do not assert and never have asserted that the world s estimate of what is in a man and in a woman is just only as we live in the world we must take it as we find it and i confess that i was a little disappointed in madame de who i thought might have spared this youthful the inevitable shock which awaited him however as i said before nobody who understands women however imperfectly attempts to account for their conduct and i own that my heart became softened towards the woman who is the subject of this sketch when i met her the next day at the entrance of the madame de church of st where i suppose she had been saying her prayers i was tolerably well acquainted with her features for which indeed i had always had a very sincere and profound admiration but at that moment they wore an expression which was wholly to me and which somehow made her look like what i imagined she must have looked like as a child the poor woman was happy in fact heaven knows that her life had not hitherto been favoured with any too large a share of happiness i don t remember what i said to her something and commonplace no doubt but it did not matter what i said for she evidently was not listening to me only as i was helping her into her she grasped my hand with unusual warmth and exclaimed ah mr the world is not so bad as we try to make it out there are noble and generous hearts even among men the romance of i was not aware of having ever maintained the contrary but i was sorely afraid that she would be driven into doing so before long for however noble and generous he might be was dependent upon his father and it was hardly in the nature of things that his father s nobility and generosity should display themselves in the especial form of which she appeared to be thinking still if my fullest sympathy and my best wishes could have done her any good they would have been as much at her service as i myself was unhappily neither i nor my sympathy could an episode of which every proof and detail was easily i need scarcely say that the news of the de s to her young and of the latter s madame de ing admission into the bosom of the holy roman church was very soon abroad nor is it necessary for me to add that this unexpected piece of intelligence many tongues in motion i suppose told everybody probably the herself was too proud to keep silence anyhow all paris was placed in possession of the fact and very sorry i was that all paris should thus be entitled to make observations which had they been reported to the persons chiefly concerned could hardly have failed to cause them pain for my own part i am not ashamed to acknowledge that i hoped the boy would stand to his guns seeing that if the worst came to the worst and his family cast him adrift his wife s fortune would suffice to keep him and her out of want he was only a boy after all and no doubt if i had been his father i should have done my utmost to restrain him from his whole future career but i the romance of was not his father i was both powerless and and i could not for the life of me help inwardly the cause of poor madame de one afternoon an event for which i had been fully prepared took place my servant brought me a card which bore the name of sir francis and announced that the gentleman was waiting to hear whether i would receive him of course i had to send out a request that he would do me the honour to come in i did not know much about him i had met him perhaps half a dozen times in years gone by i was intimate	45
with some of his relations and i had written a polite reply to the letter of introduction which had been delivered to me by his son it seemed probable that he had now come to me for having led his son into a however the tall spare grey headed gentleman who was presently ushered into my presence proved as madame de reasonable in behaviour as lie was courteous in manner i have taken the liberty of calling upon you before letting know of my arrival mr he began because it will make an unpleasant task somewhat easier for me if i can obtain beforehand from a disinterested source some account of this unfortunate of his you will allow that it is an unfortunate i don t know that i should describe it as an i replied i suppose i must call it unfortunate by reason of certain which are tolerably notorious and which may even have reached your ears they have not only reached my ears said sir francis but i have taken pains to them i have been at our to day and also at the for obvious reasons i suppress the of the that he mentioned the romance of and the result is that i have been allowed to see documents which place the affair altogether out of the of there it all is in black and white the private or instructions of the prince s the pressure brought to bear by our own people the de s demands and his formal acknowledgment of the receipt of a sum of money for a specific purpose i was not it is true allowed to take copies of these papers and i was warned that they could never be made public but of course nothing of that kind is necessary for my purpose what i have seen amply me in saying that i cannot permit my son to marry a woman with such a record as madame de s i won t speak of his proposed change of religion it is a subject upon which i feel strongly but the point really doesn t arise and need not be alluded to my only wish is not to make myself more disagreeable to than i can madame de help so i should be glad if you wouldn t mind telling me whether he is ignorant of the circumstances and whether in that event you had any good reason for keeping him in ignorance of them r this was a little awkward but i made out as good a case as i could for myself and i tried also though i knew it would be useless to out as good a case as i could for madame de sir francis listened to me with perfect politeness and good temper he even expressed sympathy with the unfortunate lady who he said might very likely have been more against than only of course he added it s out of the question for my son to marry her you mean i could not help observing that you will forbid him to marry her isn t it possible though that he may insist upon marrying her notwithstanding your the romance of such a thing is possible but i cannot think it at all likely you see mr both you and madame de have well i won t say you have deceived him but at all events you haven t enlightened him it upon me to do that and painful though the duty is i should be if i it i could not urge him to refrain from doing what any father would have done in his place but i did venture to remind him that he was not quite entitled to speak of madame de as a woman of reputation when all is said i remarked there remains a doubt and i think she might be allowed the benefit of it i have no wish to be answered sir francis getting up but what there cannot be the slightest doubt about is that the de was paid to marry this lady that the money was provided by the madame de father of the present king and that mrs threatened to make if the required sum was not from those facts most people would only one conclusion could be drawn i was not under any illusion as to what most people would say and in fact did say about this melancholy business yet i felt pretty sure that would prove less to reason than his father expected him to be it is perhaps a mistake to be generous and and i myself may be too old to be either the one or the other still i admire those qualities in my and although as i have said i had been a little disappointed in madame de for accepting i should have been still more disappointed in him if the revelation which he was about to hear had induced him to break with her at the same time it will be readily understood that i did not see my way to countenance or the romance of encouragement to filial rebellion so that when some hours later my young friend was announced i began at once by saying if you have come here to ask me to for you with your father you have come upon a vain errand i warned you from the first remember that you would have trouble with him and now you must fight your own battle i haven t come upon any errand of that kind mr answered the young man gravely and sadly and there is no quarrel between me and the governor who i must say has been as as considerate as it was possible to be more considerate perhaps than some other people his tone was so absolutely the reverse of what i had anticipated that i was fairly and to tell the truth rather	45
into the bargain meaning me i inquired well answered the young man madame de himself and i noticed that there was a drawn look about his face while all the healthy colour had deserted it i think you might have been more candid with me i can t help saying that i think i might have been more candidly dealt with if it had been a question of mere gossip i should have had nothing to complain of but i don t quite understand my having been allowed to remain in ignorance as to matters of fact why bless my soul sir i exclaimed for in the days of my youth i had a hasty temper of which some traces still linger within me do you venture to rebuke me because i didn t my nose into the of in order to the fair fame of the very best woman with whom i have the honour to be acquainted who are you pray that i should a friend in the back to save you from committing an act of folly upon which you were bent you intend i the romance of take it to break faith with madame de very well only if you are in any degree a gentleman yon will account for your of her by what i should think was perfectly true that your father s won t admit of a matrimonial alliance between his heir and a the young fellow did not respond to my outburst by any counter demonstration there is no use in using strong language mr said he in the same calm despairing voice i am as unhappy as you could possibly wish me to be but i am not ashamed if what my father has told me is true and i am afraid that is beyond question i can no more think of marrying the woman whom i love than i could think of myself and my family in any other way surely that must be obvious to you i and i don t think it would be honest on my part to give her any madame de reason except the real one for what you call my of her he was and in the right as you please i returned i can only say to you as i have said to your father that there is a doubt and that in my opinion madame de ought to be allowed the benefit of it however it really doesn t signify because you don t mean to marry her and for the matter of that i never believed that you would and now as i have an engagement to keep and as i presume that you have nothing more to say i will ask you to be so kind as to excuse me but it seemed that he had something more to say it seemed to put things that he was desirous of me as a go between and that he thought i might spare him some pain by taking a message from him to madame de i need scarcely add that i emphatically declined to be employed in any such capacity the romance of tou have ridden at a fence which you are afraid to take said i personally i don t care a straw whether yon it or break your neck over it it is no business of mine to find you in courage or to see you through difficulties i must write to her then he replied meekly you may call me a coward if you like but i t trust myself to see her so he went his way and j confess that after he had departed my conscience reproached me a little for the severity with which i had treated him he was not really so very badly he really had been deceived and i suppose it was the case that he owed some sacrifice of his personal inclinations to and to the honour of the good old family whose name he bore still i could not forget my poor s radiant face as i had seen it when she emerged from st madame de i and i could not for one instant believe that she had ever been a bad woman though hard facts that she had been what to all worldly and purposes is the same thing on the following afternoon i called at her house i can t exactly say what my object was in so doing nor had i any expectation that i could be of the slightest use to her in her distress but having heard nothing of or from young during the morning and being by no means sure that he would not leave paris without even bidding me good bye i yielded to the feeling of restless uneasiness which had oppressed me ever since the conclusion of my interview with him if the reader likes to assume that i was prompted by mere vulgar curiosity i make the reader welcome to that assumption it would not be the first time that such a charge has been brought against me the romance of anyhow my curiosity was not gratified for i failed to obtain admission into madame de s drawing room madame la the servant informed me was she had had one of her bad all day and had now gone to bed giving orders that she was on no account to be disturbed until the evening so i handed him my card mentioned that i would return to make on the morrow and went my way to the club where i remained until the clock warned me that it was time to go home and dress for a dinner party to which i had been a was turning away from my door just as i reached it and when i was about half way upstairs i overtook who was clinging to the and	45
who seemed scarcely able to put one foot before another what is the matter i exclaimed taking madame de him by the arm what has happened for i saw by his ghastly face that some catastrophe must have occurred what has happened he repeated in a strange thick voice haven t you heard no of course you haven t she is dead that s all yes dead i don t know whether you can believe it or not can t though there isn t a doubt about its being true to the best of my recollection i did not believe it i thought the lad must have been drinking or that he was the victim of some he was at all events incapable of expressing himself it was only after i had got him into an arm chair and had made him swallow a couple of glasses of wine that he recovered the use of his tongue and even then he remained so painfully agitated that i had difficulty in understanding what he said i gathered however that he had on the previous evening written such a letter to the romance of madame de as he had intimated his intention of writing i received her answer he said an hour or perhaps it was two hours ago here it is read it and you will you will see his voice broke and it was some seconds before he could resume of course i rushed at once to her house there was a great there i didn t understand what it was about but they tried to keep me back and i forced my way in all the doors were open the servants were in her bedroom sobbing and chattering i think there was a policeman there too i saw her lying on the bed dead and cold she had been ill and had taken an over dose of they said i think i had better kill myself too for you will see by her letter that she was innocent and that i murdered her i him as best i could but naturally he were open ihe d i these a madame de i myself was somewhat overcome and even if i had had all my wits about me i don t know that i could have said very much to comfort him presently he sank back in his chair and to me to read the letter which he had placed in my hand i need not quote the whole of it indeed i am not sure that had he been calmer he would have cared to let me see the opening sentences which conveyed an assurance of such passionate love as i should scarcely have supposed madame de capable of and which even at that sad moment i could not help wondering at his having had the power to arouse but notwithstanding this or possibly on account of it the writer without a murmur in the sentence which had been pronounced against her acknowledging that it was inevitable and only that she had ever imagined that it might be averted the romance of still she added now that all is over between us and since you cannot i think suspect me of any wish to bring you back to ine i should like you to know that the truth is not quite so bad as you have been led to believe the prince paid me great attentions and my vanity was flattered by them i liked him very much though i did not love him i was scarcely more than a child i knew nothing of the world and when he used to talk about a marriage i saw no ft impossibility in such an arrangement indeed so far as i had any voice in the matter i had consented to this when all of a sudden i was told that he had gone away that i should never see him again that he had even been placed under a sort of arrest and that i was to marry m de of course i was very unhappy but i had always been completely under the control of my mother who told me this was not a case for argument that madame de she had done the very best she could for me and that i must bow to necessity it was not until after my marriage that i learnt from my husband by what infamous means the transaction which handed me over to him had been brought about i don t speak of my s share in it she was ambitious in her eagerness to make what she considered a magnificent alliance for me she probably committed herself to false statements which may afterwards have been used against her and from which she could find no honourable way of escape at any rate my husband s revelation came far too late to save or serve me if i had proclaimed my true story from the house tops not one person in a thousand would have believed it but t i hope will believe it and forgive the wrong i was so nearly doing you as i have forgiven those who have ruined my life there was a good deal more but i could the romance of only glance at the remainder of the letter for young had started up from his attitude and his cold trembling fingers were laid upon my wrist well said he impatiently speak out don t be afraid of me do you think she did it i was astonished at the question why i exclaimed you yourself told me just now that you were persuaded of her innocence and i must confess no no he interrupted you don t understand me as if i would let you dare to cast a doubt upon her innocence what i mean is do you do you think she killed herself	45
i could only say as i had said in a previous instance that i thought she should be allowed the benefit of the doubt that is all that i can say or think now and although would have been better pleased i suppose madame de if i could have given him the more positive assurance which he he did not consider that the circumstances would justify him in his own threat oi self destruction far from acting so foolishly and he has lately gratified his family by making a highly satisfactory marriage and i should not imagine that he has since the dismal rainy day when he followed poor madame de s remains to their last resting place in that of all burial grounds a memorable swim bt w the little sitting room at whose open window i was seated was very hot from the on either hand there broke into the of the night a horrid noise of w accompanied by a of female voices the hour was about eleven i filled my pipe afresh left the house and walked in the direction of the beach the moon rode high i had never before seen the so small and also so brilliantly piercing she diffused a wide haze of a memorable swim silver round about her in the heavens in the skirts of which a few stars of magnitude shone though clear of the sphere of this steam like radiance the sky trembled with and went hovering to the sea line rich with and in the heart of the silent ocean lay the fan shaped wake of the moon and the splendour of its hither extremity so wide reaching was it seemed to melt in the lines of summer surf which formed and dissolved upon the wet darkened sand it wanted about a quarter of an hour to the turn of the ebb the sands were a broad firm platform and stretched before and behind me into the complexion of ivory by the the cliffs rose tall and dark on my left a silent range of iron with the black sky line of them showing out against the stars and with nothing to break their save here and there a gap as of some the summer night hush was a memorable swim exquisitely from afar came the thin faint notes of a band of music playing in the town past the huge shoulder of but the distance was too great to suffer the strains to vex the ear indeed the silence was rather than disturbed by that far off music the creeping of the surf was like the voice of innumerable fountains there was not a breath of air the moon s reflections lay and in the liquid dusk on the western edge of that motionless path of light floated the phantom shape of a ship her as black as ink and her sails poised over her like ice in shadow i walked smoking my pipe and listening to the innumerable of the waters upon the beach i went perhaps a mile there was plenty of time no hurry to go to bed on such a night and there would be abundance of room for the walk home long after the tide should have turned a memorable swim s i came abreast of a mass of black rock and nearly is to the water stood almost at the level of it so that at flood it would be and out of sight i what i thought to be a gleam of light resting upon it but on looking again i was sure that that strange shining could not be moonlight for the lustre was local and it was not light either but white and its size was about that of a man s body and indeed it looked so much like a naked man that i drew close to examine it there was dry sand to the rock but the water very nearly around it and there was water where the white object lay on drawing near i observed that what i had thought to be a gleam of light was the body of a drowned man i stood staring long enough to satisfy me that he was dead it was a dismal and a dreadful object to light upon the very silence of the night the beauty of the stars a memorable swim the high peaceful piercing moon somehow increased the horror of the thing on a dark stormy night i do not know that such a spectacle would have so shocked and me as this now did i peered to right and left but not the shadow of mortal being stirred upon the white sweep of the sands then casting my eyes np at the cliff i recollected that a little distance further on there was a at the head of which stood a s hut and knowing that there would be a man stationed on the look out up there i forthwith bent my steps in the direction of the and ascended it until i arrived at the hut here i found a he eyed me as i approached him i said good night good night he answered attentively surveying me by the light of the moon i am somewhat breathless said i i have a memorable swim walked fast and that is hard to climb there is a dead body down on the beach whereabouts sir he exclaimed with the instant of the seaman and he advanced to the edge of the cliff it lies on that rock there said i pointing i see it sir said he d ye mind coming along with me my mate won t be here for a bit together we proceeded to the sands the got upon the rock and stood the body then catching hold of it by the arms he dragged it gently on to the sand ay said he i thought as much this u be	45
the as was drowned whilst bathing out of a boat yesterday poor fellow he s left a wife and two children there s been a reward of twenty pounds offered for his body that ll be sir it will be yours said i i do not stand in need of money earned in this fashion a memorable swim the body was that of a man of about thirty he had fair hair and a large moustache and in life had doubtless been a handsome young fellow tain t often as they comes ashore so perfect said the they re mostly all ate up so as to be i and said why am i afraid of this body it cannot hurt me it is but a dead man and comely too why as he lies there he might be formed of ivory by the fingers of the sea out of its own foam and cast up thus and yet said i looking round with a silly chilly shiver running through me i believe it would go near to my wits were i forced to stand watch by this body all through the night here i see he s got his rings on said the matter of fact stooping to bring his eyes close to the fingers of the body a memorable swim what is now to be done said i which way might you be going sir home back to the town i i ve walked enough by the sea shore to night then said the i ll ask you to report this here discovery to the first ye meets with tell him that the body lies almost abreast of gap and if you don t mind giving me a hand sir to carry the corpse to the foot of the in case the the tide ye see no said i you dragged it from the rock tou are able to drag it single handed to the foot of the cliff if i touched the poor thing well good night and i walked off leaving him to handle the dead body single handed for which i had no better excuse to make than that i was possessed at the time by strong feelings of horror and perhaps fear which uie presence of the in no degree a memorable swim r and which were induced as i can now believe by the suddenness and violence of the of an object of terror my mind at a moment when it had been rendered in a peculiar sense unprepared for any such experience by the charm the sweet magic of the soft and glorious night of and silence and waters with the stealthy hiss of champagne i stepped out briskly and as i walked i seemed to behold many white bodies of drowned men floating shore wards on the summer of the little when i arrived at the town i met a policeman to whom i communicated the news and i then returned to my lodgings and sat in the open window smoking a pipe and as i lighted my pipe the in the town struck the hour of midnight as i sat smoking thus i surrendered my a memorable swim mind so wholly to contemplation of the dead white body i had suddenly fallen in with that i might well have supposed the impression which the encounter would leave must he but next day i returned to london and within a week the memory of the little incident had as good as perished from my mind for a month i was very busy my employment was exceedingly and often obliged me to work late into the night then at the of the month feeling uncommonly i resolved to spend a week at the same town where i had discovered the body on the rock the name of this town i will not give i do not wish to excite the anger of its ho they will say should i name their town ho they will cry when they have arrived at the end of my story what a this here piece is put into the newspapers all along o spite the don t wish us o a memorable swim well and he s invented this here blooming to scare folks from of us he s to start a pleasure for taking o people out at a shilling a head and don t mean that us pore shall get a living thus would you oh ye sons of the beach and that you may in no wise suffer from any statements of mine i withhold the name of your so that the reader may take his choice of any port or harbour on the coast of the united kingdom nevertheless what i am about to relate is no but the truth itself absolute memorable living i was again at the it was now the month of august and the august that i can remember after the intolerable heat of london and the fatigue of my work there nothing of course could prove so so in all senses so restoring as but for the bathing machine sea bath i had the strongest aversion first there was a memorable swim l no depth of water for swimming the depth for true enjoyment was to be gained only when the limbs were well nigh exhausted by the labour of striking out for it then i disliked to in company again i objected to the crowds who stood watching the from the and sands in fact for an expert such as i there is but one method of bathing in the sea he must take a boat row out a mile or two where the where it is clear of the of the set of the tide where the blue or green of it is darkly pure with depth on the morning following the day of my arrival somewhere about the hour of	45
might have been that he guessed we should be presently observed through some at us from the pier or cliff he suddenly cried with a furious curse get in get in and letting go his oar he dragged me into the boat flinging me from him so that i fell over an after and lay for a few moments breathless and almost unconscious in the bottom of the boat he then threw his oar over and the so as to re a memorable swim cover the other oar which done he adjusted himself on his seat and fell to on a course parallel with the coast i rose trembling in every limb the shock had been terrible my rescue a miracle i seemed to feel the hand of death cold upon my heart even as i staggered on to my feet and still i was in dire peril alone with a powerful muscular who having already attempted my life might again in self defence to silence my testimony against him renew his effort in another direction with an exhausted hand i passed a over my body and then clothed myself meanwhile not a word was uttered the man eyed me with ferocity and his under lip moved as though he were some thoughts to himself in an we still continued to be the only boat upon the water the great steamer had long since passed out of sight and upon the horizon hung the few sails scarcely impelled by the lie spoke as though in another he would leap upon me by this time i had rallied my wits somewhat the feeling of profound exhaustion was also passing i was dressed and the mere being o a memorable swim dressed was in its way a help towards the composure of the mind i was man to man with the but not his match no i had but to run my eye over his figure to understand that i sat contemplating his face and thinking there was a boat at my feet but the man s fierce keen eye was upon me before i could grasp and employ the the fellow would have guessed my intentions and i must therefore either sit still and wait until i could understand what he meant to do or fling myself upon him and take the chance of being hurled overboard no purpose could be served by my the boat i was now clothed and my movements in the water would therefore be seriously and then again if i engaged in a struggle with the intention of the boat and succeeded in doing so it might be his fortune to regain her and to keep me off from her and and a memorable swim i i ii l i exhausted as i was i should not long be able to remain afloat he continued to row along a course that was still parallel with the coast he rowed with a sort of sulky energy and often directed a furious look at me whilst his leather lip worked as though he were some charm to himself presently i said to him where are you taking me to why will you not put me ashore where we started from you have tried to drown me and your object can be nothing but plunder for i have not ofl ended you i have done you no wrong and therefore your only reason for attempting to drown me must be the upon me and such money as you may hope i have in my pocket now i will give you all that i possess my watch and chain this ring and the two or three pounds which i have in my pocket if you will set me ashore where i came from he stared fiercely at me but made no response a memorable swim do you fear i will charge you with the crime you have attempted said i if you will set me ashore in safety i swear not to say a word upon what has happened tm going to set ye ashore he exclaimed but where he flung his head backwards towards the sea over the bows of his boat and said you ll be finding out afore long ah thought i if i had but a revolver in my pocket if i had but a knife if i had but any sort of weapon that i could draw forth and instantly employ the line of coast ran away down on the side the nearest town in the direction the was taking would be some miles distant from the place in which i was staying the cliffs gradually rose to an of hard upon a hundred feet with many and little but the face of them as we advanced grew more and yet more a memorable swim j and in places the rocks stood abrupt and clean as the side of a wall when the harbour had quitted was out of sight and the group of houses on our side was hidden by the bend of the cliffs the took a swift look over his shoulder then slightly changed the course of his boat making her head in for the coast to a sort of of it as it seemed formed by an of the huge iron faced sea terrace so that it looked as if the land ended where that point of coast stood for the horizon went to it and we were not far enough out to see the sweep of land beyond that the designed some act i did not doubt but i could not imagine what form it was to take he meant to set me ashore he said did he intend to land and then murder me to land me in some lonely or cave and there fall upon me and me no i did not	45
there were many people about the air with the cries of inviting the by to go out for a row or a sail a memorable swim none of these men took any notice of me probably none of them knew that i had started in company with the and they would probably imagine that i had returned from a solitary pull out to sea i walked a little way and presently observed a harbour policeman i approached him and said i want to inform against a who has just attempted my life he looked me hard in the face and was clearly impressed by ray agitation and appearance what s wrong said he a whom i went out with this morning has attempted to drown me said i step this way sir said the man and with that he conducted me to a brick built house adjoining a row of and in the window of this brick built house was a large wire blind on which was wrought in golden letters the words harbour police a memorable swim office the policeman lifted the latch of the door and entered and i followed him an immense man with large red whiskers wearing a sort of naval cap with letters over the peak of it and a frock coat the breast of which was sat upon a tall stool reading a newspaper he looked at me over his spectacles as i entered here s a that one of the s been a trying to drown him said the policeman and addressing me he added this is the the put down his paper and took off his glasses and asked me to tell him my business i forthwith related my experiences to him he listened attentively occasionally glancing at the who stood by listening with his mouth slightly open describe the man sir said the i did so a memorable it s bill said the yes it s bill said the same man as took out the party that was drowned last month and the same man said the as took out the party that was drowned a year ago come next month the his leg i ve been suspicious of that chap all through said a memorable swim he call jones and and take the boat and get the man the flood ll not be at its height yet and the man himself ii be as prettily nailed as though we had him in the lock up i heard him pronounce these words then a blood red blaze of fire seemed to rush from my brain out through my eyes i fell and remember no more when i recovered my consciousness i was in bed in my own lodgings all necessary information about me had been found in my pocket in the shape of letters and cards my sister had been for and she was at my bedside when i awoke after three days of utter when i was strong enough to listen and converse i was told that the police boat had pulled down to the little bay found the man and brought him to the town where he was lying locked up charged with the attempt to murder me proofs i a memorable swim of his guilt outside the story i had related to the were found upon his person for the demon probably forgetting in his time of peril that he had my watch and chain my ring and my money had omitted to conceal them or fling them away when the police boat showed herself round the corner but this was not all two visitors had lost their lives within a year the body of one only was recovered and this was the poor fellow whose remains i had stumbled upon during my lonely moonlight walk along the sands it was believed that both these men had perished whilst bathing from a boat and the during the held upon the body that had been recovered had commented somewhat significantly upon the circumstance of both these having occurred from the same boat in charge of the same man and now whilst i had lain unconscious the police had searched the little house or room a memorable swim occupied by the named bill and there they had discovered a gold pencil case and a pair of gold glasses and a of which articles the two former were claimed as belonging to the man who had been drowned in the previous year whilst the was sworn to by the widow of the gentleman whose body i had discovered the poor lady happening to be in the town whilst i lay the of it was that bill was to for life that he was guilty of two was certain and therefore he ought to have been hanged nevertheless the evidence did not seem strong to admit of the death penalty for it could not certainly be proved that the when his victims had plunged overboard had quietly continued to row leaving the unhappy men to sink with exhaustion in his wake it could not certainly be proved that the poor fellows had not been a memorable swim seized with and suddenly sunk but all the same no one who heard the story ever doubted that this demon of a had left them to perish or as he had attempted in my case had hastened their end by a blow with his oar to please his wife bt thomas the interior of st a church in haven pool town was slowly darkening under the close clouds of a winter afternoon it was sunday service had just ended the face of the parson in the pulpit was buried in his hands and the congregation with a cheerful sigh of release were rising from their knees to depart for the moment the stillness was so complete loo to please his wife that the of the sea be heard outside the harbour bar	45
it was broken by the footsteps of the clerk going towards the west door to open it in the usual manner for the exit of the assembly before however he had reached the doorway the latch was lifted from without and the dark figure of a man in a sailor s garb appeared against the light the clerk stepped aside the sailor closed the door gently behind him and advanced up the till he stood at the step the parson looked up from the private little prayer which after so many for the parish he quite fairly took for himself rose to his feet and stared at the intruder i beg your pardon sir said the sailor addressing the minister in a voice distinctly audible to all the congregation i have come here to offer thanks for my narrow escape from i am given to r please his g r il i c t j i understand that it is a proper thing to do if you have no objection the parson after a moment s pause said hesitatingly i have no objection certainly it is usual to mention any such wish before service so that the proper words may be used in the general but if you wish we can lead from the form for use after a storm at sea ay sure i ain t particular said the sailor the clerk thereupon directed the sailor to the page in the prayer book where the collect of would be found and the began reading it the sailor kneeling where he stood and repeating it after him word by word in a distinct voice the people who had remained and motionless at the proceeding mechanically knelt down likewise but they continued to regard the isolated form of the sailor who in the precise middle of the step remained fixed on his v k k y lo tv i lease his wife knees facing the east his hat beside him his hands joined and he quite unconscious of his appearance in their regard when his had come to an end he arose the people arose also and all went out of church together as soon as the sailor emerged so that the remaining daylight fell upon his face old inhabitants began to recognize him as no other than a young man who had not been seen at for several years a son of the town his parents had died when he was quite young on which account he had early gone to sea in the trade he talked with this and that as he walked informing them that since leaving his native place years before he had become captain and owner of a small which had been saved from the gale as well as himself presently he drew to please his wife near to two girls who were going out of the churchyard in front of him they had been sitting in the at his entry and had watched his doings with deep interest afterwards discussing him as they moved out of church together one was a slight and gentle creature the other a tall large framed girl captain regarded the loose curls of their hair their backs and shoulders down to their heels for some time who may those two maids be he whispered to his neighbour the little one is the tall one ah i recollect em now to be sure he advanced to their elbow and stole a gaze at them you don t know me said the sailor turning his beaming brown eyes on her i think i do mr said i to please his wife the other girl looked straight at him with her dark eyes the face of miss i t to mind so well he continued but i know her and kindred to please his wife they walked and talked together particulars of his late narrow escape till they reached the corner of lane in which dwelt when with a nod and smile she left them soon the sailor parted also from and having no especial errand or appointment turned back towards s house she lived with her father who called himself an the daughter however keeping a little shop as a provision for the of his somewhat uncertain business on entering found father and daughter about to begin tea oh i didn t know it was he said ay have a cup with much pleasure he remained to tea and long afterwards telling more tales of his life several neighbours called to listen and were asked to come in somehow lost her heart to the sailor that sunday night io to please his wife and in the course of a week or two there was a tender understanding between them one moonlight evening in the next month was ascending out of the town by the long straight road eastward to an elevated where the more fashionable houses stood if anything near this ancient port could be called fashionable when he saw a figure before him whom from her manner of glancing back he took to be but on coming up he found she was he gave a gallant greeting and walked beside her go along she said or will be jealous he seemed not to like the suggestion and remained what was said and what was done on that walk never could be clearly recollected by but in some way or other contrived to him away from her and younger rival from that week to please his wife was seen more and more in the wake of and less in the company of and it was soon about the that old s son who had come home from sea was going to be married to the former young woman to the great disappointment of the latter just after this report had	45
gone about dressed herself for a walk one morning and started for s house in the little cross street intelligence of the deep sorrow of her friend on account of the loss of had reached her ears also and her conscience reproached her for winning him away was not altogether satisfied with the sailor she liked his attentions and she the dignity of matrimony but she had never been deeply in love with for one thing she was ambitious and his position was hardly so good as her own while there was always the chance of an io to please his wife attractive woman considerably above her it had long been in her mind that she would not strongly object to give him back again to if her friend felt so very badly about him to this end she had a letter of to which letter she carried in her hand intending to post it if personal observation of convinced her that her friend was suffering entered lane and stepped down into the shop which was below the pavement level s father was never at home at this hour of the day and it seemed as though was not at home either for the visitor could make nobody hear customers came so seldom hither that a five minutes absence of the proprietor counted for little waited in the little shop where had set out as women can articles in themselves of slight value so as to obscure the of the stock in trade till she to please his wife saw a figure pausing without the window apparently absorbed in the contemplation of the books of paper and prints hung on a string it was captain peering in to ascertain if was there alone moved by an impulse of reluctance to meet him in a spot which breathed of she slipped through the door that communicated with the parlour at the back had frequently done so before for in her friendship with she had the freedom of the house without ceremony entered the shop through the thin blind which the glass she could see that he was disappointed at not finding there he was about to go out again when her form darkened the doorway hastening back from some errand at sight of she started back as if she would have gone out again no to please his wife don t run away don t said he what can make ye afraid i m not afraid captain only only i saw you all of a sudden and it made me jump her voice showed that her heart had jumped even more than the rest of her i just called as i was passing he said for some paper she hastened behind the counter no no why do ye get behind there why not stay by me you seem to hate me i don t hate you how can i then come out so that we can talk like christians obeyed with a fitful laugh till she stood again beside him in the open part of the shop there s a dear he said you mustn t say that captain because the words belong to somebody else to please his wife in ah i know what you mean but upon my life i didn t know till this morning that you cared one bit about me or i should not have done as i have done i have the best of feelings for but i know that from the beginning she hasn t cared for me more than in a friendly way and i see now the one i ought to have asked to be my wife you know when a man comes home from sea after a long voyage he s as blind as a bat he can t see who s who in women they are all alike to him beautiful creatures and he takes the first that comes easy without thinking if she loves him or if he might not soon love another better than her from the first i inclined to you most but you were so backward and shy that i thought you didn t want me to bother ee and so i went to don t say any more mr e don t said she choking you are going to marry to please his wife next month and it is wrong o oh my darling he cried and clasped her little figure in his arms before she was aware behind the curtain turned pale tried to withdraw her eyes but could not it is only you i love as a man ought to love the woman he is going to marry and i know this from what has said that she will willingly let me she wants to marry higher i know and only said yes to me out of kindness a fine tall girl like her isn t the sort for a plain sailors wife you be the best suited for that he kissed her and kissed her again her form quivering in the agitation of his embrace i wonder are you sure is going to break with you oh are you sure because to please his wife i know she would not wish to make us miserable she will release me h i i hope she will don t stay any longer captain he lingered however till a customer came for a penny stick of wax and then he withdrew green envy had at the scene she looked about for a way of escape to get out without s knowledge of her visit was indispensable she crept from the parlour into the passage and thence to the front door of the house where she let herself noiselessly into the street the sight of that caress had reversed all her resolutions she could not let go reaching home she burnt the letter and told her mother	45
that if captain called she was too to see him however did not call he sent her a note expressing in simple language the to please his wife state of his feelings and asking to be allowed to take advantage of the hints she had given him that her affection too was little more than friendly by the engagement looking out upon the harbour and the island beyond he waited and waited in his lodgings for an answer that did not come the suspense grew to be so intolerable that after dark he went up the high street he could not resist calling at s to learn his fate her mother said her daughter was too to see him and to his questioning admitted that it was in consequence of a letter received from himself which had distressed her deeply you know what it was about perhaps mrs he said mrs owned that she did adding that it put them in a very painful position thereupon fearing that he had been guilty of an explained that if his letter had pained it must be owing to to please his wife a since he had thought it would be a relief to her if otherwise he would hold himself bound by his word and she was to think of the letter as never having been written next morning he received an message from the young woman asking him to fetch her home from a meeting that evening this he did and while walking from the town hall to her door with her hand in his arm she said it is all the same as before between us isn t it your letter was sent in mistake it is all the same as before he answered if you say it must be i wish it to be she murmured with hard as she thought of was a religious and scrupulous man who respected his word as his life shortly afterwards the wedding took place ii to please his wife having conveyed to as gently as possible the error he had fallen into when s mood as one of indifference n a month after the marriage s mother died and the couple were obliged to turn attention to very practical matters now thai she was left without a parent could not bear the notion of her husband going to sea again but the question was what could he do at home they finally decided to take on a s shop in high street the and stock of which were waiting to be disposed of at that time knew nothing of and very little but they hoped to learn to the management of this business they now devoted all their energies and continued to conduct it for many succeeding years to please his wife without great success two sons were born to them whom their mother loved to although she had never passionately loved her husband and she upon them all her and care but the shop did not and the large dreams she had entertained of her sons education and career became in the face of realities their was of the but being by the sea they grew alert in all such arts and as were attractive to their age the great interest of the married life outside their own immediate household had lain in the marriage of by one of those odd chances which lead those that in unexpected corners to be discovered while the obvious are passed by the gentle girl had been seen and loved by a merchant of the town a some years older than herself though still in the prime of life at ii to please his wife first had declared that she never never could marry any one but mr had quietly and had at last won her reluctant assent two children also were the fruits of this union and as they grew and declared that she had never supposed she could live to be so happy the worthy merchant s home one of those large substantial brick frequently up in old fashioned towns faced directly on the high street nearly opposite to the shop of the and it now became the pain of to behold the woman whose place she had out of pure looking down from her position of comparative wealth upon the humble shop window with its dusty sugar heaps of and of tea over which it was her own lot to the business having so was obliged to serve in the shop herself and it and her that to please his wife ir sitting in her large drawing room over the way could witness her own up and down behind the counter at the and call of wretched customers whose patronage she was driven to welcome gladly persons to whom she was compelled to be civil in the street while was bounding along with her children and her and conversing with the people of the town and neighbourhood this was what she had gained by not letting whom she had so faintly loved carry his elsewhere was a good and honest man and he had been faithful to her in heart and in deed time had the wings of his love for in his devotion to the mother of his boys he had quite lived down that impulsive earlier fancy and had become in his regard nothing more than a friend it was the same with s feelings for him i to please his wife possibly had she found the least cause for jealousy would almost have been better satisfied it was in the absolute acquiescence of and in the results she herself had contrived that her discontent found nourishment was not endowed with the narrow necessary for developing a business in the face of many did a customer inquire if the could really recommend the wondrous substitute for eggs which a had forced into his stock he would answer that when	45
the boys came in and next sunday returned thanks this time by the more ordinary channel of the in the general but a few days after when the question of the money arose he remarked that she did not seem so satisfied as he had hoped well you see she answered we count by hundreds they count by thousands nodding towards the other side of the street they have set up a carriage and pair since you left oh i have they my dear you don t know how the world moves however we ll do the best we can with it but they are rich and we are poor still the greater part of a year was to please his wife spent she moved sadly about the house and shop and the boys were still occupying themselves in and around the harbour he said one day i see by your movements that it is not enough it is not enough said she my boys will have to live by the ships that the own and i was once above her was not an man and he only murmured that he thought he would take another voyage he meditated for several days and coming home from the one afternoon said suddenly i could do it for ee dear in one more trip for certain if if do what enable ee to count by thousands instead of hundreds if what if i might take the boys she turned pale to please his wife don t say that she answered hastily why i don t like to hear it there s danger at sea i want them to he something genteel and no danger to them i couldn t let them risk their lives at sea oh i t ever ever yery well dear it shan t be done next day after a silence she asked a question if they were to go with you it would make a great deal of difference i suppose to the profit t would what i should get from the venture single handed under my eye they would be as good as two more of myself later on she said tell me more about this well the boys are almost as clever as master in handling a craft upon my i please his wife life there isn t a more place in the south seas than about the of this harbour and they ve practised here from their infancy and they are so steady i couldn t get their and their in half a dozen men twice their age and is it very dangerous at sea now too there are of war she asked uneasily oh well there be risks still the idea grew and and the mother s heart was crushed and stifled by it was growing too it could not be borne s wife could not help him about their comparative poverty the young men amiable as their father when spoken to on the subject of a voyage of enterprise were quite willing to and though they like their father had no great love for the sea they became quite enthusiastic when the proposal was detailed to please his wife everything now hung upon their mother s assent she withheld it long but at last gave the word the young men might accompany their father was unusually cheerful about it heaven had preserved him hitherto and he had uttered his thanks god would not those who were faithful to him all that the possessed in the world was put into the enterprise the stock was down to the least that possibly could afford a bare to during the absence which was to last through the usual spell how she would endure the weary time she hardly knew for the boys had been with her formerly but she herself for the trial the ship was laden with boots and shoes ready made clothing fishing tackle butter cheese and many other and was to bring back oil skins fish and what else came to to please his wife hand but much trading to other ports was to be undertaken between the voyages out and homeward and thereby much money made iii the sailed on a monday morning in spring but did not witness its departure she could not bear the sight that she had been the means of bringing about knowing this her husband told her that they were to sail some time before noon next day hence when awakening at five the next morning she heard them bustling about downstairs she did not hasten to descend but lay trying to nerve herself for the parting imagining they would leave about nine as her husband had done on his previous voyage when she did descend she beheld words upon the sloping face of the but no to please his wife husband or sons in the hastily lines said they had gone off thus not to pain her by a leave taking and the sons had under good bye mother she rushed to the and looked down the harbour towards the blue rim of the sea but she could only see the and sails of the i no human figures tis i have sent them she said wildly and burst into tears in the house the nearly broke her heart but when she had re entered the front room and looked across at s a gleam of triumph lit her thin face at her anticipated release from the of to do justice her assumption of superiority was mainly a of s brain that the circumstances of the merchant s wife were more luxurious than s the former could not conceal though whenever the two met which was not very often to please his wife now endeavoured to subdue the difference by every means in her power the first summer away and maintained herself by the shop which now consisted of	45
little more than a window and a counter was in truth her only large customer and mrs s kindly readiness to buy anything and everything without questioning the quality had a sting of bitterness in it for it was the attitude of a patron and almost of a the long dreary winter moved on the face of the had been turned to the wall to protect the words of farewell for she could never bring herself to rub them out and she often glanced at them with wet eyes s handsome boys came home for the christmas holidays and still as it were with held breath like a person only one summer more and the spell would end towards the end of the time called on to please his wife her friend she had heard that began to feel anxious she had received no letter from husband or sons for some months s when in response to s almost dumb invitation she squeezed through the opening of the counter and into the parlour behind the shop you are all success and i am all the other way said but why do you think so said they are to bring back a fortune i hear ah will they come the doubt is more than a woman can bear all three in one ship think of that and i have not heard of them for months but the time is not up you should not meet misfortune half way nothing will repay me for the grief of their absence then why did you let them go you were doing fairly well to please his wife v i made them go i she said turning vehemently upon and i ll tell you why i could not bear that we should be only on and you so rich and now i have told you and you may hate me if you will i shall never hate you and she proved the truth of her words afterwards the end of the autumn came and the should have been in port but nothing like the appeared in the channel the sands it was now really time to be uneasy sat by the fire and every gust of wind caused her a cold thrill she had always feared and detested the sea to her it was a treacherous restless creature in the of women still she said they must come she recalled to her mind that had said before starting that if they returned safe and sound with success crowning their enter to please his wife he would go as he had gone after his and kneel with his sons in the church and offer sincere thanks for their she went to church regularly morning and afternoon and sat in the most forward nearest the step her eyes were mostly fixed on that step where had knelt in the bloom of his young manhood she knew to an inch the spot which his knees had pressed twenty before his outline as he had knelt his hat on the step beside him god was good surely her husband must kneel there again a son on each side as h e had said george just here jim just there by long watching the spot as she worshipped it became as if she saw the three returned ones there kneeling the two slim outlines of her boys the more form between them their hands clasped their heads shaped against the eastern wall the fancy grew almost to an she could to please his wife never turn her worn eyes to the step without seeing them there nevertheless they did not come heaven was merciful but it was not yet pleased to relieve her soul this was her for the sin of making them the slaves of her ambition but it became more than soon and her mood approached despair months had passed since the had been due but it had not returned was always hearing or seeing evidences of their arrival when on the hill behind the port whence a view of the open channel could be obtained she felt sure that a little speck on the horizon breaking the level waste of waters southward was the of the or when indoors a shout or excitement of any kind at the corner of the town cellar where the high street joined the caused her to spring to her feet and cry tis they to please his wife but it was not the visionary forms knelt every sunday afternoon on the step but not the real her shop had as it were eaten itself hollow in the which had resulted from her loneliness and grief she had ceased to take in the smallest supplies and thus had sent away her last customer in this strait tried by every means in her power to aid the afflicted woman but she met with constant i don t like you i can t bear to see you would whisper hoarsely when came to her and made advances but i want to help and soothe you would say you are a lady with a rich husband and fine sons what can you want with a like me i want this i want you to come and live in my house and not stay alone in this dismal place any longer to please his wife and suppose they come and don t find me at home you wish to separate me and mine no i ll stay here i don t like you and i can t thank you whatever kindness you do me however as time went on could not afford to pay the rent of the shop and house without an income she was assured that all hope of the return of and his sons was vain and she reluctantly consented to accept the asylum of the house here she was allotted a room of her own on the second floor and went	45
neck make him slightly shiver as if a cold wind had passed over him gorgeous i the ghost of the past burning summer time as it was as she stooped her head looking into the little pool where the sea flowers had s read out their ed rays the sunlight caught the fringe at the back of her neck and the brown of her hair was brightened into gold a sudden longing to kiss those little curls flushed him like a fever and then a thought checked his impulse and made his blood run cold as if a wandering ghost had touched him as it passed the last time he kissed a woman s neck there at the back he had been sitting as now on the sands of the but it had been in france at that glaring not in a leafy little home bay in and instead of pledged to be his wife before the year was out his companion had been the beautiful american with whom there had never been a question of marriage for was not that black the ghost of the past bearded crop haired man who once a week came down to see her and of whom she was evidently so much afraid and her husband all the same wife as she was or seemed to be had loved this woman with the intensity of a young man s first serious passion and when his came nothing but the anger of contempt had saved him from the of despair but why should he think of her now as things had shaped themselves in his life it was a kind of to remember her at all to be reminded of her by was saw the change in her lover s face it was as if a cloud had come over the sun not being a woman of sympathy nor of inquisitive affection instead of speaking or asking why she laid her hand on his with a caressing touch that told all she wished to say the ghost of the past it was such a gentle tender little touch so womanly in its sympathy but yet so almost childish in its ignorance of the reason why it was to what the harp of david was to the cloud passed the wandering ghost vanished faded into the void of and all that saw was sitting there in the sunlight beside him the angel whom the gods had given to bless and his life the divine maiden so soon to become his dear wife he took her hand and kissed it what a beautiful hand it was those long fingers and that generous palm expressed her character in its mixture of morality and human tenderness by the one she held a lofty standard and would be an judge by the other she opened her arms to the suffering and banished from her heart no one whom that heart could the loveliest hand in the whole world i the ghost of the past said tracing the veins and the fingers after he had kissed it as a saint might kiss a but also as a lover kisses the hand of the beloved said by the most in the whole world laughed love cannot flatter he answered looking at her with eyes as full of admiration as those roses at her throat were full of colour and perfume i think it does nothing else she returned still laughing she was so happy that everything made her laugh like a child the whole earth seemed to be one great throb of joy then all you say to me is flattery hey said ah sweet my sweet you have put yourself into a stick how will you get out of it but i never do flatter you as you flatter me she said when did i tell you that this the ghost of the past thing about you was so beautiful and that so charming never if you have not in so many words you have twenty times by those great grey eyes of yours he answered with mock self complacency i know you admire me immensely and think me no end of a fine fellow so we are after all only i am the most candid i do not agree to that not the least in the world she cried with energy again s face changed why was he so sensitive to day the fun passed out of it for pain to take its place what you do not love me as much as i love you he said in a disturbed voice you tell me that seriously she turned to him with a mocking little mouth and mischievous arched brows meaning to carry on the play lovers find nothing too silly as the medium of verbal caressing and silly as was this little it served its the ghost of the past purpose but her mocking smile and answer died on her lips there was something in her lover s face not to be met by a joke love you as much as you love me she repeated do you need to ask then with a sudden blush and the sweetest loveliest air of self surrender she added both her hands now on one of his yes i do love you as much as you love me if love could be weighed as we weighed the yesterday perhaps mine would be the most that is impossible he answered gravely you might as well say you could add to or eternity he put his disengaged arm round her and drew her to him my darling my own darling he said all his heart in his voice i love you as i never loved living woman before caught at the words that black drop which we all have in our hearts under names and shapes was in hers a the	45
ghost of the past certain form of jealousy the jealousy the of a pure and inexperienced woman demanding as much as she gave then you have loved before she said a little coldly instinctively taking a ay her hands not as i love you he answered trying to cover his mistake by extra i love you as no man ever loved since the world began you do not know what i feel for you you are like god and heaven to me you are my good angel and god gave you to me i love you darling almost more than a man should more than is well for my peace his passion gained her what woman could have resisted give me your peace i will take care of it she said with infinite tenderness if we love each other no harm can come to us nothing but death can separate us and even that will not divide us the ghost of the past nothing but death you swear that he paid only death will separate us and even that will not divide us yes she answered solemnly i swear without what should i have she returned with an incredulous little smile the only would be if you had loved any one else as you love me or had done anything wrong and that is too absurd to imagine she looked at him with her soft grey eyes as full of womanly love as his had been of the man s stronger passion he was right those eyes expressed her admiration of him as plainly as if her lips had uttered all that was in her heart of praise and hymn to his honour to her he was the perfect man and she was not ashamed to show what she would not have dared to say i o the ghost of the past the remembrance of that past sin flowed like the salt waters of tears over his head like a again seemed to float before him filling the whole air with her beauty but for his best he looked again into s face and soothed himself with that futile she will never know the tie between these two young people had in it something more than love for at the risk of his own life had saved that of s only brother and thus the acquaintance which then began was founded on the deepest feelings of our human nature to the was an of divine power to whom they owed anew that beloved life so nearly lost while to him they had the claim which a benefit on him who it they gave him the devotion of gratitude but he gave them the even stronger feeling of the ghost of the past i i responsibility the life he had saved he felt in some measure belonged to him to care for and as he was eight years older than thirty to the younger man s two and twenty he took his obligation seriously and was like the boy s elder brother even before his engagement with gave him the additional right of future relationship all things come to an end and this lovely had to end with the rest the sun brought with its rays the claims of dinner and domestic life generally and the young people had nothing for it but to go back to ivy lodge and do the best they could with the and the moonlight against the background of the lighted room where gentle mrs played patience by herself and thought of the time when she too had sat out in the summer moonlight with her beloved as happy as was now as they came to the house they were met at i the ghost of the past the door by mrs in a state of unusual excitement is it mother asked who had that double sense which is given by keen i have had a letter from said mrs a little well what what does he say asked such a foolish boy so foolish and so wrong he has engaged himself to a lady whom he to be older than himself and a widow too it is madness who is she again asked an american was the answer what american he asked quickly he shivered slightly as once before to day on the sands a mrs was the answer drew a deep breath and the blood came back into his face the ghost of the past says she is wonderfully beautiful the mother went on to say and as good as she is lovely she is very well connected belongs to an old family and has money of her own so that as he says she does not take him for his at all events there it is and now what am i to do i cannot allow it to go on she added woman like answering her own question but what am i to do opposition to a thing of this kind does not do much good said men have to wear through their own experiences but he is not a man he is only a boy cried mrs he has had no experience of life beyond that to be had at cambridge which cannot be much he is not accustomed yet to the management of the estate and the idea of an engagement at his age and with a widow older than himself is preposterous it cannot be allowed i will not allow it i the ghost of the past if he loves her my dear he will not break with her even though a mother said why should he that is the first thing he will say to himself if he has committed himself and gained her affections he is so far bound to her by honour and if she has money and all that and is of known	45
rank and and there is nothing against her why should he break with her because he is only twenty two that is a fault which itself every day i you see we must look at it from his point of view not only our own to you and to us all it may be foolish and premature but to him it is the wisdom and an honourable engagement then do you advise me to countenance such criminal said mrs hotly for the present in a fashion a little cold water and not going in for a shower bath he answered l boy of the ghost of the past s age wants more careful guidance than a man he has to be led very gently very tenderly and the thread must be of silk and invisible that is so true said to whom was wisdom she would have said the same however had he opposition and parental so that her opinion was not of much value but mrs still and the only ray of comfort that she could find in the present moment was when to write very seriously to her boy and to begin that process of judicious which he advised her to adopt but above all he was to find out everything there was to know about this mrs this beautiful american with money this widow a little older than the and well endowed young man she had condescended to accept as i the ghost of the past her future husband with which promise the poor woman was forced to be content though indeed there was not much content for anyone for after this question of and his fascinating widow had been so far arranged and had time to look at his own letters he found one from his lawyer which cut short his stay at ivy lodge and sent him back at once to where his place was it was a letter which admitted of no denial and of business which admitted of no delay he must pack up to night and be off by the first train to morrow morning those sweet on the sands rudely and roughly interrupted and his beloved left to the cold keeping of resignation all lovers are sad and their melancholy are as universal as the tears which express and the kisses which seem rather to confirm than to banish them it was to and to too as if their sun the ghost of the past had set for ever there was no more daylight for them and no more summer the chill of death had fallen on their happiness for at the best their letters would be only a kind of twilight only the autumn flush for the summer glory but it had to be done and he must go the time of would soon be over now this was august and they would be married in october two months an eternity to the separated and impatient young but to the more accurate of time a mere nothing so they tried to comfort each other as with trembling voices and pale lips they bade each other farewell and said it will not be for long s answer to the coldly cautious letter of his mother was characteristic of his boyish love to her he opposed the of a first passion and the blindness of trust his eyes were filled with i the ghost of the past but the one light and like a newly converted he was anxious that she should share in the grace he had gained without giving time for denial he announced his arrival with his future bride that very evening to see her was to love her he said and the best excuse he could offer for what might seem his in engaging himself at his age was herself wherefore his mother and must expect them that evening and he knew that in this visit hurried and as it was he had done the best thing for them and for her and that they would congratulate him on his good fortune in securing the most beautiful and the noblest woman on the face of the earth no answer could be given to this letter and to telegraph a refusal that should meet them and turn them back on their journey was not quite like gentle mrs whose worst moods were merely never the ghost of the past rising into anger nor deepening into thus mother and sister had nothing for it but to make the best of things as they were and to hope that this new woman was really the s love had painted her so far he had calculated rightly when mrs and came face to face with this fair marvel they no longer wondered at the boyish which had so heavily on love and trust she was so beautiful she was so graceful in all her movements so sweet and tender in her manner and yet so bright in speech and intelligence she had the loveliest little ways that ever woman had she said the most charming things and she had the accent half french half american that gave her voice which was naturally harsh and grating a kind of caressing by which its native hardness was made as lovely as soft music her dress was a dream of art her face a of beauty she i the ghost of the past had bright golden hair very bright gold with dark eyebrows and dark lashes and the loveliest complexion of milk and roses her eyes were like stars quick glancing and of varying expression sometimes they were as holy as a saint s and sometimes they were veiled as if with a substance letting not a thought not a feeling show through but varied as their expression was they were watchful eyes always watchful eyes that seemed to listen as	45
well as see like those of men accustomed to danger and dependent for salvation on their own quickness of apprehension and clearness of and the lashes cast the most curious little rim of blackness round the and the red of her lips was of the and most sharply defined outline imaginable no here no mingling of red and white through the medium of tears nor even through the blush rose of kisses altogether she the ghost of the past was delightful splendidly delightful and the mother and daughter were fascinated as knew they would be as years ago was fascinated by the lady the small round table at the side as full of photographs side by side with following the mother and was the portrait of mrs looking over the room as strangers do came in due time to this table and the four photographs in one line she caught her breath as one suddenly surprised and the blood gathered round her heart though it did not leave her cheek nor lips paler than before but she had the spirit of one playing for high with the full consciousness of what she risked and what she might win and it was a principle with her to face her dangers on the instant is that another brother she asked quite naturally taking the photographs in her hand the ghost of the past as if to examine them how good they all are but i did not know you had an elder brother you never told me that i do not see much likeness however she added to mrs he is not like you nor nor my boy i forgot to tell you about him said i have forgotten everything of late no that is not a brother yet though he is almost more than one he is the dearest old fellow in the world and he is going to marry oh said mrs with a soft smile turning to her future sister in law how happy you must be if he is as lovely a man as mine and you are as content as i am you have nothing to complain of he is very nice and i am quite happy said then they all laughed and the rest of the evening passed as such evenings do on velvet the ghost of the past where tlie hours are with flowers and time is shod in gold but upstairs in her own room the woman who called herself had to face a very different state of things the ghost of her bad past had risen up before her when least expected and most unwelcome and she had to reason out her position and calculate her chances of escape from the dangers threatening her like wild beasts round an open can i dare it she thought or shall i give it all up will he have the cruelty the to betray me no he dare not his interests are as much at stake as mine we are both in the same boat if i am he will be too for such ignorant as these will see no difference between us i can tell my own story and it will go hard with me if i do not cut the ground from under his feet if he is brutal the ghost of the past enough to put a spoke in my wheel i will brave it and i will defy him he used to be fond of me and men who have once loved a woman as he loved me have always a soft spot left they are not like us the fools and i will take my chance she is perfectly lovely and fascinating to an extraordinary degree wrote to her lover but both mother and i like her so much better when we are with her than when we do not see her i cannot explain why nor can mother but we feel when she is away from us that she is not quite so nice and we both have to be conquered again she always does conquer us that i must confess it is very odd but do you not understand what i mean but she is so clever and she must be so good she talks a great deal about god and the noble life and how people have to live for others not themselves and to walk by the law of the spirit not of the mere intellect she is so she the ghost of the past i i iii says of herself a mystic and i who am stupid do not always understand her but is so sharp and clever she knows everything all we think and sometimes what we had not made clear to ourselves till she as it were interpreted our own thoughts i think she sees that odd change of feeling in us for she said yesterday to mother and me when we were walking in the garden the impression people make and the impression they leave are sometimes so different i have often felt that living charm of a personality and then a certain coldness in absence but i have always put the defect down to myself i think it is my own failing in sympathy some note wanting in my own of harmony not any want or failing in the person when i am with these people whom i love in presence and fall off from in absence their supplies my own deficiency and the full is sounded the notes wanting to me are given the ghost of the past by them so perhaps it is mother s and my own fault as she seemed to hint and she is very charming she says she is one year older than twenty three and she does not look more excepting at the end of the evening when she	45

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