Latest / Wives and Daughters / 060 - Molly Gibson at Hamley Hall
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- 0:01Speaker 1: Chapter fifty nine of Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell.
- 0:05Speaker 1: This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Chapter fifty nine.
- 0:10Speaker 1: Mollie Gibson at Hamley Hall. The conversation ended there for
- 0:16Speaker 1: the time. Wedding cake and wine were brought in, and
- 0:19Speaker 1: it was Molly's duty to serve them out. But those
- 0:23Speaker 1: last words of Missus Goodenough's tingled in her ears, and
- 0:26Speaker 1: she tried to interpret them to her own satisfaction in
- 0:30Speaker 1: any way, but the obvious one, and that too was
- 0:33Speaker 1: destined to be confirmed for directly after Missus Goodenough took
- 0:37Speaker 1: her leave, Missus Gibson desired Molly to carry away the
- 0:41Speaker 1: tray to a table close to an open corner window,
- 0:45Speaker 1: where the things might be placed in readiness for any
- 0:48Speaker 1: future callers. And underneath this open window went the path
- 0:52Speaker 1: from the house door to the road. Molly heard Missus
- 0:55Speaker 1: Goodenough saying to her granddaughter that.
- 0:59Speaker 2: Missus Gibson's deepen there is mister Roger Emiley as like
- 1:03Speaker 2: as not to have the whole estate, and she sends
- 1:06Speaker 2: Molly a visiting, and.
- 1:08Speaker 1: Then she passed out of hearing. Mollie could have burst
- 1:12Speaker 1: out crying with a full sudden conviction of what Missus
- 1:16Speaker 1: Goodenough had been alluding to her sense of the impropriety
- 1:20Speaker 1: of Molly's going to visit at the Hall when Roger
- 1:23Speaker 1: was at home. To be sure, Missus Goodenough was a commonplace,
- 1:27Speaker 1: unrefined woman, Missus Gibson did not seem to have even
- 1:31Speaker 1: noticed the illusion. Mister Gibson took it all as a
- 1:35Speaker 1: matter of course that Mollie should go to the Hall
- 1:38Speaker 1: as simply now as she had done before. Roger had
- 1:42Speaker 1: spoken of it in so straightforward a manner as showed
- 1:45Speaker 1: he had no conception of its being in impropriety. This visit,
- 1:50Speaker 1: this visit until now so happy a subject of anticipation.
- 1:55Speaker 1: Mollie felt as if she could never speak to any
- 1:57Speaker 1: one of the idea to which Missus Goodenoff's words had
- 2:00Speaker 1: given rise, as if she could never be the first
- 2:03Speaker 1: to suggest the notion of impropriety which presupposed what she
- 2:08Speaker 1: blushed to think of. Then she tried to comfort herself
- 2:12Speaker 1: by reasoning, if.
- 2:13Speaker 3: It had been wrong, forward or indelicate, really improper in
- 2:17Speaker 3: the slightest agree who would have been so ready as
- 2:20Speaker 3: her father to put his veto upon it.
- 2:23Speaker 1: But reasoning was of no use. After Missus Goodenough's words
- 2:26Speaker 1: had put fancies into Molly's head. The more she bade
- 2:30Speaker 1: these fancies be gone, the more they answered her, as
- 2:34Speaker 1: Daniel O'Rourke did the man in the moon when he
- 2:36Speaker 1: bade Dan get off his seat on the sigal and
- 2:39Speaker 1: go into empty space. The more you ask us, the
- 2:42Speaker 1: more we won't stir. One may smile at a young
- 2:46Speaker 1: girl's miseries of this kind, but they are very real
- 2:49Speaker 1: and stinging miseries to her. All that Molly could do
- 2:54Speaker 1: was to resolve, on.
- 2:57Speaker 3: A single eye to the deare old Squire and his
- 2:59Speaker 3: mentor and bodily comforts, to try and heal up any
- 3:02Speaker 3: breeches which might have occurred between him and Amy, and
- 3:05Speaker 3: to ignore Roger as much as possible. Good Roger, Kind Roger,
- 3:12Speaker 3: Dear Roger. It would be very hard to avoid him
- 3:15Speaker 3: as much as was consistent with the common politeness, but
- 3:18Speaker 3: it would be right to do it. And when she
- 3:20Speaker 3: was with him, she must be as natural as possible,
- 3:23Speaker 3: or he might observe some difference. But what was natural?
- 3:27Speaker 3: How much or she avoid being with him? Would he
- 3:29Speaker 3: even notice? If she was more chary with her company,
- 3:32Speaker 3: more calculating of her words, alas.
- 3:36Speaker 1: The simplicity of their intercourse was spoilt. Henceforwards she made
- 3:40Speaker 1: laws for herself. She resolved to devote herself to the
- 3:44Speaker 1: Squire and to Amy, and to forget missus Goodenough's foolish speeches.
- 3:49Speaker 1: But her perfect freedom was gone, and with it half
- 3:53Speaker 1: her chance, that is to say, half her chance would
- 3:56Speaker 1: have been lost. Over any strangers who had not known
- 3:59Speaker 1: her before, they would probably have thought her stiff and awkward,
- 4:04Speaker 1: and apt to say things and then retract them. But
- 4:07Speaker 1: she was so different from her usual self that Roger
- 4:11Speaker 1: noticed the change in her as soon as she arrived
- 4:13Speaker 1: at the hall. She had carefully measured out the days
- 4:16Speaker 1: of her visit. They were to be exactly the same
- 4:19Speaker 1: number as she had spent at the towers. She feared
- 4:23Speaker 1: lest if she stayed at the hall a shorter time,
- 4:25Speaker 1: the Squire might be annoyed. Yet how charming the place
- 4:29Speaker 1: looked in its early autumnal glow. As she drove up,
- 4:33Speaker 1: and there was Roger at the hall door waiting to
- 4:36Speaker 1: receive her, watching for her coming. And now he retreated,
- 4:40Speaker 1: apparently to summon his sister in law, who came now
- 4:43Speaker 1: timidly forwards in her deep widow's mourning, holding her boy
- 4:47Speaker 1: in her arms as if to protect her shyness, but
- 4:50Speaker 1: he struggled down and ran toward the carriage, eager to
- 4:54Speaker 1: greet his friend, the coachman, and to obtain a promised ride.
- 4:58Speaker 1: Roger did not say much himself. He wanted to make
- 5:01Speaker 1: Amy feel her place as daughter of the house, but
- 5:04Speaker 1: she was too timid to speak much, and she only
- 5:07Speaker 1: took Molly by the hand and led her into the
- 5:10Speaker 1: drawing room, where as, if by a sudden impulse of
- 5:13Speaker 1: gratitude for all the tender nursing she had received during
- 5:17Speaker 1: her illness, she put her arms around Molly and kissed
- 5:20Speaker 1: her long and well, and after that they came to
- 5:24Speaker 1: be friends. It was nearly lunch time, and the Squire
- 5:28Speaker 1: always made his appearance at that meal, more for the
- 5:31Speaker 1: pleasure of seeing his grandson eat his dinner than for
- 5:34Speaker 1: any hunger of his own. To day, Mollie quickly saw
- 5:38Speaker 1: the whole state of the family affairs. She thought that
- 5:41Speaker 1: even had Roger said nothing about them at the towers,
- 5:44Speaker 1: she should have seen that neither the father nor the
- 5:47Speaker 1: daughter in law had as yet found the clue to
- 5:50Speaker 1: each other's characters, although they had now been living for
- 5:53Speaker 1: several months in the same house. Amy seemed to forget
- 5:57Speaker 1: her English in her nervousness, and to with the jealous
- 6:01Speaker 1: eyes of a dissatisfied mother all the proceedings of the
- 6:04Speaker 1: Squire towards her little boy. They were not of the
- 6:07Speaker 1: wisest kind, it must be owned. The child sipped the
- 6:11Speaker 1: strong ale with evident relish, and clamored for everything which
- 6:15Speaker 1: he saw the others enjoying. Amy could hardly attend to
- 6:18Speaker 1: Molly for her anxiety as to what her boy was
- 6:21Speaker 1: doing and eating. Yet she said nothing. Roger took the
- 6:26Speaker 1: end of the table opposite to that at which sat
- 6:29Speaker 1: grandfather and grandchild. After the boy's first wants were gratified,
- 6:33Speaker 1: the Squire addressed himself to Molly.
- 6:36Speaker 4: Well, and so you can come here visiting, though you
- 6:40Speaker 4: have been among the grand de folks. I thought you
- 6:43Speaker 4: were going to cut us, Miss Molly, when I heard
- 6:46Speaker 4: you was gone to the towels. Couldn't find any other
- 6:50Speaker 4: place to stay at while father and mother were away,
- 6:53Speaker 4: but an Earl's eh.
- 6:56Speaker 3: They asked me, and I went, said Mollie. Now you've
- 7:00Speaker 3: asked me and I've come home.
- 7:02Speaker 4: I think you might have known you to be always
- 7:05Speaker 4: welcome here, without waiting for asking why, Molly, I look
- 7:10Speaker 4: upon you as a kind of daughter more than Madam.
- 7:14Speaker 1: There, dropping his voice a little and perhaps supposing that
- 7:18Speaker 1: the child's babble would drown the signification of his words.
- 7:23Speaker 4: Nay, you needn't to look at me so pitifully. She
- 7:27Speaker 4: doesn't follow English readily.
- 7:30Speaker 1: I think she does, said Molly in a low voice,
- 7:34Speaker 1: not looking up, however, for fear of catching another glimpse
- 7:38Speaker 1: at Amy's sudden forlornness of expression and deepened color. She
- 7:42Speaker 1: felt grateful, as if for a personal favor, when she
- 7:45Speaker 1: heard Roger speaking to Amy the moment afterwards, in the
- 7:48Speaker 1: tender tones of brotherly friendliness. And presently these two were
- 7:53Speaker 1: sufficiently engaged in a separate conversation to allow Molly and
- 7:57Speaker 1: the Squire to go on talking. He's a sturdy chap,
- 8:02Speaker 1: isn't he, said the squire, stroking the little Roger's curly head.
- 8:07Speaker 1: And he can puff four puffs at Grandpapa's pipe without
- 8:11Speaker 1: being sick, can't he.
- 8:14Speaker 4: I shan't puff any more.
- 8:15Speaker 1: Puffs, said the boy resolutely.
- 8:19Speaker 4: Mamma says no, I shan't.
- 8:21Speaker 1: That's just like her, said the squire, dropping his voice
- 8:26Speaker 1: this time, however, as.
- 8:28Speaker 4: If it's good to do the child any harm.
- 8:32Speaker 1: Molly made a point of turning the conversation from all
- 8:35Speaker 1: personal subjects after this, and kept the Squire talking about
- 8:39Speaker 1: the progress of his drainage during the rest of lunch.
- 8:42Speaker 1: He offered to take her to see it, and she
- 8:44Speaker 1: acceded to the proposal, thinking meantime how little she need
- 8:49Speaker 1: have anticipated the being thrown too intimately with Roger, who
- 8:53Speaker 1: seemed to devote himself to his sister in law. But
- 8:57Speaker 1: in the evening, when Amy had gone up Stick to
- 9:00Speaker 1: put her boy to bed and the Squire was asleep
- 9:03Speaker 1: in his easy chair, a sudden flush of memory brought
- 9:06Speaker 1: missus Goodenough's words again to her mind. She was virtually
- 9:10Speaker 1: tete a tete with Roger, as she had been dozens
- 9:13Speaker 1: of times before, but now she could not help, assuming
- 9:16Speaker 1: an air of constraint. Her eyes did not meet his
- 9:20Speaker 1: in the old frank way. She took up a book
- 9:23Speaker 1: at a pause in the conversation and left him puzzled
- 9:26Speaker 1: and annoyed at the change in her manner. And so
- 9:29Speaker 1: it went on during all the time of her visit.
- 9:32Speaker 1: If sometimes she forgot and let herself go into all
- 9:35Speaker 1: her old naturalness. By and by she checked herself and
- 9:39Speaker 1: became comparatively cold and reserved. Roger was pained at all this,
- 9:45Speaker 1: more pained day after day, more anxious to discover the cause. Amy, too,
- 9:51Speaker 1: silently noticed how different Molly became in Roger's presence. One day,
- 9:56Speaker 1: she could not help saying to Molly.
- 9:58Speaker 2: Don't you like Roger? You would if you only knew
- 10:02Speaker 2: how good he is. He is learned, but that is nothing.
- 10:07Speaker 2: It is his goodness that one admires and loves.
- 10:12Speaker 3: He is very good, said Molly. I have known him
- 10:16Speaker 3: long enough to know that.
- 10:18Speaker 2: But you don't think him agreeable. He is not like
- 10:23Speaker 2: my poor husband, to be sure. And you knew him
- 10:26Speaker 2: well too, Ah, tell me about him once again when
- 10:31Speaker 2: you first knew him when his mother was alive.
- 10:35Speaker 1: Molly had grown very fond of Emmy when the latter
- 10:38Speaker 1: was at her ease. She had very charming and attaching ways.
- 10:42Speaker 1: But feeling uneasy in her position in the squire's house,
- 10:46Speaker 1: she was almost repellent to him, and he too, put
- 10:49Speaker 1: on his worst side to her. Roger was most anxious
- 10:53Speaker 1: to bring them together, and had several consultations with Molly
- 10:57Speaker 1: as to the best means of accomplishing this end. As
- 11:00Speaker 1: long as they talked upon this subject, she spoke to
- 11:03Speaker 1: him in the quiet, sensible manner which she inherited from
- 11:06Speaker 1: her father. But when their discussions on this point were ended,
- 11:10Speaker 1: she fell back into her piquant assumption of dignified reserve.
- 11:15Speaker 1: It was very difficult for her to maintain this strange manner,
- 11:19Speaker 1: especially when once or twice she fancied that it gave
- 11:22Speaker 1: him pain, and she would go into her own room
- 11:25Speaker 1: and suddenly burst into tears on these occasions, and wished
- 11:28Speaker 1: that her visit was ended, and that she was once
- 11:31Speaker 1: again in the eventless tranquility of her own home. Yet
- 11:35Speaker 1: presently her fancy changed, and she clung to the swiftly
- 11:39Speaker 1: passing hours as if she would still retain the happiness
- 11:42Speaker 1: of each For unknown to her, Roger was exerting himself
- 11:47Speaker 1: to make her visit pleasant. He was not willing to
- 11:50Speaker 1: appear as the instigator of all the little plans for
- 11:53Speaker 1: each day, for he felt as if somehow he did
- 11:56Speaker 1: not hold the same place in her regard as formerly. Still,
- 12:01Speaker 1: one day Amy suggested a nutting expedition. Another day they
- 12:05Speaker 1: gave little Roger the unheard of pleasure, of tea out
- 12:09Speaker 1: of doors. There was something else agreeable for a third,
- 12:13Speaker 1: And it was Roger who arranged all these simple pleasures,
- 12:16Speaker 1: such as he knew Molly would enjoy. But to her
- 12:19Speaker 1: he only appeared as the ready forwarder of Amy's devices.
- 12:24Speaker 1: The week was nearly gone when one morning the Squire
- 12:28Speaker 1: found Roger sitting in the old library with a book
- 12:31Speaker 1: before him. It is true, but so deep in thought
- 12:34Speaker 1: that he was evidently startled by his father's unexpected entrance.
- 12:39Speaker 4: I thought I should find THEE here, my lad. We'll
- 12:43Speaker 4: have the old room done up again before winter. It
- 12:47Speaker 4: smells musty enough, and yet I see it's the place
- 12:51Speaker 4: for thee. I wanteth thee to go with me round
- 12:55Speaker 4: the five acre. I'm thinking of laying it down in grass.
- 12:59Speaker 4: It's time for you to be getting into the fresh air.
- 13:03Speaker 4: You look quite woe be gone over books, books, books.
- 13:07Speaker 4: There never was a thing like em for stealing a
- 13:10Speaker 4: man's health out of him.
- 13:12Speaker 1: So Roger went out with his father, without saying many
- 13:16Speaker 1: words till they were at some distance from the house.
- 13:19Speaker 1: Then he brought out a sentence with such abruptness that
- 13:23Speaker 1: he repaid his father for the start The latter had
- 13:25Speaker 1: given him a quarter of an hour before.
- 13:28Speaker 4: Father.
- 13:29Speaker 5: You remember I'm going out again to the Cape next month.
- 13:32Speaker 5: You spoke of doing up the library. If it is
- 13:35Speaker 5: for me, I shall be away all winter.
- 13:38Speaker 4: Can't you get off it?
- 13:41Speaker 1: Pleaded his father.
- 13:43Speaker 4: I thought it. Maybe you've forgotten all about it.
- 13:46Speaker 1: Not likely, said Roger, half smiling.
- 13:50Speaker 4: Well, but they might have found another man to finish
- 13:54Speaker 4: up your work.
- 13:55Speaker 5: No one can finish it but myself. Besides, an engagement
- 13:59Speaker 5: is an engagement. When I wrote to Lord Hollingford to
- 14:03Speaker 5: tell him I must come home, I promised to go
- 14:06Speaker 5: out again for another six months.
- 14:08Speaker 4: I I know, and perhaps it will put it out
- 14:12Speaker 4: of thy mind. It will always be hard on me
- 14:16Speaker 4: to part from thee, but I dare say it's best
- 14:21Speaker 4: for you.
- 14:22Speaker 1: Roger's color deepened.
- 14:24Speaker 5: You are alluding to miss Kirkpactick, missus Henderson, I mean, father,
- 14:31Speaker 5: let me tell you once for all, I think that
- 14:34Speaker 5: was rather a hasty affair. I'm pretty sure now that
- 14:38Speaker 5: we were not suited to each other. I was wretched
- 14:41Speaker 5: when I got her letter at the Cape. I mean,
- 14:45Speaker 5: but I believe it was for the best.
- 14:48Speaker 4: That's right, that's my own boy.
- 14:52Speaker 1: Said the Squire turning round and shaking hands with his
- 14:56Speaker 1: son with vehemence.
- 14:58Speaker 4: And now I'll tell you what I heard the other
- 15:00Speaker 4: day when I was at the magistrate's meeting. They were
- 15:03Speaker 4: all saying she had jilted Preston.
- 15:07Speaker 5: I don't want to hear anything against her. She may
- 15:11Speaker 5: have her faults, but I can never forget how I
- 15:14Speaker 5: once loved her.
- 15:16Speaker 4: Well, well, perhaps it's right I was not so bad
- 15:20Speaker 4: about it was I Roger. Poor Osborne need not have
- 15:25Speaker 4: been so secret with me. I asked your miss Cynthia
- 15:29Speaker 4: out here and her mother, and all my bark is
- 15:33Speaker 4: worse than my bite. For if I had a wish
- 15:36Speaker 4: on earth, it was to see Osborne married as befitted
- 15:40Speaker 4: one of an old stock. And he went and chose
- 15:44Speaker 4: out this French girl, of no family at all, only a.
- 15:50Speaker 5: Never mind what she was, look at what she is.
- 15:55Speaker 5: I wonder you are not more taken with her humility
- 15:58Speaker 5: and sweetness.
- 15:59Speaker 4: Father, I don't even call her.
- 16:02Speaker 1: Pretty, said the squire uneasily, for he dreaded a repetition
- 16:07Speaker 1: of the arguments which Roger had often used to make
- 16:10Speaker 1: him give Amy her proper due of affection and position.
- 16:15Speaker 4: Now, your miss Cynthia was pretty. I will say that
- 16:19Speaker 4: for her the baggage, and to think that when you
- 16:23Speaker 4: two lads flew right in your father's face and picked
- 16:27Speaker 4: out girls below you in rank and family, you should
- 16:31Speaker 4: neither of you have set your fancies on my little
- 16:34Speaker 4: Molly there, I dare say I should have been angry
- 16:38Speaker 4: enough at the time, but the lassie would have found
- 16:42Speaker 4: her way to my heart, as never this French lady
- 16:46Speaker 4: nor the other one could have done.
- 16:49Speaker 1: Roger did not answer.
- 16:51Speaker 4: I don't see why you mightn't put up for her. Still,
- 16:56Speaker 4: I'm humble enough now, and you're not heir as Osborne was,
- 17:01Speaker 4: who married a servant maid. Don't you think you could
- 17:05Speaker 4: turn your thoughts upon Molly Gibson Roger.
- 17:09Speaker 1: No, said Roger shortly.
- 17:13Speaker 5: It's too late, too late. Don't let us talk any
- 17:17Speaker 5: more of my marrying. Isn't this the five acre field?
- 17:22Speaker 1: And soon he was discussing the relative values of meadow,
- 17:26Speaker 1: arable and pasture land with his father, as heartily as
- 17:30Speaker 1: if he had never known Molly or loved Cynthia. But
- 17:34Speaker 1: the Squire was not in such good spirits and went
- 17:37Speaker 1: but heavily into the discussion. At the end of it,
- 17:40Speaker 1: he said Apropos de bot.
- 17:43Speaker 4: But don't you think you could like her if you tried?
- 17:47Speaker 1: Roger Roger knew perfectly well to what his father was alluding,
- 17:52Speaker 1: but for an instant he was on the point of
- 17:54Speaker 1: pretending to misunderstand. At length, however, he said in a
- 17:59Speaker 1: low voice.
- 18:00Speaker 5: I shall never try, father. Don't let us talk any
- 18:04Speaker 5: more about it. As I said before, it's too late.
- 18:09Speaker 1: The Squire was like a child to whom some toy
- 18:12Speaker 1: has been refused from time to time. The thought of
- 18:15Speaker 1: his disappointment in this matter recurred to his mind, and
- 18:19Speaker 1: then he took to blaming Cynthia as the primary cause
- 18:22Speaker 1: of Roger's present indifference to womankind. It so happened that
- 18:27Speaker 1: on Molly's last morning at the hall, she received her
- 18:30Speaker 1: first letter from Cynthia, missus Henderson. It was just before
- 18:34Speaker 1: breakfast time. Roger was out of doors, Amy had not
- 18:38Speaker 1: as yet come down. Molly was alone in the dining room,
- 18:42Speaker 1: where the table was already laid. She had just finished
- 18:45Speaker 1: reading her letter when the Squire came in, and she
- 18:48Speaker 1: immediately and joyfully told him what the morning had brought
- 18:52Speaker 1: to her. But when she saw the Squire's face, she
- 18:55Speaker 1: could have bitten her tongue out for having named Cynthia's
- 18:58Speaker 1: name to him. He looked vexed and depressed.
- 19:02Speaker 4: I wish I might never hear of her again. I do.
- 19:07Speaker 4: She's been the bane of my Roger, that's what she has.
- 19:11Speaker 4: I haven't slept half the night, and it's all her fault.
- 19:15Speaker 4: Why there's my boy saying now that he has no
- 19:19Speaker 4: heart for ever marrying poor lad. I wish it had
- 19:24Speaker 4: been you, Molly. My lads had taken a fancy for
- 19:28Speaker 4: I told Roger so t' other day, and I said
- 19:31Speaker 4: that for all you were beneath what I ever thought
- 19:36Speaker 4: to see them married. Well it's no use. It's too
- 19:42Speaker 4: late now, as he said, Only never let me hear
- 19:46Speaker 4: that baggage's name again. That's all. And no offense to
- 19:52Speaker 4: you either, Lassie. I know you love the wench, but
- 19:57Speaker 4: if you'll take an old man's word, you're worth a
- 20:00Speaker 4: score love her. I wish young men would think.
- 20:03Speaker 1: So too, he muttered, as he went to the side
- 20:06Speaker 1: table to carve the ham while Molly poured out the tea,
- 20:10Speaker 1: her heart very hot all the time and effectually silenced
- 20:14Speaker 1: for a space. It was with the greatest difficulty that
- 20:17Speaker 1: she could keep tears of mortification from falling. She felt
- 20:21Speaker 1: altogether in a wrong position in that house, which had
- 20:25Speaker 1: been like a home to her until this last visit.
- 20:28Speaker 1: What with missus Goodenough's remarks, and now this speech of
- 20:32Speaker 1: the Squire's implying, at least to her susceptible imagination, that
- 20:36Speaker 1: his father had proposed her as a wife to Roger
- 20:39Speaker 1: and that she had been rejected. She was more glad
- 20:42Speaker 1: than she could express or even think, that she was
- 20:46Speaker 1: going home this very morning. Roger came in from his
- 20:50Speaker 1: walk while she was in this state of feeling. He
- 20:53Speaker 1: saw in an instant that something had distressed Molly, and
- 20:56Speaker 1: he longed to have the old friendly right of as
- 20:59Speaker 1: asking her what it was. But she had effectually kept
- 21:03Speaker 1: him at too great a distance during the last few
- 21:05Speaker 1: days for him to feel at liberty to speak to
- 21:08Speaker 1: her in the old, straightforward brotherly way, especially now when
- 21:13Speaker 1: he perceived her efforts to conceal her feelings, and the
- 21:16Speaker 1: way in which she drank her tea in feverish haste
- 21:19Speaker 1: and accepted bread only to crumble it about her plate untouched.
- 21:24Speaker 1: It was all that he could do to make talk
- 21:26Speaker 1: under these circumstances, but he backed up her efforts as
- 21:29Speaker 1: well as he could, until Amy came down, grave and anxious.
- 21:34Speaker 2: Her boy had not had a good night and did
- 21:37Speaker 2: not seem well. He had fallen into a feverish sleep.
- 21:41Speaker 2: Now or she could not have left him immediately.
- 21:45Speaker 1: The whole table was in a ferment. The Squire pushed
- 21:48Speaker 1: away his plate and could eat no more. Roger was
- 21:51Speaker 1: trying to extract a detail or a fact out of Amy,
- 21:55Speaker 1: who began to give way to tears. Molly quickly proposed, but.
- 21:59Speaker 3: The carriage, which had been ordered to take her home
- 22:01Speaker 3: at eleven, should come round immediately. She had everything ready
- 22:05Speaker 3: packed up, she said, and bring back father at once.
- 22:08Speaker 3: By leaving directly, she said, it was probable they might
- 22:11Speaker 3: catch him after he had returned from his morning visits
- 22:14Speaker 3: in the town, and before he had set off on
- 22:16Speaker 3: his more distant round.
- 22:17Speaker 1: Her proposal was agreed to, and she went upstairs to
- 22:21Speaker 1: put on her things. She came down all ready into
- 22:24Speaker 1: the drawing room, expecting to find Amy and the squire there,
- 22:28Speaker 1: But during her absence word had been brought to the
- 22:30Speaker 1: anxious mother and grandfather that the child had wakened up
- 22:34Speaker 1: in a panic, and both had rushed up to their darling,
- 22:37Speaker 1: but Roger was in the drawing room awaiting Molly with
- 22:41Speaker 1: a large bunch of the choicest flowers. Look, Molly, said he,
- 22:47Speaker 1: as she was on the point of leaving the room
- 22:49Speaker 1: again on finding him there alone.
- 22:52Speaker 5: I gathered these flowers for you before breakfast.
- 22:55Speaker 1: He came to meet her reluctant advance.
- 22:58Speaker 3: Thank you, she you are very kind. I am very
- 23:03Speaker 3: much obliged to you.
- 23:05Speaker 5: Then you must do something for me, said.
- 23:08Speaker 1: He, determined not to notice the restraint of her manner,
- 23:11Speaker 1: and making the rearrangement of the flowers, which she held
- 23:15Speaker 1: a sort of link between them, so that she could
- 23:17Speaker 1: not follow her impulse and leave the room.
- 23:20Speaker 5: Tell me honestly, as I know you will if you
- 23:24Speaker 5: speak at all. Haven't I done something to vex you?
- 23:28Speaker 5: Since we were so happy at the towers together.
- 23:31Speaker 1: His voice was so kind and true, his manner so
- 23:35Speaker 1: winning yet wistful, that Molly would have been thankful to
- 23:39Speaker 1: tell him all.
- 23:40Speaker 3: She believed that he could have helped him more than anyone,
- 23:43Speaker 3: to understand how she ought to behave rightly. He would
- 23:46Speaker 3: have disentangled her fancies if only he himself had not
- 23:50Speaker 3: lain at the very core and center of all her
- 23:52Speaker 3: perplexity and dismay. How could she tell him of missus
- 23:56Speaker 3: Goodenough's words troubling her maiden modesty. How could she ever
- 24:00Speaker 3: repeat what his father had said that morning and assure
- 24:02Speaker 3: him that she no more than he wished that their
- 24:05Speaker 3: old friendliness should be troubled by the thought of a
- 24:08Speaker 3: nearer relationship. No, you never vexed me in my whole life,
- 24:13Speaker 3: Roger said, she looking straight at him for the first
- 24:17Speaker 3: time for many days.
- 24:19Speaker 5: I believe you. Because you say so, I have no
- 24:23Speaker 5: right to ask further. Molly, will you give me back
- 24:27Speaker 5: one of those flowers as a pledge of what you
- 24:29Speaker 5: have said?
- 24:30Speaker 3: Take whichever you.
- 24:31Speaker 1: Like, said she, eagerly, offering him the whole nosegay to
- 24:36Speaker 1: choose from.
- 24:37Speaker 5: No, you must choose, and you must give it me.
- 24:41Speaker 1: Just then the squire came in. Roger would have been
- 24:44Speaker 1: glad if Molly had not gone on so eagerly to
- 24:47Speaker 1: ransack the bunch for the choicest flower in his father's presence.
- 24:52Speaker 3: But she exclaimed, Oh, please, mister Hamley, do you know
- 24:56Speaker 3: which is Roger's favorite flower?
- 24:59Speaker 4: No? A rose, I dare say. The carriage is at
- 25:06Speaker 4: the door, and Molly, my dear I don't want to
- 25:09Speaker 4: hurry you, but I know here.
- 25:13Speaker 3: Roger, here is a rose, and red as a rose
- 25:17Speaker 3: was she. I will find Papa as soon as ever
- 25:20Speaker 3: I get home. How is the little boy.
- 25:23Speaker 4: I'm afraid he's beginning of some kind of fever.
- 25:28Speaker 1: And the Squire took her to the carriage, talking all
- 25:31Speaker 1: the way of the little boy, Roger following and hardly
- 25:35Speaker 1: heeding what he was doing. In the answer to the question,
- 25:38Speaker 1: he kept asking himself.
- 25:40Speaker 5: Too late or not? Can she ever forget that my
- 25:45Speaker 5: first foolish love was given to one so different.
- 25:49Speaker 1: Well, she, as the carriage rolled away, kept saying to herself.
- 25:54Speaker 3: We are friends again. I don't believe he will remember
- 25:57Speaker 3: the dead. Squire took it into his head to suggest
- 25:59Speaker 3: for me, may days, it is so pleasant to be
- 26:02Speaker 3: on all terms again, And what lovely flowers.
- 26:06Speaker 1: End of chapter fifty nine.