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040 - Out Of Tune · North and South

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  Speaker 1: Chapter forty of North and South. This is a LibriVox recording.
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  Speaker 1: All LibriVox recordings are in the public domain. For more
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  Speaker 1: information or to volunteer, please visit LibriVox dot org. Recording
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  Speaker 1: by Leanne Howlett. North and South by Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell,
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  Speaker 1: Chapter forty. Out of tune. I have no wrong where
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  Speaker 1: I can claim no right, not taken me from where
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  Speaker 1: I have nothing had yet of my woe, I cannot
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  Speaker 1: so be quite namely, since that another may be glad
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  Speaker 1: with that, that thus in sorrow makes me sad wyat
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  Speaker 1: Margaret had not expected much pleasure to herself from mister
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  Speaker 1: Bell's visit. She had only looked forward to it on
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  Speaker 1: her father's account. But when her godfather came, she at
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  Speaker 1: once felt into the most natural position of friendship in
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  Speaker 1: the world. He said she had no marriage in being
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  Speaker 1: what she was, a girl so entirely after his own heart.
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  Speaker 1: It was an hereditary power which she had to walk
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  Speaker 1: in and take possession of his regard. While she, in reply,
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  Speaker 1: gave him much credit for being so fresh and young
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  Speaker 1: under his fellow's cap and gown, fresh and young in
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  Speaker 1: warmth and kindness, I mean, I'm afraid I must own that.
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  Speaker 1: I think your opinions are the oldest and mustiest I
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  Speaker 1: have met with this long time here, this daughter of
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  Speaker 1: yours Hale. Her residence in Milton has quite corrupted her.
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  Speaker 1: She's a Democrat, a Red Republican, a member of the
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  Speaker 1: Peace Society, a socialist. Papa. It's all because I am
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  Speaker 1: standing up for the progress of commerce. Mister Bell would
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  Speaker 1: have had it keep still at exchanging wild beast skins
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  Speaker 1: for acorns. No, no, I'd dig the ground and grow potatoes,
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  Speaker 1: and I'd shave the wild beasts skins and make the
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  Speaker 1: wool into broadcloth. Don't exaggerate, missy, but I'm tired of
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  Speaker 1: this bustle, everybody rushing over everybody in their hurry to
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  Speaker 1: get rich. It is not every one who can sit
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  Speaker 1: comfortably in a set of college rooms and let his
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  Speaker 1: riches grow without any exertion of his own. No doubt,
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  Speaker 1: there is many a man here who would be thankful
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  Speaker 1: if his property would increase as yours has done, without
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  Speaker 1: his taking any trouble about it, said mister Hale. I
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  Speaker 1: don't believe they would. It's the bustle and the struggle
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  Speaker 1: they like. As for sitting still and learning from the
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  Speaker 1: past or shaping out the future by faithful work than
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  Speaker 1: in a prophetic spirit. Why pooh, I don't believe there's
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  Speaker 1: a man in Milton who knows how to sit still,
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  Speaker 1: and it is a great art. Milton people, I suspect
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  Speaker 1: think Oxford men don't know how to move. It would
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  Speaker 1: be a very good thing if they mixed a little more.
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  Speaker 1: It might be good for the miltoners. Many things might
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  Speaker 1: be good for them, which would be very disagreeable for
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  Speaker 1: other people. Are you not a Milton man yourself? Asked Margaret.
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  Speaker 1: I should have thought you would have been proud of
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  Speaker 1: your town. I confess I don't see what there is
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  Speaker 1: to be proud of. If you'll only come to Oxford, Margaret,
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  Speaker 1: I will show you a place to glory in well,
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  Speaker 1: said mister Hale. Mister Thornton is coming to drink tea
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  Speaker 1: with us to night, and he is as proud of
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  Speaker 1: Milton as you of Oxford. You two must try and
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  Speaker 1: make each other a little more liberal minded. I don't
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  Speaker 1: want to be more liberal minded, thank you, said mister Bell.
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  Speaker 1: Is mister Thornton coming to tea, Papa, asked Margaret in
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  Speaker 1: a low voice. Either to tea or soon after he
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  Speaker 1: could not tell, he told us not to wait. Mister
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  Speaker 1: Thornton had determined that he would make no inquiry of
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  Speaker 1: his mother as to how far she had put her
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  Speaker 1: project into execution, of speaking to Margaret about the impropriety
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  Speaker 1: of her conduct. He felt pretty sure that if this
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  Speaker 1: interview took place, his mother's account of what passed at
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  Speaker 1: it would only annoy and chagrin him, though he would
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  Speaker 1: all the time be aware of the coloring which it
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  Speaker 1: received by passing through her mind. He shrank from hearing
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  Speaker 1: Margaret's very name mentioned he while he blamed her, while
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  Speaker 1: he was jealous of her, while he renounced her, he
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  Speaker 1: loved her sorely in spite of himself. He dreamt of her.
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  Speaker 1: He dreamt she came dancing towards him with outspread arms,
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  Speaker 1: and with a lightness and gayety, which made him loathe
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  Speaker 1: her even while it allured him. But the impression of
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  Speaker 1: this figure of Margaret, with all Margaret's character taken out
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  Speaker 1: of it, as completely as if some evil spirit had
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  Speaker 1: got possession of her form, was so deeply stamped upon
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  Speaker 1: his imagination that when he wakened, he felt hardly able
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  Speaker 1: to separate the una from the Duessa, and the dislike
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  Speaker 1: he had to the latter seemed to envelop and disfigure
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  Speaker 1: the former, Yet he was too proud to acknowledge his weakness.
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  Speaker 1: By avoiding the sight of her, he would neither seek
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  Speaker 1: an opportunity of being in her company nor avoid it.
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  Speaker 1: To convince himself of his power of self control, he
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  Speaker 1: lingered over every piece of business this afternoon. He forced
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  Speaker 1: every movement into unnatural slowness and deliberation, and it was
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  Speaker 1: consequently past eight o'clock before he reached mister Hale's. Then
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  Speaker 1: there were business arrangements to be transacted in the study
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  Speaker 1: with mister Bell, and the latter kept on sitting over
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  Speaker 1: the fire and talking wearily, long after all business was transacted,
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  Speaker 1: and when they might just as well have gone upstairs,
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  Speaker 1: but mister Thornton would not say a word about moving
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  Speaker 1: their quarters. He chafed and chafed, and thought mister Bell
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  Speaker 1: a most prosy companion, while mister Bell returned the compliment
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  Speaker 1: in secret by considering mister Thornton about as Bruskin and
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  Speaker 1: curt a fellow as he had ever met with, and
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  Speaker 1: terribly gone off both in intelligence and manner. At last,
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  Speaker 1: some slight noise in the room above suggested the desirableness
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  Speaker 1: of moving there. They found Margaret with a letter open
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  Speaker 1: before her, eagerly discussing its contents with her father. On
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  Speaker 1: the entrance of the gentleman. It was immediately put aside,
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  Speaker 1: but mister Thornton's eager senses caught some few words of
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  Speaker 1: mister Hale's to mister Bell, a letter from Henry Lennox.
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  Speaker 1: It makes Margaret very hopeful, mister Bell nodded. Margaret was
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  Speaker 1: read as a rose when mister Thornton looked at her.
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  Speaker 1: He had the greatest mind in the world to get
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  Speaker 1: up and go out of the room that very instant,
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  Speaker 1: and never set foot in the house again. We were thinking,
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  Speaker 1: said mister Hale, that you and mister Thornton had taken
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  Speaker 1: Margaret's advice and were each trying to convert the other.
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  Speaker 1: You were so long in the study, and you thought
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  Speaker 1: there would be nothing left of us but an opinion
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  Speaker 1: like the Kilkenny cat's tail pray. Whose opinion did you
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  Speaker 1: think would have the most obstinate vitality? Mister Thornton had
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  Speaker 1: not a notion what the were talking about, and disdain
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  Speaker 1: to inquire mister Hale politely enlightened him. Mister Thornton, we
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  Speaker 1: were accusing mister Bell this morning of a kind of
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  Speaker 1: Oxonian medieval bigotry against his native town. And we, Margaret,
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  Speaker 1: I believe, suggested that it would do him good to
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  Speaker 1: associate a little with Milton manufacturers. I beg your pardon. Margaret,
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  Speaker 1: thought it would do the Milton manufacturer's good to associate
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  Speaker 1: a little more with Oxford men. Now, wasn't it so, Margaret,
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  Speaker 1: I believe, I thought it would do both good to
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  Speaker 1: see a little more of the other. I did not
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  Speaker 1: know it was my idea any more than Papa's. And
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  Speaker 1: so you see, mister Thornton, we ought to have been
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  Speaker 1: improving each other downstairs, instead of talking over vanished families
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  Speaker 1: of Smith's and Harrison's. However, I am willing to do
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  Speaker 1: my part. Now. I wonder when you, Milton men, intend
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  Speaker 1: to live. All your lives seemed to be spent in
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  Speaker 1: gathering together the materials for life. By living, I suppose
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  Speaker 1: you mean enjoyment, Yes, enjoyment. I don't specify of what,
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  Speaker 1: because I trust we should both consider mere pleasure as
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  Speaker 1: very poor enjoyment. I would rather have the nature of
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  Speaker 1: the enjoyment defined well, enjoyment of leisure, enjoyment of the
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  Speaker 1: power and influence which money gives. You are all striving
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  Speaker 1: for money. What do you want it for? Mister Thornton
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  Speaker 1: was silent. Then he said, I really don't know, but
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  Speaker 1: money is not what I strive for. What then, it
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  Speaker 1: is a home question. I shall have to lay myself
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  Speaker 1: open to such a catechist, and I am not sure
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  Speaker 1: that I am prepared to do it. No, said mister Hale.
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  Speaker 1: Don't let us be personal in our catechism. You are
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  Speaker 1: neither of you representative men. You are each of you
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  Speaker 1: too individual for that. I am not sure whether to
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  Speaker 1: consider that as a compliment or not. I should like
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  Speaker 1: to be the representative of Oxford, with its beauty and
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  Speaker 1: its learning and its proud old history. What do you say,
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  Speaker 1: Margaret ought I to be flattered. I don't know Oxford,
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  Speaker 1: but there is a difference between being the representative of
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  Speaker 1: a city and the representative man of its inhabitants. Very true,
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  Speaker 1: miss Margaret. Now I remember you were against me this
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  Speaker 1: morning and were quite Miltonian and manufacturing in your preferences.
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  Speaker 1: Margaret saw the quick glance of surprise that mister Thornton
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  Speaker 1: gave her, and she was annoyed at the construction which
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  Speaker 1: he might put on this speech of mister Bell's. Mister
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  Speaker 1: Bell went on, Ah, I wish I could show you
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  Speaker 1: our High Street, our Radcliffe Square. I am leaving out
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  Speaker 1: our colleges, just as I give mister Thornton leave to
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  Speaker 1: omit his factories. In speaking of the charms of Milton,
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  Speaker 1: I have a right to abuse my birthplace. Remember I
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  Speaker 1: am a Milton man. Mister Thornton was annoyed more than
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  Speaker 1: he ought to have been at all that mister Bell
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  Speaker 1: was saying. He was not in a mood for joking.
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  Speaker 1: At another time he could have enjoyed mister Bell's half
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  Speaker 1: testy condemnation of a town where the life was so
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  Speaker 1: at variance with every habit he had formed. But now
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  Speaker 1: he was galled enough to attempt to defend what was
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  Speaker 1: never meant to be seriously attacked. I don't set up
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  Speaker 1: Milton as a model of a town not in architecture,
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  Speaker 1: slyly asked mister Bell. No, we've been too busy to
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  Speaker 1: attend to mere outward appearances. Don't say mere outward appearances,
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  Speaker 1: said mister Hale gently. They impress us all from childhood
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  Speaker 1: upward every day of our life. Wait a little while,
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  Speaker 1: said mister Thornton. Remember we are of a different race
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  Speaker 1: from the Greeks, to whom beauty was everything, and to
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  Speaker 1: whom mister Bell might speak of a life of leisure
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  Speaker 1: and serene enjoyment, much of which entered in through their
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  Speaker 1: outward senses. I don't mean to despise them any more
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  Speaker 1: than I would ape them. But I belong to Teutonic blood.
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  Speaker 1: It is little mingled in this part of England to
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  Speaker 1: what it is in others. We retain much of their language,
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  Speaker 1: we retain more of their spirit. We do not look
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  Speaker 1: upon life as a time for enjoyment, but as a
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  Speaker 1: time for action and exertion. Our glory and our beauty
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  Speaker 1: arise out of our inward strength, which makes us victorious
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  Speaker 1: over material resistance and over greater difficulties. Still we are
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  Speaker 1: Teutonic up here in Darkshire. In another way, we hate
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  Speaker 1: to have laws made for us at a distance. We
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  Speaker 1: wish people would allow us to right ourselves instead of
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  Speaker 1: continually meddling with their imperfect legislation. We stand up for
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  Speaker 1: self government and oppose centralization. In short, you would like
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  Speaker 1: the heptarchy back again. Well, at any rate, I revoke
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  Speaker 1: what I said this morning that you, Milton people, did
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  Speaker 1: not reverence the past. You are regular worshippers of thor.
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  Speaker 1: If we do not reverence the past as you do
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  Speaker 1: in Oxford, it is because we want something which can
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  Speaker 1: apply to the present more directly. It is fine when
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  Speaker 1: the study of the past leads to a prophecy of
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  Speaker 1: the future, but to men groping in new circumstances. It
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  Speaker 1: would be finer if the words of experience could direct
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  Speaker 1: us how to act in what concerns us most intimately
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  Speaker 1: and immediately, which is full of difficulties. It must be encountered,
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  Speaker 1: and upon the mode in which they are met and conquered,
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  Speaker 1: not merely pushed aside for the time depends our future.
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  Speaker 1: Out of the wisdom of the past help us over
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  Speaker 1: the present. But no people can speak of utopia much
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  Speaker 1: more easily than of the next day's duty. And yet
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  Speaker 1: when that duty is all done by others who so
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  Speaker 1: ready to cry, fie for shame. And all this time
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  Speaker 1: I don't see what you are talking about. Would you,
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  Speaker 1: Milton men, condescend to send up your to day's difficulty
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  Speaker 1: to Oxford. You have not tried us. Yet mister Thornton
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  Speaker 1: laughed outright at this. I believe I was talking with
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  Speaker 1: reference to a good deal that has been troubling us
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  Speaker 1: of late. I was thinking of the strikes we have
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  Speaker 1: gone through, which are troublesome and injurious things enough, as
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  Speaker 1: I am finding to my cost. And yet this last
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  Speaker 1: strike under which I am smarting, has been respectable. A
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  Speaker 1: respectable strike, said mister Bell. That sounds as if you
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  Speaker 1: were far gone in the worship of thor Margaret felt,
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  Speaker 1: rather than saw that mister Thornton was chagrined by the
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  Speaker 1: repeated turning into jest of what he was feeling as
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  Speaker 1: very serious. She tried to change the conversation from a
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  Speaker 1: subject about which one party cared little, while to the
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  Speaker 1: other it was deeply because personally interesting. She forced herself
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  Speaker 1: to say something. Edith says, she finds the printed calicoes
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  Speaker 1: in Corfu better and cheaper than in London? Does She
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  Speaker 1: said her father, I think that must be one of
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  Speaker 1: Edith's exaggerations. Are you sure of it? Mark? I am sure,
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  Speaker 1: she says so, Papa that I am sure of the fact,
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  Speaker 1: said mister Bell. Margaret, I go so far in my
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  Speaker 1: idea of your truthfulness, that it shall cover your cousin's character.
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  Speaker 1: I don't believe a cousin of yours could exaggerate. Is
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  Speaker 1: miss Hale so remarkable for truth? Said mister Thornton bitterly.
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  Speaker 1: The moment he had done so, he could have bitten
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  Speaker 1: his tongue out. What was he and why should he
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  Speaker 1: stab her with her shame in this way? How evil
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  Speaker 1: he was to night, possessed by ill humor at being
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  Speaker 1: detained so long from her, Irritated by the mention of
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  Speaker 1: some name because he thought it belonged to a more
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  Speaker 1: successful lover, Now ill tempered, because he had been unable
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  Speaker 1: to cope with a light heart against one who was trying,
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  Speaker 1: by gay and careless speeches, to make the evening pass
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  Speaker 1: pleasantly away, the kind old friend to all parties, whose
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  Speaker 1: manner by this time might be well known to mister Thornton,
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  Speaker 1: who had been acquainted with him for many years. And
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  Speaker 1: then to speak to Margaret as he had done. She
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  Speaker 1: did not get up and leave the room, as she
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  Speaker 1: had done in former days when his abruptness or his
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  Speaker 1: temper had annoyed her. She sat quite still. After the
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  Speaker 1: first momentary glance of grieved surprise that made her eyes
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  Speaker 1: look like some child's who was met with an unexpected rebuff.
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  Speaker 1: They slowly dilated into mournful, reproachful sadness, and then they fell,
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  Speaker 1: and she bent over her work and did not speak again.
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  Speaker 1: But he could not help looking at her, and he
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  Speaker 1: saw a sigh tremble over her body, as if she
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  Speaker 1: quivered in some unwonted chill. He felt as the mother
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  Speaker 1: would have done in the midst of her rocking it
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  Speaker 1: and rating it, had she been called away before her slow,
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  Speaker 1: confiding smile, implying perfect trust in mother's love, had proved
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  Speaker 1: the renewing of its love. He gave short, sharp answers.
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  Speaker 1: He was uneasy and cross, unable to discern between jest
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  Speaker 1: and earnest, anxious only for a look a word of hers,
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  Speaker 1: before which to prostrate himself in penitent humility. But she
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  Speaker 1: neither looked nor spoke. Her round taper fingers flew in
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  Speaker 1: and out of her sewing, as steadily and swiftly, as
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  Speaker 1: if that were the business of her life. She could
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  Speaker 1: not care for him, he thought, or else the passionate
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  Speaker 1: fervor of his wish would have forced her to raise
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  Speaker 1: those eyes if but for an instant to read the
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  Speaker 1: late repentance in his He could have struck her before
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  Speaker 1: he left, and ordered that by some strange, overt act
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  Speaker 1: of rudeness he might earn the privilege of telling her
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  Speaker 1: the remorse that nod at his heart. It was well
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  Speaker 1: that the long walk in the open air wound up
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  Speaker 1: this evening for him. It sobered him back into grave
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  Speaker 1: resolution that henceforth he would see as little of her
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  Speaker 1: as possible, since the very sight of that face, arid form,
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  Speaker 1: the very sounds of that voice, like the soft winds
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  Speaker 1: of pure melody, had such power to move him from
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  Speaker 1: his balance. Well, he had known what love was, a
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  Speaker 1: sharp pang, a fierce experience, in the midst of whose
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  Speaker 1: flames he was struggling. But through that furnace he would
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  Speaker 1: fight his way out into the serenity of middle age,
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  Speaker 1: all the richer and more human for having known this
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  Speaker 1: great passion. When he had somewhat abruptly left the room,
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  Speaker 1: Margaret rose from her seat and began silently to fold
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  Speaker 1: up her work. The long seams were heavy and had
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  Speaker 1: an unusual weight for her languid arms. The round lines
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  Speaker 1: in her face took a lengthen straighter form, and her
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  Speaker 1: whole appearance was that of one who had gone through
• 17:30
  Speaker 1: a day of great fatigue. As the three prepared for bed,
• 17:35
  Speaker 1: mister Bell muttered forth a little condemnation of mister Thornton.
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  Speaker 1: I never saw a fellow so spoiled by success. He
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  Speaker 1: can't bear a word a jest of any kind. Everything
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  Speaker 1: seems to touch on the soreness of his high dignity.
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  Speaker 1: Formerly he was as simple and noble as the open day.
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  Speaker 1: You could not offend him because he had no vanity.
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  Speaker 1: He is not vain now, said Margaret, turning round from
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  Speaker 1: the table and speaking with quiet distinctness to night. He
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  Speaker 1: has not been like himself. Something must have annoyed him
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  Speaker 1: before he came here. Mister Bell gave her one of
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  Speaker 1: his sharp glances from above his spectacles. She stood it
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  Speaker 1: quite calmly. But after she had left the room, he
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  Speaker 1: suddenly asked, Hale, did it ever strike you that Thornton
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  Speaker 1: and your daughter have what the French call attendress for
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  Speaker 1: each other? Never, said mister Hale, first startled and then
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  Speaker 1: flurried by the new idea. No, I am sure you
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  Speaker 1: are wrong. I am almost certain you are mistaken. If
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  Speaker 1: there is anything it is all on mister Thornton's side,
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  Speaker 1: poor fellow. I hope and trust he is not thinking
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  Speaker 1: of her, for I am sure she would not have him. Well,
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  Speaker 1: I'm a bachelor and have steered clear of love affairs
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  Speaker 1: all my life, so perhaps my opinion is not worth having,
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  Speaker 1: or else I should say there were very pretty symptoms
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  Speaker 1: about her. Then I am sure you are wrong, said
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  Speaker 1: mister Hale. He may care for her, though she really
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  Speaker 1: has been almost rude to him at times, but she
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  Speaker 1: why Margaret would never think of him. I'm sure such
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  Speaker 1: a thing has never entered her head. Entering her heart
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  Speaker 1: would do. But I merely threw out a suggestion of
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  Speaker 1: what might be. I dare say I was wrong, and
• 19:21
  Speaker 1: whether I was wrong or right, I'm very sleepy, So
• 19:24
  Speaker 1: having disturbed your night's rest, as I can see with
• 19:26
  Speaker 1: my untimely fancies, I'll betake myself with an easy mind
• 19:30
  Speaker 1: to my own. But mister Hale resolved that he would
• 19:34
  Speaker 1: not be disturbed by any such nonsensical idea, so he
• 19:38
  Speaker 1: lay awake, determining not to think about it. Mister Bell
• 19:43
  Speaker 1: took his leave the next day, bidding Margaret look to
• 19:45
  Speaker 1: him as one who had a right to help and
• 19:47
  Speaker 1: protect her in all her troubles, of whatever nature they
• 19:50
  Speaker 1: might be. To mister Hale, he said that Margaret of
• 19:55
  Speaker 1: yours has gone deep into my heart. Take care of her,
• 19:58
  Speaker 1: for she is a very pressure creature, a great deal
• 20:01
  Speaker 1: too good for Milton, only fit for Oxford, in fact,
• 20:05
  Speaker 1: the town, I mean, not the men. I can't match her, yet,
• 20:09
  Speaker 1: when I can, I shall bring my young man to
• 20:12
  Speaker 1: stand side by side with your young woman, just as
• 20:15
  Speaker 1: the Genie and the Arabian Nights brought Prince Kramazan to
• 20:19
  Speaker 1: match with the Fairy's Princess Badoura. I'll beg you'll do
• 20:23
  Speaker 1: no such thing, remember the misfortunes that ensued. And besides,
• 20:28
  Speaker 1: I can't spare Margaret no. On second thoughts, we'll have
• 20:32
  Speaker 1: her to nurse us ten years hence, when we shall
• 20:34
  Speaker 1: be too cross old Invalids. Seriously, Hale, I wish you'd
• 20:38
  Speaker 1: leave Milton, which is a most unsuitable place for you,
• 20:41
  Speaker 1: though it was my recommendation in the first instance. If
• 20:45
  Speaker 1: you would, I'd swallow my shadows of doubts and take
• 20:47
  Speaker 1: a college living, and you and Margaret should come and
• 20:49
  Speaker 1: live at the parsonage. You to be a sort of
• 20:52
  Speaker 1: lay curate and take the unwashed off my hands, and
• 20:55
  Speaker 1: she to be our housekeeper the village lady bountiful by
• 20:58
  Speaker 1: day and read it to sleep in the evenings. I
• 21:01
  Speaker 1: could be very happy in such a life. What do
• 21:04
  Speaker 1: you think of it? Never said mister Hale. Decidedly, my
• 21:09
  Speaker 1: one great change has been made in my price of
• 21:12
  Speaker 1: suffering paid. Here I stay out my life, and here
• 21:15
  Speaker 1: will I be buried and lost in the crowd. I
• 21:19
  Speaker 1: don't give up my plan yet, only I won't bait
• 21:22
  Speaker 1: you with it any more. Just now, where's the pearl? Come, Margaret,
• 21:26
  Speaker 1: give me a farewell kiss, and remember, my dear, where
• 21:29
  Speaker 1: you may find a true friend as far as his
• 21:31
  Speaker 1: capability goes. You are my child, Margaret. Remember that, and
• 21:35
  Speaker 1: God bless you. So they fell back into the monotony
• 21:40
  Speaker 1: of the quiet life they would henceforth lead. There was
• 21:43
  Speaker 1: no invalid to hope and fear about, even the Higginses.
• 21:46
  Speaker 1: So long a vivid interest seemed to have receded from
• 21:48
  Speaker 1: any need of immediate thought. The Boucher children left motherless.
• 21:53
  Speaker 1: Orphans claimed what of Margaret's care she could bestow, and
• 21:56
  Speaker 1: she went pretty often to see Mary Higgins, who had
• 21:59
  Speaker 1: charge of them. The two families were living in one house.
• 22:03
  Speaker 1: The elder children were at humble schools, the younger ones
• 22:07
  Speaker 1: were tended in Mary's absence at her work by the
• 22:09
  Speaker 1: kind neighbor whose good sense had struck Margaret at the
• 22:12
  Speaker 1: time of Boucher's death. Of course, she was paid for
• 22:16
  Speaker 1: her trouble, and indeed, in all his little plans and
• 22:18
  Speaker 1: arrangements for these orphaned children, Nicholas showed a sober judgment
• 22:22
  Speaker 1: and regulated method of thinking, which were at variance with
• 22:26
  Speaker 1: his former, more eccentric jerks of action. He was so
• 22:29
  Speaker 1: steady at his work that Margaret did not often see
• 22:32
  Speaker 1: him during these winter months. But when she did, she
• 22:35
  Speaker 1: saw that he winced away from any reference to the
• 22:37
  Speaker 1: father of those children whom he had so fully and
• 22:40
  Speaker 1: heartily taken under his care. He did not speak easily
• 22:44
  Speaker 1: of mister Thornton, to tell the truth, said he. He
• 22:50
  Speaker 1: fairly bamboozles me. He's two chaps. One chap I knowed
• 22:54
  Speaker 1: of old as were Master all over t'other chap hasn't
• 22:58
  Speaker 1: an ounce of Master's flesh about how them two chaps
• 23:02
  Speaker 1: is bound up in one body. Is a craddy for
• 23:04
  Speaker 1: me to find out. I'll not be beat by it,
• 23:07
  Speaker 1: though meanwhile he comes here pretty often. That's how I
• 23:10
  Speaker 1: know the chap. That's a man, not a master. And
• 23:13
  Speaker 1: I reckon he's taken aback by me pretty much as
• 23:16
  Speaker 1: I am by him. For he sits and listens and
• 23:19
  Speaker 1: stares as if I were some strange beast newly caught
• 23:21
  Speaker 1: in some of the zones. But I'm none daunted. It
• 23:25
  Speaker 1: would take a deal to daunt me in my own house,
• 23:27
  Speaker 1: as he sees. And I tell him some of my
• 23:30
  Speaker 1: mind that I reckon he'd have been the better of
• 23:32
  Speaker 1: hearing when he were a younger man. And does he
• 23:36
  Speaker 1: not answer, you, asked mister Hale. Well, I'll not say.
• 23:41
  Speaker 1: The advantage is all on his side, for all I
• 23:43
  Speaker 1: take credit for improving him above a bit. Sometimes he
• 23:46
  Speaker 1: says a rough thing or two which is not agreeable
• 23:49
  Speaker 1: to look at it first, but has a queer smack
• 23:52
  Speaker 1: of truth in it when you come to chew it.
• 23:54
  Speaker 1: He'll be coming to night. I reckon about them children's schooling.
• 23:57
  Speaker 1: He's not satisfied with the make of it, And were
• 24:00
  Speaker 1: to examine them, what are they? Began mister Hale. But Margaret,
• 24:06
  Speaker 1: touching his arm, showed him her watch. It is nearly seven,
• 24:11
  Speaker 1: she said, the evenings are getting longer. Now come Papa.
• 24:16
  Speaker 1: She did not breathe freely till they were some distance
• 24:18
  Speaker 1: from the house. Then, as she became more calm, she
• 24:22
  Speaker 1: wished that she had not been in so great a hurry.
• 24:24
  Speaker 1: For Somehow they saw mister Thornton, but very seldom now,
• 24:28
  Speaker 1: and he might have come to see Higgins, And for
• 24:30
  Speaker 1: the old friendship's sake, she should like to have seen
• 24:32
  Speaker 1: him to night. Yes, he came very seldom, even for
• 24:37
  Speaker 1: the dull, cold purpose of lessons. Mister Hale was disappointed
• 24:41
  Speaker 1: in his pupil's lukewarmness about Greek literature, which had but
• 24:44
  Speaker 1: a short time ago so great an interest for him.
• 24:47
  Speaker 1: And now it often happened that a hurried note from
• 24:49
  Speaker 1: mister Thornton would arrive just at the last moment, saying
• 24:52
  Speaker 1: that he was so much engaged that he could not
• 24:54
  Speaker 1: come to read with mister Hale that evening. And though
• 24:57
  Speaker 1: other pupils had taken more than his place to time,
• 25:01
  Speaker 1: no one was like his first scholar. In mister Hale's heart.
• 25:04
  Speaker 1: He was depressed and sad at this partial cessation of
• 25:07
  Speaker 1: an intercourse which had become dear to him. And he
• 25:10
  Speaker 1: used to sit pondering over the reason that could have
• 25:12
  Speaker 1: occasioned this change. He startled Margaret one evening as she
• 25:17
  Speaker 1: sat at her work by suddenly asking, Margaret, had you
• 25:21
  Speaker 1: ever any reason for thinking that mister Thornton cared for you?
• 25:26
  Speaker 1: He almost blushed as he put this question, but mister
• 25:29
  Speaker 1: Bell's scouted idea recurred to him, and the words were
• 25:32
  Speaker 1: out of his mouth before he well knew what he
• 25:34
  Speaker 1: was about. Margaret did not answer immediately, but by the
• 25:39
  Speaker 1: bent drooping of her head, he guessed what her reply
• 25:42
  Speaker 1: would be. Yes, I believe, oh, Papa, I should have
• 25:47
  Speaker 1: told you, And she dropped her work and hid her
• 25:50
  Speaker 1: face in her hands. No, dear, don't think that I
• 25:54
  Speaker 1: am impertinently curious. I am sure you would have told
• 25:57
  Speaker 1: me if you had felt that you could return his regard.
• 26:00
  Speaker 1: Did he speak to you about it? No answer at first,
• 26:04
  Speaker 1: but by and by a little gentle, reluctant yes, and
• 26:09
  Speaker 1: you refused him a long sigh, a more helpless, nerveless attitude,
• 26:14
  Speaker 1: and another yes. But before her father could speak, Margaret
• 26:19
  Speaker 1: lifted up her face rosy with some beautiful shame, and
• 26:23
  Speaker 1: fixing her eyes upon him, said, now, Papa, I have
• 26:27
  Speaker 1: told you this, and I cannot tell you more. And
• 26:30
  Speaker 1: then the whole thing is so painful to me. Every
• 26:33
  Speaker 1: word and action connected with it is so unspeakably bitter
• 26:36
  Speaker 1: that I cannot bear to think of it. Oh, Papa,
• 26:39
  Speaker 1: I am sorry to have lost you this friend, but
• 26:41
  Speaker 1: I could not help it. But oh, I am very sorry.
• 26:45
  Speaker 1: She sat down on the ground and laid her head
• 26:47
  Speaker 1: on his knees. I too, am sorry, my dear mister
• 26:51
  Speaker 1: Bell quite startled me when he said some idea of
• 26:54
  Speaker 1: the kind, mister Bell. Oh did mister Bell see it
• 27:00
  Speaker 1: a little? But he took it into his head that you,
• 27:03
  Speaker 1: how shall I say it, that you were not ungraciously
• 27:06
  Speaker 1: disposed towards mister Thornton. I knew that could never be.
• 27:10
  Speaker 1: I hoped the whole thing was but an imagination, but
• 27:12
  Speaker 1: I knew too well what your real feelings were to
• 27:15
  Speaker 1: suppose that you could ever like mister Thornton in that way.
• 27:18
  Speaker 1: But I am very sorry. They were very quiet and
• 27:22
  Speaker 1: still for some minutes, but on stroking her cheek in
• 27:24
  Speaker 1: a caressing way. Soon after, he was almost shocked to
• 27:27
  Speaker 1: find her face wet with tears. As he touched her.
• 27:31
  Speaker 1: She sprang up and smiling with forced brightness, began to
• 27:34
  Speaker 1: talk of the Lennoxes with such a vehement desire to
• 27:37
  Speaker 1: turn the conversation that mister Hale was too tender hearted
• 27:40
  Speaker 1: to try to force it back into the old channel. Tomorrow, Yes,
• 27:45
  Speaker 1: tomorrow they will be back in Harley Street. Oh how
• 27:48
  Speaker 1: strange it will be. I wonder what room they will
• 27:50
  Speaker 1: make into the nursery. Aunt Shaw will be happy with
• 27:53
  Speaker 1: the baby, fancy Edith a mamma. And Captain Lennox. I
• 27:58
  Speaker 1: wonder what he will do with himself now he has
• 28:00
  Speaker 1: sold out. I'll tell you what said her father, anxious
• 28:04
  Speaker 1: to indulge her in this fresh subject of interest. I
• 28:07
  Speaker 1: think I must spare you for a fortnight, just to
• 28:10
  Speaker 1: run up to town and see the travelers. You could
• 28:12
  Speaker 1: learn more by half an hour's conversation with mister Henry
• 28:16
  Speaker 1: Lennox about Frederick's chances than in a dozen of these
• 28:19
  Speaker 1: letters of his. So it would in fact be uniting
• 28:22
  Speaker 1: business with pleasure. No, Papa, you cannot spare me, and
• 28:27
  Speaker 1: what's more, I won't be spared. Then, after a pause,
• 28:31
  Speaker 1: she added, I am losing hope sadly about Frederick. He
• 28:35
  Speaker 1: is letting us down gently, But I can see that
• 28:38
  Speaker 1: mister Lennox himself has no hope of hunting up the
• 28:40
  Speaker 1: witnesses under years and years of time. No, said she
• 28:45
  Speaker 1: that Bubble was very pretty and very dear to our hearts.
• 28:49
  Speaker 1: But at has burst like many another. And we must
• 28:51
  Speaker 1: console ourselves with being glad that Frederick is so happy,
• 28:54
  Speaker 1: and with being a great deal to each other. So
• 28:57
  Speaker 1: don't offend me by talking of being able to spare me, Papa,
• 29:00
  Speaker 1: for I assure you you can't. But the idea of
• 29:04
  Speaker 1: a change took root and germinated in Margaret's heart, although
• 29:08
  Speaker 1: not in the way in which her father proposed it.
• 29:10
  Speaker 1: At first, she began to consider how desirable something of
• 29:14
  Speaker 1: the kind would be to her father, whose spirits, always feeble,
• 29:18
  Speaker 1: now became too frequently depressed, and whose health, though he
• 29:21
  Speaker 1: never complained, had been seriously affected by his wife's illness
• 29:25
  Speaker 1: and death. There were the regular hours of reading with
• 29:29
  Speaker 1: his pupils, but that all giving and no receiving, could
• 29:32
  Speaker 1: no longer be called companionship as in the old days.
• 29:35
  Speaker 1: When mister Thornton came to study under him, Margaret was
• 29:38
  Speaker 1: conscious of the want under which he was suffering. Unknown
• 29:41
  Speaker 1: to himself, the want of a man's intercourse with men.
• 29:45
  Speaker 1: At Helstone, there had been perpetual occasions for an interchange
• 29:49
  Speaker 1: of visits with neighboring clergymen. And the poor laborers in
• 29:52
  Speaker 1: the fields, or leisurely tramping home at eve, or tending
• 29:55
  Speaker 1: their cattle in the forest, were always at liberty to
• 29:58
  Speaker 1: speak or to be spoken to. But in Milton every
• 30:01
  Speaker 1: one was too busy for quiet speech or any ripened
• 30:04
  Speaker 1: intercourse of thought. What they said was about business, very
• 30:08
  Speaker 1: present and actual, and when the tension of mind relating
• 30:11
  Speaker 1: to their daily affairs was over, they sunk into a
• 30:14
  Speaker 1: fallow rest until next morning. The workman was not to
• 30:18
  Speaker 1: be found after the day's work was done. He had
• 30:21
  Speaker 1: gone away to some lecture, or some club, or some
• 30:24
  Speaker 1: beer shop. According to his degree of character, mister Hale
• 30:29
  Speaker 1: thought of trying to deliver a course of lectures at
• 30:31
  Speaker 1: some of the institutions. But he contemplated doing this so
• 30:35
  Speaker 1: much as an effort of duty, and was so little
• 30:37
  Speaker 1: of the genial impulse of love towards his work and
• 30:40
  Speaker 1: its end, that Margaret was sure that it would not
• 30:43
  Speaker 1: be well done until he could look upon it with
• 30:45
  Speaker 1: some kind of zest. End of Chapter forty recording by
• 30:51
  Speaker 1: Leanne Howlett S