n'tthink
too
ill
of
me
.
I
have
done
nothing
wicked
.
And
you
do
n't
know
London
;
you
do
n't
know
,
with
a
lot
of
young
fellows
about
one
,
how
very
hard
it
is
to
say
no.
"
At
that
unlucky
postscript
the
Misses
Leaf
sorrowfully
exchanged
looks
.
Little
the
lad
thought
about
it
;
but
these
few
words
were
the
very
sharpest
pang
Ascott
had
ever
given
to
his
aunts
.
"
What
's
bred
in
the
bone
will
come
out
in
the
flesh
.
"
"
Like
father
like
son
.
"
"
The
sins
of
the
parents
shall
be
visited
on
the
children
.
"
So
runs
many
a
proverb
:
so
confirms
the
unerring
decree
of
a
just
God
,
who
would
not
be
a
just
God
did
He
allow
Himself
to
break
His
own
righteous
laws
for
the
government
of
the
universe
;
did
He
falsify
the
requirements
of
His
own
holy
and
pure
being
,
by
permitting
any
other
wages
for
sin
than
death
.
And
though
,
through
His
mercy
,
sin
forsaken
escapes
sin
's
penalty
,
and
every
human
being
has
it
in
his
own
power
to
modify
,
if
not
to
conquer
,
any
hereditary
moral
as
well
as
physical
disease
,
thereby
avoiding
the
doom
and
alleviating
the
curse
,
still
the
original
law
remains
in
force
,
and
ought
to
remain
,
an
example
and
a
warning
.
As
true
as
that
every
individual
sin
that
a
man
commits
breeds
multitudes
more
,
is
it
that
every
individual
sin
may
transmit
his
own
peculiar
type
of
weakness
or
wickedness
to
a
whole
race
,
disappearing
in
one
generation
,
re-appearing
in
another
,
exactly
the
same
as
physical
peculiarities
do
,
requiring
the
utmost
caution
of
education
to
counteract
the
terrible
tendencies
of
nature
—
the
"
something
in
the
blood
"
which
is
so
difficult
to
eradicate
:
which
may
even
make
the
third
and
fourth
generation
execrate
the
memory
of
him
or
her
who
was
its
origin
.
The
long
life-curse
of
Henry
Leaf
the
elder
,
and
Henry
Leaf
the
younger
,
had
been
—
the
women
of
the
family
well
knew
—
that
they
were
men
who
"
could
n't
say
No.
"
So
keenly
were
the
three
sisters
alive
to
this
fault
—
it
could
hardly
be
called
a
crime
,
and
yet
in
its
consequences
it
was
so
—
so
sickening
the
terror
of
it
which
their
own
wretched
experience
had
implanted
in
their
minds
,
that
during
Ascott
's
childhood
and
youth
his
very
fractiousness
and
roughness
,
his
little
selfishness
,
and
his
persistence
in
his
own
will
against
theirs
,
had
been
hailed
by
his
aunts
as
a
good
omen
that
he
would
grow
up
"
so
unlike
his
poor
father
.
"
If
the
two
unhappy
Henry
Leafs
—
father
and
son
—
could
have
come
out
of
their
graves
that
night
and
beheld
these
three
women
,
daughters
and
sisters
,
sitting
with
Ascott
's
letter
on
the
table
,
planning
how
the
household
's
small
expenses
could
be
contracted
,
its
still
smaller
luxuries
relinquished
,
in
order
that
the
boy
might
honorably
pay
for
pleasures
he
might
so
easily
have
done
without
!
If
they
could
have
seen
the
weight
of
apprehension
which
then
sank
like
a
stone
on
these
long-tried
hearts
,
never
to
be
afterward
removed
:
lightened
sometimes
,
but
always
—
however
Ascott
might
promise
and
amend
—
always
there
!
On
such
a
discovery
,
surely
,
these
two
"
poor
ghosts
"
would
have
fled
away
moaning
,
wishing
they
had
died
childless
,
or
that
during
their
mortal
lives
any
amount
of
self
restraint
and
self
compulsion
had
purged
from
their
natures
the
accursed
thing
;
the
sin
which
had
worked
itself
out
in
sorrow
upon
every
one
belonging
to
them
,
years
after
their
own
heads
were
laid
in
the
quiet
dust
.
"
We
must
do
it
,
"
was
the
conclusion
the
Misses
Leaf
unanimously
came
to
;
even
Selina
;
who
with
all
her
faults
,
had
a
fair
share
of
good
feeling
and
of
that
close
clinging
to
kindred
which
is
found
in
fallen
households
,
or
households
whom
the
sacred
bond
of
common
poverty
,
has
drawn
together
in
a
way
that
large
,
well-to-do
home
circles
can
never
quite
understand
.
"
We
must
not
let
the
boy
remain
in
debt
;
it
would
be
such
a
disgrace
to
the
family
.
"
"
It
is
not
the
remaining
in
debt
,
but
the
incurring
of
it
,
which
is
the
real
disgrace
to
Ascott
and
the
family
.
"
"
Hush
Hilary
,
"
said
Johanna
,
pointing
to
the
opening
door
;
but
it
was
too
late
.
Elizabeth
,
coming
suddenly
in
—
or
else
the
ladies
had
been
so
engrossed
with
their
conversation
that
they
had
not
noticed
her
—
had
evidently
heard
every
word
of
the
last
sentence
.
Her
conscious
face
showed
it
;
more
especially
the
bright
scarlet
which
covered
both
her
cheeks
when
Miss
Leaf
said
"
Hush
!
"
She
stood
,
apparently
irresolute
as
to
whether
she
should
run
away
again
;
and
then
her
native
honesty
got
the
upper
hand
,
and
she
advanced
into
the
room
.
"
If
you
please
,
missis
,
I
did
n't
mean
to
—
but
I
've
heard
—
"
"
What
have
you
heard
;
that
is
,
how
much
?
"
"
Just
what
Miss
Hilary
said
.
Do
n't
be
afeared
.
I
sha
n't
tell
.
I
never
chatter
about
the
family
.
Mother
told
me
not
.
"
"
You
owe
a
great
deal
,
Elizabeth
,
to
your
good
mother
.
Now
go
away
.
"
"
And
another
time
.
"
said
Miss
Selina
,
"
knock
at
the
door
.
"
This
was
Elizabeth
's
first
initiation
into
what
many
a
servant
has
to
share
—
the
secret
burden
of
the
family
.
After
that
day
,
though
they
did
not
actually
confide
in
her
,
her
mistresses
used
no
effort
to
conceal
that
they
had
cares
;
that
the
domestic
economies
must
,
this
winter
,
be
especially
studied
;
there
must
be
no
extra
fires
,
no
candles
left
burning
to
waste
;
and
once
a
week
or
so
,
a
few
butterless
breakfasts
or
meatless
dinners
must
be
partaken
of
cheerfully
,
in
both
parlor
and
kitchen
.
The
Misses
Leaf
never
stinted
their
servant
in
any
thing
in
which
they
did
not
stint
themselves
.
Strange
to
say
,
in
spite
of
Miss
Selina
's
prophecies
,
the
girl
's
respectful
conduct
did
not
abate
:
on
the
contrary
,
it
seemed
to
increase
.
The
nearer
she
was
lifted
to
her
mistress
's
level
,
the
more
her
mind
grew
,
so
that
she
could
better
understand
her
mistresses
cares
,
and
the
deeper
her
consciousness
of
the
only
thing
which
gives
one
human
being
any
real
authority
over
another
—
personal
character
.
Therefore
,
though
the
family
means
were
narrowed
,
and
the
family
luxuries
few
,
Elizabeth
cheerfully
put
up
with
all
;
she
even
felt
a
sort
of
pride
in
wasting
nothing
and
in
making
the
best
of
every
thing
,
as
the
others
did
.
Perhaps
,
it
may
be
said
she
was
an
exceptional
servant
;
and
yet
I
would
not
do
her
class
the
wrong
to
believe
so-I
would
rather
believe
that
there
are
many
such
among
it
;
many
good
,
honest
,
faithful
girls
,
who
only
need
good
mistresses
unto
whom
to
be
honest
and
faithful
,
and
they
would
be
no
less
so
than
Elizabeth
Hand
.
The
months
went
by
—
heavy
and
anxious
months
;
for
the
school
gradually
dwindled
away
,
and
Ascott
's
letter
—
now
almost
the
only
connection
his
aunts
had
with
the
outer
world
,
for
poverty
necessarily
diminished
even
their
small
Stowbury
society
—
became
more
and
more
unsatisfactory
;
and
the
want
of
information
in
them
was
not
supplied
by
those
other
letters
which
had
once
kept
Johanna
's
heart
easy
concerning
the
boy
.
Mr.
Lyon
had
written
once
before
sailing
,
nay
,
after
sailing
,
for
he
had
sent
it
home
by
the
pilot
from
the
English
Channel
;
then
there
was
,
of
course
,
silence
.
October
,
November
,
December
,
January
,
February
,
March
—
how
often
did
Hilary
count
the
months
,
and
wonder
how
soon
a
letter
would
come
,
whether
a
letter
ever
would
come
again
.
And
sometimes
—
the
sharp
present
stinging
her
with
its
small
daily
pains
,
the
future
looking
dark
before
her
and
them
all
—
she
felt
so
forlorn
,
so
forsaken
,
that
but
for
a
certain
tiny
well-spring
of
hope
,
which
rarely
dries
up
till
long
after
three-and
twenty
,
she
could
have
sat
down
and
sighed
,
"
My
good
days
are
done
.
"
Rich
people
break
their
hearts
much
sooner
than
poor
people
;
that
is
,
they
more
easily
get
into
that
morbid
state
which
is
glorified
by
the
term
,
"
a
broken
heart
.
"
Poor
people
can
not
afford
it
.
Their
constant
labor
"
physics
pain
.
"
Their
few
and
narrow
pleasures
seldom
pall
.
Holy
poverty
!
black
as
its
dark
side
is
,
it
has
its
bright
side
too
,
that
is
,
when
it
is
honest
,
fearless
,
free
from
selfishness
.
wastefulness
,
and
bickerings
;
above
all
,
free
from
the
terror
of
debt
.
"
We
'll
starve
,
we
'll
go
into
the
work
house
rather
than
we
'll
go
into
debt
!
"
cried
Hilary
once
,
in
a
passion
of
tears
,
when
she
was
in
sore
want
of
a
shawl
,
and
Selina
urged
her
to
get
it
,
and
wait
till
she
could
pay
for
it
.
"
Yes
;
the
work
house
!
It
would
be
less
shame
to
be
honorably
indebted
to
the
laws
of
the
land
than
to
be
meanly
indebted
,
under
false
pretences
,
to
any
individual
in
it
"
.
And
when
,
in
payment
for
some
accidental
lessons
,
she
got
next
month
enough
money
to
buy
a
shawl
,
and
a
bonnet
,
too
—
nay
,
by
great
ingenuity
,
another
bonnet
for
Johanna
—
Hilary
could
have
danced
and
sang
—
sang
,
in
the
gladness
and
relief
of
her
heart
,
the
glorious
euthanasia
of
poverty
.
But
these
things
happened
only
occasionally
;
the
daily
life
was
hard
still
;
ay
,
very
hard
,
even
though
at
last
came
the
letter
from
"
foreign
parts
;
"
and
following
it
,
at
regular
intervals
,
other
letters
.
They
were
full
of
facts
rather
than
feelings
—
simple
,
straightforward
;
worth
little
as
literary
compositions
;
school-master
and
learned
man
as
he
was
,
there
was
nothing
literary
or
poetical
about
Mr.
Lyon
;
but
what
he
wrote
was
like
what
he
spoke
,
the
accurate
reflection
of
his
own
clear
,
original
mind
and
honest
,
tender
heart
.
His
letters
gave
none
the
less
comfort
because
,
nominally
,
they
were
addressed
to
Johanna
.
This
might
have
been
from
some
crotchet
of
over-reserve
,
delicacy
,
or
honor
—
the
same
which
made
him
part
from
her
for
years
with
no
other
word
than
'
You
must
trust
me
,
Hilary
;
'
but
whatever
it
was
she
respected
it
,
and
she
did
trust
him
.
And
whether
Johanna
answered
his
letters
or
not
,
month
by
month
they
unfailingly
came
,
keeping
her
completely
informed
of
all
his
proceedings
,
and
letting
out
,
as
epistles
written
from
over
the
seas
often
do
,
much
more
of
himself
and
his
character
than
he
was
probably
aware
that
he
betrayed
.
And
Hilary
,
whose
sole
experience
of
mankind
had
been
the
scarcely
remembered
father
,
the
too
well
remembered
brother
,
and
the
anxiously
watched
nephew
,
thanked
God
that
there
seemed
to
be
one
man
in
the
world
whom
a
woman
could
lean
her
heart
upon
,
and
not
feel
the
support
break
like
a
reed
beneath
her
—
one
man
whom
she
could
entirely
believe
in
,
and
safely
and
sacredly
trust
.
CHAPTER
VIII
.
Time
slipped
by
.
Robert
Lyon
had
been
away
more
than
three
years
.
But
in
the
monotonous
life
of
the
three
sisters
at
Stowbury
,
nothing
was
changed
.
Except
,
perhaps
,
Elizabeth
,
who
had
grown
quite
a
woman
;
might
have
passed
almost
for
thirty
;
so
solidly
old
fashioned
were
her
figure
and
her
manners
.
Ascott
Leaf
had
finished
his
walking
the
hospitals
and
his
examinations
,
and
was
now
fitted
to
commence
practice
for
himself
.
His
godfather
had
still
continued
his
allowance
,
though
once
or
twice
,
when
he
came
down
to
Stowbury
,
he
had
asked
his
aunts
to
help
him
in
small
debts
the
last
time
in
one
a
little
more
serious
;
when
,
after
some
sad
and
sore
consultation
,
it
had
been
resolved
to
tell
him
he
must
contrive
to
live
within
his
own
allowance
.
For
they
were
poorer
than
they
used
to
be
;
many
more
schools
had
arisen
in
the
town
,
and
theirs
had
dwindled
away
.
It
was
becoming
a
source
of
serious
anxiety
whether
they
could
possibly
make
ends
meet
;
and
when
,
the
next
Christmas
,
Ascott
sent
them
a
five
pound
note
—
an
actual
five
pound
note
,
together
with
a
fond
,
grateful
letter
that
was
worth
it
all
—
the
aunts
were
deeply
thankful
,
and
very
happy
.
But
still
the
school
declined
.
One
night
they
were
speculating
upon
the
causes
of
this
,
and
Hilary
was
declaring
,
in
a
half
jocular
,
half
earnest
way
,
that
it
must
be
because
a
prophet
is
never
a
prophet
in
his
own
country
.
"
The
Stowbury
people
will
never
believe
how
clever
I
am
.
Only
,
it
is
a
useless
sort
of
cleverness
,
I
fear
.
Greek
,
Latin
,
and
mathematics
are
no
good
to
infants
under
seven
,
such
as
Stowbury
persists
in
sending
to
us
.
"
"
They
think
I
am
only
fit
to
teach
little
children
—
and
perhaps
it
is
true
,
"
said
Miss
Leaf
.
"
I
wish
you
had
not
to
teach
at
all
.
I
wish
I
was
a
daily
governess
—
I
might
be
,
and
earn
enough
to
keep
the
whole
family
;
only
,
not
here
.
"
"
I
wonder
,
"
said
Johanna
,
thoughtfully
,
"
if
we
shall
have
to
make
a
change
.
"
"
A
change
!
"
It
almost
pained
the
elder
sister
to
see
how
the
younger
brightened
up
at
the
word
.
"
Where
to
—
London
?
Oh
,
I
have
so
longed
to
go
and
live
in
London
!
But
I
thought
you
would
not
like
it
,
Johanna
.
"
That
was
true
.
Miss
Leaf
,
whom
feeble
health
had
made
prematurely
old
,
would
willingly
have
ended
her
days
in
the
familiar
town
;
but
Hilary
was
young
and
strong
.
Johanna
called
to
mind
the
days
when
she
too
had
felt
that
rest
was
only
another
name
for
dullness
;
and
when
the
most
difficult
thing
possible
to
her
was
what
seemed
now
so
easy
—
to
sit
down
and
endure
.
Besides
,
unlike
herself
,
Hilary
had
her
life
all
before
her
.
It
might
be
a
happy
life
,
safe
in
a
good
man
's
tender
keeping
;
those
unfailing
letters
from
India
seemed
to
prophecy
that
it
would
.
But
no
one
could
say
.
Miss
Leaf
's
own
experience
had
not
led
her
to
place
much
faith
in
either
men
or
happiness
.
Still
,
whatever
Hilary
's
future
might
be
,
it
would
likely
be
a
very
different
one
from
that
quiet
,
colorless
life
of
hers
.
And
as
she
looked
at
her
younger
sister
,
with
the
twilight
glow
on
her
face
—
they
were
taking
an
evening
stroll
up
and
down
the
terrace
—
Johanna
hoped
and
prayed
it
might
be
so
.
Her
own
lot
seemed
easy
enough
for
herself
;
but
for
Hilary
—
she
would
like
to
see
Hilary
something
better
than
a
poor
schoolmistress
at
Stowbury
.
No
more
was
said
at
that
time
,
but
Johanna
had
the
deep
,
still
,
Mary-like
nature
,
which
"
kept
"
things
,
and
"
pondered
them
in
her
heart
.
"
So
that
when
the
subject
came
up
again
she
was
able
to
meet
it
with
that
sweet
calmness
which
was
her
especial
characteristic
—
the
unruffled
peace
of
a
soul
which
no
worldly
storms
could
disturb
overmuch
,
for
it
had
long
since
cast
anchor
in
the
world
unseen
.
The
chance
which
revived
the
question
of
the
Great
Metropolitan
Hegira
,
as
Hilary
called
it
,
was
a
letter
from
Mr.
Ascott
,
as
follows
:
"
MISS
LEAF
.
MADAM
,
—
I
shall
be
obliged
by
your
informing
me
if
it
is
your
wish
,
as
it
seems
to
be
your
nephew
's
,
that
instead
of
returning
to
Stowbury
,
he
should
settle
in
London
as
a
surgeon
and
general
practitioner
?
His
education
complete
,
I
consider
that
I
have
done
my
duty
by
him
;
but
I
may
assist
him
occasionally
still
,
unless
he
turns
out
—
as
his
father
did
before
him
—
a
young
man
who
prefers
being
helped
to
helping
himself
,
in
which
case
I
shall
have
nothing
more
to
do
with
him
.
I
remain
,
Madam
,
your
obedient
servant
,
PETER
ASCOTT
.
"
The
sisters
read
this
letter
,
passing
it
round
the
table
,
none
of
them
apparently
liking
to
be
the
first
to
comment
upon
it
.
At
length
Hilary
said
:
"
I
think
that
reference
to
poor
Henry
is
perfectly
brutal
.
"
"
And
yet
he
was
very
kind
to
Henry
.
And
if
it
had
not
been
for
his
common
sense
in
sending
poor
little
Ascott
and
the
nurse
down
to
Stowbury
the
baby
might
have
died
.
But
you
do
n't
remember
any
thing
of
that
time
,
my
dear
,
"
said
Johanna
,
sighing
.
"
He
has
been
kind
enough
,
though
he
has
done
it
in
such
a
patronizing
way
,
"
observed
Selina
.
"
I
suppose
that
's
the
real
reason
of
his
doing
it
.
He
thinks
it
fine
to
patronize
us
,
and
show
kindness
to
our
family
;
he
,
the
stout
,
bullet-headed
grocer
's
boy
,
who
used
to
sit
and
stare
at
us
all
church
time
.
"
"
At
you
—
you
mean
.
Was
n't
he
called
your
beau
?
"
said
Hilary
mischievously
,
upon
which
Selina
drew
herself
up
in
great
indignation
.
And
then
they
fell
to
talking
of
that
anxious
question
—
Ascott
's
future
.
A
little
they
reproached
themselves
that
they
had
left
the
lad
so
long
in
London
—
so
long
out
of
the
influence
that
might
have
counteracted
the
evil
,
sharply
hinted
in
his
godfather
's
letter
.
But
once
away
—
to
lure
him
back
to
their
poor
home
was
impossible
.
"
Suppose
we
were
to
go
to
him
,
"
suggested
Hilary
.
The
poor
and
friendless
possess
one
great
advantage
—
they
have
nobody
to
ask
advice
of
;
nobody
to
whom
it
matters
much
what
they
do
or
where
they
go
.
The
family
mind
has
but
to
make
itself
up
,
and
act
accordingly
.
Thus
within
an
hour
or
two
of
the
receipt
of
Mr.
Ascott
's
letter
Hilary
went
into
the
kitchen
,
and
told
Elizabeth
that
as
soon
as
her
work
was
done
Miss
Leaf
wished
to
have
a
little
talk
with
her
.
"
Eh
!
what
's
wrong
?
Has
Miss
Selina
been
a-grumbling
at
me
?
"
Elizabeth
was
in
one
of
her
bad
humors
,
which
,
though
of
course
they
never
ought
to
have
,
servants
do
have
as
well
as
their
superiors
.
Hilary
perceived
this
by
the
way
she
threw
the
coals
on
and
tossed
the
chairs
about
.
But
to-day
her
heart
was
full
of
far
more
serious
cares
than
Elizabeth
's
ill
temper
.
She
replied
,
composedly
—
"
I
have
not
heard
that
either
of
my
sisters
is
displeased
with
you
.
What
they
want
to
talk
to
you
about
is
for
your
own
good
.
We
are
thinking
of
making
a
great
change
.
We
intend
to
leave
Stowbury
and
going
to
live
in
London
.
"
"
Going
to
live
in
London
!
"
Now
,
quick
as
her
tact
and
observation
were
—
her
heart
taught
her
these
things
—
Elizabeth
's
head
was
a
thorough
Saxon
one
,
slow
to
receive
impressions
.
It
was
a
family
saying
,
that
nothing
was
so
hard
as
to
put
a
new
idea
into
Elizabeth
except
to
get
it
out
again
.
For
this
reason
Hilary
preferred
paving
the
way
quietly
,
before
startling
her
with
the
sudden
intelligence
of
their
contemplated
change
.
"
Well
,
what
do
you
say
to
the
plan
?
"
asked
she
,
good-humoredly
.
"
I
dunnot
like
it
at
all
,
"
was
the
brief
gruff
answer
of
Elizabeth
Hand
.
Now
it
was
one
of
Miss
Hilary
's
doctrines
that
no
human
being
is
good
for
much
unless
he
or
she
has
what
is
called
"
a
will
of
one
's
own
.
"
Perhaps
this
,
like
many
another
creed
,
was
with
her
the
result
of
circumstances
.
But
she
held
it
firmly
,
and
with
that
exaggerated
one-sidedness
of
feeling
which
any
bitter
family
or
personal
experience
is
sure
to
leave
behind
—
a
strong
will
was
her
first
attraction
to
every
body
.
It
had
been
so
in
the
case
of
Robert
Lyon
,
and
not
less
in
Elizabeth
's
.
But
this
quality
has
its
inconveniences
.
When
the
maid
began
sweeping
up
her
hearth
with
a
noisy
,
angry
gesture
,
the
mistress
did
the
wisest
and
most
dignified
thing
a
mistress
could
do
under
the
circumstances
and
which
she
knew
was
the
sharpest
rebuke
she
could
administer
to
the
sensitive
Elizabeth
—
she
immediately
quitted
the
kitchen
.
For
an
hour
after
the
parlor
bell
did
not
ring
;
and
though
it
was
washing
day
,
no
Miss
Hilary
appeared
to
help
in
folding
up
the
clothes
.
Elizabeth
,
subdued
and
wretched
,
waited
till
she
could
wait
no
longer
;
then
knocked
at
the
door
,
and
asked
humbly
if
she
should
bring
in
supper
?
The
extreme
kindness
of
the
answer
,
to
the
effect
that
she
must
come
in
,
as
they
wanted
to
speak
to
her
,
crushed
the
lingering
fragments
of
ill
humor
out
of
the
girl
.
"
Miss
Hilary
has
told
you
our
future
plans
,
Elizabeth
;
now
we
wish
to
have
a
little
talk
with
you
about
yours
.
"
"
Eh
?
"
"
We
conclude
you
will
not
wish
to
go
with
us
to
London
;
and
it
would
be
hardly
advisable
you
should
.
You
can
get
higher
wages
now
than
any
we
can
afford
to
give
you
;
indeed
,
we
have
more
than
once
thought
of
telling
you
so
,
and
offering
you
your
choice
of
trying
for
a
better
place
.
"
"
You
're
very
kind
,
"
was
the
answer
,
stolid
rather
than
grateful
.
"
No
;
I
think
we
are
merely
honest
.
We
should
never
think
of
keeping
a
girl
upon
lower
wages
than
she
was
worth
.
Hitherto
,
however
,
the
arrangement
has
been
quite
fair
you
know
,
Elizabeth
,
you
have
given
us
a
deal
of
trouble
in
the
teaching
of
you
.
"
And
Miss
Leaf
smiled
,
half
sadly
,
as
if
this
,
the
first
of
the
coming
changes
,
hurt
her
more
than
she
liked
to
express
.
"
Come
,
my
girl
,
"
she
added
,
"
you
need
n't
look
so
serious
.
We
are
not
in
the
least
vexed
with
you
;
we
shall
be
very
sorry
to
lose
you
,
and
we
will
give
you
the
best
of
characters
when
you
leave
.
"
"
I
dunnot
—
mean
—
to
leave
.
"
Elizabeth
threw
out
the
words
like
pellets
,
in
a
choked
fashion
,
and
disappeared
suddenly
from
the
parlor
.
"
Who
would
have
thought
it
!
"
exclaimed
Selina
;
"
I
declare
the
girl
was
crying
.
"
No
mistake
about
that
;
though
when
,
a
few
minutes
after
,
Miss
Hilary
entered
the
kitchen
,
Elizabeth
tried
in
a
hurried
,
shamefaced
way
to
hide
her
tears
by
being
very
busy
over
something
.
Her
mistress
took
no
notice
,
but
began
,
as
usual
on
washing
days
,
to
assist
in
various
domestic
matters
,
in
the
midst
of
which
she
said
,
quietly
,
"
And
so
,
Elizabeth
,
you
would
really
like
to
go
to
London
?
"
"
No
!
I
should
n't
like
it
at
all
;
never
said
I
should
.
But
if
you
go
,
I
shall
go
too
;
though
Missis
is
so
ready
to
get
shut
o
'
me
.
"
"
It
was
for
your
own
good
,
you
know
.
"
"
You
always
said
it
was
for
a
girl
's
good
to
stop
in
one
place
;
and
if
you
think
I
'm
going
to
another
.
I
are
n't
that
's
all
.
"
Rude
as
the
form
of
the
speech
was
—
almost
the
first
rude
speech
that
Elizabeth
had
ever
made
to
Miss
Hilary
,
and
which
,
under
other
circumstances
she
would
have
felt
bound
severely
to
reprove
—
the
mistress
passed
it
over
.
That
which
lay
beneath
it
,
the
sharpness
of
wounded
love
,
touched
her
heart
.
She
felt
that
,
for
all
the
girl
's
rough
manner
,
it
would
have
been
hard
to
go
into
her
London
kitchen
and
meet
a
strange
London
face
,
instead
of
that
fond
homely
one
of
Elizabeth
Hand
's
.
Still
,
she
thought
it
right
to
explain
to
her
that
London
life
might
have
many
difficulties
,
that
;
for
the
present
at
least
,
her
wages
could
not
be
raised
,
and
the
family
might
at
first
be
in
even
more
straitened
circumstances
than
they
were
at
Stowbury
.
"
Only
at
first
,
though
,
for
I
hope
to
find
plenty
of
pupils
,
and
by-and-by
our
nephew
will
get
into
practice
.
"
"
Is
it
on
account
of
him
you
're
going
,
Miss
Hilary
?
"
"
Chiefly
.
"
Elizabeth
gave
a
grunt
which
said
as
plainly
as
words
could
say
,
"
I
thought
so
;
"
and
relapsed
into
what
she
,
no
doubt
,
believed
to
be
virtuous
indignation
,
but
which
,
as
it
was
testified
against
the
wrong
parties
,
was
open
to
the
less
favorable
interpretation
of
ill
humor
—
a
small
injustice
not
uncommon
with
us
all
.
I
do
not
pretend
to
paint
this
young
woman
as
a
perfect
character
.
She
had
her
fierce
dislikes
as
well
as
her
strong
fidelities
;
her
faults
within
and
without
,
which
had
to
be
struggled
with
,
as
all
of
us
have
to
struggle
to
the
very
end
of
our
days
.
Oftentimes
not
till
the
battle
is
high
over
—
sometimes
not
till
it
is
quite
over
—
does
God
give
us
the
victory
.
Without
more
discussion
on
either
side
,
it
was
agreed
that
Elizabeth
should
accompany
her
mistresses
.
Even
Mrs.
Hand
seemed
to
be
pleased
thereat
,
her
only
doubt
being
lest
her
daughter
should
meet
and
be
led
astray
by
that
bad
woman
,
Mrs.
Cliffe
,
Tommy
Cliffe
's
mother
,
who
was
reported
to
have
gone
to
London
.
But
Miss
Hilary
explained
that
this
meeting
was
about
as
probable
as
the
rencontre
of
two
needles
in
a
hay-rick
;
and
besides
,
Elizabeth
was
not
the
sort
of
girl
to
be
easily
"
led
astray
"
by
any
body
.
"
No
,
no
;
her
's
a
good
wench
,
though
I
says
it
,
"
replied
the
mother
,
who
was
too
hard
worked
to
have
much
sentiment
to
spare
.
"
I
wish
the
little
'
uns
may
take
pattern
by
our
Elizabeth
.
You
'll
send
her
home
,
may
be
,
in
two
or
three
years
'
time
,
to
let
us
have
a
look
at
her
?
"
Miss
Hilary
promised
,
and
then
took
her
way
back
through
the
familiar
old
town
—
so
soon
to
be
familiar
no
more
—
thinking
anxiously
,
in
spite
of
herself
,
upon
those
two
or
three
years
,
and
what
they
might
bring
.
It
happened
to
be
a
notable
day
—
that
sunshiny
28th
of
June
—
when
the
little
,
round-cheeked
damsel
,
who
is
a
grandmother
now
,
had
the
crown
of
three
kingdoms
first
set
upon
her
youthful
head
;
and
Stowbury
,
like
every
other
town
in
the
land
,
was
a
perfect
bower
of
green
arches
,
garlands
,
banners
;
white
covered
tables
were
spread
in
the
open
air
down
almost
every
street
,
where
poor
men
dined
,
or
poor
women
drank
tea
;
and
every
body
was
out
and
abroad
,
looking
at
or
sharing
in
the
holiday
'
making
,
wild
with
merriment
,
and
brimming
over
with
passionate
loyalty
to
the
Maiden
Queen
.
That
day
is
now
twenty-four
years
ago
;
but
all
those
who
remember
it
must
own
there
never
has
been
a
day
like
it
,
when
,
all
over
the
country
,
every
man
's
heart
throbbed
with
chivalrous
devotion
,
every
woman
's
with
womanly
tenderness
,
toward
this
one
royal
girl
,
who
,
God
bless
her
!
has
lived
to
retain
and
deserve
it
all
.
Hilary
called
for
,
and
protected
through
the
crowd
,
the
little
,
timid
,
widow
lady
who
had
taken
off
the
Misses
Leaf
's
hands
their
house
and
furniture
,
and
whom
they
had
made
very
happy
—
as
the
poor
often
can
make
those
still
poorer
than
themselves
—
by
refusing
to
accept
any
thing
for
the
"
good
will
"
of
the
school
.
Then
she
was
fetched
by
Elizabeth
,
who
had
been
given
a
whole
afternoon
's
holiday
;
and
mistress
and
maid
went
together
home
,
watching
the
last
of
the
festivities
,
the
chattering
groups
that
still
lingered
in
the
twilight
streets
,
and
listening
to
the
merry
notes
of
the
"
Triumph
"
which
came
down
through
the
lighted
windows
of
the
Town
Hall
,
where
the
open-air
tea
drinkers
had
adjourned
to
dance
country
dances
,
by
civic
permission
,
and
in
perfectly
respectable
jollity
.
"
I
wonder
,
"
said
Hilary
—
while
,
despite
some
natural
regret
,
her
spirit
stretched
itself
out
eagerly
from
the
narrowness
of
the
place
where
she
was
born
into
the
great
wide
world
;
the
world
where
so
many
grand
things
were
thought
and
written
and
done
;
the
world
Robert
Lyon
had
so
long
fought
with
,
and
was
fighting
bravely
still
—
"
I
wonder
,
Elizabeth
,
what
sort
of
place
London
is
,
and
what
our
life
will
be
in
it
?
"
Elizabeth
said
nothing
.
For
the
moment
her
face
seemed
to
catch
the
reflected
glow
of
her
mistress
's
,
and
then
it
settled
down
into
that
look
of
mingled
resistance
and
resolution
which
was
habitual
to
her
.
For
the
life
that
was
to
be
,
which
neither
knew
—
oh
,
if
they
had
known
!
—
she
also
was
prepared
.
CHAPTER
IX
.
The
day
of
the
Grand
Hegira
came
.
"
I
remember
,
"
said
Miss
Leaf
,
as
they
rumbled
for
the
last
time
through
the
empty
morning
streets
of
poor
old
Stowbury
:
"
I
remember
my
grandmother
telling
me
that
when
my
grandfather
was
courting
her
,
and
she
out
of
coquetry
refused
him
,
he
set
off
on
horseback
to
London
,
and
she
was
so
wretched
to
think
of
all
the
dangers
he
ran
on
the
journey
,
and
in
London
itself
,
that
she
never
rested
till
she
got
him
back
,
and
then
immediately
married
him
.
"
"
No
such
catastrophe
is
likely
to
happen
to
any
of
us
,
except
,
perhaps
,
to
Elizabeth
,
"
said
Miss
Hilary
,
trying
to
get
up
,
a
little
feeble
mirth
,
any
thing
to
pass
away
the
time
and
lessen
the
pain
of
parting
,
which
was
almost
too
much
for
Johanna
.
"
What
do
you
say
?
Do
you
mean
to
get
married
in
London
,
Elizabeth
?
"
But
Elizabeth
could
make
no
answer
,
even
to
kind
Miss
Hilary
.
They
had
not
imagined
she
felt
the
leaving
her
native
place
so
much
.
She
had
watched
intently
the
last
glimpse
of
Stowbury
church
tower
,
and
now
sat
with
reddened
eyes
,
staring
blankly
out
of
the
carriage
window
,
"
Silent
as
a
stone
.
"
Once
or
twice
a
large
slow
tear
gathered
on
each
of
her
eyes
,
but
it
was
shaken
off
angrily
from
the
high
check
bones
,
and
never
settled
into
absolute
crying
.
They
thought
it
best
to
take
no
notice
of
her
.
Only
,
when
reaching
the
new
small
station
,
where
the
"
resonant
steam
eagles
"
were
,
for
the
first
time
,
beheld
by
the
innocent
Stowbury
ladies
,
there
arose
a
discussion
as
to
the
manner
of
traveling
.
Miss
Leaf
said
,
decidedly
"
Second
class
;
and
then
we
can
keep
Elizabeth
with
us
.
"
Upon
which
Elizabeth
's
mouth
melted
into
something
between
a
quiver
and
a
smile
.
Soon
it
was
all
over
,
and
the
little
house-hold
was
compressed
into
the
humble
second
class
carriage
,
cheerless
and
cushionless
,
whirling
through
indefinite
England
in
a
way
that
confounded
all
their
geography
and
topography
.
Gradually
as
the
day
darkened
into
heavy
,
chilly
July
rain
,
the
scarcely
kept
up
spirits
of
the
four
passengers
began
to
sink
.
Johanna
grew
very
white
and
worn
,
Selina
became
,
to
use
Ascott
's
phrase
,
"
as
cross
as
two
sticks
,
"
and
even
Hilary
,
turning
her
eyes
from
the
gray
sodden
looking
landscape
without
,
could
find
no
spot
of
comfort
to
rest
on
within
the
carriage
,
except
that
round
rosy
face
of
Elizabeth
Hand
's
.
Whether
it
was
from
the
spirit
of
contradiction
existing
in
most
such
natures
,
which
,
especially
in
youth
,
are
more
strong
than
sweet
,
or
from
a
better
feeling
,
the
fact
was
noticeable
,
that
when
every
one
else
's
spirits
went
down
Elizabeth
's
went
up
.
Nothing
could
bring
her
out
of
a
"
grumpy
"
fit
so
satisfactorily
as
her
mistresses
falling
into
one
.
When
Miss
Selina
now
began
to
fidget
hither
and
thither
,
each
tone
of
her
fretful
voice
seeming
to
go
through
her
eldest
sister
's
every
nerve
,
till
even
Hilary
said
,
impatiently
,
"
Oh
,
Selina
,
ca
n't
you
be
quiet
?
"
then
Elizabeth
rose
from
the
depth
of
her
gloomy
discontent
up
to
the
surface
immediately
.
She
was
only
a
servant
;
but
Nature
bestows
that
strange
vague
thing
that
we
term
"
force
of
character
"
independently
of
position
.
Hilary
often
remembered
afterward
,
how
much
more
comfortable
the
end
of
the
journey
was
than
she
had
expected
—
how
Johanna
lay
at
ease
,
with
her
feet
in
Elizabeth
's
lap
,
wrapped
in
Elizabeth
's
best
woolen
shawl
;
and
how
,
when
Selina
's
whole
attention
was
turned
to
an
ingenious
contrivance
with
a
towel
and
fork
and
Elizabeth
's
basket
,
for
stopping
the
rain
out
of
the
carriage
roof
—
she
became
far
less
disagreeable
,
and
even
a
little
proud
of
her
own
cleverness
.
And
so
there
was
a
temporary
lull
in
Hilary
's
cares
,
and
she
could
sit
quiet
,
with
her
eyes
fixed
on
the
rainy
landscape
,
which
she
did
not
see
,
and
her
thoughts
wandering
toward
that
unknown
place
and
unknown
life
into
which
they
were
sweeping
,
as
we
all
sweep
,
ignorantly
,
unresistingly
,
almost
unconsciously
,
into
new
destinies
.
Hilary
,
for
the
first
time
,
began
to
doubt
of
theirs
.
Anxious
as
she
had
been
to
go
to
London
,
and
wise
as
the
proceeding
appeared
,
now
that
the
die
was
cast
and
the
cable
cut
,
the
old
simple
,
peaceful
life
at
Stowbury
grew
strangely
dear
.
"
I
wonder
if
we
shall
ever
go
back
again
,
or
what
is
to
happen
to
us
before
we
do
go
back
,
"
she
thought
,
and
turned
,
with
a
half
defined
fear
,
toward
her
eldest
sister
,
who
looked
so
old
and
fragile
beside
that
sturdy
,
healthful
servant
girl
.
"
Elizabeth
!
"
Elizabeth
,
rubbing
Miss
Leaf
's
feet
,
started
at
the
unwonted
sharpness
of
Miss
Hilary
's
tone
.
"
There
;
I
'll
do
that
for
my
sister
.
Go
and
look
out
of
the
window
at
London
.
"
For
the
great
smoky
cloud
which
began
to
rise
in
the
rainy
horizon
was
indeed
London
.
Soon
through
the
thickening
nebula
of
houses
they
converged
to
what
was
then
the
nucleus
of
all
railway
traveling
,
the
Euston
Terminus
,
and
were
hustled
on
to
the
platform
,
and
jostled
helplessly
to
and
fro
these
poor
country
ladies
!
Anxiously
they
scanned
the
crowd
of
strange
faces
for
the
one
only
face
they
knew
in
the
great
metropolis
—
which
did
not
appear
.
"
It
is
very
strange
;
very
wrong
of
Ascott
.
Hilary
,
you
surely
told
him
the
hour
correctly
.
For
once
,
at
least
,
he
might
have
been
in
time
"
So
chafed
Miss
Selina
,
while
Elizabeth
,
who
by
some
miraculous
effort
of
intuitive
genius
,
had
succeeded
in
collecting
the
luggage
,
was
now
engaged
in
defending
it
from
all
comers
,
especially
porters
,
and
making
of
it
a
comfort
able
seat
for
Miss
Leaf
.
"
Nay
,
have
patience
,
Selina
.
We
will
give
him
just
five
minutes
more
,
Hilary
.
"
And
Johanna
sat
down
,
with
her
sweet
,
calm
,
long
suffering
face
turned
upward
to
that
younger
one
,
which
was
,
as
youth
is
apt
to
be
,
hot
,
and
worried
,
and
angry
.
And
so
they
waited
till
the
terminus
was
almost
deserted
,
and
the
last
cab
had
driven
off
,
when
,
suddenly
,
dashing
up
the
station
yard
out
of
another
,
came
Ascott
.
He
was
so
sorry
,
so
very
sorry
,
downright
grieved
,
at
having
kept
his
aunts
waiting
.
But
his
watch
was
wrong
—
some
fellows
at
dinner
detained
him
—
the
train
was
before
its
time
surely
.
In
fact
,
his
aunts
never
quite
made
out
what
the
excuse
was
;
but
they
looked
into
his
bright
handsome
face
,
and
their
wrath
melted
like
clouds
before
the
sun
.
He
was
so
gentlemanly
,
so
well
dressed
—
much
better
dressed
than
even
at
Stowbury
—
and
he
seemed
so
unfeignedly
glad
to
see
them
.
He
handed
them
all
into
the
cab
—
even
Elizabeth
.
though
whispering
meanwhile
to
his
Aunt
Hilary
,
"
What
on
earth
did
you
bring
her
for
?
"
and
their
was
just
going
to
leap
on
to
the
box
himself
,
when
he
stopped
to
ask
"
Where
he
should
tell
cabby
to
drive
to
?
"
"
Where
to
?
"
repeated
his
aunts
in
undisguised
astonishment
.
They
had
never
thought
of
any
thing
but
of
being
taken
home
at
once
by
their
boy
.
"
You
see
,
"
Ascott
said
,
in
a
little
confusion
,
"
you
would
n't
be
comfortable
with
me
.
A
young
fellow
's
lodgings
are
not
like
a
house
of
one
's
own
,
and
,
besides
—
"
"
Besides
,
when
a
young
fellow
is
ashamed
of
his
old
aunts
,
he
can
easily
find
reasons
.
"
"
Hush
,
Selina
!
"
interposed
Miss
Leaf
.
"
My
dear
boy
,
your
old
aunts
would
never
let
you
inconvenience
yourself
for
them
.
Take
us
to
an
inn
for
the
night
,
and
to
morrow
we
will
find
lodgings
for
ourselves
.
"
Ascott
looked
greatly
relieved
.
"
And
you
are
not
vexed
with
me
,
Aunt
Johanna
?
"
said
he
,
with
something
of
his
old
childish
tone
of
compunction
,
as
he
saw
—
he
could
not
help
seeing
—
the
utter
weariness
which
Johanna
tried
so
hard
to
hide
.
"
No
,
my
dear
,
not
vexed
.
Only
I
wish
we
had
known
this
a
little
sooner
that
we
might
have
made
arrangements
.
Now
,
where
shall
we
go
?
"
Ascott
mentioned
a
dozen
hotels
,
but
they
found
he
only
knew
them
by
name
.
At
last
Miss
Leaf
remembered
one
,
which
her
father
used
to
go
to
,
on
his
frequent
journeys
to
London
,
and
whence
,
indeed
,
he
had
been
brought
home
to
die
.
And
though
all
the
recollections
about
it
were
sad
enough
,
still
it
felt
less
strange
than
the
rest
,
in
this
dreariness
of
London
.
So
she
proposed
going
to
the
"
Old
Bell
,
"
Holborn
.
"
A
capital
place
!
"
exclaimed
Ascott
,
eagerly
.
"
And
I
'll
take
and
settle
you
there
:
and
we
'll
order
supper
,
and
make
a
jolly
night
of
it
.
All
right
.
Drive
on
,
cabby
.
"
He
jumped
on
the
box
,
and
then
looked
in
mischievously
,
flourishing
his
lit
cigar
and
shaking
his
long
hair
—
his
Aunt
Selina
's
two
great
abominations
—
right
in
her
indignant
face
:
but
withal
looking
so
merry
and
good
tempered
that
she
shortly
softened
into
a
smile
.
"
How
handsome
the
boy
is
growing
!
"
"
Yes
,
"
said
Johanna
,
with
a
slight
sigh
;
"
and
did
you
notice
?
how
exceedingly
like
his
—
"
The
sentence
was
left
unfinished
.
Alas
!
if
every
young
man
,
who
believes
his
faults
and
follies
injure
himself
alone
,
could
feel
what
it
must
be
,
years
afterward
,
to
have
his
nearest
kindred
shrink
from
saying
as
the
saddest
,
most
ominous
thing
they
could
say
of
his
son
,
that
the
lad
is
growing
"
so
like
his
father
!
"
It
might
have
been
—
they
assured
each
other
that
it
was
—
only
the
incessant
roll
,
roll
of
the
street
sounds
below
their
windows
,
which
kept
the
Misses
Leaf
awake
half
the
night
of
this
their
first
night
in
London
.
And
when
they
sat
down
to
breakfast
—
having
waited
an
hour
vainly
for
their
nephew
—
it
might
have
been
only
the
gloom
of
the
little
parlor
which
cast
a
slight
shadow
over
them
all
.
Still
the
shadow
was
there
.
It
deepened
despite
the
sunshiny
morning
into
which
the
last
night
's
rain
had
brightened
till
Holborn
Bars
looked
cheerful
,
and
Holborn
pavement
actually
clean
,
so
that
,
as
Elizabeth
said
,
"
you
might
eat
your
dinner
off
it
;
"
which
was
the
one
only
thing
she
condescended
to
approve
in
London
.
She
had
sat
all
evening
mute
in
her
corner
,
for
Miss
Leaf
would
not
send
her
away
into
the
terra
incognita
of
a
London
hotel
.
Ascott
,
at
first
considerably
annoyed
at
the
presence
of
what
he
called
a
"
skeleton
at
the
feast
,
"
had
afterward
got
over
it
;
and
run
on
with
a
mixture
of
childish
glee
and
mannish
pomposity
about
his
plans
and
intentions
—
how
he
meant
to
take
a
house
,
he
thought
,
in
one
of
the
squares
,
or
a
street
leading
out
of
them
:
how
he
would
put
up
the
biggest
of
brass
plates
,
with
"
Mr.
Leaf
,
surgeon
.
"
and
soon
get
an
extensive
practice
,
and
have
all
his
aunts
to
live
with
him
.
And
his
aunts
had
smiled
and
listened
,
forgetting
all
about
the
silent
figure
in
the
corner
,
who
perhaps
had
gone
to
sleep
,
or
had
also
listened
.
"
Elizabeth
,
come
and
look
out
at
London
.
"
So
she
and
Miss
Hilary
whiled
away
another
heavy
three
quarters
of
an
hour
in
watching
and
commenting
on
the
incessantly
shifting
crowd
which
swept
past
Holborn
Bars
.
Miss
Selina
sometimes
looked
out
too
,
but
more
often
sat
fidgeting
and
wondering
why
Ascott
did
not
come
;
while
Miss
Leaf
,
who
never
fidgeted
,
became
gradually
more
and
more
silent
.
Her
eyes
were
fixed
on
the
door
,
with
an
expression
which
,
if
Hilary
could
have
remembered
so
far
back
,
would
have
been
to
her
something
not
painfully
new
,
but
still
more
painfully
old
—
a
look
branded
into
her
face
by
many
an
anxious
hour
's
listening
for
the
footstep
that
never
came
,
or
only
came
to
bring
distress
.
It
was
the
ineffaceable
token
of
that
long
,
long
struggle
between
affection
and
conscience
,
pity
and
scarcely
repressible
contempt
,
which
,
for
more
than
one
generation
,
had
been
the
appointed
burden
of
this
family
—
at
least
the
women
of
it
—
till
sometimes
it
seemed
to
hang
over
them
almost
like
a
fate
.
About
noon
Miss
Leaf
proposed
calling
for
the
hotel
bill
.
Its
length
so
alarmed
the
country
ladies
that
Hilary
suggested
not
staying
to
dine
,
but
going
immediately
in
search
of
lodgings
.
"
What
,
without
a
gentleman
!
Impossible
!
I
always
understood
ladies
could
go
nowhere
in
London
without
a
gentleman
!
"
"
We
shall
come
very
ill
off
then
,
Selina
.
But
any
how
I
mean
to
try
.
You
know
the
region
where
,
we
have
heard
,
lodgings
are
cheapest
and
best
—
that
is
,
best
for
us
.
It
can
not
be
far
from
here
.
Suppose
I
start
at
once
?
"
"
What
,
alone
?
"
cried
Johanna
,
anxiously
.
"
No
,
dear
,
I
'll
take
the
map
with
me
,
and
Elizabeth
.
She
is
not
afraid
.
"
Elizabeth
smiled
,
and
rose
,
with
that
air
of
dogged
devotedness
with
which
she
would
have
prepared
to
follow
Miss
Hilary
to
the
North
Pole
,
if
necessary
.
So
,
after
a
few
minutes
of
arguing
with
Selina
,
who
did
not
press
her
point
overmuch
,
since
she
herself
had
not
to
commit
the
impropriety
of
the
expedition
.
After
a
few
minutes
more
of
hopeless
lingering
about
—
till
even
Miss
Leaf
said
they
had
better
wait
no
longer
—
mistress
and
maid
took
a
farewell
nearly
as
pathetic
as
if
they
had
been
really
Arctic
voyagers
,
and
plunged
right
into
the
dusty
glare
and
hurrying
crowd
of
the
"
sunny
side
"
of
Holborn
in
July
.
A
strange
sensation
,
and
yet
there
was
something
exhilarating
in
it
.
The
intense
solitude
that
there
is
in
a
London
crowd
these
country
girls
—
for
Miss
Hilary
herself
was
no
more
than
a
girl
—
could
not
as
yet
realize
.
They
only
felt
the
life
of
it
;
stirring
,
active
,
incessantly
moving
life
;
even
though
it
was
of
a
kind
that
they
knew
as
little
of
it
as
the
crowd
did
of
them
.
Nothing
struck
Hilary
more
than
the
self-absorbed
look
of
passers-by
:
each
so
busy
on
his
own
affairs
,
that
,
in
spite
of
Selina
's
alarm
,
for
all
notice
taken
of
them
,
they
might
as
well
be
walking
among
the
cows
and
horses
in
Stowbury
field
.
Poor
old
Stowbury
!
They
felt
how
far
away
they
were
from
it
when
a
ragged
,
dirty
,
vicious
looking
girl
offered
them
a
moss
rose
bud
for
"
one
penny
,
only
one
penny
;
"
which
Elizabeth
,
lagging
behind
,
bought
,
and
found
it
only
a
broken
off
bud
stuck
on
to
a
bit
of
wire
.
"
That
's
London
ways
,
I
suppose
,
"
said
she
,
severely
,
and
became
so
misanthropic
that
she
would
hardly
vouchsafe
a
glance
to
the
hand
some
square
they
turned
into
,
and
merely
observed
of
the
tall
houses
,
taller
than
any
Hilary
had
ever
seen
,
that
she
"
would
n't
fancy
running
up
and
down
them
stairs
.
"
But
Hilary
was
cheerful
in
spite
of
all
.
She
was
glad
to
be
in
this
region
,
which
,
theoretically
,
she
knew
by
heart
—
glad
to
find
herself
in
the
body
,
where
in
the
spirit
she
had
come
so
many
a
time
.
The
mere
consciousness
of
this
seemed
to
refresh
her
.
She
thought
she
would
be
much
happier
in
London
;
that
in
the
long
years
to
come
that
must
be
borne
,
it
would
be
good
for
her
to
have
something
to
do
as
well
as
to
hope
for
;
something
to
fight
with
as
well
as
to
endure
.
Now
more
than
ever
came
pulsing
in
and
out
of
her
memory
a
line
once
repeated
in
her
hearing
,
with
an
observation
of
how
"
true
"
it
was
.
And
though
originally
it
was
applied
by
a
man
to
a
woman
,
and
she
smiled
sometimes
to
think
how
"
unfeminine
"
some
people
—
Selina
for
instance
—
would
consider
her
turning
it
the
other
way
,
still
she
did
so
.
She
believed
that
,
for
woman
as
for
man
,
that
is
the
purest
and
noblest
love
which
is
the
most
self-existent
,
most
independent
of
love
returned
;
and
which
can
say
,
each
to
the
other
equally
on
both
sides
,
that
the
whole
solemn
purpose
of
life
is
,
under
God
's
service
,
"
If
not
to
win
,
to
feel
more
worthy
thee
.
"
Such
thoughts
made
her
step
firmer
and
her
heart
lighter
;
so
that
she
hardly
noticed
the
distance
they
must
have
walked
till
the
close
London
air
began
to
oppress
her
,
and
the
smooth
glaring
London
pavements
made
her
Stowbury
feet
ache
sorely
.
"
Are
you
tired
,
Elizabeth
?
Well
,
we
'll
rest
soon
.
There
must
be
lodgings
near
here
.
Only
I
ca
n't
quite
make
out
—
"
As
Miss
Hilary
looked
up
to
the
name
of
the
street
the
maid
noticed
what
a
glow
came
into
her
mistress
's
face
,
pale
and
tired
as
it
was
.
Just
then
a
church
clock
struck
the
quarter
hour
.
"
That
must
be
St.
Pancras
.
And
this
—
yes
,
this
is
Burton
Street
,
Burton
Crescent
.
"
"
I
'm
sure
Missis
would
n't
like
to
live
there
;
"
observed
Elizabeth
,
eyeing
uneasily
the
gloomy
rez
de-chaussee
,
familiar
to
many
a
generation
of
struggling
respectability
,
where
,
in
the
decadence
of
the
season
,
every
second
house
bore
the
announcement
"
apartments
furnished
.
"
"
No
,
"
Miss
Hilary
replied
,
absently
.
Yet
she
continued
to
walk
up
and
down
the
whole
length
of
the
street
;
then
passed
out
into
the
dreary
,
deserted
looking
Crescent
,
where
the
trees
were
already
beginning
to
fade
;
not
,
however
,
into
the
bright
autumn
tint
of
country
woods
,
but
into
a
premature
withering
,
ugly
and
sad
to
behold
.
"
I
am
glad
he
is
not
here
—
glad
,
glad
!
"
thought
Hilary
,
as
she
realized
the
unutterable
dreariness
of
those
years
when
Robert
Lyon
lived
and
studied
in
his
garret
from
month
's
end
to
month
's
end
—
these
few
dusty
trees
being
the
sole
memento
of
the
green
country
life
in
which
he
had
been
brought
up
,
and
which
she
knew
he
so
passionately
loved
.
Now
she
could
understand
,
that
"
calenture
"
which
he
had
sometimes
jestingly
alluded
to
,
as
coming
upon
him
at
times
,
when
he
felt
literally
sick
for
the
sight
of
a
green
field
or
a
hedge
full
of
birds
.
She
wondered
whether
the
same
feeling
would
ever
come
upon
her
in
this
strange
desert
of
London
,
the
vastness
of
which
grew
upon
her
every
hour
.
She
was
glad
he
was
away
;
yes
,
heart
glad
!
And
yet
,
if
this
minute
she
could
only
have
seen
him
coming
round
the
Crescent
,
have
met
his
smile
,
and
the
firm
,
warm
clasp
of
his
hand
—
For
an
instant
there
rose
up
in
her
one
of
those
wild
,
rebellious
outcries
against
fate
,
when
to
have
to
waste
years
of
this
brief
life
of
ours
,
in
the
sort
of
semi-existence
that
living
is
,
apart
from
the
treasure
of
the
heart
and
delight
of
the
eyes
,
seems
so
cruelly
,
cruelly
hard
!
"
Miss
Hilary
.
"
She
started
,
and
"
put
herself
under
lock
and
key
"
immediately
.
"
Miss
Hilary
;
you
do
look
so
tired
!
"
"
Do
I
?
Then
we
will
go
and
sit
down
in
this
baker
's
shop
,
and
get
rested
and
fed
.
We
cannot
afford
to
wear
ourselves
out
,
you
know
.
We
have
a
great
deal
to
do
to-day
.
"
More
indeed
,
than
she
calculated
,
for
they
walked
up
one
street
and
down
another
,
investigating
at
least
twenty
lodgings
before
any
appeared
which
seemed
fit
for
them
.
Yet
some
place
must
be
found
where
Johanna
's
poor
,
tired
head
could
rest
that
night
.
At
last
,
completely
exhausted
,
with
that
oppressive
exhaustion
which
seems
to
crush
mind
as
well
as
body
after
a
day
's
wandering
in
London
.
Hilary
's
courage
began
to
ebb
.
Oh
for
an
arm
to
lean
on
,
a
voice
to
listen
for
,
a
brave
heart
to
come
to
her
side
,
saying
,
"
Do
not
be
afraid
,
there
are
two
of
us
!
"
And
she
yearned
,
with
an
absolutely
sick
yearning
such
as
only
a
woman
who
now
and
then
feels
the
utter
helplessness
of
her
womanhood
can
know
,
for
the
only
arm
she
cared
to
lean
on
,
the
only
voice
dear
enough
to
bring
her
comfort
,
the
only
heart
that
she
felt
she
could
trust
.
Poor
Hilary
!
And
yet
why
pity
her
?
To
her
three
alternatives
could
but
happen
:
were
Robert
Lyon
true
to
her
she
would
be
his
entirely
and
devotedly
,
to
the
end
of
her
days
;
did
he
forsake
her
,
she
would
forgive
him
should
he
die
,
she
would
be
faithful
to
him
eternally
.
Love
of
this
kind
may
know
anguish
,
but
not
the
sort
of
anguish
that
lesser
and
weaker
loves
do
.
If
it
is
certain
of
nothing
else
,
it
can
always
be
certain
of
itself
.
"
Its
will
is
strong
;
'
It
suffers
;
but
it
can
not
suffer
long
.
"
And
even
in
its
utmost
pangs
is
an
underlying
peace
which
often
approaches
to
absolute
joy
.
Hilary
roused
herself
,
and
bent
her
mind
steadily
on
lodgings
till
she
discovered
one
from
the
parlor
of
which
you
could
see
the
trees
of
Burton
Crescent
and
hear
the
sound
of
Saint
Pancras
's
clock
.
"
I
think
we
may
do
here
—
at
least
for
a
while
,
"
said
she
cheerfully
;
and
then
Elizabeth
heard
her
inquiring
if
an
extra
bedroom
could
be
had
if
necessary
.
There
was
only
one
small
attic
.
"
Ascott
never
could
put
up
with
that
,
"
said
Hilary
,
half
to
herself
.
Then
suddenly
—
"
I
think
I
will
see
Ascott
before
I
decide
.
Elizabeth
,
will
you
go
with
me
,
or
remain
here
?
"
"
I
'll
go
with
you
,
if
you
please
,
Miss
Hilary
.
"
"
If
you
please
,
"
sounded
not
unlike
,
"
if
I
please
,
"
and
Elizabeth
had
gloomed
over
a
little
.
"
Is
Mr.
Ascott
to
live
with
us
?
"
"
I
suppose
so
.
"
No
more
words
were
interchanged
till
they
reached
Gower
street
,
when
Miss
Hilary
observed
,
with
evident
surprise
,
what
a
handsome
street
it
was
.
"
I
must
have
made
some
mistake
.
Still
we
will
find
out
Mr.
Ascott
's
number
,
and
inquire
.
"
No
,
there
was
no
mistake
.
Mr.
Ascott
Leaf
had
lodged
there
for
three
months
,
but
had
given
up
his
rooms
that
very
morning
.
"
Where
had
he
gone
to
?
"
The
servant
—
a
London
lodging
house
servant
all
over
—
did
n't
know
;
but
she
fetched
the
landlady
,
who
was
after
the
same
pattern
of
the
dozen
London
landladies
with
whom
Hilary
had
that
day
made
acquaintance
,
only
a
little
more
Cockney
,
smirking
,
dirty
,
and
tawdrily
fine
.
"
Yes
,
Mr.
Leaf
had
gone
,
and
he
had
n't
left
no
address
.
Young
College
gentlemen
often
found
it
convenient
to
leave
no
address
.
P'raps
he
would
if
he
'd
known
there
would
be
a
young
lady
a
calling
to
see
him
.
"
"
I
am
Mr.
Leaf
's
aunt
,
"
said
Hilary
,
turning
as
hot
as
fire
.
"
Oh
,
in-deed
,
"
was
the
answer
,
with
civil
incredulousness
.
But
the
woman
was
sharp
of
perception
—
as
often-cheated
London
landladies
learn
to
be
.
After
looking
keenly
at
mistress
and
maid
,
she
changed
her
tone
;
nay
,
even
launched
out
into
praises
of
her
late
lodger
:
what
a
pleasant
gentleman
he
was
;
what
good
company
he
kept
,
and
how
he
had
promised
to
recommend
her
apartments
to
his
friends
.
"
And
as
for
the
little
some'at
of
rent
,
Miss
—
tell
him
it
