"You have my leave," replied the boy in the consequential tone that youth generally assumes when conferring a favour. "Indeed, you don't look very fit to wander farther;Ralph, see that this knave is attended to."Chapter 4
ONE:She left Caro with a restless aching in her heart. In spite of the lost front tooth and the faded hair, she had impressed her in much the same way as Rose on her wedding night. Here was another woman sure of love looking confidently into a happy future, wooed and sought after, a man's bride.... Jolting home in the empty vegetable cart beside Peter, one or two tears found their way down Caro's cheek. Oh, if only some man, no matter whom, tyrant, criminal, no matter what, would love her, give her for one moment those divine sensations which she had seen other women enjoy! Why must she alone, of all the women she knew, be loveless?
TWO:She had shut the door, and stood against it, a tall,[Pg 134] rather commanding figure, in spite of her snow-covered garments and dishevelled hair.
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ONE:
TWO:"I neither gave nor promised him any thing," said Calverley, approaching the table under the impression of giving a tone to what Byles should say.The sarcastic smile that accompanied these words, called up a glow even deeper than envy had done; yet, in a calm voice, Calverley replied, "The land, my lord, though the gift be fair, is of little account in comparison with the honour of the deed; but I may humbly say, that if Thomas Calverley had witnessed his master's peril, he would have been found as valiant in his defence as the yeoman, whose better fortune it was to be present."
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ONE:"Oh, Reuben...."Naomi felt bored and sick; twice she yawned, and she stretched her tired shoulders under her dress. At last Reuben noticed her discomfort.
TWO:
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TWO:
FORE:Their feet splashed on the soaking grass, and suddenly Bessie stopped and lifted her shoe:"But, take care," said Margaret, "that you say not whom it is for."
FORE:"Halloconfederates! you have forgotten one thing, which, after all, may do us more good than all the conditions put together. What think ye of burning all the deeds and court-rolls of manors we can lay our hands on? The knaves will find it no easy matter to prove their title to the land, or to the rent or to the bondman either.""Oh, f?atherd?an't be so hard on us. The Lord knows wot'll become of us if you turn us out now. It 'ud have been better if we'd gone five years agoRealf[Pg 440] wur a more valiant man then nor wot he is now. He'll never be able to start ag?unhe ?un't fit fur it."
FORE:"Then, by St. Nicholas! none shall ride here but Richard and myself. Come down, braggart," and he seized the bridle of Newton's horse.Calverley was about to speak, when he was interrupted by De Boteler, who expressed himself dissatisfied with the explanations on both sides:
FORE:For a moment Pete looked as if he would follow him, but Reuben impatiently called him back.She saw people that she knew, but had no fear of betrayal, unless from Pete, who was, however, safe in the fighting-booth, now conveniently banished by public opinion to the outskirts of the Fair. Pete would "tell on" her, she knew, but no one else cared enough for Reuben to betray his daughter to him. She looked with kindly eyes on all the world as her accomplicethat all the world loves a lover is primarily the lover's point of view.
FORE:"Oh! you know, I suppose, that he is a sworn brother among the leaders, though I didn't know it till this very evening, when it happened that I was sent to the Essex men to know when they thought of marching. You know Black Jack gets on badly without a drop, and, as he could hardly obtain enough among them to wet his lips, he took the opportunity, as he said, of my coming to raise a good spirit among the bondmenbut in truth to" and he put an empty wine-cup, that he held in his hands, to his mouth.
FORE:"It's one o'clock o' the marnun."But it was all hopeless. Most likely in future all that would remain free to him of Boarzell would be this Fair ground, crowded once a year. The rest would be built overfat shop-keepers would grow fatteroh, durn it!
FORE:Should you turn from me now that they winter in fold?"
FORE:"First.The king shall be required to free all bondmen."He went to where the fuse lay like a snake in the grass, and struck his flint.
FORE:"Some can. I was educated with my brother, you know, and when we construed Horace I was always five or six pages ahead. What made you want to learn Latin?"
TWO:"Albert's bin in the orchard scaring sparrers, and Robert and Pete wur helping wud the chickens. My family's gitting quite valiant now, Mrs. Backfield."Reuben stood in the doorway and watched her come up the path, herself dim and ghostly, like the twilight and the flowers. When she was close he held out his arms to her, and she fell on his breast.
TWO:"Oh, father! he is dyingthe death-sweats are upon him! and can I, who brought him into sin, see him die under the curse of God? Oh, mercy, holy father! have pity upon him!his soul is repentantindeed it is! We have vowed, if he should recover, to part for everoh, come to him!"
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TWO:"What do you mean?""Look here," she said suddenly, "I'm going to prove[Pg 283] the truth of what I told you just now. I'm going to make that boy kiss me."
TWO:Her hand lay in his, a very small thing, and her head bent towards it. She did not want him to see her cheeks flush and her eyes fill at this his first caress."Serve un right," said Ticehurst.
But Stephen heard her not;indeed, he was a few paces from the door ere she had finished the exclamation."How have I desired to behold the prophetwho hath risen up to be the champion of the oppressed. My breast burned within me when I saw the poor man trampled on. I sheltered a bondmanI was vexed with the lawstripped of my allbeggared, and nothing left me but bondage or a jail!I am weary of the hard hand that presses down the poor! Holy father, let me join the good cause."Kirkby muttered something of the council.