asshe
lay
back
in
her
chair
,
one
large
foot
crossed
over
the
other
,
and
,
as
her
husband
very
well
knew
,
the
better
man
of
the
two
.
He
walked
away
,
murmuring
under
his
moustache
words
that
would
hardly
have
borne
publicity
,
while
Lady
Charlotte
,
through
her
glasses
,
made
a
minute
study
of
a
little
French
portrait
hanging
some
two
yards
from
her
.
Meanwhile
the
Elsmere
party
were
stepping
out
into
the
warm
damp
of
the
night
.
The
storm
had
died
away
,
but
a
soft
Scotch
mist
of
rain
filled
the
air
.
Everything
was
dark
,
save
for
a
few
ghostly
glimmerings
through
the
trees
of
the
avenue
;
and
there
was
a
strong
sweet
smell
of
wet
earth
and
grass
.
Rose
had
drawn
the
hood
of
her
waterproof
over
her
head
,
and
her
face
gleamed
an
indistinct
whiteness
from
its
shelter
.
Oh
this
leaping
pulse
—
this
bright
glow
of
expectation
!
How
had
she
made
this
stupid
blunder
about
his
going
?
Oh
,
it
was
Catherine
's
mistake
,
of
course
,
at
the
beginning
.
But
what
matter
?
Here
they
were
in
the
dark
,
side
by
side
,
friends
now
,
friends
always
.
Catherine
should
not
spoil
their
last
walk
together
.
She
felt
a
passionate
trust
that
he
would
not
allow
it
.
'
Wifie
!
'
exclaimed
Robert
,
drawing
her
a
little
apart
,
'
do
you
know
it
has
just
occurred
to
me
that
,
as
I
was
going
through
the
park
this
afternoon
by
the
lower
footpath
,
I
crossed
Henslowe
coming
away
from
the
house
.
Of
course
this
is
what
has
happened
!
He
has
told
his
story
first
.
No
doubt
just
before
I
met
him
he
had
been
giving
the
squire
a
full
and
particular
account
—
à
la
Henslowe
—
of
my
proceedings
since
I
came
.
Henslowe
lays
it
on
thick
—
paints
with
a
will
.
The
squire
receives
me
afterwards
as
the
meddlesome
pragmatical
priest
he
understands
me
to
be
;
puts
his
foot
down
to
begin
with
;
and
,
hinc
illæ
lacrymæ
.
It
's
as
clear
as
daylight
!
I
thought
that
man
had
an
odd
twist
of
the
lip
as
he
passed
me
.
'
'
Then
a
disagreeable
evening
will
be
the
worst
of
it
,
'
said
Catherine
proudly
.
'
I
imagine
,
Robert
,
you
can
defend
yourself
against
that
bad
man
?
'
'
He
has
got
the
start
;
he
has
no
scruples
;
and
it
remains
to
be
seen
whether
the
squire
has
a
heart
to
appeal
to
,
'
replied
the
young
rector
with
sore
reflectiveness
.
'
Oh
,
Catherine
,
have
you
ever
thought
,
wifie
,
what
a
business
it
will
be
for
us
if
I
ca
n't
make
friends
with
that
man
?
Here
we
are
at
his
gates
—
all
our
people
in
his
power
;
the
comfort
,
at
any
rate
,
of
our
social
life
depending
on
him
.
And
what
a
strange
,
unmanageable
,
inexplicable
being
!
'
Elsmere
sighed
aloud
.
Like
all
quick
imaginative
natures
he
was
easily
depressed
,
and
the
squire
's
sombre
figure
had
for
the
moment
darkened
his
whole
horizon
.
Catherine
laid
her
cheek
against
his
arm
in
the
darkness
,
consoling
,
remonstrating
,
every
other
thought
lost
in
her
sympathy
with
Robert
's
worries
.
Langham
and
Rose
slipped
out
of
her
head
;
Elsmere
's
step
had
quickened
,
as
it
always
did
when
he
was
excited
,
and
she
kept
up
without
thinking
.
When
Langham
found
the
others
had
shot
ahead
in
the
darkness
,
and
he
and
his
neighbour
were
tête-à-tête
,
despair
seized
him
.
But
for
once
he
showed
a
sort
of
dreary
presence
of
mind
.
Suddenly
,
while
the
girl
beside
him
was
floating
in
a
golden
dream
of
feeling
,
he
plunged
with
a
stiff
deliberation
born
of
his
inner
conflict
into
a
discussion
of
the
German
system
of
musical
training
.
Rose
,
startled
,
made
some
vague
and
flippant
reply
.
Langham
pursued
the
matter
.
He
had
some
information
about
it
,
it
appeared
,
garnered
up
in
his
mind
,
which
might
perhaps
some
day
prove
useful
to
her
.
A
St.
Anselm
's
undergraduate
,
one
Dashwood
,
an
old
pupil
of
his
,
had
been
lately
at
Berlin
for
six
months
,
studying
at
the
Conservatorium
.
Not
long
ago
,
being
anxious
to
become
a
schoolmaster
,
he
had
written
to
Langham
for
a
testimonial
.
His
letter
had
contained
a
full
account
of
his
musical
life
.
Langham
proceeded
to
recapitulate
it
.
His
careful
and
precise
report
of
hours
,
fees
,
masters
,
and
methods
lasted
till
they
reached
the
park
gate
.
He
had
the
smallest
powers
of
social
acting
,
and
his
rôle
was
dismally
overdone
.
The
girl
beside
him
could
not
know
that
he
was
really
defending
her
from
himself
.
His
cold
altered
manner
merely
seemed
to
her
a
sudden
and
marked
withdrawal
of
his
petition
for
her
friendship
.
No
doubt
she
had
received
that
petition
too
effusively
—
and
he
wished
there
should
be
no
mistake
.
What
a
young
smarting
soul
went
through
in
that
half-mile
of
listening
is
better
guessed
than
analysed
.
There
are
certain
moments
of
shame
,
which
only
women
know
,
and
which
seem
to
sting
and
burn
out
of
youth
all
its
natural
sweet
self-love
.
A
woman
may
outlive
them
,
but
never
forget
them
.
If
she
pass
through
one
at
nineteen
her
cheek
will
grow
hot
over
it
at
seventy
.
Her
companion
's
measured
tone
,
the
flow
of
deliberate
speech
which
came
from
him
,
the
nervous
aloofness
of
his
attitude
—
every
detail
in
that
walk
seemed
to
Rose
's
excited
sense
an
insult
.
As
the
park
gate
swung
behind
them
she
felt
a
sick
longing
for
Catherine
's
shelter
.
Then
all
the
pride
in
her
rushed
to
the
rescue
and
held
that
swooning
dismay
at
the
heart
of
her
in
check
.
And
forthwith
she
capped
Langham
's
minute
account
of
the
scale-method
of
a
famous
Berlin
pianist
by
some
witty
stories
of
the
latest
London
prodigy
,
a
child-violinist
,
incredibly
gifted
,
dirty
,
and
greedy
,
whom
she
had
made
friends
with
in
town
.
The
girl
's
voice
rang
out
sharp
and
hard
under
the
trees
.
Where
,
in
fortune
's
name
,
were
the
lights
of
the
rectory
?
Would
this
nightmare
never
come
to
an
end
?
At
the
rectory
gate
was
Catherine
waiting
for
them
,
her
whole
soul
one
repentant
alarm
.
'
Mr
.
Langham
,
Robert
has
gone
to
the
study
;
will
you
go
and
smoke
with
him
?
'
'
By
all
means
.
Good-night
,
then
,
Mrs.
Elsmere
.
'
Catherine
gave
him
her
hand
.
Rose
was
trying
hard
to
fit
the
lock
of
the
gate
into
the
hasp
,
and
had
no
hand
free
.
Besides
,
he
did
not
approach
her
.
'
Good-night
!
'
she
said
to
him
over
her
shoulder
.
'
Oh
,
and
Mr.
Langham
!
'
Catherine
called
after
him
as
he
strode
away
,
'
will
you
settle
with
Robert
about
the
carriage
?
'
He
turned
,
made
a
sound
of
assent
,
and
went
on
.
'
When
?
'
asked
Rose
lightly
.
'
For
the
nine
o'clock
train
.
'
'
There
should
be
a
law
against
interfering
with
people
's
breakfast
hour
,
'
said
Rose
;
'
though
,
to
be
sure
,
a
guest
may
as
well
get
himself
gone
early
and
be
done
with
it
.
How
you
and
Robert
raced
,
Cathie
!
We
did
our
best
to
catch
you
up
,
but
the
pace
was
too
good
.
'
Was
there
a
wild
taunt
,
a
spice
of
malice
in
the
girl
's
reckless
voice
?
Catherine
could
not
see
her
in
the
darkness
,
but
the
sister
felt
a
sudden
trouble
invade
her
.
'
Rose
,
darling
,
you
are
not
tired
?
'
'
Oh
dear
,
no
!
Good-night
,
sleep
well
.
What
a
goose
Mrs.
Darcy
is
!
'
And
,
barely
submitting
to
be
kissed
,
Rose
ran
up
the
steps
and
upstairs
.
Langham
and
Robert
smoked
till
midnight
.
Langham
for
the
first
time
gave
Elsmere
an
outline
of
his
plans
for
the
future
,
and
Robert
,
filled
with
dismay
at
this
final
breach
with
Oxford
and
human
society
,
and
the
only
form
of
practical
life
possible
to
such
a
man
,
threw
himself
into
protests
more
and
more
vigorous
and
affectionate
.
Langham
listened
to
them
at
first
with
sombre
silence
,
then
with
an
impatience
which
gradually
reduced
Robert
to
a
sore
puffing
at
his
pipe
.
There
was
a
long
space
during
which
they
sat
together
,
the
ashes
of
the
little
fire
Robert
had
made
dropping
on
the
hearth
,
and
not
a
word
on
either
side
.
At
last
Elsmere
could
not
bear
it
,
and
when
midnight
struck
he
sprang
up
with
an
impatient
shake
of
his
long
body
,
and
Langham
took
the
hint
,
gave
him
a
cold
good-night
,
and
went
.
As
the
door
shut
upon
him
Robert
dropped
back
into
his
chair
,
and
sat
on
,
his
face
in
his
hands
,
staring
dolefully
at
the
fire
.
It
seemed
to
him
the
world
was
going
crookedly
.
A
day
on
which
a
man
of
singularly
open
and
responsive
temper
makes
a
new
enemy
,
and
comes
nearer
than
ever
before
to
losing
an
old
friend
,
shows
very
blackly
to
him
in
the
calendar
,
and
,
by
way
of
aggravation
,
Robert
Elsmere
says
to
himself
at
once
that
somehow
or
other
there
must
be
fault
of
his
own
in
the
matter
.
Rose
!
—
pshaw
!
Catherine
little
knows
what
stuff
that
cold
intangible
soul
is
made
of
.
Meanwhile
,
Langham
was
standing
heavily
,
looking
out
into
the
night
.
The
different
elements
in
the
mountain
of
discomfort
that
weighed
upon
him
were
so
many
that
the
weary
mind
made
no
attempt
to
analyse
them
.
He
had
a
sense
of
disgrace
,
of
having
stabbed
something
gentle
that
had
leant
upon
him
,
mingled
with
a
strong
intermittent
feeling
of
unutterable
relief
.
Perhaps
his
keenest
regret
was
that
,
after
all
,
it
had
not
been
love
!
He
had
offered
himself
up
to
a
girl
's
just
contempt
,
but
he
had
no
recompense
in
the
shape
of
a
great
addition
to
knowledge
,
to
experience
.
Save
for
a
few
doubtful
moments
at
the
beginning
,
when
he
had
all
but
surprised
himself
in
something
more
poignant
,
what
he
had
been
conscious
of
had
been
nothing
more
than
a
suave
and
delicate
charm
of
sentiment
,
a
subtle
surrender
to
one
exquisite
æsthetic
impression
after
another
.
And
these
things
in
other
relations
the
world
had
yielded
him
before
.
'
Am
I
sane
?
'
he
muttered
to
himself
.
'
Have
I
ever
been
sane
?
Probably
not
.
The
disproportion
between
my
motives
and
other
men
's
is
too
great
to
be
normal
.
Well
,
at
least
I
am
sane
enough
to
shut
myself
up
.
Long
after
that
beautiful
child
has
forgotten
she
ever
saw
me
I
shall
still
be
doing
penance
in
the
desert
.
'
He
threw
himself
down
beside
the
open
window
with
a
groan
.
An
hour
later
he
lifted
a
face
blanched
and
lined
,
and
stretched
out
his
hand
with
avidity
towards
a
book
on
the
table
.
It
was
an
obscure
and
difficult
Greek
text
,
and
he
spent
the
greater
part
of
the
night
over
it
,
rekindling
in
himself
with
feverish
haste
the
embers
of
his
one
lasting
passion
.
Meanwhile
,
in
a
room
overhead
,
another
last
scene
in
this
most
futile
of
dramas
was
passing
.
Rose
,
when
she
came
in
,
had
locked
the
door
,
torn
off
her
dress
and
her
ornaments
,
and
flung
herself
on
the
edge
of
the
bed
,
her
hands
on
her
knees
,
her
shoulders
drooping
,
a
fierce
red
spot
on
either
cheek
.
There
for
an
indefinite
time
she
went
through
a
torture
of
self-scorn
.
The
incidents
of
the
week
passed
before
her
one
by
one
—
her
sallies
,
her
defiances
,
her
impulsive
friendliness
,
the
élan
,
the
happiness
of
the
last
two
days
,
the
self-abandonment
of
this
evening
.
Oh
,
intolerable
—
intolerable
!
And
all
to
end
with
the
intimation
that
she
had
been
behaving
like
a
forward
child
—
had
gone
too
far
and
must
be
admonished
—
made
to
feel
accordingly
!
The
poisoned
arrow
pierced
deeper
and
deeper
into
the
girl
's
shrinking
pride
.
The
very
foundations
of
self-respect
seemed
overthrown
.
Suddenly
her
eye
caught
a
dim
and
ghostly
reflection
of
her
own
figure
,
as
she
sat
with
locked
hands
on
the
edge
of
the
bed
,
in
a
long
glass
near
,
the
only
one
of
the
kind
which
the
rectory
household
possessed
.
Rose
sprang
up
,
snatched
at
the
candle
,
which
was
flickering
in
the
air
of
the
open
window
,
and
stood
erect
before
the
glass
,
holding
the
candle
above
her
head
.
What
the
light
showed
her
was
a
slim
form
in
a
white
dressing-gown
,
that
fell
loosely
about
it
;
a
rounded
arm
upstretched
;
a
head
,
still
crowned
with
its
jessamine
wreath
,
from
which
the
bright
hair
fell
heavily
over
shoulders
and
bosom
;
eyes
,
under
frowning
brows
,
flashing
a
proud
challenge
at
what
they
saw
;
two
lips
,
'
indifferent
red
,
'
just
open
to
let
the
quick
breath
come
through
—
all
thrown
into
the
wildest
chiaroscuro
by
the
wavering
candle
flame
.
Her
challenge
was
answered
.
The
fault
was
not
there
.
Her
arm
dropped
.
She
put
down
the
light
.
'
I
am
handsome
,
'
she
said
to
herself
,
her
mouth
quivering
childishly
.
'
I
am
.
I
may
say
it
to
myself
.
'
Then
,
standing
by
the
window
,
she
stared
into
the
night
.
Her
room
,
on
the
opposite
side
of
the
house
from
Langham
's
,
looked
over
the
cornfields
and
the
distance
.
The
stubbles
gleamed
faintly
;
the
dark
woods
,
the
clouds
teased
by
the
rising
wind
,
sent
a
moaning
voice
to
greet
her
.
'
I
hate
him
!
I
hate
him
!
'
she
cried
to
the
darkness
,
clenching
her
cold
little
hand
.
Then
presently
she
slipped
on
to
her
knees
,
and
buried
her
head
in
the
bed-clothes
.
She
was
crying
—
angry
stifled
tears
which
had
the
hot
impatience
of
youth
in
them
.
It
all
seemed
to
her
so
untoward
.
This
was
not
the
man
she
had
dreamed
of
—
the
unknown
of
her
inmost
heart
.
He
had
been
young
,
ardent
,
impetuous
like
herself
.
Hand
in
hand
,
eye
flashing
into
eye
,
pulse
answering
to
pulse
,
they
would
have
flung
aside
the
veil
hanging
over
life
and
plundered
the
golden
mysteries
behind
it
.
She
rebels
;
she
tries
to
see
the
cold
alien
nature
which
has
laid
this
paralysing
spell
upon
her
as
it
is
,
to
reason
herself
back
to
peace
—
to
indifference
.
The
poor
child
flies
from
her
own
half-understood
trouble
;
will
none
of
it
;
murmurs
again
wildly
—
'
I
hate
him
!
I
hate
him
!
Cold-blooded
—
ungrateful
—
unkind
!
'
In
vain
.
A
pair
of
melancholy
eyes
haunt
,
enthral
her
inmost
soul
.
The
charm
of
the
denied
,
the
inaccessible
is
on
her
,
womanlike
.
That
old
sense
of
capture
,
of
helplessness
,
as
of
some
lassoed
struggling
creature
,
descended
upon
her
.
She
lay
sobbing
there
,
trying
to
recall
what
she
had
been
a
week
before
;
the
whirl
of
her
London
visit
,
the
ambitions
with
which
it
had
filled
her
;
the
bewildering
many-coloured
lights
it
had
thrown
upon
life
,
the
intoxicating
sense
of
artistic
power
.
In
vain
.
'
The
stream
will
not
flow
,
and
the
hills
will
not
rise
;
And
the
colours
have
all
passed
away
from
her
eyes
.
'
She
felt
herself
bereft
,
despoiled
.
And
yet
through
it
all
,
as
she
lay
weeping
,
there
came
flooding
a
strange
contradictory
sense
of
growth
,
of
enrichment
.
In
such
moments
of
pain
does
a
woman
first
begin
to
live
?
Ah
!
why
should
it
hurt
so
—
this
long-awaited
birth
of
the
soul
?
BOOK
III
THE
SQUIRE
CHAPTER
XIX
The
evening
of
the
Murewell
Hall
dinner-party
proved
to
be
a
date
of
some
importance
in
the
lives
of
two
or
three
persons
.
Rose
was
not
likely
to
forget
it
;
Langham
carried
about
with
him
the
picture
of
the
great
drawing-room
,
its
stately
light
and
shade
,
and
its
scattered
figures
,
through
many
a
dismal
subsequent
hour
;
and
to
Robert
it
was
the
beginning
of
a
period
of
practical
difficulties
such
as
his
fortunate
youth
had
never
yet
encountered
.
His
conjecture
had
hit
the
mark
.
The
squire
's
sentiments
towards
him
,
which
had
been
on
the
whole
friendly
enough
,
with
the
exception
of
a
slight
nuance
of
contempt
provoked
in
Mr.
Wendover
's
mind
by
all
forms
of
the
clerical
calling
,
had
been
completely
transformed
in
the
course
of
the
afternoon
before
the
dinner-party
,
and
transformed
by
the
report
of
his
agent
.
Henslowe
,
who
knew
certain
sides
of
the
squire
's
character
by
heart
,
had
taken
Time
by
the
forelock
.
For
fourteen
years
before
Robert
entered
the
parish
he
had
been
king
of
it
.
Mr.
Preston
,
Robert
's
predecessor
,
had
never
given
him
a
moment
's
trouble
.
The
agent
had
developed
a
habit
of
drinking
,
had
favoured
his
friends
and
spited
his
enemies
,
and
had
allowed
certain
distant
portions
of
the
estate
to
go
finely
to
ruin
,
quite
undisturbed
by
any
sentimental
meddling
of
the
priestly
sort
.
Then
the
old
rector
had
been
gathered
to
the
majority
,
and
this
long-legged
busybody
had
taken
his
place
,
a
man
,
according
to
the
agent
,
as
full
of
communistical
notions
as
an
egg
is
full
of
meat
,
and
always
ready
to
poke
his
nose
into
other
people
's
business
.
And
as
all
men
like
mastery
,
but
especially
Scotchmen
,
and
as
during
even
the
first
few
months
of
the
new
rector
's
tenure
of
office
it
became
tolerably
evident
to
Henslowe
that
young
Elsmere
would
soon
become
the
ruling
force
of
the
neighbourhood
unless
measures
were
taken
to
prevent
it
,
the
agent
,
over
his
nocturnal
drams
,
had
taken
sharp
and
cunning
counsel
with
himself
concerning
the
young
man
.
The
state
of
Mile
End
had
been
originally
the
result
of
indolence
and
caprice
on
his
part
rather
than
of
any
set
purpose
of
neglect
.
As
soon
,
however
,
as
it
was
brought
to
his
notice
by
Elsmere
,
who
did
it
,
to
begin
with
,
in
the
friendliest
way
,
it
became
a
point
of
honour
with
the
agent
to
let
the
place
go
to
the
devil
,
nay
,
to
hurry
it
there
.
For
some
time
notwithstanding
,
he
avoided
an
open
breach
with
the
rector
.
He
met
Elsmere
's
remonstrances
by
a
more
or
less
civil
show
of
argument
,
belied
every
now
and
then
by
the
sarcasm
of
his
coarse
blue
eye
,
and
so
far
the
two
men
had
kept
outwardly
on
terms
.
Elsmere
had
reason
to
know
that
on
one
or
two
occasions
of
difficulty
in
the
parish
Henslowe
had
tried
to
do
him
a
mischief
.
The
attempts
,
however
,
had
not
greatly
succeeded
,
and
their
ill-success
had
probably
excited
in
Elsmere
a
confidence
of
ultimate
victory
which
had
tended
to
keep
him
cool
in
the
presence
of
Henslowe
's
hostility
.
But
Henslowe
had
been
all
along
merely
waiting
for
the
squire
.
He
had
served
the
owner
of
the
Murewell
estate
for
fourteen
years
,
and
if
he
did
not
know
that
owner
's
peculiarities
by
this
time
,
might
he
obtain
certain
warm
corners
in
the
next
life
to
which
he
was
fond
of
consigning
other
people
!
It
was
not
easy
to
cheat
the
squire
out
of
money
,
but
it
was
quite
easy
to
play
upon
his
ignorance
of
the
details
of
English
land
management
—
ignorance
guaranteed
by
the
learned
habits
of
a
lifetime
—
on
his
complete
lack
of
popular
sympathy
,
and
on
the
contempt
felt
by
the
disciple
of
Bismarck
and
Mommsen
for
all
forms
of
altruistic
sentiment
.
The
squire
despised
priests
.
He
hated
philanthropic
cants
.
Above
all
things
he
respected
his
own
leisure
,
and
was
abnormally
,
irritably
sensitive
as
to
any
possible
inroads
upon
it
.
All
these
things
Henslowe
knew
,
and
all
these
things
he
utilised
.
He
saw
the
squire
within
forty-eight
hours
of
his
arrival
at
Murewell
.
His
fancy
picture
of
Robert
and
his
doings
was
introduced
with
adroitness
,
and
coloured
with
great
skill
,
and
he
left
the
squire
walking
up
and
down
his
library
,
chafing
alternately
at
the
monstrous
fate
which
had
planted
this
sentimental
agitator
at
his
gates
,
and
at
the
memory
of
his
own
misplaced
civilities
towards
the
intruder
.
In
the
evening
those
civilities
were
abundantly
avenged
,
as
we
have
seen
.
Robert
was
much
perplexed
as
to
his
next
step
.
His
heart
was
very
sore
.
The
condition
of
Mile
End
—
those
gaunt-eyed
women
and
wasted
children
,
all
the
sordid
details
of
their
unjust
avoidable
suffering
weighed
upon
his
nerves
perpetually
.
But
he
was
conscious
that
this
state
of
feeling
was
one
of
tension
,
perhaps
of
exaggeration
,
and
though
it
was
impossible
he
should
let
the
matter
alone
,
he
was
anxious
to
do
nothing
rashly
.
However
,
two
days
after
the
dinner-party
he
met
Henslowe
on
the
hill
leading
up
to
the
rectory
.
Robert
would
have
passed
the
man
with
a
stiffening
of
his
tall
figure
and
the
slightest
possible
salutation
.
But
the
agent
,
just
returned
from
a
round
wherein
the
bars
of
various
local
inns
had
played
a
conspicuous
part
,
was
in
a
truculent
mood
and
stopped
to
speak
.
He
took
up
the
line
of
insolent
condolence
with
the
rector
on
the
impossibility
of
carrying
his
wishes
with
regard
to
Mile
End
into
effect
.
They
had
been
laid
before
the
squire
,
of
course
,
but
the
squire
had
his
own
ideas
and
was
n't
just
easy
to
manage
.
'
Seen
him
yet
,
sir
?
'
Henslowe
wound
up
jauntily
,
every
line
of
his
flushed
countenance
,
the
full
lips
under
the
fair
beard
,
and
the
light
prominent
eyes
,
expressing
a
triumph
he
hardly
cared
to
conceal
.
'
I
have
seen
him
,
but
I
have
not
talked
to
him
on
this
particular
matter
,
'
said
the
rector
quietly
,
though
the
red
mounted
in
his
cheek
.
'
You
may
,
however
,
be
very
sure
,
Mr.
Henslowe
,
that
everything
I
know
about
Mile
End
the
squire
shall
know
before
long
.
'
'
Oh
,
lor
'
bless
me
,
sir
!
'
cried
Henslowe
with
a
guffaw
,
'
it
's
all
one
to
me
.
And
if
the
squire
ai
n't
satisfied
with
the
way
his
work
's
done
now
,
why
he
can
take
you
on
as
a
second
string
,
you
know
.
You
'd
show
us
all
,
I
'll
be
bound
,
how
to
make
the
money
fly
.
'
Then
Robert
's
temper
gave
way
,
and
he
turned
upon
the
half-drunken
brute
before
him
with
a
few
home-truths
delivered
with
a
rapier-like
force
which
for
the
moment
staggered
Henslowe
,
who
turned
from
red
to
purple
.
The
rector
,
with
some
of
those
pitiful
memories
of
the
hamlet
,
of
which
we
had
glimpses
in
his
talk
with
Langham
,
burning
at
his
heart
,
felt
the
man
no
better
than
a
murderer
,
and
as
good
as
told
him
so
.
Then
,
without
giving
him
time
to
reply
,
Robert
strode
on
,
leaving
Henslowe
planted
in
the
pathway
.
But
he
was
hardly
up
the
hill
before
the
agent
,
having
recovered
himself
by
dint
of
copious
expletives
,
was
looking
after
him
with
a
grim
chuckle
.
He
knew
his
master
,
and
he
knew
himself
,
and
he
thought
between
them
they
would
about
manage
to
keep
that
young
spark
in
order
.
Robert
meanwhile
went
straight
home
into
his
study
,
and
there
fell
upon
ink
and
paper
.
What
was
the
good
of
protracting
the
matter
any
longer
?
Something
must
and
should
be
done
for
these
people
,
if
not
one
way
,
then
another
.
So
he
wrote
to
the
squire
,
showing
the
letter
to
Catherine
when
it
was
done
,
lest
there
should
be
anything
over-fierce
in
it
.
It
was
the
simple
record
of
twelve
months
'
experience
told
with
dignity
and
strong
feeling
.
Henslowe
was
barely
mentioned
in
it
,
and
the
chief
burden
of
the
letter
was
to
implore
the
squire
to
come
and
inspect
certain
portions
of
his
property
with
his
own
eyes
.
The
rector
would
be
at
his
service
any
day
or
hour
.
Husband
and
wife
went
anxiously
through
the
document
,
softening
here
,
improving
there
,
and
then
it
was
sent
to
the
Hall
.
Robert
waited
nervously
through
the
day
for
an
answer
.
In
the
evening
,
while
he
and
Catherine
were
in
the
footpath
after
dinner
,
watching
a
chilly
autumnal
moonrise
over
the
stubbles
of
the
cornfield
,
the
answer
came
.
'
H
'm
,
'
said
Robert
dubiously
as
he
opened
it
,
holding
it
up
to
the
moonlight
;
'
ca
n't
be
said
to
be
lengthy
.
'
He
and
Catherine
hurried
into
the
house
.
Robert
read
the
letter
,
and
handed
it
to
her
without
a
word
.
After
some
curt
references
to
one
or
two
miscellaneous
points
raised
in
the
latter
part
of
the
rector
's
letter
,
the
squire
wound
up
as
follows
:
—
'
As
for
the
bulk
of
your
communication
,
I
am
at
a
loss
to
understand
the
vehemence
of
your
remarks
on
the
subject
of
my
Mile
End
property
.
My
agent
informed
me
shortly
after
my
return
home
that
you
had
been
concerning
yourself
greatly
,
and
,
as
he
conceived
,
unnecessarily
about
the
matter
.
Allow
me
to
assure
you
that
I
have
full
confidence
in
Mr.
Henslowe
,
who
has
been
in
the
district
for
as
many
years
as
you
have
spent
months
in
it
,
and
whose
authority
on
points
connected
with
the
business
management
of
my
estate
naturally
carries
more
weight
with
me
,
if
you
will
permit
me
to
say
so
,
than
your
own
.
—
I
am
,
sir
,
your
obedient
servant
,
'
Roger
Wendover
.
'
Catherine
returned
the
letter
to
her
husband
with
a
look
of
dismay
.
He
was
standing
with
his
back
to
the
chimney-piece
,
his
hands
thrust
far
into
his
pockets
,
his
upper
lip
quivering
.
In
his
happy
expansive
life
this
was
the
sharpest
personal
rebuff
that
had
ever
happened
to
him
.
He
could
not
but
smart
under
it
.
'
Not
a
word
,
'
he
said
,
tossing
his
hair
back
impetuously
,
as
Catherine
stood
opposite
watching
him
—
'
not
one
single
word
about
the
miserable
people
themselves
!
What
kind
of
stuff
can
the
man
be
made
off
?
'
'
Does
he
believe
you
?
'
asked
Catherine
,
bewildered
.
'
If
not
,
one
must
try
and
make
him
,
'
he
said
energetically
,
after
a
moment
's
pause
.
'
To-morrow
,
Catherine
,
I
go
down
to
the
Hall
and
see
him
.
'
She
quietly
acquiesced
,
and
the
following
afternoon
,
first
thing
after
luncheon
,
she
watched
him
go
,
her
tender
inspiring
look
dwelling
with
him
as
he
crossed
the
park
,
which
was
lying
delicately
wrapped
in
one
of
the
whitest
of
autumnal
mists
,
the
sun
just
playing
through
it
with
pale
invading
shafts
.
The
butler
looked
at
him
with
some
doubtfulness
.
It
was
never
safe
to
admit
visitors
for
the
squire
without
orders
.
But
he
and
Robert
had
special
relations
.
As
the
possessor
of
a
bass
voice
worthy
of
his
girth
,
Vincent
,
under
Robert
's
rule
,
had
become
the
pillar
of
the
choir
,
and
it
was
not
easy
for
him
to
refuse
the
rector
.
So
Robert
was
led
in
,
through
the
hall
,
and
down
the
long
passage
to
the
curtained
door
,
which
he
knew
so
well
.
'
Mr
.
Elsmere
,
sir
!
'
There
was
a
sudden
hasty
movement
.
Robert
passed
a
magnificent
lacquered
screen
newly
placed
round
the
door
,
and
found
himself
in
the
squire
's
presence
.
The
squire
had
half
risen
from
his
seat
in
a
capacious
chair
,
with
a
litter
of
books
round
it
,
and
confronted
his
visitor
with
a
look
of
surprised
annoyance
.
The
figure
of
the
rector
,
tall
,
thin
,
and
youthful
,
stood
out
against
the
delicate
browns
and
whites
of
the
book-lined
walls
.
The
great
room
,
so
impressively
bare
when
Robert
and
Langham
had
last
seen
it
,
was
now
full
of
the
signs
of
a
busy
man
's
constant
habitation
.
An
odour
of
smoke
pervaded
it
;
the
table
in
the
window
was
piled
with
books
just
unpacked
,
and
the
half-emptied
case
from
which
they
had
been
taken
lay
on
the
ground
beside
the
squire
's
chair
.
'
I
persuaded
Vincent
to
admit
me
,
Mr.
Wendover
,
'
said
Robert
,
advancing
hat
in
hand
,
while
the
squire
hastily
put
down
the
German
professor
's
pipe
he
had
just
been
enjoying
,
and
coldly
accepted
his
proffered
greeting
.
'
I
should
have
preferred
not
to
disturb
you
without
an
appointment
,
but
after
your
letter
it
seemed
to
me
some
prompt
personal
explanation
was
necessary
.
'
The
squire
stiffly
motioned
towards
a
chair
,
which
Robert
took
,
and
then
slipped
back
into
his
own
,
his
wrinkled
eyes
fixed
on
the
intruder
.
Robert
,
conscious
of
almost
intolerable
embarrassment
,
but
maintaining
in
spite
of
it
an
excellent
degree
of
self-control
,
plunged
at
once
into
business
.
He
took
the
letter
he
had
just
received
from
the
squire
as
a
text
,
made
a
good-humoured
defence
of
his
own
proceedings
,
described
his
attempt
to
move
Henslowe
,
and
the
reluctance
of
his
appeal
from
the
man
to
the
master
.
The
few
things
he
allowed
himself
to
say
about
Henslowe
were
in
perfect
temper
,
though
by
no
means
without
an
edge
.
Then
,
having
disposed
of
the
more
personal
aspects
of
the
matter
,
he
paused
,
and
looked
hesitatingly
at
the
face
opposite
him
,
more
like
a
bronzed
mask
at
this
moment
than
a
human
countenance
.
The
squire
,
however
,
gave
him
no
help
.
He
had
received
his
remarks
so
far
in
perfect
silence
,
and
seeing
that
there
were
more
to
come
,
he
waited
for
them
with
the
same
rigidity
of
look
and
attitude
.
So
,
after
a
moment
or
two
,
Robert
went
on
to
describe
in
detail
some
of
those
individual
cases
of
hardship
and
disease
at
Mile
End
,
during
the
preceding
year
,
which
could
be
most
clearly
laid
to
the
sanitary
condition
of
the
place
.
Filth
,
damp
,
leaking
roofs
,
foul
floors
,
poisoned
water
—
he
traced
to
each
some
ghastly
human
ill
,
telling
his
stories
with
a
nervous
brevity
,
a
suppressed
fire
,
which
would
have
burnt
them
into
the
sense
of
almost
any
other
listener
.
Not
one
of
these
woes
but
he
and
Catherine
had
tended
with
sickening
pity
and
labour
of
body
and
mind
.
That
side
of
it
he
kept
rigidly
out
of
sight
.
But
all
that
he
could
hurl
against
the
squire
's
feeling
,
as
it
were
,
he
gathered
up
,
strangely
conscious
through
it
all
of
his
own
young
persistent
yearning
to
right
himself
with
this
man
,
whose
mental
history
,
as
it
lay
chronicled
in
these
rooms
,
had
been
to
him
,
at
a
time
of
intellectual
hunger
,
so
stimulating
,
so
enriching
.
But
passion
and
reticence
and
hidden
sympathy
were
alike
lost
upon
the
squire
.
Before
he
paused
Mr.
Wendover
had
already
risen
restlessly
from
his
chair
,
and
from
the
rug
was
glowering
down
on
his
unwelcome
visitor
.
Good
heavens
!
had
he
come
home
to
be
lectured
in
his
own
library
by
this
fanatical
slip
of
a
parson
?
As
for
his
stories
,
the
squire
barely
took
the
trouble
to
listen
to
them
.
Every
popularity-hunting
fool
,
with
a
passion
for
putting
his
hand
into
other
people
's
pockets
,
can
tell
pathetic
stories
;
but
it
was
intolerable
that
his
scholar
's
privacy
should
be
at
the
mercy
of
one
of
the
tribe
.
'
Mr
.
Elsmere
,
'
he
broke
out
at
last
with
contemptuous
emphasis
,
'
I
imagine
it
would
have
been
better
—
infinitely
better
—
to
have
spared
both
yourself
and
me
the
disagreeables
of
this
interview
.
However
,
I
am
not
sorry
we
should
understand
each
other
.
I
have
lived
a
life
which
is
at
least
double
the
length
of
yours
in
very
tolerable
peace
and
comfort
.
The
world
has
been
good
enough
for
me
,
and
I
for
it
,
so
far
.
I
have
been
master
in
my
own
estate
,
and
intend
to
remain
so
.
As
for
the
new-fangled
ideas
of
a
landowner
's
duty
,
with
which
your
mind
seems
to
be
full
'
—
the
scornful
irritation
of
the
tone
was
unmistakable
—
'
I
have
never
dabbled
in
them
,
nor
do
I
intend
to
begin
now
.
I
am
like
the
rest
of
my
kind
;
I
have
no
money
to
chuck
away
in
building
schemes
,
in
order
that
the
rector
of
the
parish
may
pose
as
the
apostle
of
the
agricultural
labourer
.
That
,
however
,
is
neither
here
nor
there
.
What
is
to
the
purpose
is
,
that
my
business
affairs
are
in
the
hands
of
a
business
man
,
deliberately
chosen
and
approved
by
me
,
and
that
I
have
nothing
to
do
with
them
.
Nothing
at
all
!
'
he
repeated
with
emphasis
.
'
It
may
seem
to
you
very
shocking
.
You
may
regard
it
as
the
object
in
life
of
the
English
landowner
to
inspect
the
pigstyes
and
amend
the
habits
of
the
English
labourer
.
I
do
n't
quarrel
with
the
conception
,
I
only
ask
you
not
to
expect
me
to
live
up
to
it
.
I
am
a
student
first
and
foremost
,
and
desire
to
be
left
to
my
books
.
Mr.
Henslowe
is
there
on
purpose
to
protect
my
literary
freedom
.
What
he
thinks
desirable
is
good
enough
for
me
,
as
I
have
already
informed
you
.
I
am
sorry
for
it
if
his
methods
do
not
commend
themselves
to
you
.
But
I
have
yet
to
learn
that
the
rector
of
the
parish
has
an
ex-officio
right
to
interfere
between
a
landlord
and
his
tenants
.
'
Robert
kept
his
temper
with
some
difficulty
.
After
a
pause
he
said
,
feeling
desperately
,
however
,
that
the
suggestion
was
not
likely
to
improve
matters
,
—
'
If
I
were
to
take
all
the
trouble
and
all
the
expense
off
your
hands
,
Mr.
Wendover
,
would
it
be
impossible
for
you
to
authorise
me
to
make
one
or
two
alterations
most
urgently
necessary
for
the
improvement
of
the
Mile
End
cottages
?
'
The
squire
burst
into
an
angry
laugh
.
'
I
have
never
yet
been
in
the
habit
,
Mr.
Elsmere
,
of
doing
my
repairs
by
public
subscription
.
You
ask
a
little
too
much
from
an
old
man
's
powers
of
adaptation
.
'
Robert
rose
from
his
seat
,
his
hand
trembling
as
it
rested
on
his
walking-stick
.
'
Mr
.
Wendover
,
'
he
said
,
speaking
at
last
with
a
flash
of
answering
scorn
in
his
young
vibrating
voice
,
'
what
I
think
you
cannot
understand
is
that
at
any
moment
a
human
creature
may
sicken
and
die
,
poisoned
by
the
state
of
your
property
,
for
which
you
—
and
nobody
else
—
are
ultimately
responsible
.
'
The
squire
shrugged
his
shoulders
.
'
So
you
say
,
Mr.
Elsmere
.
If
true
,
every
person
in
such
a
condition
has
a
remedy
in
his
own
hands
.
I
force
no
one
to
remain
on
my
property
.
'
'
The
people
who
live
there
,
'
exclaimed
Robert
,
'
have
neither
home
nor
subsistence
if
they
are
driven
out
.
Murewell
is
full
—
times
bad
—
most
of
the
people
old
.
'
'
And
eviction
"
a
sentence
of
death
,
"
I
suppose
,
'
interrupted
the
squire
,
studying
him
with
sarcastic
eyes
.
'
Well
,
I
have
no
belief
in
a
Gladstonian
Ireland
,
still
less
in
a
Radical
England
.
Supply
and
demand
,
cause
and
effect
,
are
enough
for
me
.
The
Mile
End
cottages
are
out
of
repair
,
Mr.
Elsmere
,
so
Mr.
Henslowe
tells
me
,
because
the
site
is
unsuitable
,
the
type
of
cottage
out
of
date
.
People
live
in
them
at
their
peril
;
I
do
n't
pull
them
down
,
or
rather
'
—
correcting
himself
with
exasperating
consistency
—
'
Mr
.
Henslowe
does
n't
pull
them
down
,
because
,
like
other
men
,
I
suppose
,
he
dislikes
an
outcry
.
But
if
the
population
stays
,
it
stays
at
its
own
risk
.
Now
have
I
made
myself
plain
?
'
The
two
men
eyed
one
another
.
'
Perfectly
plain
,
'
said
Robert
quietly
.
'
Allow
me
to
remind
you
,
Mr.
Wendover
,
that
there
are
other
matters
than
eviction
capable
of
provoking
an
outcry
.
'
'
As
you
please
,
'
said
the
other
indifferently
.
'
I
have
no
doubt
I
shall
find
myself
in
the
newspapers
before
long
.
If
so
,
I
daresay
I
shall
manage
to
put
up
with
it
.
Society
is
made
up
of
fanatics
and
the
creatures
they
hunt
.
If
I
am
to
be
hunted
,
I
shall
be
in
good
company
.
'
Robert
stood
hat
in
hand
,
tormented
with
a
dozen
crosscurrents
of
feeling
.
He
was
forcibly
struck
with
the
blind
and
comparatively
motiveless
pugnacity
of
the
squire
's
conduct
.
There
was
an
extravagance
in
it
which
for
the
first
time
recalled
to
him
old
Meyrick
's
lucubrations
.
'
I
have
done
no
good
,
I
see
,
Mr.
Wendover
,
'
he
said
at
last
,
slowly
.
'
I
wish
I
could
have
induced
you
to
do
an
act
of
justice
and
mercy
.
I
wish
I
could
have
made
you
think
more
kindly
of
myself
.
I
have
failed
in
both
.
It
is
useless
to
keep
you
any
longer
.
Good-morning
.
'
He
bowed
.
The
squire
also
bent
forward
.
At
that
moment
Robert
caught
sight
beside
his
shoulder
of
an
antique
,
standing
on
the
mantelpiece
,
which
was
a
new
addition
to
the
room
.
It
was
a
head
of
Medusa
,
and
the
frightful
stony
calm
of
it
struck
on
Elsmere
's
ruffled
nerves
with
extraordinary
force
.
It
flashed
across
him
that
here
was
an
apt
symbol
of
that
absorbing
and
overgrown
life
of
the
intellect
which
blights
the
heart
and
chills
the
senses
.
And
to
that
spiritual
Medusa
,
the
man
before
him
was
not
the
first
victim
he
had
known
.
Possessed
with
the
fancy
the
young
man
made
his
way
into
the
hall
.
Arrived
there
,
he
looked
round
with
a
kind
of
passionate
regret
:
'
Shall
I
ever
see
this
again
?
'
he
asked
himself
.
During
the
past
twelve
months
his
pleasure
in
the
great
house
had
been
much
more
than
sensuous
.
Within
those
walls
his
mind
had
grown
,
had
reached
to
a
fuller
stature
than
before
,
and
a
man
loves
,
or
should
love
,
all
that
is
associated
with
the
maturing
of
his
best
self
.
He
closed
the
ponderous
doors
behind
him
sadly
.
The
magnificent
pile
,
grander
than
ever
in
the
sunny
autumnal
mist
which
enwrapped
it
,
seemed
to
look
after
him
as
he
walked
away
,
mutely
wondering
that
he
should
have
allowed
anything
so
trivial
as
a
peasant
's
grievance
to
come
between
him
and
its
perfections
.
In
the
wooded
lane
outside
the
rectory
gate
he
overtook
Catherine
.
He
gave
her
his
report
,
and
they
walked
on
together
arm-in-arm
,
a
very
depressed
pair
.
'
What
shall
you
do
next
?
'
she
asked
him
.
'
Make
out
the
law
of
the
matter
,
'
he
said
briefly
.
'
If
you
get
over
the
inspector
,
'
said
Catherine
anxiously
,
'
I
am
tolerably
certain
Henslowe
will
turn
out
the
people
.
'
He
would
not
dare
,
Robert
thought
.
At
any
rate
,
the
law
existed
for
such
cases
,
and
it
was
his
bounden
duty
to
call
the
inspector
's
attention
.
Catherine
did
not
see
what
good
could
be
done
thereby
,
and
feared
harm
.
But
her
wifely
chivalry
felt
that
he
must
get
through
his
first
serious
practical
trouble
his
own
way
.
She
saw
that
he
felt
himself
distressingly
young
and
inexperienced
,
and
would
not
for
the
world
have
harassed
him
by
over
advice
.
So
she
let
him
alone
,
and
presently
Robert
threw
the
matter
from
him
with
a
sigh
.
'
Let
it
be
a
while
,
'
he
said
,
with
a
shake
of
his
long
frame
.
'
I
shall
get
morbid
over
it
if
I
do
n't
mind
.
I
am
a
selfish
wretch
too
.
I
know
you
have
worries
of
your
own
,
wifie
.
'
And
he
took
her
hand
under
the
trees
and
kissed
it
with
a
boyish
tenderness
.
'
Yes
,
'
said
Catherine
,
sighing
,
and
then
paused
.
'
Robert
,
'
she
burst
out
again
,
'
I
am
certain
that
man
made
love
of
a
kind
to
Rose
.
He
will
never
think
of
it
again
,
but
since
the
night
before
last
she
,
to
my
mind
,
is
simply
a
changed
creature
.
'
'
I
do
n't
see
it
,
'
said
Robert
doubtfully
.
Catherine
looked
at
him
with
a
little
angel
scorn
in
her
gray
eyes
.
That
men
should
make
their
seeing
in
such
matters
the
measure
of
the
visible
!
'
You
have
been
studying
the
squire
,
sir
—
I
have
been
studying
Rose
.
'
Then
she
poured
out
her
heart
to
him
,
describing
the
little
signs
of
change
and
suffering
her
anxious
sense
had
noted
,
in
spite
of
Rose
's
proud
effort
to
keep
all
the
world
,
but
especially
Catherine
,
at
arm
's
length
.
And
at
the
end
her
feeling
swept
her
into
a
denunciation
of
Langham
,
which
was
to
Robert
like
a
breath
from
the
past
,
from
those
stern
hills
wherein
he
met
her
first
.
The
happiness
of
their
married
life
had
so
softened
or
masked
all
her
ruggedness
of
character
,
that
there
was
a
certain
joy
in
seeing
those
strong
forces
in
her
which
had
struck
him
first
reappear
.
'
Of
course
I
feel
myself
to
blame
,
'
he
said
when
she
stopped
.
'
But
how
could
one
foresee
,
with
such
an
inveterate
hermit
and
recluse
?
And
I
owed
him
—
I
owe
him
—
so
much
.
'
'
I
know
,
'
said
Catherine
,
but
frowning
still
.
It
probably
seemed
to
her
that
that
old
debt
had
been
more
than
effaced
.
'
You
will
have
to
send
her
to
Berlin
,
'
said
Elsmere
after
a
pause
.
'
You
must
play
off
her
music
against
this
unlucky
feeling
.
If
it
exists
it
is
your
only
chance
.
'
'
Yes
,
she
must
go
to
Berlin
,
'
said
Catherine
slowly
.
Then
presently
she
looked
up
,
a
flash
of
exquisite
feeling
breaking
up
the
delicate
resolution
of
the
face
.
'
I
am
not
sad
about
that
,
Robert
.
Oh
,
how
you
have
widened
my
world
for
me
!
'
Suddenly
that
hour
in
Marrisdale
came
back
to
her
.
They
were
in
the
woodpath
.
She
crept
inside
her
husband
's
arm
and
put
up
her
face
to
him
,
swept
away
by
an
overmastering
impulse
of
self-humiliating
love
.
The
next
day
Robert
walked
over
to
the
little
market
town
of
Churton
,
saw
the
discreet
and
long-established
solicitor
of
the
place
,
and
got
from
him
a
complete
account
of
the
present
state
of
the
rural
sanitary
law
.
The
first
step
clearly
was
to
move
the
sanitary
inspector
;
if
that
failed
for
any
reason
,
then
any
bonâ
fide
inhabitant
had
an
appeal
to
the
local
sanitary
authority
,
viz.
the
board
of
guardians
.
Robert
walked
home
pondering
his
information
,
and
totally
ignorant
that
Henslowe
,
who
was
always
at
Churton
on
market-days
,
had
been
in
the
market-place
at
the
moment
when
the
rector
's
tall
figure
had
disappeared
within
Mr.
Dunstan
's
office-door
.
That
door
was
unpleasantly
known
to
the
agent
in
connection
with
some
energetic
measures
for
raising
money
he
had
been
lately
under
the
necessity
of
employing
,
and
it
had
a
way
of
attracting
his
eyes
by
means
of
the
fascination
that
often
attaches
to
disagreeable
objects
.
In
the
evening
Rose
was
sitting
listlessly
in
the
drawing-room
.
Catherine
was
not
there
,
so
her
novel
was
on
her
lap
and
her
eyes
were
staring
intently
into
a
world
whereof
they
only
had
the
key
.
Suddenly
there
was
a
ring
at
the
bell
.
The
servant
came
,
and
there
were
several
voices
and
a
sound
of
much
shoe-scraping
.
Then
the
swing-door
leading
to
the
study
opened
and
Elsmere
and
Catherine
came
out
.
Elsmere
stopped
with
an
exclamation
.
His
visitors
were
two
men
from
Mile
End
.
One
was
old
Milsom
,
more
sallow
and
palsied
than
ever
.
As
he
stood
bent
almost
double
,
his
old
knotted
hand
resting
for
support
on
the
table
beside
him
,
everything
in
the
little
hall
seemed
to
shake
with
him
.
The
other
was
Sharland
,
the
handsome
father
of
the
twins
,
whose
wife
had
been
fed
by
Catherine
with
every
imaginable
delicacy
since
Robert
's
last
visit
to
the
hamlet
.
Even
his
strong
youth
had
begun
to
show
signs
of
premature
decay
.
The
rolling
gipsy
eyes
were
growing
sunken
,
the
limbs
dragged
a
little
.
They
had
come
to
implore
the
rector
to
let
Mile
End
alone
.
Henslowe
had
been
over
there
in
the
afternoon
,
and
had
given
them
all
very
plainly
to
understand
that
if
Mr.
Elsmere
meddled
any
more
they
would
be
all
turned
out
at
a
week
's
notice
to
shift
as
they
could
.
'
And
if
you
do
n't
find
Thurston
Common
nice
lying
this
weather
,
with
the
winter
coming
on
,
you
'll
know
who
to
thank
for
it
,
'
the
agent
had
flung
behind
him
as
he
rode
off
.
Robert
turned
white
.
Rose
,
watching
the
little
scene
with
listless
eyes
,
saw
him
towering
over
the
group
like
an
embodiment
of
wrath
and
pity
.
'
If
they
turn
us
out
,
sir
,
'
said
old
Milsom
,
wistfully
looking
up
at
Elsmere
with
blear
eyes
,
'
there
'll
be
nothing
left
but
the
House
for
us
old
'
uns
.
Why
,
lor
'
bless
you
,
sir
,
it
's
not
so
bad
but
we
can
make
shift
.
'
'
You
,
Milsom
!
'
cried
Robert
;
'
and
you
've
just
all
but
lost
your
grandchild
!
And
you
know
your
wife
'll
never
be
the
same
woman
since
that
bout
of
fever
in
the
spring
.
And
—
—
'
His
quick
eyes
ran
over
the
old
man
's
broken
frame
with
a
world
of
indignant
meaning
in
them
.
'
Ay
,
ay
,
sir
,
'
said
Milsom
,
unmoved
.
'
But
if
it
is
n't
fevers
,
it
's
summat
else
.
I
can
make
a
shilling
or
two
where
I
be
,
speshally
in
the
first
part
of
the
year
,
in
the
basket
work
,
and
my
wife
she
goes
charring
up
at
Mr.
Carter
's
farm
,
and
Mr.
Dodson
,
him
at
the
farther
farm
,
he
do
give
us
a
bit
sometimes
.
Ef
you
git
us
turned
away
it
will
be
a
bad
day
's
work
for
all
on
us
,
sir
,
you
may
take
my
word
on
it
.
'
'
And
my
wife
so
ill
,
Mr.
Elsmere
,
'
said
Sharland
,
'
and
all
those
childer
!
I
ca
n't
walk
three
miles
farther
to
my
work
,
Mr.
Elsmere
,
I
ca
n't
nohow
.
I
have
n't
got
the
legs
for
it
.
Let
un
be
,
sir
.
We
'll
rub
along
.
'
Robert
tried
to
argue
the
matter
.
If
they
would
but
stand
by
him
he
would
fight
the
matter
through
,
and
they
should
not
suffer
,
if
he
had
to
get
up
a
public
subscription
,
or
support
them
out
of
his
own
pocket
all
the
winter
.
A
bold
front
,
and
Mr.
Henslowe
must
give
way
.
The
law
was
on
their
side
,
and
every
labourer
in
Surrey
would
be
the
better
off
for
their
refusal
to
be
housed
like
pigs
and
poisoned
like
vermin
.
In
vain
.
There
is
an
inexhaustible
store
of
cautious
endurance
in
the
poor
against
which
the
keenest
reformer
constantly
throws
himself
in
vain
.
Elsmere
was
beaten
.
The
two
men
got
his
word
,
and
shuffled
off
back
to
their
pestilential
hovels
,
a
pathetic
content
beaming
on
each
face
.
Catherine
and
Robert
went
back
into
the
study
.
Rose
heard
her
brother-in-law
's
passionate
sigh
as
the
door
swung
behind
them
.
'
Defeated
!
'
she
said
to
herself
with
a
curious
accent
.
'
Well
,
everybody
must
have
his
turn
.
Robert
has
been
too
successful
in
his
life
,
I
think
.
—
You
wretch
!
'
she
added
,
after
a
minute
,
laying
her
bright
head
down
on
the
book
before
her
.
Next
morning
his
wife
found
Elsmere
after
breakfast
busily
packing
a
case
of
books
in
the
study
.
They
were
books
from
the
Hall
library
,
which
so
far
had
been
for
months
the
inseparable
companions
of
his
historical
work
.
Catherine
stood
and
watched
him
sadly
.
'
Must
you
,
Robert
?
'
'
I
wo
n't
be
beholden
to
that
man
for
anything
an
hour
longer
than
I
can
help
,
'
he
answered
her
.
When
the
packing
was
nearly
finished
he
came
up
to
where
she
stood
in
the
open
window
.
'
Things
wo
n't
be
as
easy
for
us
in
the
future
,
darling
,
'
he
said
to
her
.
'
A
rector
with
both
squire
and
agent
against
him
is
rather
heavily
handicapped
.
We
must
make
up
our
minds
to
that
.
'
'
I
have
no
great
fear
,
'
she
said
,
looking
at
him
proudly
.
'
Oh
,
well
—
nor
I
—
perhaps
,
'
he
admitted
,
after
a
moment
.
'
We
can
hold
our
own
.
But
I
wish
—
oh
,
I
wish
'
—
and
he
laid
his
hand
on
his
wife
's
shoulder
—
'
I
could
have
made
friends
with
the
squire
.
'
Catherine
looked
less
responsive
.
'
As
squire
,
Robert
,
or
as
Mr.
Wendover
?
'
'
As
both
,
of
course
,
but
specially
as
Mr.
Wendover
.
'
'
We
can
do
without
his
friendship
,
'
she
said
with
energy
.
Robert
gave
a
great
stretch
,
as
though
to
work
off
his
regrets
.
'
Ah
,
but
,
'
he
said
,
half
to
himself
,
as
his
arms
dropped
,
'
if
you
are
just
filled
with
the
hunger
to
know
,
the
people
who
know
as
much
as
the
squire
become
very
interesting
to
you
!
'
Catherine
did
not
answer
.
But
probably
her
heart
went
out
once
more
in
protest
against
a
knowledge
that
was
to
her
but
a
form
of
revolt
against
the
awful
powers
of
man
's
destiny
.
'
However
,
here
go
his
books
,
'
said
Robert
.
Two
days
later
Mrs.
Leyburn
and
Agnes
made
their
appearance
,
Mrs.
Leyburn
all
in
a
flutter
concerning
the
event
over
which
,
in
her
own
opinion
,
she
had
come
to
preside
.
In
her
gentle
fluid
mind
all
impressions
were
short-lived
.
She
had
forgotten
how
she
had
brought
up
her
own
babies
,
but
Mrs.
Thornburgh
,
who
had
never
had
any
,
had
filled
her
full
of
nursery
lore
.
She
sat
retailing
a
host
of
second-hand
hints
and
instructions
to
Catherine
,
who
would
every
now
and
then
lay
her
hand
smiling
on
her
mother
's
knee
,
well
pleased
to
see
the
flush
of
pleasure
on
the
pretty
old
face
,
and
ready
,
in
her
patient
filial
way
,
to
let
herself
be
experimented
on
to
the
utmost
,
if
it
did
but
make
the
poor
foolish
thing
happy
.
Then
came
a
night
when
every
soul
in
the
quiet
rectory
,
even
hot
,
smarting
Rose
,
was
possessed
by
one
thought
through
many
terrible
hours
,
and
one
only
—
the
thought
of
Catherine
's
safety
.
It
was
strange
and
unexpected
,
but
Catherine
,
the
most
normal
and
healthy
of
women
,
had
a
hard
struggle
for
her
own
life
and
her
child
's
,
and
it
was
not
till
the
gray
autumn
morning
,
after
a
day
and
night
which
left
a
permanent
mark
on
Robert
,
that
he
was
summoned
at
last
,
and
with
the
sense
of
one
emerging
from
black
gulfs
of
terror
,
received
from
his
wife
's
languid
hand
the
tiny
fingers
of
his
firstborn
.
The
days
that
followed
were
full
of
emotion
for
these
two
people
,
who
were
perhaps
always
over-serious
,
over-sensitive
.
They
had
no
idea
of
minimising
the
great
common
experiences
of
life
.
Both
of
them
were
really
simple
,
brought
up
in
old-fashioned
simple
ways
,
easily
touched
,
responsive
to
all
that
high
spiritual
education
which
flows
from
the
familiar
incidents
of
the
human
story
,
approached
poetically
and
passionately
.
As
the
young
husband
sat
in
the
quiet
of
his
wife
's
room
,
the
occasional
restless
movements
of
the
small
brown
head
against
her
breast
causing
the
only
sound
perceptible
in
the
country
silence
,
he
felt
all
the
deep
familiar
currents
of
human
feeling
sweeping
through
him
—
love
,
reverence
,
thanksgiving
—
and
all
the
walls
of
the
soul
,
as
it
were
,
expanding
and
enlarging
as
they
passed
.
Responsive
creature
that
he
was
,
the
experience
of
these
days
was
hardly
happiness
.
It
went
too
deep
;
it
brought
him
too
poignantly
near
to
all
that
is
most
real
and
therefore
most
tragic
in
life
.
Catherine
's
recovery
also
was
slower
than
might
have
been
expected
,
considering
her
constitutional
soundness
,
and
for
the
first
week
,
after
that
faint
moment
of
joy
when
her
child
was
laid
upon
her
arm
,
and
she
saw
her
husband
's
quivering
face
above
her
,
there
was
a
kind
of
depression
hovering
over
her
.
Robert
felt
it
,
and
felt
too
that
all
his
devotion
could
not
soothe
it
away
.
At
last
she
said
to
him
one
evening
,
in
the
encroaching
September
twilight
,
speaking
with
a
sudden
hurrying
vehemence
,
wholly
unlike
herself
,
as
though
a
barrier
of
reserve
had
given
way
,
—
'
Robert
I
cannot
put
it
out
of
my
head
.
I
cannot
forget
it
,
the
pain
of
the
world
!
'
He
shut
the
book
he
was
reading
,
her
hand
in
his
,
and
bent
over
her
with
questioning
eyes
.
'
It
seems
,
'
she
went
on
,
with
that
difficulty
which
a
strong
nature
always
feels
in
self-revelation
,
'
to
take
the
joy
even
out
of
our
love
—
and
the
child
.
I
feel
ashamed
almost
that
mere
physical
pain
should
have
laid
such
hold
on
me
—
and
yet
I
ca
n't
get
away
from
it
.
It
's
not
for
myself
,
'
and
she
smiled
faintly
at
him
.
'
Comparatively
I
had
so
little
to
bear
!
But
I
know
now
for
the
first
time
what
physical
pain
may
mean
—
and
I
never
knew
before
!
I
lie
thinking
,
Robert
,
about
all
creatures
in
pain
—
workmen
crushed
by
machinery
,
or
soldiers
—
or
poor
things
in
hospitals
—
above
all
of
women
!
Oh
,
when
I
get
well
,
how
I
will
take
care
of
the
women
here
!
What
women
must
suffer
even
here
in
out-of-the-way
cottages
—
no
doctor
,
no
kind
nursing
,
all
blind
agony
and
struggle
!
And
women
in
London
in
dens
like
those
Mr.
Newcome
got
into
,
degraded
,
forsaken
,
ill-treated
,
the
thought
of
the
child
only
an
extra
horror
and
burden
!
And
the
pain
all
the
time
so
merciless
,
so
cruel
—
no
escape
!
Oh
,
to
give
all
one
is
,
or
ever
can
be
,
to
comforting
!
And
yet
the
great
sea
of
it
one
can
never
touch
