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035 - Ch 35 - Expiation · North and South (version 2)

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Speaker 1: Chapter thirty five of North and South by Elizabeth Gaskell.
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Speaker 1: This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Read by Marianne,
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Speaker 1: chapter thirty five expiation There's naught so finely spun, but
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Speaker 1: it cometh to the sun. Mister Thornton sat on and on.
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Speaker 1: He felt that his company gave pleasure to mister Hale,
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Speaker 1: and was touched by the half spoken, wishful entreaty that
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Speaker 1: he would remain a little longer, the plaintive don't go yet,
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Speaker 1: which his poor friend put forth from time to time.
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Speaker 1: He wondered Margaret did not return, But it was with
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Speaker 1: no view of seeing her that he lingered for the hour.
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Speaker 1: And in the presence of one who was so thoroughly
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Speaker 1: feeling the nothingness of earth, he was reasonable and self controlled.
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Speaker 1: He was deeply interested in all her father said of death,
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Speaker 1: and of the heavy lull, and of the brain that
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Speaker 1: has grown dull. It was curious how the presence of
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Speaker 1: mister Thornton had power over mister Hale to make him
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Speaker 1: unlock the secret thoughts which he kept shut up even
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Speaker 1: from Margaret. Whether it was that her sympathy would be
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Speaker 1: so keen and show itself in so lively a manner
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Speaker 1: that he was afraid of the reaction upon himself, or
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Speaker 1: whether it was that to his speculative mind, all kinds
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Speaker 1: of doubts presented themselves at such a time, pleading and
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Speaker 1: crying aloud to be resolved into certainties, and that he
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Speaker 1: knew she would have shrunk from the expression of any
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Speaker 1: such doubts, nay from him himself as capable of conceiving them.
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Speaker 1: Whatever was the reason, he could unburden himself better to
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Speaker 1: mister Thornton than to her, of all the thoughts and
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Speaker 1: fancies and fears that had been frost bound in his
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Speaker 1: brain till now. Mister Thornton said very little, but every
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Speaker 1: sentence he uttered added to mister Hale's reliance and regard
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Speaker 1: for him. Was it that he paused in the expression
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Speaker 1: of some remembered agony? Mister Thornton's two or three words
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Speaker 1: would complete the sentence and show how deeply its meaning
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Speaker 1: was entered into. Was it a doubt, a fear, a
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Speaker 1: wandering uncertainty, seeking rest but finding none, so tear blinded
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Speaker 1: were its eyes. Mister Thornton, instead of being shocked, seemed
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Speaker 1: to have passed through that very stage of thought himself,
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Speaker 1: and could suggest where the exact ray of light was
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Speaker 1: to be found, which should make the dark places plain.
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Speaker 1: Man of action, as he was busy in the world's
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Speaker 1: great battle, there was a deeper religion binding him to
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Speaker 1: God in his heart, in spite of his strong wilfulness
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Speaker 1: through all his mistakes that mister Hale had ever dreamed.
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Speaker 1: They never spoke of such things again, as it happened,
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Speaker 1: But this one conversation made them peculiar people to each other,
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Speaker 1: knit them together in a way which no loose, indiscriminate
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Speaker 1: talking about sacred things can ever accomplish. When all are admitted,
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Speaker 1: how can there be a Holy of holies? And all
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Speaker 1: this while Margaret lay as still and white as death
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Speaker 1: on the study floor. She had sunk under her burden.
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Speaker 1: It had been heavy in weight and long carried, and
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Speaker 1: she had been very meek and patient till all at
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Speaker 1: once her faith had given way, and she had groped
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Speaker 1: in vain for help. There was a pitiful contraction of
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Speaker 1: suffering upon her beautiful brows, although there was no other
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Speaker 1: sign of consciousness remaining. The mouth a little while ago,
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Speaker 1: so sullenly projected in defiance, was relaxed and livid. Epaq
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Speaker 1: de la sois labia simova uno spiritos wave e pien
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Speaker 1: d'emora schivadichendo alanima sospira. The first symptom of returning life
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Speaker 1: was a quivering about the lips, a little mute, soundless
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Speaker 1: attempt at speech, but the eyes were still closed, and
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Speaker 1: the quivering so into stillness. Then, feebly leaning on her
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Speaker 1: arms for an instant to steady herself, Margaret gathered herself
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Speaker 1: up and rose. Her comb had fallen out of her hair,
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Speaker 1: and with an intuitive desire to efface the traces of
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Speaker 1: weakness and bring herself into order again, she sought for it,
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Speaker 1: although from time to time in course of the search
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Speaker 1: she had to sit down and recover strength. Her head
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Speaker 1: drooped forwards, her hands meekly laid one upon the other.
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Speaker 1: She tried to recall the force of her temptation by
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Speaker 1: endeavoring to remember the details which had thrown her into
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Speaker 1: such deadly fright, but she could not. She only understood
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Speaker 1: two facts that Frederick had been in danger of being
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Speaker 1: pursued and detected in London as not only guilty of manslaughter,
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Speaker 1: but as the more unpardonable leader of the mutiny, and
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Speaker 1: that she had lied to save him. There was one
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Speaker 1: comfort Her lie had saved him, if only by gaining
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Speaker 1: some additional time. If the inspector came again tomorrow, after
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Speaker 1: she had received the letter she longed for to assure
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Speaker 1: her of her brother's safety, she would brave shame and
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Speaker 1: stand in her bitter penance. She the lofty Margaret acknowledging
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Speaker 1: before a crowded justice room if need were that, she
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Speaker 1: had been as a dog and done this thing. But
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Speaker 1: if he came before she heard from Frederick, if he
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Speaker 1: returned as he had half threatened, in a few hours,
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Speaker 1: why she would tell that lie again. Though how the
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Speaker 1: words would come out after all this terrible pause for
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Speaker 1: reflection and self reproach without betraying her falsehood she did
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Speaker 1: not know. She could not tell, but her repetition of
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Speaker 1: it would gain time time for Frederick. She was roused
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Speaker 1: by Dixon's entrance into the room she had just been
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Speaker 1: letting out mister Thornton. He had hardly gone ten steps
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Speaker 1: in the street before a passing omnibus stopped close by him,
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Speaker 1: and a man got down and came up to him,
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Speaker 1: touching his hat as he did so. It was the
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Speaker 1: police inspector. Mister Thornton had obtained for him his first
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Speaker 1: situation in the police, and had heard from time to
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Speaker 1: time of the progress of his protege, but they had
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Speaker 1: not often met, and at first mister Thornton did not
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Speaker 1: remember him. My name is Watson, George Watson, sir, that
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Speaker 1: you got ah, Yes, I recollect Why you are getting
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Speaker 1: on famously? I hear, yes, sir. I ought to thank you, sir,
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Speaker 1: but it is on a little matter of business. I
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Speaker 1: made so bold as to speak to you now. I
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Speaker 1: believe you were the magistrate who intended to take down
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Speaker 1: the deposition of a poor man who died in the
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Speaker 1: infirmary last night. Yes, replied mister Thornton. I went and
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Speaker 1: heard some kind of rambling statement, which the clerk said
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Speaker 1: was of no great use. I'm afraid he was but
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Speaker 1: a drunken fellow, though there is no doubt he came
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Speaker 1: to his death by violence. At last. One of my
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Speaker 1: mother's servants was engaged to him, I believe, and she
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Speaker 1: is in great distress to day. What about him? Why, sir?
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Speaker 1: His death is oddly mixed up with somebody in the house.
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Speaker 1: I saw you coming out of just now. It was
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Speaker 1: a mister Hale's I believe, yes, said mister Thornton, turning
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Speaker 1: sharp round and looking into the inspector's face with sudden interest.
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Speaker 1: What about it? Why, sir? It seems to me that
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Speaker 1: I have got a pretty distinct chain of evidence inculpating
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Speaker 1: a gentleman who was walking with miss Hale that night
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Speaker 1: at the Outwood station as the man who struck or
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Speaker 1: pushed Leonards off the platform and so caused his death.
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Speaker 1: But the young lady denies that she was there at
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Speaker 1: the time. Miss Hale denies she was there, repeated mister Thornton,
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Speaker 1: in an altered voice. Tell me what evening was it?
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Speaker 1: What time? About six o'clock on the evening of Thursday,
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Speaker 1: the twenty sixth. They walked on side by side inside
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Speaker 1: silence for a minute or two. The inspector was the
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Speaker 1: first to speak. You see, sir, there is like to
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Speaker 1: be a coroner's inquest, and I've got a young man
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Speaker 1: who is pretty positive, at least he was at first,
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Speaker 1: since he has heard of the young lady's denial. He
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Speaker 1: says he should not like to swear, but still he's
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Speaker 1: pretty positive that he saw miss Hale at the station
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Speaker 1: walking about with a gentleman not five minutes before the time,
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Speaker 1: when one of the porters saw a scuffle which he
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Speaker 1: set down to some of Leonard's impudence, but which led
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Speaker 1: to the fall which caused his death. And seeing you
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Speaker 1: come out of the very house, sir, I thought I
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Speaker 1: might make bold to ask, if you see it's always
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Speaker 1: awkward having to do with cases of disputed identity, and
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Speaker 1: one doesn't like to doubt the word of a respectable
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Speaker 1: young woman unless one has strong proof to the contrary.
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Speaker 1: And she denied having been at the station that evening,
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Speaker 1: repeated mister Thornton in a low brooding tone. Yes, sir,
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Speaker 1: twice over as distinct as could be. I told her
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Speaker 1: I should call again. But seeing you just as I
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Speaker 1: was on my way back from questioning the young man
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Speaker 1: who said it was her, I thought I would ask
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Speaker 1: your advice, both as the magistrate who saw Leonards on
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Speaker 1: his death bed and as the gentleman who got me
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Speaker 1: my berth in the force. You were quite right, said
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Speaker 1: mister Thornton. Don't take any steps till you have seen
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Speaker 1: me again. The young lady will expect me to call.
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Speaker 1: From what I said, I only want to delay you
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Speaker 1: an hour. It's now three. Come to my warehouse at
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Speaker 1: four very well, sir, and they parted company. Mister Thornton
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Speaker 1: hurried to his warehouse, and, sternly forbidding his clerks to
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Speaker 1: allow any one to interrupt him, he went his way
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Speaker 1: to his own private room and locked the door. Then
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Speaker 1: he indulged himself in the torture of thinking it all
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Speaker 1: over and realizing every detail. How could he have lulled
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Speaker 1: himself into the unsuspicious call in which her tearful image
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Speaker 1: had mirrored itself not two hours before, till he had
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Speaker 1: weakly pitied her and yearned toward her, and forgotten the savage,
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Speaker 1: distrustful jealousy with which the sight of her, and that
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Speaker 1: unknown to him at such an hour in such a place,
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Speaker 1: had inspired him. How could one so pure have stooped
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Speaker 1: from her decorous and noble manner of bearing? But was
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Speaker 1: it to chorus? Was it? He hated himself for the
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Speaker 1: idea that forced itself upon him just for an instant,
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Speaker 1: no more. And yet while it was present thrilled him
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Speaker 1: with its old potency of attraction towards her image. And
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Speaker 1: then this falsehood, How terrible must be some dread of
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Speaker 1: shame to be revealed? For after all the provocation given
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Speaker 1: by a man such as Leonard's was when excited by drinking, might,
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Speaker 1: in all probability, be more than enough to justify any
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Speaker 1: one who came forward to state the circumstances openly and
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Speaker 1: without reserve. How creeping and deadly that fear which could
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Speaker 1: bow down the truthful Margaret to falsehood. He could almost
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Speaker 1: pity her. What would be the end of it? She
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Speaker 1: could not have considered all she was entering upon. If
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Speaker 1: there was an inquest, and the young man came forward
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Speaker 1: suddenly he started up, there should be no inquest. He
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Speaker 1: would save Margaret. He would take the responsibility of preventing
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Speaker 1: the inquest, the issue of which, from the uncertainty of
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Speaker 1: the medical testimony which he had vaguely heard the night
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Speaker 1: before from the surgeon in attendance, could be but doubtful.
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Speaker 1: The doctors had discovered an eternal disease, far advanced and
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Speaker 1: sure to prove fatal. They had stated that death might
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Speaker 1: have been accelerated by the fall, or by the subsequent
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Speaker 1: drinking and exposure to cold. If he had but known
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Speaker 1: how Margaret would have become involved in the affair. If
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Speaker 1: he had but foreseen that she would have stained her
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Speaker 1: whiteness by a falsehood. He could have saved her by
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Speaker 1: a word. For the question of inquest or no inquest
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Speaker 1: had hung trembling in the balance only the night before.
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Speaker 1: Miss Hale might love another was indifferent and contemptuous to him,
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Speaker 1: But he would yet do her faithful acts of service,
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Speaker 1: of which she should never know. He might despise her,
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Speaker 1: But the woman whom he had once loved should be
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Speaker 1: kept from shame and shame it would be to pledge
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Speaker 1: herself to a lie in a public court, or otherwise
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Speaker 1: to stand and acknowledge her reason for desiring darkness rather
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Speaker 1: than light. Very gray and stern did mister Thornton look
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Speaker 1: as he passed out through his wondering clerks. He was
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Speaker 1: away about half an hour, and scarcely less stern did
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Speaker 1: he look when he returned, although his errand had been successful.
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Speaker 1: He wrote two lines on a slip of paper, put
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Speaker 1: it in an envelope, and sealed it up. This he
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Speaker 1: gave to one of the clerks, saying, I appointed Watson,
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Speaker 1: he who was a packer in the way warehouse, and
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Speaker 1: who went into the police to call on me at
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Speaker 1: four o'clock. I've just met with a gentleman from Liverpool,
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Speaker 1: who wishes to see me before he leaves town. Take
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Speaker 1: care to give this note to Watson when he calls.
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Speaker 1: The note contained these words. There will be no inquest,
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Speaker 1: medical evidence not sufficient to justify it. Take no further steps.
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Speaker 1: I have not seen the coroner, but I will take
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Speaker 1: the responsibility. Well thought Watson, it relieves me from an
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Speaker 1: awkward job. None of my witnesses seemed certain of anything
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Speaker 1: except the young woman. She was clear and distinct enough.
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Speaker 1: The porter at the railroad had seen a scuffle or
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Speaker 1: when he found it was likely to bring him in
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Speaker 1: as a witness that it might not have been a scuffle,
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Speaker 1: only a little larking, and Leonards might have jumped off
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Speaker 1: the platform himself. He would not stick firm to anything.
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Speaker 1: And Jennings, the grocer's shopman, well, he was not quite
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Speaker 1: so bad, but I doubt if I could got him
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Speaker 1: up to an oath. After he heard that, Miss Hale
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Speaker 1: flatly denied it. It would have been a troublesome job
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Speaker 1: and no satisfaction. And now I must go and tell
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Speaker 1: them they won't be wanted. He accordingly presented himself again
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Speaker 1: at mister Hale's that evening. Her father and Dixon would
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Speaker 1: fain have persuaded Margaret to go to bed, but they
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Speaker 1: neither of them knew the reason for her low continued
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Speaker 1: refusals to do so. Dixon had learnt part of the truth,
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Speaker 1: but only part. Margaret would not tell any human being
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Speaker 1: of what she had said, and she did not reveal
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Speaker 1: the fatal termination to Leonard's fall from the platform. So
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Speaker 1: Dixon's curiosity combined with her allegiance to urge Margaret to
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Speaker 1: go to rest, which her appearance as she lay on
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Speaker 1: the sofa showed but too clearly that she required. She
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Speaker 1: did not speak except when spoken to. She tried to
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Speaker 1: smile back in reply to her father's anxious looks and
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Speaker 1: words of tender inquiry, but instead of a smile, the
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Speaker 1: wan lips resolved themselves into a sigh. He was so
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Speaker 1: miserably uneasy that at last she consented to go into
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Speaker 1: her own room and prepare for going to bed. She
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Speaker 1: was indeed inclined to give up the idea that the
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Speaker 1: inspector would call again that night, as it was already
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Speaker 1: past nine o'clock. She stood by her father, holding on
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Speaker 1: to the back of the chair. You will go up
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Speaker 1: to bed soon, Papa, won't you don't sit up alone?
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Speaker 1: What his answer was, she did not hear. The words
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Speaker 1: were lost in the far smaller point of sound that
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Speaker 1: magnified itself to her fears and filled her brain. There
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Speaker 1: was a low ring at the door bell. She kissed
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Speaker 1: her father and glided down stairs with a rapidity of
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Speaker 1: motion of which no one would have thought her capable,
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Speaker 1: who had seen her the minute before. She put aside Dixon,
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Speaker 1: don't come, I will open the door. I know it
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Speaker 1: is him. I can. I must manage it all myself,
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Speaker 1: as you please, Miss said Dixon testily, but in a
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Speaker 1: moment afterwards she added, but you are not fit for it.
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Speaker 1: You are more dead than alive, am, I said Margaret,
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Speaker 1: turning round and showing her eyes all aglow with strange fire.
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Speaker 1: Her cheeks flushed, though her lips were baked and livid. Still,
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Speaker 1: she opened the door to the inspector and preceded him
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Speaker 1: into the study. She placed the candle on the table
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Speaker 1: and snuffed it carefully before she turned round to face him.
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Speaker 1: You are late, said she well. She held her breath
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Speaker 1: for the answer. I'm sorry to have given any unnecessary trouble, ma'am,
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Speaker 1: For after all they've given up all thoughts of holding
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Speaker 1: an inquest. I have had other work to do and
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Speaker 1: other people to see, or I should have been here before. Now.
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Speaker 1: Then it is ended, said Margaret. There's to be no
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Speaker 1: further inquiry. I believe I've got mister Thornton's note about me,
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Speaker 1: said the inspector, fumbling in his pocket book. Mister Thornton's,
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Speaker 1: said Margaret. Yes, he's a magistrate. Ah, here it is.
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Speaker 1: She could not see to read it, no, not, although
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Speaker 1: she was close to the candle. The words swam before her.
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Speaker 1: But she held it in her hand and looked at
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Speaker 1: it as if she were intently studying it. I'm sure, ma'am,
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Speaker 1: it's a great weight off my mind, for the evidence
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Speaker 1: was so uncertain, you see, that the man had received
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Speaker 1: any blow at all, and if any question of identity
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Speaker 1: came in, it so complicated the case. As I told
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Speaker 1: mister Thornton. Mister Thornton said Margaret again, I met him
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Speaker 1: this morning, just as he was coming out of this house,
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Speaker 1: and as he's an old friend of mine, besides being
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Speaker 1: the magistrate who saw Leonards last night, I made bold
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Speaker 1: to tell him of my difficulty. Margaret sighed deeply. She
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Speaker 1: did not want to hear any more. She was afraid,
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Speaker 1: alike of what she had heard and of what she
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Speaker 1: might hear. She wished that the man would go. She
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Speaker 1: forced herself to speak, thank you for calling. It is
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Speaker 1: very late, I dare say, it's past ten o'clock. Oh,
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Speaker 1: here's the note, she continued, suddenly interpreting the meaning of
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Speaker 1: the hand held out to receive it. He was putting
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Speaker 1: it up when she said, I think it is a cramped,
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Speaker 1: dazzling sort of writing. I could not read it. Will
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Speaker 1: you just read it to me? He read it aloud
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Speaker 1: to her. Thank you. You told mister Thornton that I
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Speaker 1: was not there. Oh, of course, ma'am. I'm sorry now
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Speaker 1: that I acted upon information which seems to have been
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Speaker 1: so erroneous. At first, the young man was so positive,
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Speaker 1: and now he says that he doubted all along, and
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Speaker 1: hopes that his mistake won't have occasioned you such annoyance
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Speaker 1: as to lose their shop your custom. Good night, ma'am,
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Speaker 1: good night. She rang the bell for Dixon to show
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Speaker 1: him out. As Dixon returned up the passage, Margaret passed
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Speaker 1: her swiftly. It's all right, said she, without looking at Dixon.
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Speaker 1: Before the woman could follow her with further questions. She
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Speaker 1: had sped upstairs and entered her bed chamber and bolted
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Speaker 1: the door. She threw herself dressed. As she was upon
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Speaker 1: her bed. She was much too exhausted to think. Half
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Speaker 1: an hour or more elapsed before the cramped nature of
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Speaker 1: her position and the chilliness supervening upon great fatigue, had
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Speaker 1: the power to rouse her numbed faculties. Then she began
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Speaker 1: to recall, to combine, to wonder. The first idea that
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Speaker 1: presented itself to her was that all this sickening alarm
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Speaker 1: on Frederick's behalf was over, the strain was past. The
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Speaker 1: next was a wish to remember every word of the
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Speaker 1: inspectors which related to mister Thornton. When had he seen him,
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Speaker 1: what had he said? What had mister Thornton done? What
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Speaker 1: were the exact words of his note? And until she
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Speaker 1: could recollect, even to the placing or omitting an article,
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Speaker 1: the very expressions which he had used in the note,
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Speaker 1: her mind refect used to go on with its progress.
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Speaker 1: But the next conviction she came to was clear enough.
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Speaker 1: Mister Thornton had seen her close to Outwood Station on
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Speaker 1: the fatal Thursday night, and had been told of her
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Speaker 1: denial that she was there, she stood as a liar.
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Speaker 1: In his eyes, she was a liar, but she had
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Speaker 1: no thought of penitence before God. Nothing but chaos and
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Speaker 1: knight surrounded the one lurid fact that in mister Thornton's
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Speaker 1: eyes she was disgraced. She cared not to think even
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Speaker 1: to herself of how much of excuse she might plead
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Speaker 1: that had nothing to do with mister Thornton. She never
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Speaker 1: dreamed that he or any one else could find cause
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Speaker 1: for suspicion in what was so natural as her accompanying
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Speaker 1: her brother. But what was really false and wrong was
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Speaker 1: known to him, and he had a right to judge her. Oh, Frederick, Frederick,
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Speaker 1: she cried, what have I not sacrificed for you? Even
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Speaker 1: when she fell asleep, her thoughts were compelled to travel
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Speaker 1: the same circle, only with exaggerated and monstrous circumstances of pain.
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Speaker 1: When she awoke, a new idea flashed upon her with
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Speaker 1: all the brightness of the morning. Mister Thornton had learnt
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Speaker 1: her falsehood before he went to the corner. That suggested
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Speaker 1: the thought that he had possibly been influenced so to
21:22
Speaker 1: do with a view of sparing her the repetition of
21:24
Speaker 1: her denial, But she pushed this notion on one side
21:28
Speaker 1: with the sick wilfulness of a child. If it were so,
21:32
Speaker 1: she felt no gratitude to him, as it only showed
21:34
Speaker 1: her how keenly he must have seen that she was
21:36
Speaker 1: disgraced already before he took such unwonted pains to spare
21:40
Speaker 1: her any further trial of truthfulness, which had already failed.
21:44
Speaker 1: So signally she would have gone through the whole. She
21:48
Speaker 1: would have perjured herself to save Frederick rather far rather
21:53
Speaker 1: than mister Thornton should have had the knowledge that prompted
21:56
Speaker 1: him to interfere to save her. What ill fate brought
22:00
Speaker 1: him in contact with the inspector, What made him to
22:03
Speaker 1: be the very magistrate sent for to receive Leonard's deposition?
22:07
Speaker 1: What had Leonard said? How much of it was intelligible
22:10
Speaker 1: to mister Thornton, who might already for aught. She knew
22:14
Speaker 1: be aware of the old accusation against Frederick through their
22:17
Speaker 1: mutual friend mister Bell. If so, he had striven to
22:22
Speaker 1: save the son who came in defiance of the law
22:25
Speaker 1: to attend his mother's death bed. And under this idea
22:28
Speaker 1: she could feel grateful. Not yet, if ever she should,
22:33
Speaker 1: if his interference had been prompted by contempt. Oh had
22:38
Speaker 1: any one such just cause to feel contempt for her?
22:42
Speaker 1: Mister Thornton, above all people on whom she had looked
22:46
Speaker 1: down from her imaginary heights till now she suddenly found
22:50
Speaker 1: herself at his feet, and was strangely distressed at her fall.
22:55
Speaker 1: She shrank from following out the premises to their conclusion,
22:58
Speaker 1: and so acknowledging to her how much she valued his
23:01
Speaker 1: respect and good opinion. Whenever this idea presented itself to
23:06
Speaker 1: her at the end of a long avenue of thoughts,
23:09
Speaker 1: she turned away from following that path. She would not
23:12
Speaker 1: believe in it. It was later than she fancied, for
23:16
Speaker 1: in the agitation of the previous night, she had forgotten
23:19
Speaker 1: to wind up her watch, and mister Hale had given
23:21
Speaker 1: especial orders that she was not to be disturbed by
23:24
Speaker 1: the usual awakening. By and by, the door opened cautiously,
23:28
Speaker 1: and Dixon put her head in. Perceiving that Margaret was awake,
23:32
Speaker 1: she came forwards with a letter. Here's something to do
23:36
Speaker 1: you good, miss, A letter from Master Frederick. Thank you Dixon.
23:41
Speaker 1: How late it is? She spoke very languidly, and suffered
23:45
Speaker 1: Dixon to lay it on the counterpane before her without
23:48
Speaker 1: putting out a hand to take it. You want your breakfast,
23:51
Speaker 1: I'm sure I will bring it up to you in
23:54
Speaker 1: a minute. Master has got the tray already, I know.
23:59
Speaker 1: Margaret did not reply. She let her go. She felt
24:02
Speaker 1: that she must be alone before she could open that letter.
24:05
Speaker 1: She opened it at last. The first thing that caught
24:08
Speaker 1: her eye was the date two days earlier than she
24:11
Speaker 1: received it. He had then written when he had promised,
24:14
Speaker 1: and their alarm might have been spared. But she would
24:17
Speaker 1: read the letter and see it was hasty enough, but
24:21
Speaker 1: perfectly satisfactory. He had seen Henry Lennox, who knew enough
24:25
Speaker 1: of the case to shake his head over it in
24:27
Speaker 1: the first instance, and to tell him he had done
24:30
Speaker 1: a very daring thing in returning to England with such
24:32
Speaker 1: an accusation backed by such powerful influence hanging over him.
24:38
Speaker 1: But when they had come to talk it over, mister
24:40
Speaker 1: Lennox had acknowledged that there might be some chance of
24:42
Speaker 1: his acquittal if he could but prove his statements by
24:45
Speaker 1: credible witnesses. That in such case it might be worth
24:48
Speaker 1: while to stand his trial. Otherwise it would be a
24:51
Speaker 1: great risk. He would examine, he would take every pains.
24:56
Speaker 1: It struck me, said Frederick, that your introduction, little sister
25:00
Speaker 1: of mine, went a long way, is it? So? He
25:03
Speaker 1: made many inquiries. I can assure you he seemed a sharp,
25:07
Speaker 1: intelligent fellow, and in good practice too, to judge from
25:11
Speaker 1: the signs of business and the number of clerks about him.
25:14
Speaker 1: But these may be only lawyer's dodges. I've just caught
25:17
Speaker 1: a packet on the point of sailing. I am off
25:19
Speaker 1: in five minutes. I may have to come back to
25:22
Speaker 1: England again about this business, so keep my visit secret.
25:26
Speaker 1: I shall send my father some rare old sherry, such
25:28
Speaker 1: as you cannot buy in England, such stuff as I've
25:31
Speaker 1: got in the bottle before me. He needs something of
25:34
Speaker 1: the kind. My dear love to him, God bless him.
25:38
Speaker 1: I'm sure here's my cab p s What an escape
25:42
Speaker 1: that was. Take care you don't breathe of my Having
25:45
Speaker 1: been not even to the shawls, Margaret turned to the envelope.
25:50
Speaker 1: It was marked too late. The letter had probably been
25:54
Speaker 1: trusted to some careless waiter who had forgotten to post it. Oh,
25:59
Speaker 1: what slight cobweb of chances stand between us and temptation.
26:03
Speaker 1: Frederick had been safe and out of England twenty nay
26:07
Speaker 1: thirty hours ago, and it was only about seventeen hours
26:10
Speaker 1: since she had told the falsehood to baffle pursuit, which
26:14
Speaker 1: even then would have been in vain. How faithless she
26:17
Speaker 1: had been. Where now was her proud motto face aquidois
26:22
Speaker 1: at vienne cuaporra, if she had but dared to bravely
26:26
Speaker 1: tell the truth as regarded herself, defying them to find
26:29
Speaker 1: out what she refused to tell concerning another, How light
26:32
Speaker 1: of heart she would now have felt, not humbled before God,
26:36
Speaker 1: as having failed in trust towards him, not degraded and
26:40
Speaker 1: abased in mister Thornton's sight. She caught herself up at
26:44
Speaker 1: this with a miserable tremor. Here was she classing his
26:47
Speaker 1: low opinion of her alongside with the displeasure of God?
26:51
Speaker 1: How was it that he haunted her imagination so persistently?
26:55
Speaker 1: What could it be? Why did she care for what
26:58
Speaker 1: he thought? In spite of all her pride and in
27:01
Speaker 1: spite of herself she believed that she could have borne
27:05
Speaker 1: the sense of almighty displeasure because he knew all and
27:08
Speaker 1: could read her penitence and hear her cries for help
27:11
Speaker 1: in time to come. But mister Thornton, why did she
27:16
Speaker 1: tremble and hide her face in the pillow? What strong
27:19
Speaker 1: feeling had overtaken her? At last she sprang out of
27:23
Speaker 1: bed and prayed long and earnestly. It soothed and comforted
27:28
Speaker 1: her so to open her heart. But as soon as
27:31
Speaker 1: she reviewed her position, she found the sting was still there,
27:34
Speaker 1: that she was not good enough nor pure enough to
27:37
Speaker 1: be indifferent to the lowered opinion of a fellow creature,
27:41
Speaker 1: that the thought of how he must be looking upon
27:43
Speaker 1: her with contempt stood between her and her sense of
27:46
Speaker 1: wrong doing. She took her letter in to her father
27:49
Speaker 1: as soon as she was dressed. There was so slight
27:52
Speaker 1: an allusion to their alarm at the railroad station that
27:55
Speaker 1: mister Hale passed over it without paying any attention to it. Indeed,
27:59
Speaker 1: beyond and the mere fact of Frederick having sailed undiscovered
28:02
Speaker 1: and unsuspected, he did not gather much from the letter
28:05
Speaker 1: at the time. He was so uneasy about Margaret's pallid looks.
28:10
Speaker 1: She seemed continually on the point of weeping. You are
28:14
Speaker 1: sadly overdone, margaret. It is no wonder, but you must
28:18
Speaker 1: let me nurse you now. He made her lie down
28:22
Speaker 1: on the sofa and went for a shawl to cover
28:24
Speaker 1: her with. His tenderness released her tears, and she cried bitterly.
28:30
Speaker 1: Poor child, poor child, said he looking fondly at her,
28:35
Speaker 1: as she lay with her face to the wall, shaking
28:37
Speaker 1: with her sobs. After a while they ceased, and she
28:41
Speaker 1: began to wonder whether she durst give herself the relief
28:44
Speaker 1: of telling her father all her trouble. But there were
28:48
Speaker 1: more reasons against it than for it. The only one
28:51
Speaker 1: for it was the relief to herself, and against it
28:54
Speaker 1: was the thought that it would add materially to her
28:56
Speaker 1: father's nervousness if it were indeed necessary Frederick to come
29:00
Speaker 1: to England again, that he would dwell on the circumstance
29:03
Speaker 1: of his son having caused the death of a man,
29:06
Speaker 1: however unwittingly and unwillingly, that this knowledge would perpetually recur
29:11
Speaker 1: to trouble him in various shapes of exaggeration and distortion
29:14
Speaker 1: from the simple truth, and about her own great fault.
29:18
Speaker 1: He would be distressed beyond measure at her want of
29:21
Speaker 1: courage and faith, yet perpetually troubled to make excuses for her.
29:26
Speaker 1: Formerly Margaret would have come to him as a priest
29:29
Speaker 1: as well as father, to tell him of her temptation
29:32
Speaker 1: and her sin. But latterly they had not spoken much
29:35
Speaker 1: on such subjects, and she knew not how in his
29:39
Speaker 1: change of opinions he would reply. If the depth of
29:42
Speaker 1: her soul called unto his No, she would keep her
29:47
Speaker 1: secret and bear the burden alone. Alone. She would go
29:50
Speaker 1: before God and cry for his absolution alone. She would
29:55
Speaker 1: endure her disgraced position. In the opinion of mister Thornton,
29:59
Speaker 1: she was unspeakable touched by the tender efforts of her
30:02
Speaker 1: father to think of cheerful subjects on which to talk,
30:05
Speaker 1: and so to take her thoughts away from dwelling on
30:07
Speaker 1: all that had happened of late. It was some months
30:10
Speaker 1: since he had been so talkative as he was this day.
30:14
Speaker 1: He would not let her sit up, and offended Dixon
30:17
Speaker 1: desperately by insisting on waiting upon her himself. At last,
30:21
Speaker 1: she smiled, a poor, weak, little smile, but it gave
30:25
Speaker 1: him the truest pleasure. It seems strange to think that
30:30
Speaker 1: what gives us most hope for the future should be
30:32
Speaker 1: called Dolores, said Margaret. The remark was more in character
30:36
Speaker 1: with her father than with her usual self, but to
30:39
Speaker 1: day they seemed to have changed natures. Her mother was
30:43
Speaker 1: a Spaniard. I believe that accounts for her religion. Her
30:47
Speaker 1: father was a stiff Presbyterian when I knew him. But
30:50
Speaker 1: it is a very soft and pretty name. How young
30:54
Speaker 1: she is, younger by fourteen months than I am, just
30:58
Speaker 1: the age that Edith was when she was engaged to
31:00
Speaker 1: Captain Lennox. Papa, we will go and see them in Spain.
31:06
Speaker 1: He shook his head, but he said, if you wish it, Margaret,
31:11
Speaker 1: only let us come back here. It would seem unfair,
31:15
Speaker 1: unkind to your mother, who always, i'm afraid, disliked Milton
31:20
Speaker 1: so much. If we left it now, she is lying
31:23
Speaker 1: here and cannot go with us. No, dear, you shall
31:29
Speaker 1: go and see them and bring me back a report
31:31
Speaker 1: of my Spanish daughter. No, Papa, I won't go without you.
31:37
Speaker 1: Who is to take care of you when I am gone?
31:40
Speaker 1: I should like to know which of us is taking
31:42
Speaker 1: care of the other. But if you went, I should
31:45
Speaker 1: persuade mister Thornton to let me give him double lessons
31:49
Speaker 1: we would work up the classics famously. That would be
31:52
Speaker 1: a perpetual interest. You might go on and see Edith
31:55
Speaker 1: at Corfu if you liked. Margaret did not speak all
32:00
Speaker 1: at once. Then she said, rather gravely, thank you, Papa,
32:05
Speaker 1: but I don't want to go. We will hope that
32:08
Speaker 1: mister Lennox will manage so well that Frederick may bring
32:11
Speaker 1: Dolores to see us when they are married. And as
32:14
Speaker 1: for Edith, the regiment won't remain much longer in Corfu.
32:18
Speaker 1: Perhaps we shall see both of them here before another
32:20
Speaker 1: year is out. Mister Hale's cheerful subjects had come to
32:25
Speaker 1: an end. Some painful recollection had stolen across his mind
32:29
Speaker 1: and driven him into silence. By and by, Margaret said, Papa,
32:35
Speaker 1: did you see Nicholas Higgins at the funeral? He was there,
32:39
Speaker 1: and Mary too, Poor fellow. It was his way of
32:43
Speaker 1: showing sympathy. He has a good, warm heart under his
32:46
Speaker 1: bluff abrupt ways. I am sure of it, replied mister Hale.
32:52
Speaker 1: I saw it all along, even while you tried to
32:54
Speaker 1: persuade me that he was all sorts of bad things.
32:58
Speaker 1: We will go and see them tomorrow, if you are
33:01
Speaker 1: strong enough to walk so far. Oh, yes, I want
33:05
Speaker 1: to see them. We did not pay Mary, or rather,
33:09
Speaker 1: she refused to take it. Dixon says, we will go
33:12
Speaker 1: so as to catch him just after his dinner and
33:15
Speaker 1: before he goes to his work. Towards evening, mister Hale said,
33:20
Speaker 1: I half expected mister Thornton would have called. He spoke
33:23
Speaker 1: of a book yesterday which he had and which I
33:26
Speaker 1: wanted to see. He said he would try and bring
33:28
Speaker 1: it to day. Margaret sighed. She knew he would not come.
33:34
Speaker 1: He would be too delicate to run the chance of
33:36
Speaker 1: meeting her, while her shame must be so fresh in
33:39
Speaker 1: his memory. The very mention of his name renewed her
33:42
Speaker 1: trouble and produced a relapse into the feelings of depressed,
33:45
Speaker 1: preoccupied exhaustion. She gave way to listless languor. Suddenly it
33:50
Speaker 1: struck her that this was a strange manner to show
33:53
Speaker 1: her patience or to reward her father for his watchful
33:56
Speaker 1: care of her all through the day. She sat up
33:58
Speaker 1: and offered to read aloud. His eyes were failing, and
34:02
Speaker 1: he gladly accepted her proposal. She read well, She gave
34:06
Speaker 1: the due emphasis, but had any one asked her when
34:09
Speaker 1: she had ended the meaning of what she had been reading.
34:12
Speaker 1: She could not have told she was smitten with the
34:15
Speaker 1: feeling of ingratitude to mister Thornton, inasmuch as in the
34:19
Speaker 1: morning she had refused to accept the kindness he had
34:21
Speaker 1: shown her in making further inquiry from the medical men,
34:25
Speaker 1: so as to obviate any inquest being held. Oh, she
34:30
Speaker 1: was grateful. She had been cowardly and false, and had
34:34
Speaker 1: shown her cowardliness and falsehood in action that could not
34:37
Speaker 1: be recalled. But she was not ungrateful. It sent a
34:41
Speaker 1: glow to her heart to know how she could feel
34:43
Speaker 1: towards one who had reason to despise her. His cause
34:47
Speaker 1: for contempt was so just that she should have respected
34:50
Speaker 1: him less if she had thought he did not feel contempt.
34:54
Speaker 1: It was a pleasure to feel how thoroughly she respected him.
34:58
Speaker 1: He could not prevent her doing that. It was the
35:00
Speaker 1: one comfort in all this misery. Late in the evening,
35:05
Speaker 1: the expected book arrived with mister Thornton's kind regards and
35:09
Speaker 1: wishes to know how mister Hale is say that I
35:12
Speaker 1: am much better Dixon. But that miss Hale, no, Papa,
35:17
Speaker 1: said Margaret eagerly, don't say anything about me. He does
35:21
Speaker 1: not ask my dear child, how you are shivering, said
35:26
Speaker 1: her father, A few minutes afterwards. You must go to
35:30
Speaker 1: bed directly. You have turned quite pale. Margaret did not
35:34
Speaker 1: refuse to go, though she was loath to leave her
35:37
Speaker 1: father alone. She needed the relief of solitude after a
35:40
Speaker 1: day of busy thinking and busier repenting. But she seemed
35:44
Speaker 1: much as usual the next day. The lingering gravity and sadness,
35:48
Speaker 1: and the occasional absence of mind were not unnatural symptoms
35:52
Speaker 1: in the early days of grief, and almost in proportion
35:55
Speaker 1: to her re establishment in health was her father's relapse
35:58
Speaker 1: into his abstracted miss using upon the wife he had
36:01
Speaker 1: lost and the past era in his life that was
36:04
Speaker 1: closed to him forever. End of Chapter thirty five.