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diff --git a/old/prsnd10.txt b/old/prsnd10.txt new file mode 100644 index 0000000..6177019 --- /dev/null +++ b/old/prsnd10.txt @@ -0,0 +1,1559 @@ +Project Gutenberg The Parson's Daughter of Oxney Colne, by Trollope +#23 in our series by Anthony Trollope + +Copyright laws are changing all over the world, be sure to check +the laws for your country before redistributing these files!!! + +Please take a look at the important information in this header. +We encourage you to keep this file on your own disk, keeping an +electronic path open for the next readers. + +Please do not remove this. + +This should be the first thing seen when anyone opens the book. +Do not change or edit it without written permission. 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In +making this assertion I am often met with much doubt, but it is by +persons who do not really know the locality. Men and women talk to me +on the matter, who have travelled down the line of railway from Exeter +to Plymouth, who have spent a fortnight at Torquay, and perhaps made an +excursion from Tavistock to the convict prison on Dartmoor. But who +knows the glories of Chagford? Who has walked through the parish of +Manaton? Who is conversant with Lustleigh Cleeves and Withycombe in +the moor? Who has explored Holne Chase? Gentle reader, believe me +that you will be rash in contradicting me, unless you have done these +things. + +There or thereabouts--I will not say by the waters of which little +river it is washed--is the parish of Oxney Colne. And for those who +wish to see all the beauties of this lovely country, a sojourn in Oxney +Colne would be most desirable, seeing that the sojourner would then be +brought nearer to all that he would wish to visit, than at any other +spot in the country. But there in an objection to any such +arrangement. There are only two decent houses in the whole parish, and +these are--or were when I knew the locality--small and fully occupied +by their possessors. The larger and better is the parsonage, in which +lived the parson and his daughter; and the smaller is a freehold +residence of a certain Miss Le Smyrger, who owned a farm of a hundred +acres, which was rented by one Farmer Cloysey, and who also possessed +some thirty acres round her own house, which she managed herself; +regarding herself to be quite as great in cream as Mr. Cloysey, and +altogether superior to him in the article of cyder. "But yeu has to +pay no rent, Miss," Farmer Cloysey would say, when Miss Le Smyrger +expressed this opinion of her art in a manner too defiant. "Yeu pays +no rent, or yeu couldn't do it." Miss Le Smyrger was an old maid, with +a pedigree and blood of her own, a hundred and thirty acres of fee- +simple land on the borders of Dartmoor, fifty years of age, a +constitution of iron, and an opinion of her own on every subject under +the sun. + +And now for the parson and his daughter. The parson's name was +Woolsworthy--or Woolathy, as it was pronounced by all those who lived +around him--the Rev. Saul Woolsworthy; and his daughter was Patience +Woolsworthy, or Miss Patty, as she was known to the Devonshire world of +those parts. That name of Patience had not been well chosen for her, +for she was a hot-tempered damsel, warm in her convictions, and +inclined to express them freely. She had but two closely intimate +friends in the world, and by both of them this freedom of expression +had now been fully permitted to her since she was a child. Miss Le +Smyrger and her father were well accustomed to her ways, and on the +whole well satisfied with them. The former was equally free and +equally warm-tempered as herself, and as Mr. Woolsworthy was allowed by +his daughter to be quite paramount on his own subject--for he had a +subject--he did not object to his daughter being paramount on all +others. A pretty girl was Patience Woolsworthy at the time of which I +am writing, and one who possessed much that was worthy of remark and +admiration, had she lived where beauty meets with admiration, or where +force of character is remarked. But at Oxney Colne, on the borders of +Dartmoor, there were few to appreciate her, and it seemed as though she +herself had but little idea of carrying her talent further afield, so +that it might not remain for ever wrapped in a blanket. + +She was a pretty girl, tall end slender, with dark eyes and black hair. +Her eyes were perhaps too round for regular beauty, and her hair was +perhaps too crisp; her mouth was large and expressive; her nose was +finely formed, though a critic in female form might have declared it to +be somewhat broad. But her countenance altogether was wonderfully +attractive--if only it might be seen without that resolution for +dominion which occasionally marred it, though sometimes it even added +to her attractions. + +It must be confessed on behalf of Patience Woolsworthy, that the +circumstances of her life had peremptorily called upon her to exercise +dominion. She had lost her mother when she was sixteen, and had had +neither brother nor sister. She had no neighbours near her fit either +from education or rank to interfere in the conduct of her life, +excepting always Miss La Smyrger. Miss Le Smyrger would have done +anything for her, including the whole management of her morals and of +the parsonage household, had Patience been content with such an +arrangement. But much as Patience had ever loved Miss Le Smyrger, she +was not content with this, and therefore she had been called on to put +forth a strong hand of her own. She had put forth this strong hand +early, and hence had come the character which I am attempting to +describe. But I must say on behalf of this girl, that it was not only +over others that she thus exercised dominion. In acquiring that power +she had also acquired the much greater power of exercising rule over +herself. + +But why should her father have been ignored in these family +arrangements? Perhaps it may almost suffice to say, that of all living +men her father was the man best conversant with the antiquities of the +county in which he lived. He was the Jonathan Oldbuck of Devonshire, +and especially of Dartmoor, without that decision of character which +enabled Oldbuck to keep his womenkind in some kind of subjection, and +probably enabled him also to see that his weekly bills did not pass +their proper limits. Our Mr. Oldbuck, of Oxney Colne, was sadly +deficient in these. As a parish pastor with but a small cure, he did +his duty with sufficient energy, to keep him, at any rate, from +reproach. He was kind and charitable to the poor, punctual in his +services, forbearing with the farmers around him, mild with his brother +clergymen, and indifferent to aught that bishop or archdeacon might +think or say of him. I do not name this latter attribute as a virtue, +but as a fact. But all these points were as nothing in the known +character of Mr. Woolsworthy, of Oxney Colne. He was the antiquarian +of Dartmoor. That was his line of life. It was in that capacity that +he was known to the Devonshire world; it was as such that he journeyed +about with his humble carpet-bag, staying away from his parsonage a +night or two at a time; it was in that character that he received now +and again stray visitors in the single spare bedroom--not friends asked +to see him and his girl because of their friendship--but men who knew +something as to this buried stone, or that old land-mark. In all these +things his daughter let him have his own way, assisting and encouraging +him. That was his line of life, and therefore she respected it. But +in all other matters she chose to be paramount at the parsonage. + +Mr. Woolsworthy was a little man, who always wore, except on Sundays, +grey clothes--clothes of so light a grey that they would hardly have +been regarded as clerical in a district less remote. He had now +reached a goodly age, being full seventy years old; but still he was +wiry and active, and showed but few symptoms of decay. His head was +bald, and the few remaining locks that surrounded it were nearly white. +But there was a look of energy about his mouth, and a humour in his +light grey eye, which forbade those who knew him to regard him +altogether as an old man. As it was, he could walk from Oxney Colne to +Priestown, fifteen long Devonshire miles across the moor; and he who +could do that could hardly be regarded as too old for work. + +But our present story will have more to do with his daughter than with +him. A pretty girl, I have said, was Patience Woolsworthy; and one, +too, in many ways remarkable. She had taken her outlook into life, +weighing the things which she had and those which she had not, in a +manner very unusual, and, as a rule, not always desirable for a young +lady. The things which she had not were very many. She had not +society; she had not a fortune; she had not any assurance of future +means of livelihood; she had not high hope of procuring for herself a +position in life by marriage; she had not that excitement and pleasure +in life which she read of in such books as found their way down to +Oxney Colne Parsonage. It would be easy to add to the list of the +things which she had not; and this list against herself she made out +with the utmost vigour. The things which she had, or those rather +which she assured herself of having, were much more easily counted. +She had the birth and education of a lady, the strength of a healthy +woman, and a will of her own. Such was the list as she made it out for +herself, and I protest that I assert no more than the truth in saying +that she never added to it either beauty, wit, or talent. + +I began these descriptions by saying that Oxney Colne would, of all +places, be the best spot from which a tourist could visit those parts +of Devonshire, but for the fact that he could obtain there none of the +accommodation which tourists require. A brother antiquarian might, +perhaps, in those days have done so, seeing that there was, as I have +said, a spare bedroom at the parsonage. Any intimate friend of Miss Le +Smyrger's might be as fortunate, for she was equally well provided at +Oxney Combe, by which name her house was known. But Miss Le Smyrger +was not given to extensive hospitality, and it was only to those who +were bound to her, either by ties of blood or of very old friendship, +that she delighted to open her doors. As her old friends were very few +in number, as those few lived at a distance, and as her nearest +relations were higher in the world than she was, and were said by +herself to look down upon her, the visits made to Oxney Combe were few +and far between. + +But now, at the period of which I am writing, such a visit was about to +be made. Miss Le Smyrger had a younger sister, who had inherited a +property in the parish of Oxney Colne equal to that of the lady who now +lived there; but this the younger sister had inherited beauty also, and +she therefore, in early life, had found sundry lovers, one of whom +became her husband. She had married a man even then well to do in the +world, but now rich and almost mighty; a Member of Parliament, a lord +of this and that board, a man who had a house in Eaton Square, and a +park in the north of England; and in this way her course of life had +been very much divided from that of our Miss Le Smyrger. But the Lord +of the Government Board had been blessed with various children; and +perhaps it was now thought expedient to look after Aunt Penelope's +Devonshire acres. Aunt Penelope was empowered to leave them to whom +she pleased; and though it was thought in Eaton Square that she must, +as a matter of course, leave them to one of the family, nevertheless a +little cousinly intercourse might make the thing more certain. I will +not say that this was the sole cause of such a visit, but in these days +a visit was to be made by Captain Broughton to his aunt. Now Captain +John Broughton was the second son of Alfonso Broughton, of Clapham Park +and Eaton Square, Member of Parliament, and Lord of the aforesaid +Government Board. + +"And what do you mean to do with him?" Patience Woolsworthy asked of +Miss Le Smyrger when that lady walked over from the Combe to say that +her nephew John was to arrive on the following morning. + +"Do with him? Why I shall bring him over here to talk to your father." + +"He'll be too fashionable for that; and papa won't trouble his head +about him if he finds that he doesn't care for Dartmoor." + +"Then he may fall in love with you, my dear." + +"Well, yes; there's that resource at any rate, and for your sake I dare +say I should be more civil to him than papa. But he'll soon get tired +of making love, and what you'll do then I cannot imagine." + +That Miss Woolsworthy felt no interest in the coming of the Captain I +will not pretend to say. The advent of any stranger with whom she +would be called on to associate must be matter of interest to her in +that secluded place; and she was not so absolutely unlike other young +ladies that the arrival of an unmarried young man would be the same to +her as the advent of some patriarchal paterfamilias. In taking that +outlook into life of which I have spoken, she had never said to herself +that she despised those things from which other girls received the +excitement, the joys, and the disappointment of their lives. She had +simply given herself to understand that very little of such things +would come her way, and that it behoved her to live--to live happily if +such might be possible--without experiencing the need of them. She had +heard, when there was no thought of any such visit to Oxney Colne, that +John Broughton was a handsome, clever man--one who thought much of +himself, and was thought much of by others--that there had been some +talk of his marrying a great heiress, which marriage, however, had not +taken place through unwillingness on his part, and that he was on the +whole a man of more mark in the world than the ordinary captain of +ordinary regiments. + +Captain Broughton came to Oxney Combe, stayed there a fortnight,--the +intended period for his projected visit having been fixed at three or +four days,--and then went his way. He went his way back to his London +haunts, the time of the year then being the close of the Easter +holidays; but as he did so he told his aunt that he should assuredly +return to her in the autumn. + +"And assuredly I shall be happy to see you, John--if you come with a +certain purpose. If you have no such purpose, you had better remain +away." + +"I shall assuredly come," the Captain had replied, and then he had gone +on his journey. + +The summer passed rapidly by, and very little was said between Miss Le +Smyrger and Miss Woolsworthy about Captain Broughton. In many +respects--nay, I may say, as to all ordinary matters, no two women +could well be more intimate with each other than they were,--and more +than that, they had the courage each to talk to the other with absolute +truth as to things concerning themselves--a courage in which dear +friends often fail. But nevertheless, very little was said between +them about Captain John Broughton. All that was said may be here +repeated. + +"John says that he shall return here in August," Miss Le Smyrger said, +as Patience was sitting with her in the parlour at Oxney Combe, on the +morning after that gentleman's departure. + +"He told me so himself," said Patience; and as she spoke her round dark +eyes assumed a look of more than ordinary self-will. If Miss Le +Smyrger had intended to carry the conversation any further, she changed +her mind as she looked at her companion. Then, as I said, the summer +ran by, and towards the close of the warm days of July, Miss Le +Smyrger, sitting in the same chair in the same room, again took up the +conversation. + +"I got a letter from John this morning. He says that he shall be here +on the third." + +"Does he?" + +"He is very punctual to the time he named." + +"Yes; I fancy that he is a punctual man," said Patience. + +"I hope that you will be glad to see him," said Miss Le Smyrger. + +"Very glad to see him," said Patience, with a bold clear voice; and +then the conversation was again dropped, and nothing further was said +till after Captain Broughton's second arrival in the parish. + +Four months had then passed since his departure, and during that time +Miss Woolsworthy had performed all her usual daily duties in their +accustomed course. No one could discover that she had been less +careful in her household matters than had been her wont, less willing +to go among her poor neighbours, or less assiduous in her attentions to +her father. But not the less was there a feeling in the minds of those +around her that some great change had come upon her. She would sit +during the long summer evenings on a certain spot outside the parsonage +orchard, at the top of a small sloping field in which their solitary +cow was always pastured, with a book on her knees before her, but +rarely reading. There she would sit, with the beautiful view down to +the winding river below her, watching the setting sun, and thinking, +thinking, thinking--thinking of something of which she had never +spoken. Often would Miss Le Smyrger come upon her there, and sometimes +would pass by her even without a word; but never--never once did she +dare to ask her of the matter of her thoughts. But she knew the matter +well enough. No confession was necessary to inform her that Patience +Woolsworthy was in love with John Broughton--ay, in love, to the full +and entire loss of her whole heart. + +On one evening she was so sitting till the July sun had fallen and +hidden himself for the night, when her father came upon her as he +returned from one of his rambles on the moor. "Patty," he said, "you +are always sitting there now. Is it not late? Will you not be cold?" + +"No, papa," said she, "I shall not be cold." + +"But won't you come to the house? I miss you when you come in so late +that there's no time to say a word before we go to bed." + +She got up and followed him into the parsonage, and when they were in +the sitting-room together, and the door was closed, she came up to him +and kissed him. "Papa," she said, "would it make you very unhappy if I +were to leave you?" + +"Leave me!" he said, startled by the serious and almost solemn tone of +her voice. "Do you mean for always?" + +"If I were to marry, papa?" + +"Oh, marry! No; that would not make me unhappy. It would make me very +happy, Patty, to see you married to a man you would love--very, very +happy; though my days would be desolate without you." + +"That is it, papa. What would you do if I went from you?" + +"What would it matter, Patty? I should be free, at any rate, from a +load which often presses heavy on me now. What will you do when I +shall leave you? A few more years and all will be over with me. But +who is it, love? Has anybody said anything to you?" + +"It was only an idea, papa. I don't often think of such a thing; but I +did think of it then." And so the subject was allowed to pass by. +This had happened before the day of the second arrival had been +absolutely fixed and made known to Miss Woolsworthy. + +And then that second arrival took place. The reader may have +understood from the words with which Miss Le Smyrger authorised her +nephew to make his second visit to Oxney Combe that Miss Woolsworthy's +passion was not altogether unauthorised. Captain Broughton had been +told that he was not to come unless he came with a certain purpose; and +having been so told, he still persisted in coming. There can be no +doubt but that he well understood the purport to which his aunt +alluded. "I shall assuredly come," he had said. And true to his word, +he was now there. + +Patience knew exactly the hour at which he must arrive at the station +at Newton Abbot, and the time also which it would take to travel over +those twelve uphill miles from the station to Oxney. It need hardly he +said that she paid no visit to Miss Le Smyrger's house on that +afternoon; but she might have known something of Captain Broughton's +approach without going thither. His road to the Combe passed by the +parsonage-gate, and had Patience sat even at her bedroom window she +must have seen him. But on such a morning she would not sit at her +bedroom window--she would do nothing which would force her to accuse +herself of a restless longing for her lover's coming. It was for him +to seek her. If he chose to do so, he knew the way to the parsonage. + +Miss Le Smyrger--good, dear, honest, hearty Miss Le Smyrger, was in a +fever of anxiety on behalf of her friend. It was not that she wished +her nephew to marry Patience--or rather that she had entertained any +such wish when he first came,--among them. She was not given to match- +making, and moreover thought, or had thought within herself, that they +of Oxney Colne could do very well without any admixture from Eaton +Square. Her plan of life had been that, when old Mr. Woolsworthy was +taken away from Dartmoor, Patience should live with her; and that when +she also shuffled off her coil, then Patience Woolsworthy should be the +maiden mistress of Oxney Combe--of Oxney Combe and Mr. Cloysey's farm-- +to the utter detriment of all the Broughtons. Such had been her plan +before nephew John had come among them--a plan not to be spoken of till +the coming of that dark day which should make Patience an orphan. But +now her nephew had been there, and all was to be altered. Miss Le +Smyrger's plan would have provided a companion for her old age; but +that had not been her chief object. She had thought more of Patience +than of herself, and now it seemed that a prospect of a higher +happiness was opening for her friend. + +"John," she said, as soon as the first greetings were over, "do you +remember the last words that I said to you before you went away?" Now, +for myself, I much admire Miss Le Smyrger's heartiness, but I do not +think much of her discretion. It would have been better, perhaps, had +she allowed things to take their course. + +"I can't say that I do," said the Captain. At the same time the +Captain did remember very well what those last words had been. + +"I am so glad to see you, so delighted to see you, if--if--if -," and +then she paused, for with all her courage she hardly dared to ask her +nephew whether he had come there with the express purpose of asking +Miss Woolsworthy to marry him. + +To tell the truth, for there is no room for mystery within the limits +of this short story,--to tell, I say, at a word the plain and simple +truth, Captain Broughton had already asked that question. On the day +before he left Oxney Come, he had in set terms proposed to the parson's +daughter, and indeed the words, the hot and frequent words, which +previously to that had fallen like sweetest honey into the ears of +Patience Woolsworthy, had made it imperative on him to do so. When a +man in such a place as that has talked to a girl of love day after day, +must not he talk of it to some definite purpose on the day on which he +leaves her? Or if he do not, must he not submit to be regarded as +false, selfish, and almost fraudulent? Captain Broughton, however, had +asked the question honestly and truly. He had done so honestly and +truly, but in words, or, perhaps, simply with a tone, that had hardly +sufficed to satisfy the proud spirit of the girl he loved. She by that +time had confessed to herself that she loved him with all her heart; +but she had made no such confession to him. To him she had spoken no +word, granted no favour, that any lover might rightfully regard as a +token of love returned. She had listened to him as he spoke, and bade +him keep such sayings for the drawing-rooms of his fashionable friends. +Then he had spoken out and had asked for that hand,--not, perhaps, as a +suitor tremulous with hope,--but as a rich man who knows that he can +command that which he desires to purchase. + +"You should think more of this," she had said to him at last. "If you +would really have me for your wife, it will not be much to you to +return here again when time for thinking of it shall have passed by." +With these words she had dismissed him, and now he had again come back +to Oxney Colne. But still she would not place herself at the window to +look for him, nor dress herself in other than her simple morning +country dress, nor omit one item of her daily work. If he wished to +take her at all, he should wish to take her as she really was, in her +plain country life, but he should take her also with full observance of +all those privileges which maidens are allowed to claim from their +lovers. He should contract no ceremonious observance because she was +the daughter of a poor country parson who would come to him without a +shilling, whereas he stood high in the world's books. He had asked her +to give him all that she had, and that all she was ready to give, +without stint. But the gift must be valued before it could be given or +received, he also was to give her as much, and she would accept it as +beyond all price. But she would not allow that that which was offered +to her was in any degree the more precious because of his outward +worldly standing. + +She would not pretend to herself that she thought he would come to her +that day, and therefore she busied herself in the kitchen and about the +house, giving directions to her two maids as though the afternoon would +pass as all other days did pass in that household. They usually dined +at four, and she rarely in these summer months went far from the house +before that hour. At four precisely she sat down with her father, and +then said that she was going up as far as Helpholme after dinner. +Helpholme was a solitary farmhouse in another parish, on the border of +the moor, and Mr. Woolsworthy asked her whether he should accompany +her. + +"Do, papa," she said, "if you are not too tired." And yet she had +thought how probable it might be that she should meet John Broughton on +her walk. And so it was arranged; but just as dinner was over, Mr. +Woolsworthy remembered himself. + +"Gracious me," he said, "how my memory is going. Gribbles, from +Ivybridge, and old John Poulter, from Bovey, are coming to meet here by +appointment. You can't put Helpholme off till to-morrow?" + +Patience, however, never put off anything, and therefore at six +o'clock, when her father had finished his slender modicum of toddy, she +tied on her hat and went on her walk. She started with a quick step, +and left no word to say by which route she would go. As she passed up +along the little lane which led towards Oxney Combe, she would not even +look to see if he was coming towards her; and when she left the road, +passing over a stone stile into a little path which ran first through +the upland fields, and then across the moor ground towards Helpholme, +she did not look back once, or listen for his coming step. + +She paid her visit, remaining upwards of an hour with the old bedridden +mother of the tenant of Helpholme. "God bless you, my darling!" said +the old woman as she left her; "and send you some one to make your own +path bright and happy through the world." These words were still +ringing in her ears with all their significance as she saw John +Broughton waiting for her at the first stile which she had to pass +after leaving the farmer's haggard. + + "Patty," he said, as he took her hand, and held it close within both +his own, "what a chase I have had after you!" + + "And who asked you, Captain Broughton?" she answered, smiling. "If +the journey was too much for your poor London strength, could you not +have waited till to-morrow morning, when you would have found me at the +parsonage?" But she did not draw her hand away from him, or in any way +pretend that he had not a right to accost her as a lover. + +"No, I could not wait. I am more eager to see those I love than you +seem to be." + +"How do you know whom I love, or how eager I might be to see them? +There is an old woman there whom I love, and I have thought nothing of +this walk with the object of seeing her." And now, slowly drawing her +hand away from him, she pointed to the farmhouse which she had left. + +"Patty," he said, after a minute's pause, during which she had looked +full into his face with all the force of her bright eyes; "I have come +from London to-day, straight down here to Oxney, and from my aunt's +house close upon your footsteps after you, to ask you that one +question--Do you love me?" + +"What a Hercules!" she said, again laughing. "Do you really mean that +you left London only this morning? Why, you must have been five hours +in a railway carriage and two in a postchaise, not to talk of the walk +afterwards. You ought to take more care of yourself, Captain +Broughton!" + +He would have been angry with her--for he did not like to be quizzed-- +had she not put her hand on his arm as she spoke, and the softness of +her touch had redeemed the offence of her words. + +"All that I have done," said he, "that I may hear one word from you." + +"That any word of mine should have such potency! But let us walk on, +or my father will take us for some of the standing stones of the moor. +How have you found your aunt? If you only knew the cares that have sat +on her dear shoulders for the last week past, in order that your high +mightiness might have a sufficiency to eat and drink in these desolate +half-starved regions!" + +"She might have saved herself such anxiety. No one can care less for +such things than I do." + +"And yet I think I have heard you boast of the cook of your club." And +then again there was silence for a minute or two. + +"Patty," said he, stopping again in the path; "answer my question. I +have a right to demand an answer. Do you love me?" + +"And what if I do? What if I have been so silly as to allow your +perfections to be too many for my weak heart? What then, Captain +Broughton?" + +"It cannot be that you love me, or you would not joke now." + +"Perhaps not, indeed," she said. It seemed as though she were resolved +not to yield an inch in her own humour. And then again they walked on. + +"Patty," he said once more, "I shall get an answer from you to-night,-- +this evening; now, during this walk, or I shall return to-morrow, and +never revisit this spot again." + +"Oh, Captain Broughton, how should we ever manage to live without you?" + +"Very well," he said; "up to the end of this walk I can hear it all;-- +and one word spoken then will mend it all." + +During the whole of this time she felt that she was ill-using him. She +knew that she loved him with all her heart; that it would nearly kill +her to part with him; that she had heard his renewed offer with an +ecstacy of joy. She acknowledged to herself that he was giving proof +of his devotion as strong as any which a girl could receive from her +lover. And yet she could hardly bring herself to say the word he +longed to hear. That word once said, and then she knew that she must +succumb to her love for ever! That word once said, and there would be +nothing for her but to spoil him with her idolatry! That word once +said, and she must continue to repeat it into his ears, till perhaps he +might be tired of hearing it! And now he had threatened her, and how +could she speak after that? She certainly would not speak it unless he +asked her again without such threat. And so they walked on in silence. + +"Patty," he said at last. "By the heavens above us you shall answer +me. Do you love me?" + +She now stood still, and almost trembled as she looked up into his +face. She stood opposite to him for a moment, and then placing her two +hands on his shoulders, she answered him. "I do, I do, I do," she +said, "with all my heart; with all my heart--with all my heart and +strength." And then her head fell upon his breast. + +* * * + +Captain Broughton was almost as much surprised as delighted by the +warmth of the acknowledgment made by the eager-hearted passionate girl +whom he now held within his arms. She had said it now; the words had +been spoken; and there was nothing for her but to swear to him over and +over again with her sweetest oaths, that those words were true--true as +her soul. And very sweet was the walk down from thence to the +parsonage gate. He spoke no more of the distance of the ground, or the +length of his day's journey. But he stopped her at every turn that he +might press her arm the closer to his own, that he might look into the +brightness of her eyes, and prolong his hour of delight. There were no +more gibes now on her tongue, no raillery at his London finery, no +laughing comments on his coming and going. With downright honesty she +told him everything: how she had loved him before her heart was +warranted in such a passion; how, with much thinking, she had resolved +that it would be unwise to take him at his first word, and had thought +it better that he should return to London, and then think over it; how +she had almost repented of her courage when she had feared, during +those long summer days, that he would forget her; and how her heart had +leapt for joy when her old friend had told her that he was coming. + +"And yet," said he, "you were not glad to see me!" + +"Oh, was I not glad? You cannot understand the feelings of a girl who +has lived secluded as I have done. Glad is no word for the joy I felt. +But it was not seeing you that I cared for so much. It was the +knowledge that you were near me once again. I almost wish now that I +had not seen you till to-morrow." But as she spoke she pressed his +arm, and this caress gave the lie to her last words. + +"No, do not come in to-night," she said, when she reached the little +wicket that led up to the parsonage. "Indeed, you shall not. I could +not behave myself properly if you did." + +"But I don't want you to behave properly." + +"Oh! I am to keep that for London, am I? But, nevertheless, Captain +Broughton, I will not invite you either to tea or to supper to-night." + +"Surely I may shake hands with your father." + +"Not to-night--not till--John, I may tell him, may I not? I must tell +him at once." + +"Certainly," said he. + +"And then you shall see him to-morrow. Let me see--at what hour shall +I bid you come?" + +"To breakfast." + +"No, indeed. What on earth would your aunt do with her broiled turkey +and the cold pie? I have got no cold pie for you." + +"I hate cold pie." + +"What a pity! But, John, I should be forced to leave you directly +after breakfast. Come down--come down at two, or three; and then I +will go back with you to Aunt Penelope. I must see her to-morrow;" and +so at last the matter was settled, and the happy Captain, as he left +her, was hardly resisted in his attempt to press her lips to his own. + +When she entered the parlour in which her father was sitting, there +still were Gribbles and Poulter discussing some knotty point of Devon +lore. So Patience took off her hat, and sat herself down, waiting till +they should go. For full an hour she had to wait, and then Gribbles +and Poulter did go. But it was not in such matters as this that +Patience Woolsworthy was impatient. She could wait, and wait, and +wait, curbing herself for weeks and months, while the thing waited for +was in her eyes good; but she could not curb her hot thoughts or her +hot words when things came to be discussed which she did not think to +be good. + +"Papa," she said, when Gribbles' long-drawn last word had been spoken +at the door. "Do you remember how I asked you the other day what you +would say if I were to leave you?" + +"Yes, surely," he replied, looking up at her in astonishment. + +"I am going to leave you now," she said. "Dear, dearest father, how am +I to go from you?" + +"Going to leave me," said he, thinking of her visit to Helpholme, and +thinking of nothing else. + +Now, there had been a story about Helpholme. That bedridden old lady +there had a stalwart son, who was now the owner of the Helpholme +pastures. But though owner in fee of all those wild acres, and of the +cattle which they supported, he was not much above the farmers around +him, either in manners or education. He had his merits, however; for +he was honest, well-to-do in the world, and modest withal. How strong +love had grown up, springing from neighbourly kindness, between our +Patience and his mother, it needs not here to tell; but rising from it +had come another love--or an ambition which might have grown to love. +The young man, after much thought, had not dared to speak to Miss +Woolsworthy, but he had sent a message by Miss Le Smyrger. If there +could be any hope for him, he would present himself as a suitor--on +trial. He did not owe a shilling in the world, and had money by him-- +saved. He wouldn't ask the parson for a shilling of fortune. Such had +been the tenor of his message, and Miss Le Smyrger had delivered it +faithfully. "He does not mean it," Patience had said with her stern +voice. "Indeed he does, my dear. You may be sure he is in earnest," +Miss Le Smyrger had replied; "and there is not an honester man in these +parts." + +"Tell him," said Patience, not attending to the latter portion of her +friend's last speech, "that it cannot be--make him understand, you +know--and tell him also that the matter shall be thought of no more." +The matter had, at any rate, been spoken of no more, but the young +farmer still remained a bachelor, and Helpholme still wanted a +mistress. But all this came back upon the parson's mind when his +daughter told him that she was about to leave him. + +"Yes, dearest," she said; and as she spoke she now knelt at his knees. +"I have been asked in marriage, and I have given myself away." + +"Well, my love, if you will be happy--" + +"I hope I shall; I think I shall. But you, papa?" + +"You will not be far from us." + +"Oh, yes; in London." + +"In London?" + +"Captain Broughton lives in London generally." + +"And has Captain Broughton asked you to marry him?" + +"Yes, papa--who else? Is he not good? Will you not love him? Oh, +papa, do not say that I am wrong to love him?" + +He never told her his mistake, or explained to her that he had not +thought it possible that the high-placed son of the London great man +should have fallen in love with his undowered daughter; but he embraced +her, and told her, with all his enthusiasm, that he rejoiced in her +joy, and would be happy in her happiness. "My own Patty," he said, "I +have ever known that you were too good for this life of ours here." +And then the evening wore away into the night, with many tears, but +still with much happiness. + +Captain Broughton, as he walked back to Oxney Combe, made up his mind +that he would say nothing on the matter to his aunt till the next +morning. He wanted to think over it all, and to think it over, if +possible, by himself. He had taken a step in life, the most important +that a man is ever called on to take, and he had to reflect whether or +no he had taken it with wisdom. + +"Have you seen her?" said Miss Le Smyrger, very anxiously, when he came +into the drawing-room. + +"Miss Woolsworthy you mean," said he. "Yes, I've seen her. As I found +her out, I took a long walk, and happened to meet her. Do you know, +aunt, I think I'll go to bed; I was up at five this morning, and have +been on the move ever since." + +Miss Le Smyrger perceived that she was to hear nothing that evening, so +she handed him his candlestick and allowed him to go to his room. + +But Captain Broughton did not immediately retire to bed, nor when he +did so was he able to sleep at once. Had this step that he had taken +been a wise one? He was not a man who, in worldly matters, had allowed +things to arrange themselves for him, as is the case with so many men. +He had formed views for himself, and had a theory of life. Money for +money's sake he had declared to himself to be bad. Money, as a +concomitant to things which were in themselves good, he had declared to +himself to be good also. That concomitant in this affair of his +marriage, he had now missed. Well; he had made up his mind to that, +and would put up with the loss. He had means of living of his own, the +means not so extensive as might have been desirable. That it would be +well for him to become a married man, looking merely to the state of +life as opposed to his present state, he had fully resolved. On that +point, therefore, there was nothing to repent. That Patty Woolsworthy +was good, affectionate, clever, and beautiful, he was sufficiently +satisfied. It would be odd indeed if he were not so satisfied now, +seeing that for the last four months he had so declared to himself +daily with many inward asseverations. And yet though he repeated, now +again, that he was satisfied, I do not think that he was so fully +satisfied of it as he had been throughout the whole of those four +months. It is sad to say so, but I fear--I fear that such was the +case. When you have your plaything, how much of the anticipated +pleasure vanishes, especially if it be won easily. + +He had told none of his family what were his intentions in this second +visit to Devonshire, and now he had to bethink himself whether they +would be satisfied. What would his sister say, she who had married the +Honourable Augustus Gumbleton, gold-stick-in-waiting to Her Majesty's +Privy Council? Would she receive Patience with open arms, and make +much of her about London? And then how far would London suit Patience, +or would Patience suit London? There would be much for him to do in +teaching her, and it would be well for him to set about the lesson +without loss of time. So far he got that night, but when the morning +came he went a step further, and began mentally to criticise her manner +to himself. It had been very sweet, that warm, that full, that ready +declaration of love. Yes; it had been very sweet; but--but--; when, +after her little jokes, she did confess her love, had she not been a +little too free for feminine excellence? A man likes to be told that +he is loved, but he hardly wishes that the girl he is to marry should +fling herself at his head! + +Ah me! yes; it was thus he argued to himself as on that morning he went +through the arrangements of his toilet. "Then he was a brute," you +say, my pretty reader. I have never said that he was not a brute. But +this I remark, that many such brutes are to be met with in the beaten +paths of the world's highway. When Patience Woolsworthy had answered +him coldly, bidding him go back to London and think over his love; +while it seemed from her manner that at any rate as yet she did not +care for him; while he was absent from her, and, therefore, longing for +her, the possession of her charms, her talent and bright honesty of +purpose had seemed to him a thing most desirable. Now they were his +own. They had, in fact, been his own from the first. The heart of +this country-bred girl had fallen at the first word from his mouth. +Had she not so confessed to him? She was very nice--very nice indeed. +He loved her dearly. But had he not sold himself too cheaply? + +I by no means say that he was not a brute. But whether brute or no, he +was an honest man, and had no remotest dream, either then, on that +morning, or during the following days on which such thoughts pressed +more quickly on his mind--of breaking away from his pledged word. At +breakfast on that morning he told all to Miss Le Smyrger, and that +lady, with warm and gracious intentions, confided to him her purpose +regarding her property. "I have always regarded Patience as my heir," +she said, "and shall do so still." + +"Oh, indeed," said Captain Broughton. + +"But it is a great, great pleasure to me to think that she will give +back the little property to my sister's child. You will have your +mother's, and thus it will all come together again." + +"Ah!" said Captain Broughton. He had his own ideas about property, and +did not, even under existing circumstances, like to hear that his aunt +considered herself at liberty to leave the acres away to one who was by +blood quite a stranger to the family. + +"Does Patience know of this?" he asked. + +"Not a word," said Miss Le Smyrger. And then nothing more was said +upon the subject. + +On that afternoon he went down and received the parson's benediction +and congratulations with a good grace. Patience said very little on +the occasion, and indeed was absent during the greater part of the +interview. The two lovers then walked up to Oxney Combe, and there +were more benedictions and more congratulations. "All went merry as a +marriage bell," at any rate as far as Patience was concerned. Not a +word had yet fallen from that dear mouth, not a look had yet come over +that handsome face, which tended in any way to mar her bliss. Her +first day of acknowledged love was a day altogether happy, and when she +prayed for him as she knelt beside her bed there was no feeling in her +mind that any fear need disturb her joy. + +I will pass over the next three or four days very quickly, merely +saying that Patience did not find them so pleasant as that first day +after her engagement. There was something in her lover's manner-- +something which at first she could not define--which by degrees seemed +to grate against her feelings. + +He was sufficiently affectionate, that being a matter on which she did +not require much demonstration; but joined to his affection there +seemed to be--; she hardly liked to suggest to herself a harsh word, +but could it be possible that he was beginning to think that she was +not good enough for him? And then she asked herself the question--was +she good enough for him? If there were doubt about that, the match +should be broken off, though she tore her own heart out in the +struggle. The truth, however, was this--that he had begun that +teaching which he had already found to be so necessary. Now, had any +one essayed to teach Patience German or mathematics, with that young +lady's free consent, I believe that she would have been found a meek +scholar. But it was not probable that she would be meek when she found +a self-appointed tutor teaching her manners and conduct without her +consent. + +So matters went on for four or five days, and on the evening of the +fifth day Captain Broughton and his aunt drank tea at the parsonage. +Nothing very especial occurred; but as the parson and Miss La Smyrger +insisted on playing backgammon with devoted perseverance during the +whole evening, Broughton had a good opportunity of saying a word or two +about those changes in his lady-love which a life in London would +require--and some word he said also--some single slight word as to the +higher station in life to which he would exalt his bride. Patience +bore it--for her father and Miss La Smyrger were in the room--she bore +it well, speaking no syllable of anger, and enduring, for the moment, +the implied scorn of the old parsonage. Then the evening broke up, and +Captain Broughton walked back to Oxney Combe with his aunt. "Patty," +her father said to her before they went to bed, "he seems to me to be a +most excellent young man." "Dear papa," she answered, kissing him. +"And terribly deep in love," said Mr. Woolsworthy. "Oh, I don't know +about that," she answered, as she left him with her sweetest smile. +But though she could thus smile at her father's joke, she had already +made up her mind that there was still something to be learned as to her +promised husband before she could place herself altogether in his +hands. She would ask him whether he thought himself liable to injury +from this proposed marriage; and though he should deny any such +thought, she would know from the manner of his denial what his true +feelings were. + +And he, too, on that night, during his silent walk with Miss Le +Smyrger, had entertained some similar thoughts. "I fear she is +obstinate," he said to himself; and then he had half accused her of +being sullen also. "If that be her temper, what a life of misery I +have before me!" + +"Have you fixed a day yet?" his aunt asked him as they came near to her +house. + +"No, not yet; I don't know whether it will suit me to fix it before I +leave." + +"Why, it was but the other day you were in such a hurry." + +"Ah--yes--I have thought more about it since then." + +"I should have imagined that this would depend on what Patty thinks," +said Miss Le Smyrger, standing up for the privileges of her sex. "It +is presumed that the gentleman is always ready as soon as the lady will +consent." + +"Yes, in ordinary cases it is so; but when a girl is taken out of her +own sphere--" + +"Her own sphere! Let me caution you, Master John, not to talk to Patty +about her own sphere." + +"Aunt Penelope, as Patience is to be my wife and not yours, I must +claim permission to speak to her on such subjects as may seem suitable +to me." And then they parted--not in the best humour with each other. + +On the following day Captain Broughton and Miss Woolsworthy did not +meet till the evening. She had said, before those few ill-omened words +had passed her lover's lips, that she would probably be at Miss Le +Smyrger's house on the following morning. Those ill-omened words did +pass her lover's lips, and then she remained at home. This did not +come from sullenness, nor even from anger, but from a conviction that +it would be well that she should think much before she met him again. +Nor was he anxious to hurry a meeting. His thought--his base thought-- +was this; that she would be sure to come up to the Combe after him; but +she did not come, and therefore in the evening he went down to her, and +asked her to walk with him. + +They went away by the path that led to Helpholme, and little was said +between them till they had walked some mile together. + +Patience, as she went along the path, remembered almost to the letter +the sweet words which had greeted her ears as she came down that way +with him on the night of his arrival; but he remembered nothing of that +sweetness then. Had he not made an ass of himself during these last +six months? That was the thought which very much had possession of his +mind. + +"Patience," he said at last, having hitherto spoken only an indifferent +word now and again since they had left the parsonage, "Patience, 1 hope +you realise the importance of the step which you and I are about to +take?" + +"Of course I do," she answered. "What an odd question that is for you +to ask!" + +"Because," said he, "sometimes I almost doubt it. It seems to me as +though you thought you could remove yourself from here to your new home +with no more trouble than when you go from home up to the Combe." + +"Is that meant for a reproach, John?" + +"No, not for a reproach, but for advice. Certainly not for a +reproach." + +"I am glad of that." + +"But I should wish to make you think how great is the leap in the world +which you are about to take." Then again they walked on for many steps +before she answered him. + +"Tell me, then, John," she said, when she had sufficiently considered +what words she should speak; and as she spoke a bright colour suffused +her face, and her eyes flashed almost with anger. "What leap do you +mean? Do you mean a leap upwards?" + +"Well, yes; I hope it will be so." + +"In one sense, certainly, it would be a leap upwards. To be the wife +of the man I loved; to have the privilege of holding his happiness in +my hand; to know that I was his own--the companion whom he had chosen +out of all the world--that would, indeed, be a leap upwards; a leap +almost to heaven, if all that were so. But if you mean upwards in any +other sense--" + +"I was thinking of the social scale." + +"Then, Captain Broughton, your thoughts were doing me dishonour." + +"Doing you dishonour!" + +"Yes, doing me dishonour. That your father is, in the world's esteem, +a greater man than mine is doubtless true enough. That you, as a man, +are richer than I am as a woman, is doubtless also true. But you +dishonour me, and yourself also, if these things can weigh with you +now." + +"Patience,--I think you can hardly know what words you are saying to +me." + +"Pardon me, but I think I do. Nothing that you can give me--no gifts +of that description--can weigh aught against that which I am giving +you. If you had all the wealth and rank of the greatest lord in the +land, it would count as nothing in such a scale. If--as I have not +doubted--if in return for my heart you have given me yours, then--then- +-then you have paid me fully. But when gifts such as those are going, +nothing else can count even as a make-weight." + +"I do not quite understand you," he answered, after a pause. "I fear +you are a little high-flown." And then, while the evening was still +early, they walked back to the parsonage almost without another word. + +Captain Broughton at this time had only one full day more to remain at +Oxney Colne. On the afternoon following that he was to go as far as +Exeter, and thence return to London. Of course, it was to be expected +that the wedding day would be fixed before he went, and much had been +said about it during the first day or two of his engagement. Then he +had pressed for an early time, and Patience, with a girl's usual +diffidence, had asked for some little delay. But now nothing was said +on the subject; and how was it probable that such a matter could be +settled after such a conversation as that which I have related? That +evening, Miss Le Smyrger asked whether the day had been fixed. "No," +said Captain Broughton, harshly; "nothing has been fixed." "But it +will be arranged before you go?" "Probably not," he said; and then the +subject was dropped for the time. + +"John," she said, just before she went to bed, "if there be anything +wrong between you and Patience, I conjure you to tell me." + +"You had better ask her," he replied. "I can tell you nothing." + +On the following morning he was much surprised by seeing Patience on +the gravel path before Miss Le Smyrger's gate immediately after +breakfast. He went to the door to open it for her, and she, as she +gave him her hand, told him that she came up to speak to him. There +was no hesitation in her manner, nor any look of anger in her face. +But there was in her gait and form, in her voice and countenance, a +fixedness of purpose which he had never seen before, or at any rate had +never acknowledged. + +"Certainly," said he. "Shall I come out with you, or will you come up +stairs?" + +"We can sit down in the summer-house," she said; and thither they both +went. + +"Captain Broughton," she said--and she began her task the moment that +they were both seated--"you and I have engaged ourselves as man and +wife, but perhaps we have been over rash." + +"How so?" said he. + +"It may be--and indeed I will say more--it is the case that we have +made this engagement without knowing enough of each other's character." + +"I have not thought so." + +"The time will perhaps come when you will so think, but for the sake of +all that we most value, let it come before it is too late. What would +be our fate--how terrible would be our misery--if such a thought should +come to either of us after we have linked our lots together." + +There was a solemnity about her as she thus spoke which almost +repressed him,--which for a time did prevent him from taking that tone +of authority which on such a subject he would choose to adopt. But he +recovered himself. "I hardly think that this comes well from you," he +said. + +"From whom else should it come? Who else can fight my battle for me; +and, John, who else can fight that same battle on your behalf? I tell +you this, that with your mind standing towards me as it does stand at +present, you could not give me your hand at the altar with true words +and a happy conscience. Am I not true? You have half repented of your +bargain already. Is it not so?" + +He did not answer her; but getting up from his seat walked to the front +of the summer-house, and stood there with his back turned upon her. It +was not that he meant to be ungracious, but in truth he did not know +how to answer her. He had half repented of his bargain. + +"John," she said, getting up and following him, so that she could put +her hand upon his arm, "I have been very angry with you." + +"Angry with me!" he said, turning sharp upon her. + +"Yes, angry with you. You would have treated me like a child. But +that feeling has gone now. I am not angry now. There is my hand;--the +hand of a friend. Let the words that have been spoken between us be as +though they had not been spoken. Let us both be free." + +"Do you mean it?" + +"Certainly I mean it." As she spoke these words her eyes filled with +tears, in spite of all the efforts she could make; but he was not +looking at her, and her efforts had sufficed to prevent any sob from +being audible. + +"With all my heart," he said; and it was manifest from his tone that he +had no thought of her happiness as he spoke. It was true that she had +been angry with him--angry, as she had herself declared; but +nevertheless, in what she had said and what she had done, she had +thought more of his happiness than of her own. Now she was angry once +again. + +"With all your heart, Captain Broughton! Well, so be it. If with all +your heart, then is the necessity so much the greater. You go to- +morrow. Shall we say farewell now?" + +"Patience, I am not going to be lectured." + +"Certainly not by me. Shall we say farewell now?" + +"Yes, if you are determined." + +"I am determined. Farewell, Captain Broughton. You have all my wishes +for your happiness." And she held out her hand to him. + +"Patience!" he said. And he looked at her with a dark frown, as though +he would strive to frighten her into submission. If so, he might have +saved himself any such attempt. + +"Farewell, Captain Broughton. Give me your hand, for I cannot stay." +He gave her his hand, hardly knowing why he did so. She lifted it to +her lips and kissed it, and then, leaving him, passed from the summer- +house down through the wicket-gate, and straight home to the parsonage. + +During the whole of that day she said no word to any one of what had +occurred. When she was once more at home she went about her household +affairs as she had done on that day of his arrival. When she sat down +to dinner with her father he observed nothing to make him think that +she was unhappy; nor during the evening was there any expression in her +face, or any tone in her voice, which excited his attention. On the +following morning Captain Broughton called at the parsonage, and the +servant-girl brought word to her mistress that he was in the parlour. +But she would not see him. "Laws, miss, you ain't a quarrelled with +your beau?" the poor girl said. "No, not quarrelled," she said; "but +give him that." It was a scrap of paper, containing a word or two in +pencil. "It is better that we should not meet again. God bless you." +And from that day to this, now more than ten years, they never have +met. + +"Papa," she said to her father that afternoon, "dear papa, do not be +angry with me. It is all over between me and John Broughton. Dearest, +you and I will not be separated." It would be useless here to tell how +great was the old man's surprise and how true his sorrow. As the tale +was told to him no cause was given for anger with any one. Not a word +was spoken against the suitor who had on that day returned to London +with a full conviction that now at least he was relieved from his +engagement. "Patty, my darling child," he said, "may God grant that it +be for the best! + +"It is for the best," she answered stoutly. "For this place I am fit; +and I much doubt whether I am fit for any other." + + On that day she did not see Miss Le Smyrger, but on the following +morning, knowing that Captain Broughton had gone off, having heard the +wheels of the carriage as they passed by the parsonage gate on his way +to the station,--she walked up to the Combe. + +"He has told you, I suppose?" said she. + +"Yes," said Miss Le Smyrger. "And I will never see him again unless he +asks your pardon on his knees. I have told him so. I would not even +give him my hand as he went." + +"But why so, thou kindest one? The fault was mine more than his." + +"I understand. I have eyes in my head," said the old maid. "I have +watched him for the last four or five days. If you could have kept the +truth to yourself and bade him keep off from you, he would have been at +your feet now, licking the dust from your shoes." + +"But, dear friend, I do not want a man to lick dust from my shoes." + +"Ah, you are a fool. You do not know the value of your own wealth." + +"True; I have been a fool. I was a fool to think that one coming from +such a life as he has led could be happy with such as I am. I know the +truth now. I have bought the lesson dearly,--but perhaps not too +dearly, seeing that it will never be forgotten." + +There was but little more said about the matter between our three +friends at Oxney Colne. What, indeed, could be said? Miss Le Smyrger +for a year or two still expected that her nephew would return and claim +his bride; but he has never done so, nor has there been any +correspondence between them. Patience Woolsworthy had learned her +lesson dearly. She had given her whole heart to the man; and, though +she so bore herself that no one was aware of the violence of the +struggle, nevertheless the struggle within her bosom was very violent. +She never told herself that she had done wrong; she never regretted her +loss; but yet--yet--the loss was very hard to bear. He also had loved +her, but he was not capable of a love which could much injure his daily +peace. Her daily peace was gone for many a day to come. + +Her father is still living; but there is a curate now in the parish. +In conjunction with him and with Miss Le Smyrger she spends her time in +the concerns of the parish. In her own eyes she is a confirmed old +maid; and such is my opinion also. The romance of her life was played +out in that summer. She never sits now lonely on the hill-side +thinking how much she might do for one whom she really loved. But with +a large heart she loves many, and, with no romance, she works hard to +lighten the burdens of those she loves. + +As for Captain Broughton, all the world know that he did marry that +great heiress with whom his name was once before connected, and that he +is now a useful member of Parliament, working on committees three or +four days a week with a zeal that is indefatigable. Sometimes, not +often, as he thinks of Patience Woolsworthy, a gratified smile comes +across his face. + + + + + +End of Project Gutenberg The Parson's Daughter of Oxney Colne, by Trollope + |