fightfor
it
.
'
In
a
few
days
the
diphtheria
epidemic
in
the
hamlet
had
reached
terrible
proportions
.
There
had
been
one
death
,
others
were
expected
,
and
soon
Robert
in
his
brief
hours
at
home
could
find
no
relief
in
anything
,
so
heavy
was
the
oppression
of
the
day
's
memories
.
At
first
Catherine
for
the
child
's
sake
kept
away
;
but
the
little
Mary
was
weaned
,
had
a
good
Scotch
nurse
,
was
in
every
way
thriving
,
and
after
a
day
or
two
Catherine
's
craving
to
help
,
to
be
with
Robert
in
his
trouble
,
was
too
strong
to
be
withstood
.
But
she
dared
not
go
backwards
and
forwards
between
her
baby
and
the
diphtheritic
children
.
So
she
bethought
herself
of
Mrs.
Elsmere
's
servant
,
old
Martha
,
who
was
still
inhabiting
Mrs.
Elsmere
's
cottage
till
a
tenant
could
be
found
for
it
,
and
doing
good
service
meanwhile
as
an
occasional
parish
nurse
.
The
baby
and
its
nurse
went
over
to
the
cottage
.
Catherine
carried
the
child
there
,
wrapped
close
in
maternal
arms
,
and
leaving
her
on
old
Martha
's
lap
,
went
back
to
Robert
.
Then
she
and
he
devoted
themselves
to
a
hand-to-hand
fight
with
the
epidemic
.
At
the
climax
of
it
there
were
about
twenty
children
down
with
it
in
different
stages
,
and
seven
cases
of
fever
.
They
had
two
hospital
nurses
;
one
of
the
better
cottages
,
turned
into
a
sanatorium
,
accommodated
the
worst
cases
under
the
nurses
,
and
Robert
and
Catherine
,
directed
by
them
and
the
doctors
,
took
the
responsibility
of
the
rest
,
he
helping
to
nurse
the
boys
and
she
the
girls
.
Of
the
fever
cases
Sharland
's
wife
was
the
worst
.
A
feeble
creature
at
all
times
,
it
seemed
almost
impossible
she
could
weather
through
.
But
day
after
day
passed
,
and
by
dint
of
incessant
nursing
she
still
lived
.
A
youth
of
twenty
,
the
main
support
of
a
mother
and
five
or
six
younger
children
was
also
desperately
ill.
Robert
hardly
ever
had
him
out
of
his
thoughts
,
and
the
boy
's
dog-like
affection
for
the
rector
,
struggling
with
his
deathly
weakness
,
was
like
a
perpetual
exemplification
of
Ahriman
and
Ormuzd
—
the
power
of
life
struggling
with
the
power
of
death
.
It
was
a
fierce
fight
.
Presently
it
seemed
to
the
husband
and
wife
as
though
the
few
daily
hours
spent
at
the
rectory
were
mere
halts
between
successive
acts
of
battle
with
the
plague-fiend
—
a
more
real
and
grim
Grendel
of
the
Marshes
—
for
the
lives
of
children
.
Catherine
could
always
sleep
in
these
intervals
,
quietly
and
dreamlessly
;
Robert
very
soon
could
only
sleep
by
the
help
of
some
prescription
of
old
Meyrick
's
.
On
all
occasions
of
strain
since
his
boyhood
there
had
been
signs
in
him
of
a
certain
lack
of
constitutional
hardness
which
his
mother
knew
very
well
,
but
which
his
wife
was
only
just
beginning
to
recognise
.
However
,
he
laughed
to
scorn
any
attempt
to
restrain
his
constant
goings
and
comings
,
or
those
hours
of
night-nursing
,
in
which
,
as
the
hospital
nurses
were
the
first
to
admit
,
no
one
was
so
successful
as
the
rector
.
And
when
he
stood
up
on
Sundays
to
preach
in
Murewell
Church
,
the
worn
and
spiritual
look
of
the
man
,
and
the
knowledge
warm
at
each
heart
of
those
before
him
of
how
the
rector
not
only
talked
but
lived
,
carried
every
word
home
.
This
strain
upon
all
the
moral
and
physical
forces
,
however
,
strangely
enough
,
came
to
Robert
as
a
kind
of
relief
.
It
broke
through
a
tension
of
brain
which
of
late
had
become
an
oppression
.
And
for
both
him
and
Catherine
these
dark
times
had
moments
of
intensest
joy
,
points
of
white
light
illuminating
heaven
and
earth
.
There
were
cloudy
nights
—
wet
,
stormy
January
nights
—
when
sometimes
it
happened
to
them
to
come
back
both
together
from
the
hamlet
,
Robert
carrying
a
lantern
,
Catherine
clothed
in
waterproof
from
head
to
foot
,
walking
beside
him
,
the
rays
flashing
now
on
her
face
,
now
on
the
wooded
sides
of
the
lane
,
while
the
wind
howled
through
the
dark
vault
of
branches
overhead
.
And
then
,
as
they
talked
or
were
silent
,
suddenly
a
sense
of
the
intense
blessedness
of
this
comradeship
of
theirs
would
rise
like
a
flood
in
the
man
's
heart
,
and
he
would
fling
his
free
arm
round
her
,
forcing
her
to
stand
a
moment
in
the
January
night
and
storm
while
he
said
to
her
words
of
passionate
gratitude
,
of
faith
in
an
immortal
union
reaching
beyond
change
or
death
,
lost
in
a
kiss
which
was
a
sacrament
.
Then
there
were
the
moments
when
they
saw
their
child
,
held
high
in
Martha
's
arms
at
the
window
,
and
leaping
towards
her
mother
;
the
moments
when
one
pallid
sickly
being
after
another
was
pronounced
out
of
danger
;
and
by
the
help
of
them
the
weeks
passed
away
.
Nor
were
they
left
without
help
from
outside
.
Lady
Helen
Varley
no
sooner
heard
the
news
than
she
hurried
over
.
Robert
,
on
his
way
one
morning
from
one
cottage
to
another
,
saw
her
pony-carriage
in
the
lane
.
He
hastened
up
to
her
before
she
could
dismount
.
'
No
,
Lady
Helen
,
you
must
n't
come
here
,
'
he
said
to
her
peremptorily
,
as
she
held
out
her
hand
.
'
Oh
,
Mr.
Elsmere
,
let
me
.
My
boy
is
in
town
with
his
grandmother
.
Let
me
just
go
through
,
at
any
rate
,
and
see
what
I
can
send
you
.
'
Robert
shook
his
head
,
smiling
.
A
common
friend
of
theirs
and
hers
had
once
described
this
little
lady
to
Elsmere
by
a
French
sentence
which
originally
applied
to
the
Duchesse
de
Choiseul
.
'
Une
charmante
petite
fée
sortie
d'un
œuf
enchanté
!
'
—
so
it
ran
.
Certainly
,
as
Elsmere
looked
down
upon
her
now
,
fresh
from
those
squalid
death-stricken
hovels
behind
him
,
he
was
brought
more
abruptly
than
ever
upon
the
contrasts
of
life
.
Lady
Helen
wore
a
green
velvet
and
fur
mantle
,
in
the
production
of
which
even
Worth
had
felt
some
pride
;
a
little
green
velvet
bonnet
perched
on
her
fair
hair
;
one
tiny
hand
,
ungloved
,
seemed
ablaze
with
diamonds
;
there
were
opals
and
diamonds
somewhere
at
her
throat
,
gleaming
among
her
sables
.
But
she
wore
her
jewels
as
carelessly
as
she
wore
her
high
birth
,
her
quaint
irregular
prettiness
,
or
the
one
or
two
brilliant
gifts
which
made
her
sought
after
wherever
she
went
.
She
loved
her
opals
as
she
loved
all
bright
things
;
if
it
pleased
her
to
wear
them
in
the
morning
,
she
wore
them
;
and
in
five
minutes
she
was
capable
of
making
the
sourest
puritan
forget
to
frown
on
her
and
them
.
To
Robert
she
always
seemed
the
quintessence
of
breeding
,
of
aristocracy
at
their
best
.
All
her
freaks
,
her
sallies
,
her
absurdities
even
,
were
graceful
.
At
her
freest
and
gayest
there
were
things
in
her
—
restraints
,
reticences
,
perceptions
—
which
implied
behind
her
generations
of
rich
,
happy
,
important
people
,
with
ample
leisure
to
cultivate
all
the
more
delicate
niceties
of
social
feeling
and
relation
.
Robert
was
often
struck
by
the
curious
differences
between
her
and
Rose
.
Rose
was
far
the
handsomer
;
she
was
at
least
as
clever
;
and
she
had
a
strong
imperious
will
where
Lady
Helen
had
only
impulses
and
sympathies
and
engouements
.
But
Rose
belonged
to
the
class
which
struggles
,
where
each
individual
depends
on
himself
and
knows
it
.
Lady
Helen
had
never
struggled
for
anything
—
all
the
best
things
of
the
world
were
hers
so
easily
that
she
hardly
gave
them
a
thought
;
or
rather
,
what
she
had
gathered
without
pain
she
held
so
lightly
,
she
dispensed
so
lavishly
,
that
men
's
eyes
followed
her
,
fluttering
through
life
,
with
much
the
same
feeling
as
was
struck
from
Clough
's
radical
hero
by
the
peerless
Lady
Maria
—
'
Live
,
be
lovely
,
forget
us
,
be
beautiful
,
even
to
proudness
,
Even
for
their
poor
sakes
whose
happiness
is
to
behold
you
;
Live
,
be
uncaring
,
be
joyous
,
be
sumptuous
;
only
be
lovely
!
'
'
Uncaring
,
'
however
,
little
Lady
Helen
never
was
.
If
she
was
a
fairy
,
she
was
a
fairy
all
heart
,
all
frank
foolish
smiles
and
tears
.
'
No
,
Lady
Helen
—
no
,
'
Robert
said
again
.
'
This
is
no
place
for
you
,
and
we
are
getting
on
capitally
.
'
She
pouted
a
little
.
'
I
believe
you
and
Mrs.
Elsmere
are
just
killing
yourselves
all
in
a
corner
,
with
no
one
to
see
,
'
she
said
indignantly
.
'
If
you
wo
n't
let
me
see
,
I
shall
send
Sir
Harry
.
But
who
'
—
and
her
brown
fawn
's
eyes
ran
startled
over
the
cottages
before
her
—
'
who
,
Mr.
Elsmere
,
does
this
dreadful
place
belong
to
?
'
'
Mr
.
Wendover
,
'
said
Robert
shortly
.
'
Impossible
!
'
she
cried
incredulously
.
'
Why
,
I
would
n't
ask
one
of
my
dogs
to
sleep
there
,
'
and
she
pointed
to
the
nearest
hovel
,
whereof
the
walls
were
tottering
outwards
,
the
thatch
was
falling
to
pieces
,
and
the
windows
were
mended
with
anything
that
came
handy
—
rags
,
paper
,
or
the
crown
of
an
old
hat
.
'
No
,
you
would
be
ill
advised
,
'
said
Robert
,
looking
with
a
bitter
little
smile
at
the
sleek
dachshund
that
sat
blinking
beside
its
mistress
.
'
But
what
is
the
agent
about
?
'
Then
Robert
told
her
the
story
,
not
mincing
his
words
.
Since
the
epidemic
had
begun
,
all
that
sense
of
imaginative
attraction
which
had
been
reviving
in
him
towards
the
squire
had
been
simply
blotted
out
by
a
fierce
heat
of
indignation
.
When
he
thought
of
Mr.
Wendover
now
,
he
thought
of
him
as
the
man
to
whom
in
strict
truth
it
was
owing
that
helpless
children
died
in
choking
torture
.
All
that
agony
of
wrath
and
pity
he
had
gone
through
in
the
last
ten
days
sprang
to
his
lips
now
as
he
talked
to
Lady
Helen
,
and
poured
itself
into
his
words
.
'
Old
Meyrick
and
I
have
taken
things
into
our
own
hands
now
,
'
he
said
at
last
briefly
.
'
We
have
already
made
two
cottages
fairly
habitable
.
To-morrow
the
inspector
comes
.
I
told
the
people
yesterday
I
would
n't
be
bound
by
my
promise
a
day
longer
.
He
must
put
the
screw
on
Henslowe
,
and
if
Henslowe
dawdles
,
why
we
shall
just
drain
and
repair
and
sink
for
a
well
ourselves
.
I
can
find
the
money
somehow
.
At
present
we
get
all
our
water
from
one
of
the
farms
on
the
brow
.
'
'
Money
!
'
said
Lady
Helen
impulsively
,
her
looks
warm
with
sympathy
for
the
pale
harassed
young
rector
.
'
Sir
Harry
shall
send
you
as
much
as
you
want
.
And
anything
else
—
blankets
—
coals
?
'
Out
came
her
note-book
,
and
Robert
was
drawn
into
a
list
.
Then
,
full
of
joyfulness
at
being
allowed
to
help
,
she
gathered
up
her
reins
,
she
nodded
her
pretty
little
head
at
him
,
and
was
just
starting
off
her
ponies
at
full
speed
,
equally
eager
'
to
tell
Harry
'
and
to
ransack
Churton
for
the
stores
required
,
when
it
occurred
to
her
to
pull
up
again
.
'
Oh
,
Mr.
Elsmere
,
my
aunt
,
Lady
Charlotte
,
does
nothing
but
talk
about
your
sister-in-law
.
Why
did
you
keep
her
all
to
yourself
?
Is
it
kind
,
is
it
neighbourly
,
to
have
such
a
wonder
to
stay
with
you
and
let
nobody
share
?
'
'
A
wonder
?
'
said
Robert
,
amused
.
'
Rose
plays
the
violin
very
well
,
but
—
—
'
'
As
if
relations
ever
saw
one
in
proper
perspective
!
'
exclaimed
Lady
Helen
.
'
My
aunt
wants
to
be
allowed
to
have
her
in
town
next
season
if
you
will
all
let
her
.
I
think
she
would
find
it
fun
.
Aunt
Charlotte
knows
all
the
world
and
his
wife
.
And
if
I
'm
there
,
and
Miss
Leyburn
will
let
me
make
friends
with
her
,
why
,
you
know
,
I
can
just
protect
her
a
little
from
Aunt
Charlotte
!
'
The
little
laughing
face
bent
forward
again
;
Robert
,
smiling
,
raised
his
hat
,
and
the
ponies
whirled
her
off
.
In
anybody
else
Elsmere
would
have
thought
all
this
effusion
insincere
or
patronising
.
But
Lady
Helen
was
the
most
spontaneous
of
mortals
,
and
the
only
high-born
woman
he
had
ever
met
who
was
really
,
and
not
only
apparently
,
free
from
the
'
nonsense
of
rank
.
'
Robert
shrewdly
suspected
Lady
Charlotte
's
social
tolerance
to
be
a
mere
varnish
.
But
this
little
person
,
and
her
favourite
brother
Hugh
,
to
judge
from
the
accounts
of
him
,
must
always
have
found
life
too
romantic
,
too
wildly
and
delightfully
interesting
from
top
to
bottom
,
to
be
measured
by
any
but
romantic
standards
.
Next
day
Sir
Harry
Varley
,
a
great
burly
country
squire
,
who
adored
his
wife
,
kept
the
hounds
,
owned
a
model
estate
,
and
thanked
God
every
morning
that
he
was
an
Englishman
,
rode
over
to
Mile
End
.
Robert
,
who
had
just
been
round
the
place
with
the
inspector
and
was
dead
tired
,
had
only
energy
to
show
him
a
few
of
the
worst
enormities
.
Sir
Harry
,
leaving
a
cheque
behind
him
,
rode
off
with
a
discharge
of
strong
language
,
at
which
Robert
,
clergyman
as
he
was
,
only
grimly
smiled
.
A
few
days
later
Mr.
Wendover
's
crimes
as
a
landowner
,
his
agent
's
brutality
,
young
Elsmere
's
devotion
,
and
the
horrors
of
the
Mile
End
outbreak
,
were
in
everybody
's
mouths
.
The
county
was
roused
.
The
Radical
newspaper
came
out
on
the
Saturday
with
a
flaming
article
;
Robert
,
much
to
his
annoyance
,
found
himself
the
local
hero
;
and
money
began
to
come
in
to
him
freely
.
On
the
Monday
morning
Henslowe
appeared
on
the
scene
with
an
army
of
workmen
.
A
racy
communication
from
the
inspector
had
reached
him
two
days
before
,
so
had
a
copy
of
the
Churton
Advertiser
.
He
had
spent
Sunday
in
a
drinking
bout
,
turning
over
all
possible
plans
of
vengeance
and
evasion
.
Towards
the
evening
,
however
,
his
wife
,
a
gaunt
clever
Scotchwoman
,
who
saw
ruin
before
them
,
and
had
on
occasion
an
even
sharper
tongue
than
her
husband
,
managed
to
capture
the
supplies
of
brandy
in
the
house
and
effectually
conceal
them
.
Then
she
waited
for
the
moment
of
collapse
which
came
on
towards
morning
,
and
with
her
hands
on
her
hips
she
poured
into
him
a
volley
of
home-truths
which
not
even
Sir
Harry
Varley
could
have
bettered
.
Henslowe
's
nerve
gave
way
.
He
went
out
at
daybreak
,
white
and
sullen
,
to
look
for
workmen
.
Robert
,
standing
on
the
step
of
a
cottage
,
watched
him
give
his
orders
,
and
took
vigilant
note
of
their
substance
.
They
embodied
the
inspector
's
directions
,
and
the
rector
was
satisfied
.
Henslowe
was
obliged
to
pass
him
on
his
way
to
another
group
of
houses
.
At
first
he
affected
not
to
see
the
rector
,
then
suddenly
Elsmere
was
conscious
that
the
man
's
bloodshot
eyes
were
on
him
.
Such
a
look
!
If
hate
could
have
killed
,
Elsmere
would
have
fallen
where
he
stood
.
Yet
the
man
's
hand
mechanically
moved
to
his
hat
,
as
though
the
spell
of
his
wife
's
harangue
were
still
potent
over
his
shaking
muscles
.
Robert
took
no
notice
whatever
of
the
salutation
.
He
stood
calmly
watching
till
Henslowe
disappeared
into
the
last
house
.
Then
he
called
one
of
the
agent
's
train
,
heard
what
was
to
be
done
,
gave
a
sharp
nod
of
assent
,
and
turned
on
his
heel
.
So
far
so
good
:
the
servant
had
been
made
to
feel
,
but
he
wished
it
had
been
the
master
.
Oh
,
those
three
little
emaciated
creatures
whose
eyes
he
had
closed
,
whose
clammy
hands
he
had
held
to
the
last
!
—
what
reckoning
should
be
asked
for
their
undeserved
torments
when
the
Great
Account
came
to
be
made
up
?
Meanwhile
not
a
sound
apparently
of
all
this
reached
the
squire
in
the
sublime
solitude
of
Murewell
.
A
fortnight
had
passed
.
Henslowe
had
been
conquered
,
the
county
had
rushed
to
Elsmere
's
help
,
and
neither
he
nor
Mrs.
Darcy
had
made
a
sign
.
Their
life
was
so
abnormal
that
it
was
perfectly
possible
they
had
heard
nothing
.
Elsmere
wondered
when
they
would
hear
.
The
rector
's
chief
help
and
support
all
through
had
been
old
Meyrick
.
The
parish
doctor
had
been
in
bed
with
rheumatism
when
the
epidemic
broke
out
,
and
Robert
,
feeling
it
a
comfort
to
be
rid
of
him
,
had
thrown
the
whole
business
into
the
hands
of
Meyrick
and
his
son
.
This
son
was
nominally
his
father
's
junior
partner
,
but
as
he
was
,
besides
,
a
young
and
brilliant
M.D.
fresh
from
a
great
hospital
,
and
his
father
was
just
a
poor
old
general
practitioner
,
with
the
barest
qualification
,
and
only
forty
years
'
experience
to
recommend
him
,
it
will
easily
be
imagined
that
the
subordination
was
purely
nominal
.
Indeed
young
Meyrick
was
fast
ousting
his
father
in
all
directions
,
and
the
neighbourhood
,
which
had
so
far
found
itself
unable
either
to
enter
or
to
quit
this
mortal
scene
without
old
Meyrick
's
assistance
,
was
beginning
to
send
notes
to
the
house
in
Churton
High
Street
,
whereon
the
superscription
'
Dr
.
Edward
Meyrick
'
was
underlined
with
ungrateful
emphasis
.
The
father
took
his
deposition
very
quietly
.
Only
on
Murewell
Hall
would
he
allow
no
trespassing
,
and
so
long
as
his
son
left
him
undisturbed
there
,
he
took
his
effacement
in
other
quarters
with
perfect
meekness
.
Young
Elsmere
's
behaviour
to
him
,
however
,
at
a
time
when
all
the
rest
of
the
Churton
world
was
beginning
to
hold
him
cheap
and
let
him
see
it
,
had
touched
the
old
man
's
heart
,
and
he
was
the
rector
's
slave
in
this
Mile
End
business
.
Edward
Meyrick
would
come
whirling
in
and
out
of
the
hamlet
once
a
day
.
Robert
was
seldom
sorry
to
see
the
back
of
him
.
His
attainments
,
of
course
,
were
useful
,
but
his
cocksureness
was
irritating
,
and
his
manner
to
his
father
abominable
.
The
father
,
on
the
other
hand
,
came
over
in
the
shabby
pony-cart
he
had
driven
for
the
last
forty
years
,
and
having
himself
no
press
of
business
,
would
spend
hours
with
the
rector
over
the
cases
,
giving
them
an
infinity
of
patient
watching
,
and
amusing
Robert
by
the
cautious
hostility
he
would
allow
himself
every
now
and
then
towards
his
son
's
new-fangled
devices
.
At
first
Meyrick
showed
himself
fidgety
as
to
the
squire
.
Had
he
been
seen
,
been
heard
from
?
He
received
Robert
's
sharp
negatives
with
long
sighs
,
but
Robert
clearly
saw
that
,
like
the
rest
of
the
world
,
he
was
too
much
afraid
of
Mr.
Wendover
to
go
and
beard
him
.
Some
months
before
,
as
it
happened
,
Elsmere
had
told
him
the
story
of
his
encounter
with
the
squire
,
and
had
been
a
good
deal
moved
and
surprised
by
the
old
man
's
concern
.
One
day
,
about
three
weeks
from
the
beginning
of
the
outbreak
,
when
the
state
of
things
in
the
hamlet
was
beginning
decidedly
to
mend
,
Meyrick
arrived
for
his
morning
round
,
much
preoccupied
.
He
hurried
his
work
a
little
,
and
after
it
was
done
asked
Robert
to
walk
up
the
road
with
him
.
'
I
have
seen
the
squire
,
sir
,
'
he
said
,
turning
on
his
companion
with
a
certain
excitement
.
Robert
flushed
.
'
Have
you
?
'
he
replied
with
his
hands
behind
him
,
and
a
world
of
expression
in
his
sarcastic
voice
.
'
You
misjudge
him
!
You
misjudge
him
,
Mr.
Elsmere
!
'
the
old
man
said
tremulously
.
'
I
told
you
he
could
know
nothing
of
this
business
—
and
he
did
n't
!
He
has
been
in
town
part
of
the
time
,
and
down
here
—
how
is
he
to
know
anything
?
He
sees
nobody
.
That
man
Henslowe
,
sir
,
must
be
a
real
bad
fellow
.
'
'
Do
n't
abuse
the
man
,
'
said
Robert
,
looking
up
.
'
It
's
not
worth
while
,
when
you
can
say
your
mind
of
the
master
.
'
Old
Meyrick
sighed
.
'
Well
,
'
said
Robert
,
after
a
moment
,
his
lip
drawn
and
quivering
,
'
you
told
him
the
story
,
I
suppose
?
Seven
deaths
,
is
it
,
by
now
?
Well
,
what
sort
of
impression
did
these
unfortunate
accidents
'
—
and
he
smiled
—
'
produce
?
'
'
He
talked
of
sending
money
,
'
said
Meyrick
doubtfully
;
'
he
said
he
would
have
Henslowe
up
and
inquire
.
He
seemed
put
about
and
annoyed
.
Oh
,
Mr.
Elsmere
,
you
think
too
hardly
of
the
squire
,
that
you
do
!
'
They
strolled
on
together
in
silence
.
Robert
was
not
inclined
to
discuss
the
matter
.
But
old
Meyrick
seemed
to
be
labouring
under
some
suppressed
emotion
,
and
presently
he
began
upon
his
own
experiences
as
a
doctor
of
the
Wendover
family
.
He
had
already
broached
the
subject
more
or
less
vaguely
with
Robert
.
Now
,
however
,
he
threw
his
medical
reserve
,
generally
his
strongest
characteristic
,
to
the
winds
.
He
insisted
on
telling
his
companion
,
who
listened
reluctantly
,
the
whole
miserable
and
ghastly
story
of
the
old
squire
's
suicide
.
He
described
the
heir
's
summons
,
his
arrival
just
in
time
for
the
last
scene
with
all
its
horrors
,
and
that
mysterious
condition
of
the
squire
for
some
months
afterwards
,
when
no
one
,
not
even
Mrs.
Darcy
,
had
been
admitted
to
the
Hall
,
and
old
Meyrick
,
directed
at
intervals
by
a
great
London
doctor
,
had
been
the
only
spectator
of
Roger
Wendover
's
physical
and
mental
breakdown
,
the
only
witness
of
that
dark
consciousness
of
inherited
fatality
which
at
that
period
of
his
life
not
even
the
squire
's
iron
will
had
been
able
wholly
to
conceal
.
Robert
,
whose
attention
was
inevitably
roused
after
a
while
,
found
himself
with
some
curiosity
realising
the
squire
from
another
man
's
totally
different
point
of
view
.
Evidently
Meyrick
had
seen
him
at
such
moments
as
wring
from
the
harshest
nature
whatever
grains
of
tenderness
,
of
pity
,
or
of
natural
human
weakness
may
be
in
it
.
And
it
was
clear
,
too
,
that
the
squire
,
conscious
perhaps
of
a
shared
secret
,
and
feeling
a
certain
soothing
influence
in
the
naïveté
and
simplicity
of
the
old
man
's
sympathy
,
had
allowed
himself
at
times
,
in
the
years
succeeding
that
illness
of
his
,
an
amount
of
unbending
in
Meyrick
's
presence
,
such
as
probably
no
other
mortal
had
ever
witnessed
in
him
since
his
earliest
youth
.
And
yet
how
childish
the
old
man
's
whole
mental
image
of
the
squire
was
after
all
!
What
small
account
it
made
of
the
subtleties
,
the
gnarled
intricacies
and
contradictions
of
such
a
character
!
Horror
at
his
father
's
end
,
and
dread
of
a
like
fate
for
himself
!
Robert
did
not
know
very
much
of
the
squire
,
but
he
knew
enough
to
feel
sure
that
this
confiding
indulgent
theory
of
Meyrick
's
was
ludicrously
far
from
the
mark
as
an
adequate
explanation
of
Mr.
Wendover
's
later
life
.
Presently
Meyrick
became
aware
of
the
sort
of
tacit
resistance
which
his
companion
's
mind
was
opposing
to
his
own
.
He
dropped
the
wandering
narrative
he
was
busy
upon
with
a
sigh
.
'
Ah
well
,
I
daresay
it
's
hard
,
it
's
hard
,
'
he
said
with
patient
acquiescence
in
his
voice
,
'
to
believe
a
man
ca
n't
help
himself
.
I
daresay
we
doctors
get
to
muddle
up
right
and
wrong
.
But
if
ever
there
was
a
man
sick
in
mind
—
for
all
his
book-learning
they
talk
about
—
and
sick
in
soul
,
that
man
is
the
squire
.
'
Robert
looked
at
him
with
a
softer
expression
.
There
was
a
new
dignity
about
the
simple
old
man
.
The
old-fashioned
deference
,
which
had
never
let
him
forget
in
speaking
to
Robert
that
he
was
speaking
to
a
man
of
family
,
and
which
showed
itself
in
all
sorts
of
antiquated
locutions
which
were
a
torment
to
his
son
,
had
given
way
to
something
still
more
deeply
ingrained
.
His
gaunt
figure
,
with
the
stoop
,
and
the
spectacles
and
the
long
straight
hair
—
like
the
figure
of
a
superannuated
schoolmaster
—
assumed
,
as
he
turned
again
to
his
younger
companion
,
something
of
authority
,
something
almost
of
stateliness
.
'
Ah
,
Mr.
Elsmere
,
'
he
said
,
laying
his
shrunk
hand
on
the
younger
man
's
sleeve
and
speaking
with
emotion
,
'
you
're
very
good
to
the
poor
.
We
're
all
proud
of
you
—
you
and
your
good
lady
.
But
when
you
were
coming
,
and
I
heard
tell
all
about
you
,
I
thought
of
my
poor
squire
,
and
I
said
to
myself
,
"
That
young
man
'll
be
good
to
him
.
The
squire
will
make
friends
with
him
,
and
Mr.
Elsmere
will
have
a
good
wife
—
and
there
'll
be
children
born
to
him
—
and
the
squire
will
take
an
interest
—
and
—
and
—
maybe
—
—
'
"
The
old
man
paused
.
Robert
grasped
his
hand
silently
.
'
And
there
was
something
in
the
way
between
you
,
'
the
speaker
went
on
,
sighing
.
'
I
daresay
you
were
quite
right
—
quite
right
.
I
ca
n't
judge
.
Only
there
are
ways
of
doing
a
thing
.
And
it
was
a
last
chance
;
and
now
its
missed
—
it
's
missed
.
Ah
!
it
's
no
good
talking
;
he
has
a
heart
—
he
has
!
Many
's
the
kind
thing
he
's
done
in
old
days
for
me
and
mine
—
I
'll
never
forget
them
!
But
all
these
last
few
years
—
oh
,
I
know
,
I
know
.
You
ca
n't
go
and
shut
your
heart
up
,
and
fly
in
the
face
of
all
the
duties
the
Lord
laid
on
you
,
without
losing
yourself
and
setting
the
Lord
against
you
.
But
it
is
pitiful
,
Mr.
Elsmere
,
it
's
pitiful
!
'
It
seemed
to
Robert
suddenly
as
though
there
was
a
Divine
breath
passing
through
the
wintry
lane
and
through
the
shaking
voice
of
the
old
man
.
Beside
the
spirit
looking
out
of
those
wrinkled
eyes
,
his
own
hot
youth
,
its
justest
resentments
,
its
most
righteous
angers
,
seemed
crude
,
harsh
,
inexcusable
.
'
Thank
you
,
Meyrick
,
thank
you
,
and
God
bless
you
!
Do
n't
imagine
I
will
forget
a
word
you
have
said
to
me
.
'
The
rector
shook
the
hand
he
held
warmly
twice
over
,
a
gentle
smile
passed
over
Meyrick
's
ageing
face
,
and
they
parted
.
That
night
it
fell
to
Robert
to
sit
up
after
midnight
with
John
Allwood
,
the
youth
of
twenty
whose
case
had
been
a
severer
tax
on
the
powers
of
the
little
nursing
staff
than
perhaps
any
other
.
Mother
and
neighbours
were
worn
out
,
and
it
was
difficult
to
spare
a
hospital
nurse
for
long
together
from
the
diphtheria
cases
.
Robert
,
therefore
,
had
insisted
during
the
preceding
week
on
taking
alternate
nights
with
one
of
the
nurses
.
During
the
first
hours
before
midnight
he
slept
soundly
on
a
bed
made
up
in
the
ground-floor
room
of
the
little
sanatorium
.
Then
at
twelve
the
nurse
called
him
,
and
he
went
out
,
his
eyes
still
heavy
with
sleep
,
into
a
still
frosty
winter
's
night
.
After
so
much
rain
,
so
much
restlessness
of
wind
and
cloud
,
the
silence
and
the
starry
calm
of
it
were
infinitely
welcome
.
The
sharp
cold
air
cleared
his
brain
and
braced
his
nerves
,
and
by
the
time
he
reached
the
cottage
whither
he
was
bound
,
he
was
broad
awake
.
He
opened
the
door
softly
,
passed
through
the
lower
room
,
crowded
with
sleeping
children
,
climbed
the
narrow
stairs
as
noiselessly
as
possible
,
and
found
himself
in
a
garret
,
faintly
lit
,
a
bed
in
one
corner
and
a
woman
sitting
beside
it
.
The
woman
glided
away
,
the
rector
looked
carefully
at
the
table
of
instructions
hanging
over
the
bed
,
assured
himself
that
wine
and
milk
and
beef
essence
and
medicines
were
ready
to
his
hand
,
put
out
his
watch
on
the
wooden
table
near
the
bed
,
and
sat
him
down
to
his
task
.
The
boy
was
sleeping
the
sleep
of
weakness
.
Food
was
to
be
given
every
half-hour
,
and
in
this
perpetual
impulse
to
the
system
lay
his
only
chance
.
The
rector
had
his
Greek
Testament
with
him
,
and
could
just
read
it
by
the
help
of
the
dim
light
.
But
after
a
while
,
as
the
still
hours
passed
on
,
it
dropped
on
to
his
knee
,
and
he
sat
thinking
—
endlessly
thinking
.
The
young
labourer
lay
motionless
beside
him
,
the
lines
of
the
long
emaciated
frame
showing
through
the
bed-clothes
.
The
night-light
flickered
on
the
broken
discoloured
ceiling
;
every
now
and
then
a
mouse
scratched
in
the
plaster
;
the
mother
's
heavy
breathing
came
from
the
next
room
;
sometimes
a
dog
barked
or
an
owl
cried
outside
.
Otherwise
deep
silence
,
such
silence
as
drives
the
soul
back
upon
itself
.
Elsmere
was
conscious
of
a
strange
sense
of
moral
expansion
.
The
stern
judgments
,
the
passionate
condemnations
which
his
nature
housed
so
painfully
,
seemed
lifted
from
it
.
The
soul
breathed
an
'
ampler
æther
,
a
diviner
air
.
'
Oh
!
the
mysteries
of
life
and
character
,
the
subtle
inexhaustible
claims
of
pity
!
The
problems
which
hang
upon
our
being
here
;
its
mixture
of
elements
;
the
pressure
of
its
inexorable
physical
environment
;
the
relations
of
mind
to
body
,
of
man
's
poor
will
to
this
tangled
tyrannous
life
—
it
was
along
these
old
,
old
lines
his
thought
went
painfully
groping
;
and
always
at
intervals
it
came
back
to
the
squire
,
pondering
,
seeking
to
understand
,
a
new
soberness
,
a
new
humility
and
patience
entering
in
.
And
yet
it
was
not
Meyrick
's
facts
exactly
that
had
brought
this
about
.
Robert
thought
them
imperfect
,
only
half
true
.
Rather
was
it
the
spirit
of
love
,
of
infinite
forbearance
in
which
the
simpler
,
duller
nature
had
declared
itself
that
had
appealed
to
him
,
nay
,
reproached
him
.
Then
these
thoughts
led
him
on
farther
and
farther
from
man
to
God
,
from
human
defect
to
the
Eternal
Perfectness
.
Never
once
during
those
hours
did
Elsmere
's
hand
fail
to
perform
its
needed
service
to
the
faint
sleeper
beside
him
,
and
yet
that
night
was
one
long
dream
and
strangeness
to
him
,
nothing
real
anywhere
but
consciousness
,
and
God
its
source
;
the
soul
attacked
every
now
and
then
by
phantom
stabs
of
doubt
,
of
bitter
brief
misgiving
,
as
the
barriers
of
sense
between
it
and
the
eternal
enigma
grew
more
and
more
transparent
,
wrestling
awhile
,
and
then
prevailing
.
And
each
golden
moment
of
cer
tainty
,
of
conquering
faith
,
seemed
to
Robert
in
some
sort
a
gift
from
Catherine
's
hand
.
It
was
she
who
led
him
through
the
shades
;
it
was
her
voice
murmuring
in
his
ear
.
When
the
first
gray
dawn
began
to
creep
in
slowly
perceptible
waves
into
the
room
,
Elsmere
felt
as
though
not
hours
but
years
of
experience
lay
between
him
and
the
beginnings
of
his
watch
.
'
It
is
by
these
moments
we
should
date
our
lives
,
'
he
murmured
to
himself
as
he
rose
;
'
they
are
the
only
real
landmarks
.
'
It
was
eight
o'clock
,
and
the
nurse
who
was
to
relieve
him
had
come
.
The
results
of
the
night
for
his
charge
were
good
:
the
strength
had
been
maintained
,
the
pulse
was
firmer
,
the
temperature
lower
.
The
boy
,
throwing
off
his
drowsiness
,
lay
watching
the
rector
's
face
as
he
talked
in
an
undertone
to
the
nurse
,
his
haggard
eyes
full
of
a
dumb
friendly
wistfulness
.
When
Robert
bent
over
him
to
say
good-bye
,
this
expression
brightened
into
something
more
positive
,
and
Robert
left
him
,
feeling
at
last
that
there
was
a
promise
of
life
in
his
look
and
touch
.
In
another
moment
he
had
stepped
out
into
the
January
morning
.
It
was
clear
and
still
as
the
night
had
been
.
In
the
east
there
was
a
pale
promise
of
sun
;
the
reddish-brown
trunks
of
the
fir
woods
had
just
caught
it
,
and
rose
faintly
glowing
in
endless
vistas
and
colonnades
one
behind
the
other
.
The
flooded
river
itself
rushed
through
the
bridge
as
full
and
turbid
as
before
,
but
all
the
other
water
surfaces
had
gleaming
films
of
ice
.
The
whole
ruinous
place
had
a
clean
,
almost
a
festal
air
under
the
touch
of
the
frost
,
while
on
the
side
of
the
hill
leading
to
Murewell
,
tree
rose
above
tree
,
the
delicate
network
of
their
wintry
twigs
and
branches
set
against
stretches
of
frost-whitened
grass
,
till
finally
they
climbed
into
the
pale
all-completing
blue
.
In
a
copse
close
at
hand
there
were
woodcutters
at
work
,
and
piles
of
gleaming
laths
shining
through
the
underwood
.
Robins
hopped
along
the
frosty
road
,
and
as
he
walked
on
through
the
houses
towards
the
bridge
,
Robert
's
quick
ear
distinguished
that
most
wintry
of
all
sounds
—
the
cry
of
a
flock
of
fieldfares
passing
overhead
.
As
he
neared
the
bridge
he
suddenly
caught
sight
of
a
figure
upon
it
,
the
figure
of
a
man
wrapped
in
a
large
Inverness
cloak
,
leaning
against
the
stone
parapet
.
With
a
start
he
recognised
the
squire
.
He
went
up
to
him
without
an
instant
's
slackening
of
his
steady
step
.
The
squire
heard
the
sound
of
some
one
coming
,
turned
,
and
saw
the
rector
.
'
I
am
glad
to
see
you
here
,
Mr.
Wendover
,
'
said
Robert
,
stopping
and
holding
out
his
hand
.
'
I
meant
to
have
come
to
talk
to
you
about
this
place
this
morning
.
I
ought
to
have
come
before
.
'
He
spoke
gently
,
and
quite
simply
,
almost
as
if
they
had
parted
the
day
before
.
The
squire
touched
his
hand
for
an
instant
.
'
You
may
not
,
perhaps
,
be
aware
,
Mr.
Elsmere
,
'
he
said
,
endeavouring
to
speak
with
all
his
old
hauteur
,
while
his
heavy
lips
twitched
nervously
,
'
that
,
for
one
reason
and
another
,
I
knew
nothing
of
the
epidemic
here
till
yesterday
,
when
Meyrick
told
me
.
'
'
I
heard
from
Mr.
Meyrick
that
it
was
so
.
As
you
are
here
now
,
Mr.
Wendover
,
and
I
am
in
no
great
hurry
to
get
home
,
may
I
take
you
through
and
show
you
the
people
?
'
The
squire
at
last
looked
at
him
straight
—
at
the
face
worn
and
pale
,
yet
still
so
extraordinarily
youthful
,
in
which
something
of
the
solemnity
and
high
emotion
of
the
night
seemed
to
be
still
lingering
.
'
Are
you
just
come
?
'
he
said
abruptly
,
'
or
are
you
going
back
?
'
'
I
have
been
here
through
the
night
,
sitting
up
with
one
of
the
fever
cases
.
It
's
hard
work
for
the
nurses
,
and
the
relations
sometimes
,
without
help
.
'
The
squire
moved
on
mechanically
towards
the
village
,
and
Robert
moved
beside
him
.
'
And
Mrs.
Elsmere
?
'
'
Mrs
.
Elsmere
was
here
most
of
yesterday
.
She
used
to
stay
the
night
when
the
diphtheria
was
at
its
worst
;
but
there
are
only
four
anxious
cases
left
—
the
rest
all
convalescent
.
'
The
squire
said
no
more
,
and
they
turned
into
the
lane
,
where
the
ice
lay
thick
in
the
deep
ruts
,
and
on
either
hand
curls
of
smoke
rose
into
the
clear
cold
sky
.
The
squire
looked
about
him
with
eyes
which
no
detail
escaped
.
Robert
,
without
a
word
of
comment
,
pointed
out
this
feature
and
that
,
showed
where
Henslowe
had
begun
repairs
,
where
the
new
well
was
to
be
,
what
the
water
supply
had
been
till
now
,
drew
the
squire
's
attention
to
the
roofs
,
the
pigstyes
,
the
drainage
,
or
rather
complete
absence
of
drainage
,
and
all
in
the
dry
voice
of
some
one
going
through
a
catalogue
.
Word
had
already
fled
like
wildfire
through
the
hamlet
that
the
squire
was
there
.
Children
and
adults
,
a
pale
emaciated
crew
,
poured
out
into
the
wintry
air
to
look
.
The
squire
knit
his
brows
with
annoyance
as
the
little
crowd
in
the
lane
grew
.
Robert
took
no
notice
.
Presently
he
pushed
open
the
door
of
the
house
where
he
had
spent
the
night
.
In
the
kitchen
a
girl
of
sixteen
was
clearing
away
the
various
nondescript
heaps
on
which
the
family
had
slept
,
and
was
preparing
breakfast
.
The
squire
looked
at
the
floor
.
'
I
thought
I
understood
from
Henslowe
,
'
he
muttered
,
as
though
to
himself
,
'
that
there
were
no
mud
floors
left
on
the
estate
—
—
'
'
There
are
only
three
houses
in
Mile
End
without
them
,
'
said
Robert
,
catching
what
he
said
.
They
went
upstairs
,
and
the
mother
stood
open-eyed
while
the
squire
's
restless
look
gathered
in
the
details
of
the
room
,
the
youth
's
face
,
as
he
lay
back
on
his
pillows
,
whiter
than
they
,
exhausted
and
yet
refreshed
by
the
sponging
with
vinegar
and
water
which
the
mother
had
just
been
administering
to
him
;
the
bed
,
the
gaps
in
the
worm-eaten
boards
,
the
spots
in
the
roof
where
the
plaster
bulged
inward
,
as
though
a
snake
would
bring
it
down
;
the
coarse
china
shepherdesses
on
the
mantel-shelf
,
and
the
flowers
which
Catherine
had
put
there
the
day
before
.
He
asked
a
few
questions
,
said
an
abrupt
word
or
two
to
the
mother
,
and
they
tramped
downstairs
again
and
into
the
street
.
Then
Robert
took
him
across
to
the
little
improvised
hospital
,
saying
to
him
on
the
threshold
,
with
a
moment
's
hesitation
,
—
'
As
you
know
,
for
adults
there
is
not
much
risk
,
but
there
is
always
some
risk
—
—
'
A
peremptory
movement
of
the
squire
's
hand
stopped
him
,
and
they
went
in
.
In
the
downstairs
room
were
half-a-dozen
convalescents
,
pale
,
shadowy
creatures
,
four
of
them
under
ten
,
sitting
up
in
their
little
cots
,
each
of
them
with
a
red
flannel
jacket
drawn
from
Lady
Helen
's
stores
,
and
enjoying
the
breakfast
which
a
nurse
in
white
cap
and
apron
had
just
brought
them
.
Upstairs
,
in
a
room
from
which
a
lath-and-plaster
partition
had
been
removed
,
and
which
had
been
adapted
,
warmed
and
ventilated
by
various
contrivances
to
which
Robert
and
Meyrick
had
devoted
their
practical
minds
,
were
the
'
four
anxious
cases
.
'
One
of
them
,
a
little
creature
of
six
,
one
of
Sharland
's
black-eyed
children
,
was
sitting
up
,
supported
by
the
nurse
,
and
coughing
its
little
life
away
.
As
soon
as
he
saw
it
,
Robert
's
step
quickened
.
He
forgot
the
squire
altogether
.
He
came
and
stood
by
the
bedside
,
rigidly
still
,
for
he
could
do
nothing
,
but
his
whole
soul
absorbed
in
that
horrible
struggle
for
air
.
How
often
he
had
seen
it
now
,
and
never
without
the
same
wild
sense
of
revolt
and
protest
!
At
last
the
hideous
membrane
was
loosened
,
the
child
got
relief
,
and
lay
back
white
and
corpse-like
,
but
with
a
pitiful
momentary
relaxation
of
the
drawn
lines
on
its
little
brow
.
Robert
stooped
and
kissed
the
damp
tiny
hand
.
The
child
's
eyes
remained
shut
,
but
the
fingers
made
a
feeble
effort
to
close
on
his
.
'
Mr
.
Elsmere
,
'
said
the
nurse
,
a
motherly
body
,
looking
at
him
with
friendly
admonition
,
'
if
you
do
n't
go
home
and
rest
you
'll
be
ill
too
,
and
I
'd
like
to
know
who
'll
be
the
better
for
that
?
'
'
How
many
deaths
?
'
asked
the
squire
abruptly
,
touching
Elsmere
's
arm
,
and
so
reminding
Robert
of
his
existence
.
'
Meyrick
spoke
of
deaths
.
'
He
stood
near
the
door
,
but
his
eyes
were
fixed
on
the
little
bed
,
on
the
half-swooning
child
.
'
Seven
,
'
said
Robert
,
turning
upon
him
.
'
Five
of
diphtheria
,
two
of
fever
.
That
little
one
will
go
too
.
'
'
Horrible
!
'
said
the
squire
under
his
breath
,
and
then
moved
to
the
door
.
The
two
men
went
downstairs
in
perfect
silence
.
Below
,
in
the
convalescent
room
,
the
children
were
capable
of
smiles
,
and
of
quick
coquettish
beckonings
to
the
rector
to
come
and
make
game
with
them
as
usual
.
But
he
could
only
kiss
his
hand
to
them
and
escape
,
for
there
was
more
to
do
.
He
took
the
squire
through
all
the
remaining
fever
cases
,
and
into
several
of
the
worst
cottages
—
Milsom
's
among
them
—
and
when
it
was
all
over
they
emerged
into
the
lane
again
,
near
the
bridge
.
There
was
still
a
crowd
of
children
and
women
hanging
about
,
watching
eagerly
for
the
squire
,
whom
many
of
them
had
never
seen
at
all
,
and
about
whom
various
myths
had
gradually
formed
themselves
in
the
countryside
.
The
squire
walked
away
from
them
hurriedly
,
followed
by
Robert
,
and
again
they
halted
on
the
centre
of
the
bridge
.
A
horse
led
by
a
groom
was
being
walked
up
and
down
on
a
flat
piece
of
road
just
beyond
.
It
was
an
awkward
moment
.
Robert
never
forgot
the
thrill
of
it
,
or
the
association
of
wintry
sunshine
streaming
down
upon
a
sparkling
world
of
ice
and
delicate
woodland
and
foam-flecked
river
.
The
squire
turned
towards
him
irresolutely
;
his
sharply-cut
wrinkled
lips
opening
and
closing
again
.
Then
he
held
out
his
hand
:
'
Mr
.
Elsmere
,
I
did
you
a
wrong
—
I
did
this
place
and
its
people
a
wrong
.
In
my
view
,
regret
for
the
past
is
useless
.
Much
of
what
has
occurred
here
is
plainly
irreparable
;
I
will
think
what
can
be
done
for
the
future
.
As
for
my
relation
to
you
,
it
rests
with
you
to
say
whether
it
can
be
amended
.
I
recognise
that
you
have
just
cause
of
complaint
.
'
What
invincible
pride
there
was
in
the
man
's
very
surrender
!
But
Elsmere
was
not
repelled
by
it
.
He
knew
that
in
their
hour
together
the
squire
had
felt
.
His
soul
had
lost
its
bitterness
.
The
dead
and
their
wrong
were
with
God
.
He
took
the
squire
's
outstretched
hand
,
grasping
it
cordially
,
a
pure
unworldly
dignity
in
his
whole
look
and
bearing
.
'
Let
us
be
friends
,
Mr.
Wendover
.
It
will
be
a
great
comfort
to
us
—
my
wife
and
me
.
Will
you
remember
us
both
very
kindly
to
Mrs.
Darcy
?
'
Commonplace
words
,
but
words
that
made
an
epoch
in
the
life
of
both
.
In
another
minute
the
squire
,
on
horseback
,
was
trotting
along
the
side
road
leading
to
the
Hall
,
and
Robert
was
speeding
home
to
Catherine
as
fast
as
his
long
legs
could
carry
him
.
She
was
waiting
for
him
on
the
steps
,
shading
her
eyes
against
the
unwonted
sun
.
He
kissed
her
with
the
spirits
of
a
boy
and
told
her
all
his
news
.
Catherine
listened
bewildered
,
not
knowing
what
to
say
or
how
all
at
once
to
forgive
,
to
join
Robert
in
forgetting
.
But
that
strange
spiritual
glow
about
him
was
not
to
be
withstood
.
She
threw
her
arms
about
him
at
last
with
a
half
sob
,
—
'
Oh
,
Robert
—
yes
!
Dear
Robert
—
thank
God
!
'
'
Never
think
any
more
,
'
he
said
at
last
,
leading
her
in
from
the
little
hall
,
'
of
what
has
been
,
only
of
what
shall
be
!
Oh
,
Catherine
,
give
me
some
tea
;
and
never
did
I
see
anything
so
tempting
as
that
armchair
.
'
He
sank
down
into
it
,
and
when
she
put
his
breakfast
beside
him
she
saw
with
a
start
that
he
was
fast
asleep
.
The
wife
stood
and
watched
him
,
the
signs
of
fatigue
round
eyes
and
mouth
,
the
placid
expression
,
and
her
face
was
soft
with
tenderness
and
joy
.
'
Of
course
—
of
course
,
even
that
hard
man
must
love
him
.
Who
could
help
it
?
My
Robert
!
'
And
so
now
in
this
disguise
,
now
in
that
,
the
supreme
hour
of
Catherine
's
life
stole
on
and
on
towards
her
.
CHAPTER
XXII
As
may
be
imagined
,
the
Churton
Advertiser
did
not
find
its
way
to
Murewell
.
It
was
certainly
no
pressure
of
social
disapproval
that
made
the
squire
go
down
to
Mile
End
in
that
winter
's
dawn
.
The
county
might
talk
,
or
the
local
press
might
harangue
,
till
Doomsday
,
and
Mr.
Wendover
would
either
know
nothing
or
care
less
.
Still
his
interview
with
Meyrick
in
the
park
after
his
return
from
a
week
in
town
,
whither
he
had
gone
to
see
some
old
Berlin
friends
,
had
been
a
shock
to
him
.
A
man
may
play
the
intelligent
recluse
,
may
refuse
to
fit
his
life
to
his
neighbours
'
notions
as
much
as
you
please
,
and
still
find
death
,
especially
death
for
which
he
has
some
responsibility
,
as
disturbing
a
fact
as
the
rest
of
us
.
He
went
home
in
much
irritable
discomfort
.
It
seemed
to
him
probably
that
fortune
need
not
have
been
so
eager
to
put
him
in
the
wrong
.
To
relieve
his
mind
he
sent
for
Henslowe
,
and
in
an
interview
,
the
memory
of
which
sent
a
shiver
through
the
agent
to
the
end
of
his
days
,
he
let
it
be
seen
that
though
it
did
not
for
the
moment
suit
him
to
dismiss
the
man
who
had
brought
this
upon
him
,
that
man
's
reign
in
any
true
sense
was
over
.
But
afterwards
the
squire
was
still
restless
.
What
was
astir
in
him
was
not
so
much
pity
or
remorse
as
certain
instincts
of
race
which
still
survived
under
the
strange
superstructure
of
manners
he
had
built
upon
them
.
It
may
be
the
part
of
a
gentleman
and
a
scholar
to
let
the
agent
whom
you
have
interposed
between
yourself
and
a
boorish
peasantry
have
a
free
hand
;
but
,
after
all
,
the
estate
is
yours
,
and
to
expose
the
rector
of
the
parish
to
all
sorts
of
avoidable
risks
in
the
pursuit
of
his
official
duty
by
reason
of
the
gratuitous
filth
of
your
property
,
is
an
act
of
doubtful
breeding
.
The
squire
in
his
most
rough-and-tumble
days
at
Berlin
had
always
felt
himself
the
grandee
as
well
as
the
student
.
He
abhorred
sentimentalism
,
but
neither
did
he
choose
to
cut
an
unseemly
figure
in
his
own
eyes
.
After
a
night
;
therefore
,
less
tranquil
or
less
meditative
than
usual
,
he
rose
early
and
sallied
forth
at
one
of
those
unusual
hours
he
generally
chose
for
walking
.
The
thing
must
be
put
right
somehow
,
and
at
once
,
with
as
little
waste
of
time
and
energy
as
possible
,
and
Henslowe
had
shown
himself
not
to
be
trusted
;
so
telling
a
servant
to
follow
him
,
the
squire
had
made
his
way
with
difficulty
to
a
place
he
had
not
seen
for
years
.
Then
had
followed
the
unexpected
and
unwelcome
apparition
of
the
rector
.
The
squire
did
not
want
to
be
impressed
by
the
young
man
,
did
not
want
to
make
friends
with
him
.
No
doubt
his
devotion
had
served
his
own
purposes
.
Still
Mr.
Wendover
was
one
of
the
subtlest
living
judges
of
character
when
he
pleased
,
and
his
enforced
progress
through
these
hovels
with
Elsmere
had
not
exactly
softened
him
,
but
had
filled
him
with
a
curious
contempt
for
his
own
hastiness
of
judgment
.
'
History
would
be
inexplicable
after
all
without
the
honest
fanatic
,
'
he
said
to
himself
on
the
way
home
.
'
I
suppose
I
had
forgotten
it
.
There
is
nothing
like
a
dread
of
being
bored
for
blunting
your
psychological
instinct
.
'
In
the
course
of
the
day
he
sent
off
a
letter
to
the
rector
intimating
in
the
very
briefest
,
driest
way
that
the
cottages
should
be
rebuilt
on
a
different
site
as
soon
as
possible
,
and
enclosing
a
liberal
contribution
towards
the
expenses
incurred
in
fighting
the
epidemic
.
When
the
letter
was
gone
he
drew
his
books
towards
him
with
a
sound
which
was
partly
disgust
,
partly
relief
.
This
annoying
business
had
wretchedly
interrupted
him
,
and
his
concessions
left
him
mainly
conscious
of
a
strong
nervous
distaste
for
the
idea
of
any
fresh
interview
with
young
Elsmere
.
He
had
got
his
money
and
his
apology
;
let
him
be
content
.
However
,
next
morning
after
breakfast
Mr.
Wendover
once
more
saw
his
study
door
open
to
admit
the
tall
figure
of
the
rector
.
The
note
and
cheque
had
reached
Robert
late
the
night
before
,
and
,
true
to
his
new-born
determination
to
make
the
best
of
the
squire
,
he
had
caught
up
his
wideawake
at
the
first
opportunity
and
walked
off
to
the
Hall
to
acknowledge
the
gift
in
person
.
The
interview
opened
as
awkwardly
as
it
was
possible
,
and
with
their
former
conversation
on
the
same
spot
fresh
in
their
minds
both
men
spent
a
sufficiently
difficult
ten
minutes
.
The
squire
was
asking
himself
,
indeed
,
impatiently
,
all
the
time
,
whether
he
could
possibly
be
forced
in
the
future
to
put
up
with
such
an
experience
again
,
and
Robert
found
his
host
,
if
less
sarcastic
than
before
,
certainly
as
impenetrable
as
ever
.
At
last
,
however
,
the
Mile
End
matter
was
exhausted
,
and
then
Robert
,
as
good
luck
would
have
it
,
turned
his
longing
eyes
on
the
squire
's
books
,
especially
on
the
latest
volumes
of
a
magnificent
German
Weltgeschichte
lying
near
his
elbow
,
which
he
had
coveted
for
months
without
being
able
to
conquer
his
conscience
sufficiently
to
become
the
possessor
of
it
.
He
took
it
up
with
an
exclamation
of
delight
,
and
a
quiet
critical
remark
that
exactly
hit
the
value
and
scope
of
the
book
.
The
squire
's
eyebrows
went
up
,
and
the
corners
of
his
mouth
slackened
visibly
.
Half
an
hour
later
the
two
men
,
to
the
amazement
of
Mrs.
Darcy
,
who
was
watching
them
from
the
drawing-room
window
,
walked
back
to
the
park
gates
together
,
and
what
Robert
's
nobility
and
beauty
of
character
would
never
have
won
him
,
though
he
had
worn
himself
to
death
in
the
service
of
the
poor
and
the
tormented
under
the
squire
's
eyes
,
a
chance
coincidence
of
intellectual
interest
had
won
him
almost
in
a
moment
.
The
squire
walked
back
to
the
house
under
a
threatening
sky
,
his
mackintosh
cloak
wrapped
about
him
,
his
arms
folded
,
his
mind
full
of
an
unwonted
excitement
.
The
sentiment
of
long-past
days
—
days
in
Berlin
,
in
Paris
,
where
conversations
such
as
that
he
had
just
passed
through
were
the
daily
relief
and
reward
of
labour
,
was
stirring
in
him
.
Occasionally
he
had
endeavoured
to
import
the
materials
for
them
from
the
Continent
,
from
London
.
But
as
a
matter
of
fact
it
was
years
since
he
had
had
any
such
talk
as
this
with
an
Englishman
on
English
ground
,
and
he
suddenly
realised
that
he
had
been
unwholesomely
solitary
,
and
that
for
the
scholar
there
is
no
nerve
stimulus
like
that
of
an
occasional
interchange
of
ideas
with
some
one
acquainted
with
his
Fach
.
'
Who
would
ever
have
thought
of
discovering
instincts
and
aptitudes
of
such
a
kind
in
this
long-legged
optimist
?
'
The
squire
shrugged
his
shoulders
as
he
thought
of
the
attempt
involved
in
such
a
personality
to
combine
both
worlds
,
the
world
of
action
and
the
world
of
thought
.
Absurd
!
Of
course
,
ultimately
one
or
other
must
go
to
the
wall
.
Meanwhile
,
what
a
ludicrous
waste
of
time
and
opportunity
that
he
and
this
man
should
have
been
at
cross-purposes
like
this
!
'
Why
the
deuce
could
n't
he
have
given
some
rational
account
of
himself
to
begin
with
!
'
thought
the
squire
irritably
,
forgetting
,
of
course
,
who
it
was
that
had
wholly
denied
him
the
opportunity
.
'
And
then
the
sending
back
of
those
books
:
what
a
piece
of
idiocy
!
'
Granted
an
historical
taste
in
this
young
parson
,
it
was
a
curious
chance
,
Mr.
Wendover
reflected
,
that
in
his
choice
of
a
subject
he
should
just
have
fallen
on
the
period
of
the
later
empire
—
of
the
passage
from
the
old
world
to
the
new
,
where
the
squire
was
a
master
.
The
squire
fell
to
thinking
of
the
kind
of
knowledge
implied
in
his
remarks
,
of
the
stage
he
seemed
to
have
reached
,
and
then
to
cogitating
as
to
the
books
he
must
be
now
in
want
of
.
He
went
back
to
his
library
,
ran
over
the
shelves
,
picking
out
volumes
here
and
there
with
an
unwonted
glow
and
interest
all
the
while
.
He
sent
for
a
case
,
and
made
a
youth
who
sometimes
acted
as
his
secretary
pack
them
.
And
still
as
he
went
back
to
his
own
work
new
names
would
occur
to
him
,
and
full
of
the
scholar
's
avaricious
sense
of
the
shortness
of
time
,
he
would
shake
his
head
and
frown
over
the
three
months
which
young
Elsmere
had
already
passed
,
grappling
with
problems
like
Teutonic
Arianism
,
the
spread
of
Monasticism
in
Gaul
,
and
Heaven
knows
what
besides
,
half
a
mile
from
the
man
and
the
library
which
could
have
supplied
him
with
the
best
help
to
be
got
in
England
,
unbenefited
by
either
!
Mile
End
was
obliterated
,
and
the
annoyance
of
the
morning
forgotten
.
The
next
day
was
Sunday
,
a
wet
January
Sunday
,
raw
and
sleety
,
the
frost
breaking
up
on
all
sides
and
flooding
the
roads
with
mire
.
Robert
,
rising
in
his
place
to
begin
morning
service
,
and
wondering
to
see
the
congregation
so
good
on
such
a
day
,
was
suddenly
startled
,
as
his
eye
travelled
mechanically
over
to
the
Hall
pew
,
usually
tenanted
by
Mrs.
Darcy
in
solitary
state
,
to
see
the
characteristic
figure
of
the
squire
.
His
amazement
was
so
great
that
he
almost
stumbled
in
the
exhortation
,
and
his
feeling
was
evidently
shared
by
the
congregation
,
which
throughout
the
service
showed
a
restlessness
,
an
excited
tendency
to
peer
round
corners
and
pillars
,
that
was
not
favourable
to
devotion
.
'
Has
he
come
to
spy
out
the
land
?
'
the
rector
thought
to
himself
,
and
could
not
help
a
momentary
tremor
at
the
idea
of
preaching
before
so
formidable
an
auditor
.
Then
he
pulled
himself
together
by
a
great
effort
,
and
fixing
his
eyes
on
a
shock-headed
urchin
half
way
down
the
church
,
read
the
