yawur
'
tossicatit
whan
yur
owt
ta
been
duing
yur
larful
business
.
Aa
've
doon
wi
'
yer
.
Aa
aims
to
please
ma
coostomers
,
an
'
aa
caa
n't
abide
sek
wark
.
Yur
like
an
oald
kneyfe
,
I
can
mak
'
nowt
o
'
ya
'
,
nowder
back
nor
edge
.
'
Mrs.
Thornburgh
wrung
her
fat
short
hands
in
despair
,
making
little
incoherent
laments
and
suggestions
as
she
saw
him
about
to
depart
,
of
which
John
at
last
gathered
the
main
purport
to
be
that
she
wished
him
to
go
back
to
Whinborough
for
her
precious
parcel
.
He
shook
his
head
compassionately
over
the
preposterous
state
of
mind
betrayed
by
such
a
demand
,
and
with
a
fresh
burst
of
abuse
of
his
brother
,
and
an
assurance
to
the
vicar
's
wife
that
he
meant
to
'
gie
that
oald
man
nawtice
when
he
got
haum
;
he
was
n't
goan
to
hev
his
bisness
spiled
for
nowt
by
an
oald
ijiot
wi
'
a
hed
as
full
o
'
yale
as
a
hayrick
's
full
of
mice
,
'
he
raised
his
whip
and
the
clattering
vehicle
moved
forward
;
Jim
meanwhile
preserving
through
all
his
brother
's
wrath
and
Mrs.
Thornburgh
's
wailings
the
same
mild
and
even
countenance
,
the
meditative
and
friendly
aspect
of
the
philosopher
letting
the
world
go
'
as
e'en
it
will
.
'
So
Mrs.
Thornburgh
was
left
gasping
,
watching
the
progress
of
the
lumbering
cart
along
the
bit
of
road
leading
to
the
hamlet
at
the
head
of
the
valley
,
with
so
limp
and
crestfallen
an
aspect
that
even
the
gaunt
and
secretly
jubilant
Sarah
was
moved
to
pity
.
'
Why
,
missis
,
we
'll
do
very
well
.
I
'll
hev
some
scones
in
t'oven
in
naw
time
,
an
'
theer
's
finger
biscuits
,
an
'
wi
'
buttered
toast
an
'
sum
o
'
t
'
best
jams
,
if
they
do
n't
hev
enuf
to
eat
they
ought
to
.
'
Then
,
dropping
her
voice
,
she
asked
with
a
hurried
change
of
tone
,
'
Did
ye
ask
un
'
hoo
his
daater
is
?
'
Mrs.
Thornburgh
started
.
Her
pastoral
conscience
was
smitten
.
She
opened
the
gate
and
waved
violently
after
the
cart
.
John
pulled
his
horse
up
,
and
with
a
few
quick
steps
she
brought
herself
within
speaking
,
or
rather
shouting
,
distance
.
'
How
's
your
daughter
to-day
,
John
?
'
The
old
man
's
face
peering
round
the
oilcloth
hood
of
the
cart
was
darkened
by
a
sudden
cloud
as
he
caught
the
words
.
His
stern
lips
closed
.
He
muttered
something
inaudible
to
Mrs.
Thornburgh
and
whipped
up
his
horse
again
.
The
cart
started
off
,
and
Mrs.
Thornburgh
was
left
staring
into
the
receding
eyes
of
'
Jim
the
Noodle
,
'
who
,
from
his
seat
on
the
near
shaft
,
regarded
her
with
a
gaze
which
had
passed
from
benevolence
into
a
preternatural
solemnity
.
'
He
's
sparin
'
ov
'
is
speach
is
John
Backhouse
,
'
said
Sarah
grimly
,
as
her
mistress
returned
to
her
.
'
Maybe
ee
's
aboot
reet
.
It
's
a
bad
business
an
'
ee
'll
not
mend
it
wi
'
taakin
'
.
'
Mrs.
Thornburgh
,
however
,
could
not
apply
herself
to
the
case
of
Mary
Backhouse
.
At
any
other
moment
it
would
have
excited
in
her
breast
the
shuddering
interest
which
,
owing
to
certain
peculiar
attendant
circumstances
,
it
awakened
in
every
other
woman
in
Long
Whindale
.
But
her
mind
—
such
are
the
limitations
of
even
clergymen
's
wives
—
was
now
absorbed
by
her
own
misfortune
.
Her
very
cap-strings
seemed
to
hang
limp
with
depression
,
as
she
followed
Sarah
dejectedly
into
the
kitchen
,
and
gave
what
attention
she
could
to
those
second-best
arrangements
so
depressing
to
the
idealist
temper
.
Poor
soul
!
All
the
charm
and
glitter
of
her
little
social
adventure
was
gone
.
When
she
once
more
emerged
upon
the
lawn
,
and
languidly
readjusted
her
spectacles
,
she
was
weighed
down
by
the
thought
that
in
two
hours
Mrs.
Seaton
would
be
upon
her
.
Nothing
of
this
kind
ever
happened
to
Mrs.
Seaton
.
The
universe
obeyed
her
nod
.
No
carrier
conveying
goods
to
her
august
door
ever
got
drunk
or
failed
to
deliver
his
consignment
.
The
thing
was
inconceivable
.
Mrs.
Thornburgh
was
well
aware
of
it
.
Should
William
be
informed
?
Mrs.
Thornburgh
had
a
rooted
belief
in
the
brutality
of
husbands
in
all
domestic
crises
,
and
would
have
preferred
not
to
inform
him
.
But
she
had
also
a
dismal
certainty
that
the
secret
would
burn
a
hole
in
her
till
it
was
confessed
—
bill
and
all
.
Besides
—
frightful
thought
!
—
would
they
have
to
eat
up
all
those
meringues
next
day
?
Her
reflections
at
last
became
so
depressing
that
,
with
a
natural
epicurean
instinct
,
she
tried
violently
to
turn
her
mind
away
from
them
.
Luckily
she
was
assisted
by
a
sudden
perception
of
the
roof
and
chimneys
of
Burwood
,
the
Leyburns
'
house
,
peeping
above
the
trees
to
the
left
.
At
sight
of
them
a
smile
overspread
her
plump
and
gently
wrinkled
face
.
She
fell
gradually
into
a
train
of
thought
,
as
feminine
as
that
in
which
she
had
been
just
indulging
,
but
infinitely
more
pleasing
.
For
,
with
regard
to
the
Leyburns
,
at
this
present
moment
Mrs.
Thornburgh
felt
herself
in
the
great
position
of
tutelary
divinity
or
guardian
angel
.
At
least
if
divinities
and
guardian
angels
do
not
concern
themselves
with
the
questions
to
which
Mrs.
Thornburgh
's
mind
was
now
addressed
,
it
would
clearly
have
been
the
opinion
of
the
vicar
's
wife
that
they
ought
to
do
so
.
'
Who
else
is
there
to
look
after
these
girls
,
I
should
like
to
know
,
'
Mrs.
Thornburgh
inquired
of
herself
,
'
if
I
do
n't
do
it
?
As
if
girls
married
themselves
!
People
may
talk
of
their
independence
nowadays
as
much
as
they
like
—
it
always
has
to
be
done
for
them
,
one
way
or
another
.
Mrs.
Leyburn
,
poor
lackadaisical
thing
!
is
no
good
whatever
.
No
more
is
Catherine
.
They
both
behave
as
if
husbands
tumbled
into
your
mouth
for
the
asking
.
Catherine
's
too
good
for
this
world
—
but
if
she
does
n't
do
it
,
I
must
.
Why
,
that
girl
Rose
is
a
beauty
—
if
they
did
n't
let
her
wear
those
ridiculous
mustard-coloured
things
,
and
do
her
hair
fit
to
frighten
the
crows
!
Agnes
too
—
so
lady-like
and
well-mannered
;
she
'd
do
credit
to
any
man
.
Well
,
we
shall
see
,
we
shall
see
!
'
And
Mrs.
Thornburgh
gently
shook
her
gray
curls
from
side
to
side
,
while
her
eyes
,
fixed
on
the
open
spare
room
window
,
shone
with
meaning
.
'
So
eligible
,
too
—
private
means
,
no
encumbrances
,
and
as
good
as
gold
.
'
She
sat
lost
a
moment
in
a
pleasing
dream
.
'
Shall
I
bring
oot
the
tea
to
you
theer
,
mum
?
'
called
Sarah
gruffly
,
from
the
garden
door
.
'
Master
and
Mr.
Elsmere
are
just
coomin
'
down
t
'
field
by
t
'
stepping-stones
.
'
Mrs.
Thornburgh
signalled
assent
and
the
tea-table
was
brought
.
Afternoon
tea
was
by
no
means
a
regular
institution
at
the
vicarage
of
Long
Whindale
,
and
Sarah
never
supplied
it
without
signs
of
protest
.
But
when
a
guest
was
in
the
house
Mrs.
Thornburgh
insisted
upon
it
;
her
obstinacy
in
the
matter
,
like
her
dreams
of
cakes
and
confections
,
being
all
part
of
her
determination
to
move
with
the
times
,
in
spite
of
the
station
to
which
Providence
had
assigned
her
.
A
minute
afterwards
the
vicar
,
a
thick-set
gray-haired
man
of
sixty
,
accompanied
by
a
tall
younger
man
in
clerical
dress
,
emerged
upon
the
lawn
.
'
Welcome
sight
!
'
cried
Mr.
Thornburgh
;
'
Robert
and
I
have
been
coveting
that
tea
for
the
last
hour
.
You
guessed
very
well
,
Emma
,
to
have
it
just
ready
for
us
.
'
'
Oh
,
that
was
Sarah
.
She
saw
you
coming
down
to
the
stepping-stones
,
'
replied
his
wife
,
pleased
,
however
,
by
any
mark
of
appreciation
from
her
mankind
,
however
small
.
'
Robert
,
I
hope
you
have
n't
been
walked
off
your
legs
?
'
'
What
,
in
this
air
,
cousin
Emma
?
I
could
walk
from
sunrise
to
sundown
.
Let
no
one
call
me
an
invalid
any
more
.
Henceforth
I
am
a
Hercules
.
'
And
he
threw
himself
on
the
rug
which
Mrs.
Thornburgh
's
motherly
providence
had
spread
on
the
grass
for
him
,
with
a
smile
and
a
look
of
supreme
physical
contentment
,
which
did
indeed
almost
efface
the
signs
of
recent
illness
in
the
ruddy
boyish
face
.
Mrs.
Thornburgh
studied
him
;
her
eye
caught
first
of
all
by
the
stubble
of
reddish
hair
which
as
he
took
off
his
hat
stood
up
straight
and
stiff
all
over
his
head
with
an
odd
wildness
and
aggressiveness
.
She
involuntarily
thought
,
basing
her
inward
comment
on
a
complexity
of
reasons
—
'
Dear
me
,
what
a
pity
;
it
spoils
his
appearance
!
'
'
I
apologise
,
I
apologise
,
cousin
Emma
,
once
for
all
,
'
said
the
young
man
,
surprising
her
glance
,
and
despairingly
smoothing
down
his
recalcitrant
locks
.
'
Let
us
hope
that
mountain
air
will
quicken
the
pace
of
it
before
it
is
necessary
for
me
to
present
a
dignified
appearance
at
Murewell
.
'
He
looked
up
at
her
with
a
merry
flash
in
his
gray
eyes
,
and
her
old
face
brightened
visibly
as
she
realised
afresh
that
in
spite
of
the
grotesqueness
of
his
cropped
hair
,
her
guest
was
a
most
attractive
creature
.
Not
that
he
could
boast
much
in
the
way
of
regular
good
looks
:
the
mouth
was
large
,
the
nose
of
no
particular
outline
,
and
in
general
the
cutting
of
the
face
,
though
strong
and
characteristic
,
had
a
bluntness
and
naïveté
like
a
vigorous
unfinished
sketch
.
This
bluntness
of
line
,
however
,
was
balanced
by
a
great
delicacy
of
tint
—
the
pink
and
white
complexion
of
a
girl
,
indeed
—
enhanced
by
the
bright
reddish
hair
,
and
quick
gray
eyes
.
The
figure
was
also
a
little
out
of
drawing
,
so
to
speak
;
it
was
tall
and
loosely-jointed
.
The
general
impression
was
one
of
agility
and
power
.
But
if
you
looked
closer
you
saw
that
the
shoulders
were
narrow
,
the
arms
inordinately
long
,
and
the
extremities
too
small
for
the
general
height
.
Robert
Elsmere
's
hand
was
the
hand
of
a
woman
,
and
few
people
ever
exchanged
a
first
greeting
with
its
very
tall
owner
without
a
little
shock
of
surprise
.
Mr.
Thornburgh
and
his
guest
had
visited
a
few
houses
in
the
course
of
their
walk
,
and
the
vicar
plunged
for
a
minute
or
two
into
some
conversation
about
local
matters
with
his
wife
.
But
Mrs.
Thornburgh
,
it
was
soon
evident
,
was
giving
him
but
a
scatterbrained
attention
.
Her
secret
was
working
in
her
ample
breast
.
Very
soon
she
could
contain
it
no
longer
,
and
breaking
in
upon
her
husband
's
parish
news
,
she
tumbled
it
all
out
pell-mell
,
with
a
mixture
of
discomfiture
and
defiance
infinitely
diverting
.
She
could
not
keep
a
secret
,
but
she
also
could
not
bear
to
give
William
an
advantage
.
William
certainly
took
his
advantage
.
He
did
what
his
wife
in
her
irritation
had
precisely
foreseen
that
he
would
do
.
He
first
stared
,
then
fell
into
a
guffaw
of
laughter
,
and
as
soon
as
he
had
recovered
breath
,
into
a
series
of
unfeeling
comments
which
drove
Mrs.
Thornburgh
to
desperation
.
'
If
you
will
set
your
mind
,
my
dear
,
on
things
we
plain
folks
can
do
perfectly
well
without
'
—
et
cetera
,
et
cetera
—
the
husband
's
point
of
view
can
be
imagined
.
Mrs.
Thornburgh
could
have
shaken
her
good
man
,
especially
as
there
was
nothing
new
to
her
in
his
remarks
;
she
had
known
to
a
T
beforehand
exactly
what
he
would
say
.
She
took
up
her
knitting
in
a
great
hurry
,
the
needles
clicking
angrily
,
her
gray
curls
quivering
under
the
energy
of
her
hands
and
arms
,
while
she
launched
at
her
husband
various
retorts
as
to
his
lack
of
consideration
for
her
efforts
and
her
inconvenience
,
which
were
only
very
slightly
modified
by
the
presence
of
a
stranger
.
Robert
Elsmere
meanwhile
lay
on
the
grass
,
his
face
discreetly
turned
away
,
an
uncontrollable
smile
twitching
the
corners
of
his
mouth
.
Everything
was
fresh
and
piquant
up
here
in
this
remote
corner
of
the
north
country
,
whether
the
mountain
air
or
the
wind-blown
streams
,
or
the
manners
and
customs
of
the
inhabitants
.
His
cousin
's
wife
,
in
spite
of
her
ambitious
conventionalities
,
was
really
the
child
of
Nature
to
a
refreshing
degree
.
One
does
not
see
these
types
,
he
said
to
himself
,
in
the
cultivated
monotony
of
Oxford
or
London
.
She
was
like
a
bit
of
a
bygone
world
—
Miss
Austen
's
or
Miss
Ferrier
's
—
unearthed
for
his
amusement
.
He
could
not
for
the
life
of
him
help
taking
the
scenes
of
this
remote
rural
existence
,
which
was
quite
new
to
him
,
as
though
they
were
the
scenes
of
some
comedy
of
manners
.
Presently
,
however
,
the
vicar
became
aware
that
the
passage
of
arms
between
himself
and
his
spouse
was
becoming
just
a
little
indecorous
.
He
got
up
with
a
'
Hem
!
'
intended
to
put
an
end
to
it
,
and
deposited
his
cup
.
'
Well
,
my
dear
,
have
it
as
you
please
.
It
all
comes
of
your
determination
to
have
Mrs.
Seaton
.
Why
could
n't
you
just
ask
the
Leyburns
and
let
us
enjoy
ourselves
?
'
With
this
final
shaft
he
departed
to
see
that
Jane
,
the
little
maid
whom
Sarah
ordered
about
,
had
not
,
in
cleaning
the
study
for
the
evening
's
festivities
,
put
his
last
sermon
into
the
waste-paper
basket
.
His
wife
looked
after
him
with
eyes
that
spoke
unutterable
things
.
'
You
would
never
think
,
'
she
said
in
an
agitated
voice
to
young
Elsmere
,
'
that
I
had
consulted
Mr.
Thornburgh
as
to
every
invitation
,
that
he
entirely
agreed
with
me
that
one
must
be
civil
to
Mrs.
Seaton
,
considering
that
she
can
make
anybody
's
life
a
burden
to
them
about
here
that
is
n't
;
but
it
's
no
use
.
'
And
she
fell
back
on
her
knitting
with
redoubled
energy
,
her
face
full
of
a
half-tearful
intensity
of
meaning
.
Robert
Elsmere
restrained
a
strong
inclination
to
laugh
,
and
set
himself
instead
to
distract
and
console
her
.
He
expressed
sympathy
with
her
difficulties
,
he
talked
to
her
about
her
party
,
he
got
from
her
the
names
and
histories
of
the
guests
.
How
Miss
Austenish
it
sounded
:
the
managing
rector
's
wife
,
her
still
more
managing
old
maid
of
a
sister
,
the
neighbouring
clergyman
who
played
the
flute
,
the
local
doctor
,
and
a
pretty
daughter
just
out
—
'
Very
pretty
,
'
sighed
Mrs.
Thornburgh
,
who
was
now
depressed
all
round
,
'
but
all
flounces
and
frills
and
nothing
to
say
'
—
and
last
of
all
,
those
three
sisters
,
the
Leyburns
,
who
seemed
to
be
on
a
different
level
,
and
whom
he
had
heard
mentioned
so
often
since
his
arrival
by
both
husband
and
wife
.
'
Tell
me
about
the
Miss
Leyburns
,
'
he
said
presently
.
'
You
and
cousin
William
seem
to
have
a
great
affection
for
them
.
Do
they
live
near
?
'
'
Oh
,
quite
close
,
'
cried
Mrs.
Thornburgh
,
brightening
at
last
,
and
like
a
great
general
,
leaving
one
scheme
in
ruins
,
only
the
more
ardently
to
take
up
another
.
'
There
is
the
house
,
'
and
she
pointed
out
Burwood
among
its
trees
.
Then
with
her
eye
eagerly
fixed
upon
him
,
she
fell
into
a
more
or
less
incoherent
account
of
her
favourites
.
She
laid
on
her
colours
thickly
,
and
Elsmere
at
once
assumed
extravagance
.
'
A
saint
,
a
beauty
,
and
a
wit
all
to
yourselves
in
these
wilds
!
'
he
said
,
laughing
.
'
What
luck
!
But
what
on
earth
brought
them
here
—
a
widow
and
three
daughters
—
from
the
south
?
It
was
an
odd
settlement
surely
,
though
you
have
one
of
the
loveliest
valleys
and
the
purest
airs
in
England
.
'
'
Oh
,
as
to
lovely
valleys
,
'
said
Mrs.
Thornburgh
,
sighing
,
'
I
think
it
very
dull
;
I
always
have
.
When
one
has
to
depend
for
everything
on
a
carrier
that
gets
drunk
,
too
!
Why
,
you
know
they
belong
here
.
They
're
real
Westmoreland
people
.
'
'
What
does
that
mean
exactly
?
'
'
Oh
,
their
grandfather
was
a
farmer
,
just
like
one
of
the
common
farmers
about
.
Only
his
land
was
his
own
,
and
theirs
is
n't
.
'
'
He
was
one
of
the
last
of
the
statesmen
,
'
interposed
Mr.
Thornburgh
—
who
,
having
rescued
his
sermon
from
Jane
's
tender
mercies
,
and
put
out
his
modest
claret
and
sherry
for
the
evening
,
had
strolled
out
again
and
found
himself
impelled
as
usual
to
put
some
precision
into
his
wife
's
statements
—
'
one
of
the
small
freeholders
who
have
almost
disappeared
here
as
elsewhere
.
The
story
of
the
Leyburns
always
seems
to
me
typical
of
many
things
.
'
Robert
looked
inquiry
,
and
the
vicar
,
sitting
down
—
having
first
picked
up
his
wife
's
ball
of
wool
as
a
peace-offering
,
which
was
loftily
accepted
—
launched
into
a
narrative
which
may
be
here
somewhat
condensed
.
The
Leyburns
'
grandfather
,
it
appeared
,
had
been
a
typical
north-country
peasant
—
honest
,
with
strong
passions
both
of
love
and
hate
,
thinking
nothing
of
knocking
down
his
wife
with
the
poker
,
and
frugal
in
all
things
save
drink
.
Drink
,
however
,
was
ultimately
his
ruin
,
as
it
was
the
ruin
of
most
of
the
Cumberland
statesmen
.
'
The
people
about
here
,
'
said
the
vicar
,
'
say
he
drank
away
an
acre
a
year
.
He
had
some
fifty
acres
,
and
it
took
about
thirty
years
to
beggar
him
.
'
Meanwhile
,
this
brutal
,
rollicking
,
strong-natured
person
had
sons
and
daughters
—
plenty
of
them
.
Most
of
them
,
even
the
daughters
,
were
brutal
and
rollicking
too
.
Of
one
of
the
daughters
,
now
dead
,
it
was
reported
that
,
having
on
one
occasion
discovered
her
father
,
then
an
old
infirm
man
,
sitting
calmly
by
the
fire
beside
the
prostrate
form
of
his
wife
,
whom
he
had
just
felled
with
his
crutch
,
she
had
taken
off
her
wooden
shoe
and
given
her
father
a
clout
on
the
head
,
which
left
his
gray
hair
streaming
with
blood
;
after
which
she
had
calmly
put
the
horse
into
the
cart
,
and
driven
off
to
fetch
the
doctor
to
both
her
parents
.
But
among
this
grim
and
earthy
crew
there
was
one
exception
,
a
'
hop
out
of
kin
,
'
of
whom
all
the
rest
made
sport
.
This
was
the
second
son
,
Richard
,
who
showed
such
a
persistent
tendency
to
'
book-larnin
'
,
'
and
such
a
persistent
idiocy
in
all
matters
pertaining
to
the
land
,
that
nothing
was
left
to
the
father
at
last
but
to
send
him
with
many
oaths
to
the
grammar
school
at
Whinborough
.
From
the
moment
the
boy
got
a
footing
in
the
school
he
hardly
cost
his
father
another
penny
.
He
got
a
local
bursary
which
paid
his
school
expenses
,
he
never
missed
a
remove
or
failed
to
gain
a
prize
,
and
finally
won
a
close
scholarship
which
carried
him
triumphantly
to
Queen
's
College
.
His
family
watched
his
progress
with
a
gaping
,
half-contemptuous
amazement
,
till
he
announced
himself
as
safely
installed
at
Oxford
,
having
borrowed
from
a
Whinborough
patron
the
modest
sum
necessary
to
pay
his
college
valuation
—
a
sum
which
wild
horses
could
not
have
dragged
out
of
his
father
,
now
sunk
over
head
and
ears
in
debt
and
drink
.
From
that
moment
they
practically
lost
sight
of
him
.
He
sent
the
class
list
which
contained
his
name
among
the
Firsts
to
his
father
;
in
the
same
way
he
communicated
the
news
of
his
Fellowship
at
Queen
's
,
his
ordination
and
his
appointment
to
the
headmastership
of
a
south-country
grammar
school
.
None
of
his
communications
were
ever
answered
till
,
in
the
very
last
year
of
his
father
's
life
,
the
eldest
son
,
who
had
a
shrewder
eye
all
round
to
the
main
chance
than
the
rest
,
applied
to
'
Dick
'
for
cash
wherewith
to
meet
some
of
the
family
necessities
.
The
money
was
promptly
sent
,
together
with
photographs
of
Dick
's
wife
and
children
.
These
last
were
not
taken
much
notice
of
.
These
Leyburns
were
a
hard
,
limited
,
incurious
set
,
and
they
no
longer
regarded
Dick
as
one
of
themselves
.
'
Then
came
the
old
man
's
death
,
'
said
Mr.
Thornburgh
.
'
It
happened
the
year
after
I
took
the
living
.
Richard
Leyburn
was
sent
for
and
came
.
I
never
saw
such
a
scene
in
my
life
as
the
funeral
supper
.
It
was
kept
up
in
the
old
style
.
Three
of
Leyburn
's
sons
were
there
:
two
of
them
farmers
like
himself
,
one
a
clerk
from
Manchester
,
a
daughter
married
to
a
tradesman
in
Whinborough
,
a
brother
of
the
old
man
,
who
was
under
the
table
before
supper
was
half
over
,
and
so
on
.
Richard
Leyburn
wrote
to
ask
me
to
come
,
and
I
went
to
support
his
cloth
.
But
I
was
new
to
the
place
,
'
said
the
vicar
,
flushing
a
little
,
'
and
they
belonged
to
a
race
that
had
never
been
used
to
pay
much
respect
to
parsons
.
To
see
that
man
among
the
rest
!
He
was
thin
and
dignified
;
he
looked
to
me
as
if
he
had
all
the
learning
imaginable
,
and
he
had
large
,
absent-looking
eyes
,
which
,
as
George
,
the
eldest
brother
,
said
,
gave
you
the
impression
of
some
one
that
"
had
lost
somethin
'
when
he
was
nobbut
a
lad
,
and
had
gone
seekin
'
it
iver
sence
.
"
He
was
formidable
to
me
;
but
between
us
we
could
n't
keep
the
rest
of
the
party
in
order
,
so
when
the
orgie
had
gone
on
a
certain
time
,
we
left
it
and
went
out
into
the
air
.
It
was
an
August
night
.
I
remember
Leyburn
threw
back
his
head
and
drank
it
in
.
"
I
have
n't
breathed
this
air
for
five-and-twenty
years
,
"
he
said
.
"
I
thought
I
hated
the
place
,
and
in
spite
of
that
drunken
crew
in
there
,
it
draws
me
to
it
like
a
magnet
.
I
feel
,
after
all
,
that
I
have
the
fells
in
my
blood
.
"
He
was
a
curious
man
,
a
refined-looking
melancholy
creature
,
with
a
face
that
reminded
you
of
Wordsworth
,
and
cold
donnish
ways
,
except
to
his
children
and
the
poor
.
I
always
thought
his
life
had
disappointed
him
somehow
.
'
'
Yet
one
would
think
,
'
said
Robert
,
opening
his
eyes
,
'
that
he
had
made
a
very
considerable
success
of
it
!
'
'
Well
,
I
do
n't
know
how
it
was
,
'
said
the
vicar
,
whose
analysis
of
character
never
went
very
far
.
'
Anyhow
,
next
day
he
went
peering
about
the
place
and
the
mountains
and
the
lands
his
father
had
lost
.
And
George
,
the
eldest
brother
,
who
had
inherited
the
farm
,
watched
him
without
a
word
,
in
the
way
these
Westmoreland
folk
have
,
and
at
last
offered
him
what
remained
of
the
place
for
a
fancy
price
.
I
told
him
it
was
a
preposterous
sum
,
but
he
would
n't
bargain
.
"
I
shall
bring
my
wife
and
children
here
in
the
holidays
,
"
he
said
,
"
and
the
money
will
set
George
up
in
California
.
"
So
he
paid
through
the
nose
,
and
got
possession
of
the
old
house
,
in
which
,
I
should
think
,
he
had
passed
about
as
miserable
a
childhood
as
it
was
possible
to
pass
.
There
's
no
accounting
for
tastes
.
'
'
And
then
the
next
summer
they
all
came
down
,
'
interrupted
Mrs.
Thornburgh
.
She
disliked
a
long
story
as
she
disliked
being
read
aloud
to
.
'
Catherine
was
fifteen
,
not
a
bit
like
a
child
.
You
used
to
see
her
everywhere
with
her
father
.
To
my
mind
he
was
always
exciting
her
brain
too
much
,
but
he
was
a
man
you
could
not
say
a
word
to
.
I
do
n't
care
what
William
says
about
his
being
like
Wordsworth
;
he
just
gave
you
the
blues
to
look
at
.
'
'
It
was
so
strange
,
'
said
the
vicar
meditatively
,
'
to
see
them
in
that
house
.
If
you
knew
the
things
that
used
to
go
on
there
in
old
days
—
the
savages
that
lived
there
.
And
then
to
see
those
three
delicately
brought-up
children
going
in
and
out
of
the
parlour
where
old
Leyburn
used
to
sit
smoking
and
drinking
;
and
Dick
Leyburn
walking
about
in
a
white
tie
,
and
the
same
men
touching
their
hats
to
him
who
had
belaboured
him
when
he
was
a
boy
at
the
village
school
—
it
was
queer
.
'
'
A
curious
little
bit
of
social
history
,
'
said
Elsmere
.
'
Well
,
and
then
he
died
and
the
family
lived
on
?
'
'
Yes
,
he
died
the
year
after
he
bought
the
place
.
And
perhaps
the
most
interesting
thing
of
all
has
been
the
development
of
his
eldest
daughter
.
She
has
watched
over
her
mother
,
she
has
brought
up
her
sisters
;
but
much
more
than
that
:
she
has
become
a
sort
of
Deborah
in
these
valleys
,
'
said
the
vicar
,
smiling
.
'
I
do
n't
count
for
much
,
she
counts
for
a
great
deal
.
I
ca
n't
get
the
people
to
tell
me
their
secrets
,
she
can
.
There
is
a
sort
of
natural
sympathy
between
them
and
her
.
She
nurses
them
,
she
scolds
them
,
she
preaches
to
them
,
and
they
take
it
from
her
when
they
wo
n't
take
it
from
us
.
Perhaps
it
is
the
feeling
of
blood
.
Perhaps
they
think
it
as
mysterious
a
dispensation
of
Providence
as
I
do
that
that
brutal
,
swearing
,
whisky-drinking
stock
should
have
ended
in
anything
so
saintly
and
so
beautiful
as
Catherine
Leyburn
.
'
The
quiet
,
commonplace
clergyman
spoke
with
a
sudden
tremor
of
feeling
.
His
wife
,
however
,
looked
at
him
with
a
dissatisfied
expression
.
'
You
always
talk
,
'
she
said
,
'
as
if
there
were
no
one
but
Catherine
.
People
generally
like
the
other
two
much
better
.
Catherine
is
so
stand-off
.
'
'
Oh
,
the
other
two
are
very
well
,
'
said
the
vicar
,
but
in
a
different
tone
.
Robert
sat
ruminating
.
Presently
his
host
and
hostess
went
in
,
and
the
young
man
went
sauntering
up
the
climbing
garden-path
to
the
point
where
only
a
railing
divided
it
from
the
fell-side
.
From
here
his
eye
commanded
the
whole
of
the
upper
end
of
the
valley
—
a
bare
,
desolate
recess
filled
with
evening
shadow
,
and
walled
round
by
masses
of
gray
and
purple
crag
,
except
in
one
spot
,
where
a
green
intervening
fell
marked
the
course
of
the
pass
connecting
the
dale
with
the
Ullswater
district
.
Below
him
were
church
and
parsonage
;
beyond
,
the
stone-filled
babbling
river
,
edged
by
intensely
green
fields
,
which
melted
imperceptibly
into
the
browner
stretches
of
the
opposite
mountain
.
Most
of
the
scene
,
except
where
the
hills
at
the
end
rose
highest
and
shut
out
the
sun
,
was
bathed
in
quiet
light
.
The
white
patches
on
the
farmhouses
,
the
heckberry
trees
along
the
river
and
the
road
,
caught
and
emphasised
the
golden
rays
which
were
flooding
into
the
lower
valley
as
into
a
broad
green
cup
.
Close
by
,
in
the
little
vicarage
orchard
,
were
fruit
trees
in
blossom
;
the
air
was
mild
and
fragrant
,
though
to
the
young
man
from
the
warmer
south
there
was
still
a
bracing
quality
in
the
soft
western
breeze
which
blew
about
him
.
He
stood
there
bathed
in
silent
enchantment
,
an
eager
nature
going
out
to
meet
and
absorb
into
itself
the
beauty
and
peace
of
the
scene
.
Lines
of
Wordsworth
were
on
his
lips
;
the
little
well-worn
volume
was
in
his
pocket
,
but
he
did
not
need
to
bring
it
out
;
and
his
voice
had
all
a
poet
's
intensity
of
emphasis
as
he
strolled
along
,
reciting
under
his
breath
—
'
It
is
a
beauteous
evening
,
calm
and
free
,
The
holy
time
is
quiet
as
a
nun
Breathless
with
adoration
!
'
Presently
his
eye
was
once
more
caught
by
the
roof
of
Burwood
,
lying
beneath
him
on
its
promontory
of
land
,
in
the
quiet
shelter
of
its
protecting
trees
.
He
stopped
,
and
a
delicate
sense
of
harmonious
association
awoke
in
him
.
That
girl
,
atoning
as
it
were
by
her
one
white
life
for
all
the
crimes
and
coarseness
of
her
ancestry
:
the
idea
of
her
seemed
to
steal
into
the
solemn
golden
evening
and
give
it
added
poetry
and
meaning
.
The
young
man
felt
a
sudden
strong
curiosity
to
see
her
.
CHAPTER
III
The
festal
tea
had
begun
,
and
Mrs.
Thornburgh
was
presiding
.
Opposite
to
her
,
on
the
vicar
's
left
,
sat
the
formidable
rector
's
wife
.
Poor
Mrs.
Thornburgh
had
said
to
herself
as
she
entered
the
room
on
the
arm
of
Mr.
Mayhew
,
the
incumbent
of
the
neighbouring
valley
of
Shanmoor
,
that
the
first
coup
d'œil
was
good
.
The
flowers
had
been
arranged
in
the
afternoon
by
Rose
;
Sarah
's
exertions
had
made
the
silver
shine
again
;
a
pleasing
odour
of
good
food
underlay
the
scent
of
the
bluebells
and
fern
;
and
what
with
the
snowy
table-linen
,
and
the
pretty
dresses
and
bright
faces
of
the
younger
people
,
the
room
seemed
to
be
full
of
an
incessant
play
of
crisp
and
delicate
colour
.
But
just
as
the
vicar
's
wife
was
sinking
into
her
seat
with
a
little
sigh
of
wearied
satisfaction
,
she
caught
sight
suddenly
of
an
eye-glass
at
the
other
end
of
the
table
slowly
revolving
in
a
large
and
jewelled
hand
.
The
judicial
eye
behind
the
eye-glass
travelled
round
the
table
,
lingering
,
as
it
seemed
to
Mrs.
Thornburgh
's
excited
consciousness
,
on
every
spot
where
cream
or
jelly
or
meringue
should
have
been
and
was
not
.
When
it
dropped
with
a
harsh
little
click
,
the
hostess
,
unable
to
restrain
herself
,
rushed
into
desperate
conversation
with
Mr.
Mayhew
,
giving
vent
to
incoherencies
in
the
course
of
the
first
act
of
the
meal
which
did
but
confirm
her
neighbour
—
a
grim
,
uncommunicative
person
—
in
his
own
devotion
to
a
policy
of
silence
.
Meanwhile
the
vicar
was
grappling
on
very
unequal
terms
with
Mrs.
Seaton
.
Mrs.
Leyburn
had
fallen
to
young
Elsmere
.
Catherine
Leyburn
was
paired
off
with
Dr.
Baker
,
Agnes
with
Mr.
Mayhew
's
awkward
son
—
a
tongue-tied
youth
,
lately
an
unattached
student
at
Oxford
,
but
now
relegated
,
owing
to
an
invincible
antipathy
to
Greek
verbs
,
to
his
native
air
,
till
some
other
opening
into
the
great
world
should
be
discovered
for
him
.
Rose
was
on
Robert
Elsmere
's
right
.
Agnes
had
coaxed
her
into
a
white
dress
as
being
the
least
startling
garment
she
possessed
,
and
she
was
like
a
Stothard
picture
with
her
high
waist
,
her
blue
sash
ribbon
,
her
slender
neck
and
brilliant
head
.
She
had
already
cast
many
curious
glances
at
the
Thornburghs
'
guest
.
'
Not
a
prig
,
at
any
rate
,
'
she
thought
to
herself
with
satisfaction
,
'
so
Agnes
is
quite
wrong
.
'
As
for
the
young
man
,
who
was
,
to
begin
with
,
in
that
state
which
so
often
follows
on
the
long
confinement
of
illness
,
when
the
light
seems
brighter
and
scents
keener
and
experience
sharper
than
at
other
times
,
he
was
inwardly
confessing
that
Mrs.
Thornburgh
had
not
been
romancing
.
The
vivid
creature
at
his
elbow
,
with
her
still
unsoftened
angles
and
movements
,
was
in
the
first
dawn
of
an
exceptional
beauty
;
the
plain
sister
had
struck
him
before
supper
in
the
course
of
twenty
minutes
'
conversation
as
above
the
average
in
point
of
manners
and
talk
.
As
to
Miss
Leyburn
,
he
had
so
far
only
exchanged
a
bow
with
her
,
but
he
was
watching
her
now
,
as
he
sat
opposite
to
her
,
out
of
his
quick
observant
eyes
.
She
,
too
,
was
in
white
.
As
she
turned
to
speak
to
the
youth
at
her
side
,
Elsmere
caught
the
fine
outline
of
the
head
,
the
unusually
clear
and
perfect
moulding
of
the
brow
,
nose
,
and
upper
lip
.
The
hollows
in
the
cheeks
struck
him
,
and
the
way
in
which
the
breadth
of
the
forehead
somewhat
overbalanced
the
delicacy
of
the
mouth
and
chin
.
The
face
,
though
still
quite
young
,
and
expressing
a
perfect
physical
health
,
had
the
look
of
having
been
polished
and
refined
away
to
its
foundations
.
There
was
not
an
ounce
of
superfluous
flesh
on
it
,
and
not
a
vestige
of
Rose
's
peach-like
bloom
.
Her
profile
,
as
he
saw
it
now
,
had
the
firmness
,
the
clear
whiteness
,
of
a
profile
on
a
Greek
gem
.
She
was
actually
making
that
silent
,
awkward
lad
talk
!
Robert
,
who
,
out
of
his
four
years
'
experience
as
an
Oxford
tutor
,
had
an
abundant
compassion
for
and
understanding
of
such
beings
as
young
Mayhew
,
watched
her
with
a
pleased
amusement
,
wondering
how
she
did
it
.
What
?
Had
she
got
him
on
carpentering
,
engineering
—
discovered
his
weak
point
?
Water-wheels
,
inventors
,
steam-engines
—
and
the
lumpish
lad
all
in
a
glow
,
talking
away
nineteen
to
the
dozen
.
What
tact
,
what
kindness
in
her
gray-blue
eyes
!
But
he
was
interrupted
by
Mrs.
Seaton
,
who
was
perfectly
well
aware
that
she
had
beside
her
a
stranger
of
some
prestige
,
an
Oxford
man
,
and
a
member
,
besides
,
of
a
well-known
Sussex
county
family
.
She
was
a
large
and
commanding
person
,
clad
in
black
moiré
silk
.
She
wore
a
velvet
diadem
,
Honiton
lace
lappets
,
and
a
variety
of
chains
,
beads
,
and
bangles
bestrewn
about
her
that
made
a
tinkling
as
she
moved
.
Fixing
her
neighbour
with
a
bland
majesty
of
eye
,
she
inquired
of
him
if
he
were
'
any
relation
of
Sir
Mowbray
Elsmere
?
'
Robert
replied
that
Sir
Mowbray
Elsmere
was
his
father
's
cousin
,
and
the
patron
of
the
living
to
which
he
had
just
been
appointed
.
Mrs.
Seaton
then
graciously
informed
him
that
long
ago
—
'
when
I
was
a
girl
in
my
native
Hampshire
'
—
her
family
and
Sir
Mowbray
Elsmere
had
been
on
intimate
terms
.
Her
father
had
been
devoted
to
Sir
Mowbray
.
'
And
I
,
'
she
added
,
with
an
evident
though
lofty
desire
to
please
,
'
retain
an
inherited
respect
,
sir
,
for
your
name
.
'
Robert
bowed
,
but
it
was
not
clear
from
his
look
that
the
rector
's
wife
had
made
an
impression
.
His
general
conception
of
his
relative
and
patron
Sir
Mowbray
—
who
had
been
for
many
years
the
family
black
sheep
—
was
,
indeed
,
so
far
removed
from
any
notions
of
'
respect
,
'
that
he
had
some
difficulty
in
keeping
his
countenance
under
the
lady
's
look
and
pose
.
He
would
have
been
still
more
entertained
had
he
known
the
nature
of
the
intimacy
to
which
she
referred
.
Mrs.
Seaton
's
father
,
in
his
capacity
of
solicitor
in
a
small
country
town
,
had
acted
as
electioneering
agent
for
Sir
Mowbray
(
then
plain
Mr.
)
Elsmere
on
two
occasions
—
in
18
—
,
when
his
client
had
been
triumphantly
returned
at
a
bye-election
;
and
two
years
later
,
when
a
repetition
of
the
tactics
,
so
successful
in
the
previous
contest
,
led
to
a
petition
,
and
to
the
disappearance
of
the
heir
to
the
Elsmere
property
from
parliamentary
life
.
Of
these
matters
,
however
,
he
was
ignorant
,
and
Mrs.
Seaton
did
not
enlighten
him
.
Drawing
herself
up
a
little
,
and
proceeding
in
a
more
neutral
tone
than
before
,
she
proceeded
to
put
him
through
a
catechism
on
Oxford
,
alternately
cross-examining
him
and
expounding
to
him
her
own
views
and
her
husband
's
on
the
functions
of
Universities
.
She
and
the
Archdeacon
conceived
that
the
Oxford
authorities
were
mainly
occupied
in
ruining
the
young
men
's
health
by
over-examination
,
and
poisoning
their
minds
by
free-thinking
opinions
.
In
her
belief
,
if
it
went
on
,
the
mothers
of
England
would
refuse
to
send
their
sons
to
these
ancient
but
deadly
resorts
.
She
looked
at
him
sternly
as
she
spoke
,
as
though
defying
him
to
be
flippant
in
return
.
And
he
,
indeed
,
did
his
polite
best
to
be
serious
.
But
it
somewhat
disconcerted
him
in
the
middle
to
find
Miss
Leyburn
's
eyes
upon
him
.
And
undeniably
there
was
a
spark
of
laughter
in
them
,
quenched
,
as
soon
as
his
glance
crossed
hers
,
under
long
lashes
.
How
that
spark
had
lit
up
the
grave
,
pale
face
!
He
longed
to
provoke
it
again
,
to
cross
over
to
her
and
say
,
'
What
amused
you
?
Do
you
think
me
very
young
and
simple
?
Tell
me
about
these
people
.
'
But
,
instead
,
he
made
friends
with
Rose
.
Mrs.
Seaton
was
soon
engaged
in
giving
the
vicar
advice
on
his
parochial
affairs
,
an
experience
which
generally
ended
by
the
appearance
of
certain
truculent
elements
in
one
of
the
mildest
of
men
.
So
Robert
was
free
to
turn
to
his
girl
neighbour
and
ask
her
what
people
meant
by
calling
the
Lakes
rainy
.
'
I
understand
it
is
pouring
at
Oxford
.
To-day
your
sky
here
has
been
without
a
cloud
,
and
your
rivers
are
running
dry
.
'
'
And
you
have
mastered
our
climate
in
twenty-four
hours
,
like
the
tourists
—
is
n't
it
?
—
that
do
the
Irish
question
in
three
weeks
?
'
'
Not
the
answer
of
a
bread-and-butter
miss
,
'
he
thought
to
himself
,
amused
,
'
and
yet
what
a
child
it
looks
.
'
He
threw
himself
into
a
war
of
words
with
her
,
and
enjoyed
it
extremely
.
Her
brilliant
colouring
,
her
gestures
as
fresh
and
untamed
as
the
movements
of
the
leaping
river
outside
,
the
mixture
in
her
of
girlish
pertness
and
ignorance
with
the
promise
of
a
remarkable
general
capacity
,
made
her
a
most
taking
,
provoking
creature
.
Mrs.
Thornburgh
—
much
recovered
in
mind
since
Dr.
Baker
had
praised
the
pancakes
by
which
Sarah
had
sought
to
prove
to
her
mistress
the
superfluity
of
naughtiness
involved
in
her
recourse
to
foreign
cooks
—
watched
the
young
man
and
maiden
with
a
face
which
grew
more
and
more
radiant
.
The
conversation
in
the
garden
had
not
pleased
her
.
Why
should
people
always
talk
of
Catherine
;
Mrs.
Thornburgh
stood
in
awe
of
Catherine
and
had
given
her
up
in
despair
.
It
was
the
other
two
whose
fortunes
,
as
possibly
directed
by
her
,
filled
her
maternal
heart
with
sympathetic
emotion
.
Suddenly
in
the
midst
of
her
satisfaction
she
had
a
rude
shock
.
What
on
earth
was
the
vicar
doing
?
After
they
had
got
through
better
than
any
one
could
have
hoped
,
thanks
to
a
discreet
silence
and
Sarah
's
makeshifts
,
there
was
the
master
of
the
house
pouring
the
whole
tale
of
his
wife
's
aspirations
and
disappointment
into
Mrs.
Seaton
's
ear
!
If
it
were
ever
allowable
to
rush
upon
your
husband
at
table
and
stop
his
mouth
with
a
dinner
napkin
,
Mrs.
Thornburgh
could
at
this
moment
have
performed
such
a
feat
.
She
nodded
and
coughed
and
fidgeted
in
vain
!
The
vicar
's
confidences
were
the
result
of
a
fit
of
nervous
exasperation
.
Mrs.
Seaton
had
just
embarked
upon
an
account
of
'
our
charming
time
with
Lord
Fleckwood
.
'
Now
Lord
Fleckwood
was
a
distant
cousin
of
Archdeacon
Seaton
,
and
the
great
magnate
of
the
neighbourhood
,
not
,
however
,
a
very
respectable
magnate
.
Mr.
Thornburgh
had
heard
accounts
of
Lupton
Castle
from
Mrs.
Seaton
on
at
least
half
a
dozen
different
occasions
.
Privately
he
believed
them
all
to
refer
to
one
visit
,
an
event
of
immemorial
antiquity
periodically
brought
up
to
date
by
Mrs.
Seaton
's
imagination
.
But
the
vicar
was
a
timid
man
,
without
the
courage
of
his
opinions
,
and
in
his
eagerness
to
stop
the
flow
of
his
neighbour
's
eloquence
he
could
think
of
no
better
device
,
or
more
suitable
rival
subject
,
than
to
plunge
into
the
story
of
the
drunken
carrier
,
and
the
pastry
still
reposing
on
the
counter
at
Randall
's
.
He
blushed
,
good
man
,
when
he
was
well
in
it
.
His
wife
's
horrified
countenance
embarrassed
him
.
But
anything
was
better
than
Lord
Fleckwood
.
Mrs.
Seaton
listened
to
him
with
the
slightest
smile
on
her
formidable
lip
.
The
story
was
pleasing
to
her
.
'
At
least
,
my
dear
sir
,
'
she
said
when
he
paused
,
nodding
her
diademed
head
with
stately
emphasis
,
'
Mrs
.
Thornburgh
's
inconvenience
may
have
one
good
result
.
You
can
now
make
an
example
of
the
carrier
.
It
is
our
special
business
,
as
my
husband
always
says
,
who
are
in
authority
,
to
bring
their
low
vices
home
to
these
people
.
'
The
vicar
fidgeted
in
his
chair
.
What
ineptitude
had
he
been
guilty
of
now
!
By
way
of
avoiding
Lord
Fleckwood
he
might
have
started
Mrs.
Seaton
on
teetotalism
.
Now
if
there
was
one
topic
on
which
this
awe-inspiring
woman
was
more
awe-inspiring
than
another
it
was
on
the
topic
of
teetotalism
.
The
vicar
had
already
felt
himself
a
criminal
as
he
drank
his
modest
glass
of
claret
under
her
eye
.
'
Oh
,
the
drunkenness
about
here
is
pretty
bad
,
'
said
Dr.
Baker
,
from
the
other
end
of
the
table
.
'
But
there
are
plenty
of
worse
things
in
these
valleys
.
Besides
,
what
person
in
his
senses
would
think
of
trying
to
disestablish
John
Backhouse
?
He
and
his
queer
brother
are
as
much
a
feature
of
the
valley
as
High
Fell
.
We
have
too
few
originals
left
to
be
so
very
particular
about
trifles
.
'
'
Trifles
?
'
repeated
Mrs.
Seaton
in
a
deep
voice
,
throwing
up
her
eyes
.
But
she
would
not
venture
an
argument
with
Dr.
Baker
.
He
had
all
the
cheery
self-confidence
of
the
old
established
local
doctor
,
who
knows
himself
to
be
a
power
,
and
neither
Mrs.
Seaton
nor
her
restless
intriguing
little
husband
had
ever
yet
succeeded
in
putting
him
down
.
'
You
must
see
these
two
old
characters
,
'
said
Dr.
Baker
to
Elsmere
across
the
table
.
'
They
are
relics
of
a
Westmoreland
which
will
soon
have
disappeared
.
Old
John
,
who
is
going
on
for
seventy
,
is
as
tough
an
old
dalesman
as
ever
you
saw
.
He
does
n't
measure
his
cups
,
but
he
would
scorn
to
be
floored
by
them
.
I
do
n't
believe
he
does
drink
much
,
but
if
he
does
there
is
probably
no
amount
of
whisky
that
he
could
n't
carry
.
Jim
,
the
other
brother
,
is
about
five
years
older
.
He
is
a
kind
of
softie
—
all
alive
on
one
side
of
his
brain
,
and
a
noodle
on
the
other
.
A
single
glass
of
rum
and
water
puts
him
under
the
table
.
And
as
he
never
can
refuse
this
glass
,
and
as
the
temptation
generally
seizes
him
when
they
are
on
their
rounds
,
he
is
always
getting
John
into
disgrace
.
John
swears
at
him
and
slangs
him
.
No
use
.
Jim
sits
still
,
looks
—
well
,
nohow
.
I
never
saw
an
old
creature
with
a
more
singular
gift
of
denuding
his
face
of
all
expression
.
John
vows
he
shall
go
to
the
"
house
"
;
he
has
no
legal
share
in
the
business
;
the
house
and
the
horse
and
cart
are
John
's
.
Next
day
you
see
them
on
the
cart
again
just
as
usual
.
In
reality
neither
brother
can
do
without
the
other
.
And
three
days
after
,
the
play
begins
again
.
'
'
An
improving
spectacle
for
the
valley
,
'
said
Mrs.
Seaton
drily
.
'
Oh
,
my
dear
madam
,
'
said
the
doctor
,
shrugging
his
shoulders
,
'
we
ca
n't
all
be
so
virtuous
.
If
old
Jim
is
a
drunkard
,
he
has
got
a
heart
of
his
own
somewhere
,
and
can
nurse
a
dying
niece
like
a
woman
.
Miss
Leyburn
can
tell
us
something
about
that
.
'
And
he
turned
round
to
his
neighbour
with
a
complete
change
of
expression
,
and
a
voice
that
had
a
new
note
in
it
of
affectionate
respect
.
Catherine
coloured
as
if
she
did
not
like
being
addressed
on
the
subject
,
and
just
nodded
a
little
with
gentle
affirmative
eyes
.
'
A
strange
case
,
'
said
Dr.
Baker
,
again
looking
at
Elsmere
.
'
It
is
a
family
that
is
original
and
old-world
even
in
its
ways
of
dying
.
I
have
been
a
doctor
in
these
parts
for
five-and-twenty
years
.
I
have
seen
what
you
may
call
old
Westmoreland
die
out
—
costume
,
dialect
,
superstitions
.
At
least
,
as
to
dialect
,
the
people
have
become
bi-lingual
.
I
sometimes
think
they
talk
it
to
each
other
as
much
as
ever
,
but
some
of
them
wo
n't
talk
it
to
you
and
me
at
all
.
And
as
to
superstitions
,
the
only
ghost
story
I
know
that
still
has
some
hold
on
popular
belief
is
the
one
which
attaches
to
this
mountain
here
,
High
Fell
,
at
the
end
of
this
valley
.
'
He
paused
a
moment
.
A
salutary
sense
has
begun
to
penetrate
even
modern
provincial
society
,
that
no
man
may
tell
a
ghost
story
without
leave
.
Rose
threw
a
merry
glance
at
him
.
They
two
were
very
old
friends
.
Dr.
Baker
had
pulled
out
her
first
teeth
and
given
her
a
sixpence
afterwards
for
each
operation
.
The
pull
was
soon
forgotten
;
the
sixpence
lived
on
gratefully
in
a
child
's
warm
memory
.
'
Tell
it
,
'
she
said
;
'
we
give
you
leave
.
We
wo
n't
interrupt
you
unless
you
put
in
too
many
inventions
.
'
'
You
invite
me
to
break
the
first
law
of
story-telling
,
Miss
Rose
,
'
said
the
doctor
,
lifting
a
finger
at
her
.
'
Every
man
is
bound
to
leave
a
story
better
than
he
found
it
.
However
,
I
could
n't
tell
it
if
I
would
.
I
do
n't
know
what
makes
the
poor
ghost
walk
;
and
if
you
do
,
I
shall
say
you
invent
.
But
at
any
rate
there
is
a
ghost
,
and
she
walks
along
the
side
of
High
Fell
at
midnight
every
Midsummer
day
.
If
you
see
her
and
she
passes
you
in
silence
,
why
you
only
get
a
fright
for
your
pains
.
But
if
she
speaks
to
you
,
you
die
within
the
year
.
Old
John
Backhouse
is
a
widower
with
one
daughter
.
This
girl
saw
the
ghost
last
Midsummer
day
,
and
Miss
Leyburn
and
I
are
now
doing
our
best
to
keep
her
alive
over
the
next
;
but
with
very
small
prospect
of
success
.
'
'
What
is
the
girl
dying
of
?
—
fright
?
'
asked
Mrs.
Seaton
harshly
.
'
Oh
no
!
'
said
the
doctor
hastily
,
'
not
precisely
.
A
sad
story
;
better
not
inquire
into
it
.
But
at
the
present
moment
the
time
of
her
death
seems
likely
to
be
determined
by
the
strength
of
her
own
and
other
people
's
belief
in
the
ghost
's
summons
.
'
Mrs.
Seaton
's
grim
mouth
relaxed
into
an
ungenial
smile
.
She
put
up
her
eye-glass
and
looked
at
Catherine
.
'
An
unpleasant
household
,
I
should
imagine
,
'
she
said
shortly
,
'
for
a
young
lady
to
visit
.
'
Doctor
Baker
looked
at
the
rector
's
wife
,
and
a
kind
of
flame
came
into
his
eyes
.
He
and
Mrs.
Seaton
were
old
enemies
,
and
he
was
a
quick-tempered
mercurial
sort
of
man
.
'
I
presume
that
one
's
guardian
angel
may
have
to
follow
one
sometimes
into
unpleasant
quarters
,
'
he
said
hotly
.
'
If
this
girl
lives
,
it
will
be
Miss
Leyburn
's
doing
;
if
she
dies
,
saved
and
comforted
,
instead
of
lost
in
this
world
and
the
next
,
it
will
be
Miss
Leyburn
's
doing
too
.
Ah
,
my
dear
young
lady
,
let
me
alone
!
You
tie
my
tongue
always
,
and
I
wo
n't
have
it
.
'
And
the
doctor
turned
his
weather-beaten
elderly
face
upon
her
with
a
look
which
was
half
defiance
and
half
apology
.
She
,
on
her
side
,
had
flushed
painfully
,
laying
her
white
finger-tips
imploringly
on
his
arm
.
Mrs.
Seaton
turned
away
with
a
little
dry
cough
,
so
did
her
spectacled
sister
at
the
other
end
of
the
table
.
Mrs.
Leyburn
,
on
the
other
hand
,
sat
in
a
little
ecstasy
,
looking
at
Catherine
and
Dr.
Baker
,
something
glistening
in
her
eyes
.
Robert
Elsmere
alone
showed
presence
of
mind
.
Bending
across
to
Dr.
Baker
,
he
asked
him
a
sudden
question
as
to
the
history
of
a
certain
strange
green
mound
or
barrow
that
rose
out
of
a
flat
field
not
far
from
the
vicarage
windows
.
Dr.
Baker
grasped
his
whiskers
,
threw
the
young
man
a
queer
glance
,
and
replied
.
Thenceforward
he
and
Robert
kept
up
a
lively
antiquarian
talk
on
the
traces
of
Norse
settlement
in
the
Cumbrian
valleys
,
which
lasted
till
the
ladies
left
the
dining-room
.
As
Catherine
Leyburn
went
out
Elsmere
stood
holding
the
door
open
.
She
could
not
help
raising
her
eyes
upon
him
,
eyes
full
of
a
half-timid
,
half-grateful
friendliness
.
His
own
returned
her
look
with
interest
.
'
"
A
spirit
,
but
a
woman
too
,
"
'
he
thought
to
himself
with
a
new-born
thrill
of
sympathy
,
as
he
went
back
to
his
seat
.
She
had
not
yet
said
a
direct
word
to
him
,
and
yet
he
was
curiously
convinced
that
here
was
one
of
the
most
interesting
persons
,
and
one
of
the
persons
most
interesting
to
him
,
that
he
had
ever
met
.
What
mingled
delicacy
and
strength
in
the
hand
that
had
lain
beside
her
on
the
dinner-table
—
what
potential
depths
of
feeling
in
the
full
dark-fringed
eye
!
Half
an
hour
later
,
when
Elsmere
re-entered
the
drawing-room
,
he
found
Catherine
Leyburn
sitting
by
an
open
French
window
that
looked
out
on
the
lawn
,
and
on
the
dim
rocky
face
of
the
fell
.
Adeline
Baker
,
a
stooping
red-armed
maiden
,
with
a
pretty
face
,
set
off
,
as
she
imagined
,
by
a
vast
amount
of
cheap
finery
,
was
sitting
beside
her
,
studying
her
with
a
timid
adoration
.
The
doctor
's
daughter
regarded
Catherine
Leyburn
,
who
during
the
last
five
years
had
made
herself
almost
as
distinct
a
figure
in
the
popular
imagination
of
a
few
Westmoreland
valleys
as
Sister
Dora
among
her
Walsall
miners
,
as
a
being
of
a
totally
different
order
from
herself
.
She
was
glued
to
the
side
of
her
idol
,
but
her
shy
and
awkward
tongue
could
find
hardly
anything
to
say
to
her
.
Catherine
,
however
,
talked
away
,
gently
stroking
the
while
the
girl
's
rough
hand
which
lay
on
her
knee
,
to
the
mingled
pain
and
bliss
of
its
owner
,
who
was
outraged
by
the
contrast
between
her
own
ungainly
member
and
Miss
Leyburn
's
delicate
fingers
.
Mrs.
Seaton
was
on
the
sofa
beside
Mrs.
Thornburgh
,
amply
avenging
herself
on
the
vicar
's
wife
for
any
checks
she
might
have
received
at
tea
.
Miss
Barks
,
her
sister
,
an
old
maid
with
a
face
that
seemed
to
be
perpetually
peering
forward
,
light
colourless
hair
surmounted
by
a
cap
adorned
with
artificial
nasturtiums
,
and
white-lashed
eyes
armed
with
spectacles
,
was
having
her
way
with
Mrs.
Leyburn
,
inquiring
into
the
household
arrangements
of
Burwood
with
a
cross-examining
power
which
made
the
mild
widow
as
pulp
before
her
.
When
the
gentlemen
entered
,
Mrs.
Thornburgh
looked
round
hastily
.
She
herself
had
opened
that
door
into
the
garden
.
A
garden
on
a
warm
summer
night
offers
opportunities
no
schemer
should
neglect
.
Agnes
and
Rose
were
chattering
and
laughing
on
the
gravel
path
just
outside
it
,
their
white
girlish
figures
showing
temptingly
against
the
dusky
background
of
garden
and
fell
.
It
somewhat
disappointed
the
vicar
's
wife
to
see
her
tall
guest
take
a
chair
and
draw
it
beside
Catherine
—
while
Adeline
Baker
awkwardly
got
up
and
disappeared
into
the
garden
.
Elsmere
felt
it
an
unusually
interesting
moment
,
so
strong
had
been
his
sense
of
attraction
at
tea
;
but
like
the
rest
of
us
he
could
find
nothing
more
telling
to
start
with
than
a
remark
about
the
weather
.
Catherine
in
her
reply
asked
him
if
he
were
quite
recovered
from
the
attack
of
low
fever
he
was
understood
to
have
been
suffering
from
.
'
Oh
yes
,
'
he
said
brightly
,
'
I
am
very
nearly
as
fit
as
I
ever
was
,
and
more
eager
than
I
ever
was
to
get
to
work
.
The
idling
of
it
is
the
worst
part
of
illness
.
However
,
in
a
month
from
now
I
must
be
at
my
living
,
and
I
can
only
hope
it
will
give
me
enough
to
do
.
'
Catherine
looked
up
at
him
with
a
quick
impulse
of
liking
.
What
an
eager
face
it
was
!
Eagerness
,
indeed
,
seemed
to
be
the
note
of
the
whole
man
,
of
the
quick
eyes
and
mouth
,
the
flexible
hands
and
energetic
movements
.
Even
the
straight
,
stubbly
hair
,
its
owner
's
passing
torment
,
standing
up
round
the
high
open
brow
,
seemed
to
help
the
general
impression
of
alertness
and
vigour
.
'
Your
mother
,
I
hear
,
is
already
there
?
'
said
Catherine
.
'
Yes
.
My
poor
mother
!
'
and
the
young
man
smiled
half
sadly
.
'
It
is
a
curious
situation
for
both
of
us
.
This
living
which
has
just
been
bestowed
on
me
is
my
father
's
old
living
.
It
is
in
the
gift
of
my
cousin
,
Sir
Mowbray
Elsmere
.
My
great-uncle
'
—
he
drew
himself
together
suddenly
.
'
But
I
do
n't
know
why
I
should
imagine
that
these
things
interest
other
people
,
'
he
said
,
with
a
little
quick
,
almost
comical
,
accent
of
self-rebuke
.
'
Please
go
on
,
'
cried
Catherine
hastily
.
The
voice
and
manner
were
singularly
pleasant
to
her
;
she
wished
he
would
not
interrupt
himself
for
nothing
.
'
Really
?
Well
then
,
my
great-uncle
,
old
Sir
William
,
wished
me
to
have
it
when
I
grew
up
.
I
was
against
it
for
a
long
time
,
took
orders
;
but
I
wanted
something
more
stirring
than
a
country
parish
.
One
has
dreams
of
many
things
.
But
one
's
dreams
come
to
nothing
.
I
got
ill
at
Oxford
.
The
doctors
forbade
the
town
work
.
The
old
incumbent
who
had
