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038 - A Fluke and What Came Of It · Wives and Daughters

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Speaker 1: Chapter thirty seven of Wives and Daughters by Elizabeth Gaskell.
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Speaker 1: This LibriVox recording is in the public domain. Chapter thirty seven,
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Speaker 1: A fluke and what came of it? The honor and
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Speaker 1: glory of having a lover of her own was soon
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Speaker 1: to fall to Molly's share, though to be sure, it
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Speaker 1: was a little deduction from the honor that the man
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Speaker 1: who came with the full intention of proposing to her
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Speaker 1: ended by making Cynthia an offer. It was mister Coxe
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Speaker 1: who came back to Hollingford to follow out the purpose
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Speaker 1: he had announced to mister Gibson nearly two years before,
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Speaker 1: of inducing Molly to become his wife as soon as
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Speaker 1: he should have succeeded to his uncle's estate. He was
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Speaker 1: now a rich, though still a red haired young man.
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Speaker 1: He came to the George Inn, bringing his horses and
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Speaker 1: his groom, not that he was going to ride much,
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Speaker 1: but that he thought such outward signs of his riches
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Speaker 1: might help on his suit. And he was so justly
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Speaker 1: modest in his estimation of himself that he believed that
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Speaker 1: he needed all extraneous aid. He piqued himself on his constancy,
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Speaker 1: and indeed, considering that he had been so much restrained
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Speaker 1: by his duty, his affection, and his expectations to his
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Speaker 1: crabbed old uncle, that he had not been able to
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Speaker 1: go much into society, and very rarely indeed into the
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Speaker 1: company of young ladies. Such fidelity to Molly was very meritorious,
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Speaker 1: at least in his own eyes. Mister Gibson too was
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Speaker 1: touched by it, and made it a point of honor
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Speaker 1: to give him a fair field, all the time, sincerely
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Speaker 1: hoping that Molly would not be such a goose as
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Speaker 1: to lend a willing ear to a youth who could
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Speaker 1: never remember the difference between apophesis and epiphasis. He thought
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Speaker 1: it as well not to tell his wife more of
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Speaker 1: mister Coxe's antecedents than that he had been a former
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Speaker 1: pupil who had relinquished all that he knew of understood
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Speaker 1: the medical profession because an old uncle had left him
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Speaker 1: enough money to be idle. Missus Gibson, who felt that
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Speaker 1: she had somehow lost her place in her husband's favor,
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Speaker 1: took it into her head that she could reinstate herself
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Speaker 1: if she was successful in finding a good match for
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Speaker 1: his daughter Molly. She knew that her husband had forbidden
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Speaker 1: her to try for this end as distinctly as words
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Speaker 1: could express a meaning, but her own words so seldom
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Speaker 1: expressed her meaning, or if they did, she held to
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Speaker 1: her opinions so loosely that she had no idea, but
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Speaker 1: that it was the same with other people. Accordingly, she
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Speaker 1: gave mister Coxe a very sweet and gracious welcome.
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Speaker 2: It is such a pleasure to me to make acquaintance
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Speaker 2: with the former pupils of my husband. He has spoken
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Speaker 2: to me so often of you that I quite feel
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Speaker 2: as if you were one of the family. As indeed,
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Speaker 2: I am sure that mister Gibson considers you.
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Speaker 1: Mister Coxe felt much flattered and took the words as
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Speaker 1: a happy omen for his love affair. Is miss Gibson,
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Speaker 1: in asked he, blushing violently.
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Speaker 3: I knew her formerly, that is to say, I lived
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Speaker 3: in the same house with her for more than two years,
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Speaker 3: and it would be a great pleasure too too.
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Speaker 2: Certainly, I am sure she will be so glad to
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Speaker 2: see you, I said her in Cynthia. You don't know
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Speaker 2: my daughter, Cynthia, I think, mister Coxe, she and Molly
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Speaker 2: are such great friends. Out of a brisk walk, this
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Speaker 2: frosty day, But I think they will soon come back.
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Speaker 1: She went on, saying agreeable nothings to the young man,
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Speaker 1: who received her attentions with a certain complacency, but was
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Speaker 1: all the time much more engaged in listening to the
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Speaker 1: well remembered click at the front door, the shutting it
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Speaker 1: to again with household care, and the sound of the
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Speaker 1: familiar bounding footstep on the stair. At last they came.
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Speaker 1: Cynthia entered first, bright and blooming, fresh color in her
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Speaker 1: cheeks and lips, fresh brilliance in her eyes. She looked
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Speaker 1: startled at the sight of a stranger, and for an
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Speaker 1: instant she stopped short at the door, as if taken
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Speaker 1: by surprise. Then in came Molly softly behind her, smiling, happy, dimpled,
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Speaker 1: but not such a glowing beauty as Cynthia.
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Speaker 4: Oh, mister Cox, it's you.
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Speaker 1: Said she going up to him with an outstretched hand
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Speaker 1: and greeting him with simple friendliness.
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Speaker 3: Yes, it seemed such a long time since I saw you.
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Speaker 3: You are so much grown, so much well, I suppose
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Speaker 3: I mustn't say what.
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Speaker 1: He replied, speaking hurriedly and holding her hand all the time,
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Speaker 1: rather to her discomfiture. Then missus Gibson introduced her daughter,
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Speaker 1: and the two girls spoke of the enjoyment of their walk.
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Speaker 1: Mister Coxe marred his cause in that very first interview,
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Speaker 1: if indeed he ever could have had any chance by
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Speaker 1: his precipitancy in showing his feelings, and Missus Gibson helped
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Speaker 1: him to marret by trying to assist him. Molly lost
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Speaker 1: her open friendliness of manner and began to shrink away
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Speaker 1: from him in a way which he thought was.
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Speaker 3: A very ungrateful return for all his faithfulness to her
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Speaker 3: these two years past, and after all, she was not
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Speaker 3: the wonderful beauty his fancy or his love had painted
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Speaker 3: of that. Miss Kirkpatrick was far more beautiful and much
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Speaker 3: easier of access.
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Speaker 1: For Cynthia put on all her pretty airs, her look
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Speaker 1: of intent interest in what any one was saying to her,
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Speaker 1: let the subject be what it would as if it
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Speaker 1: was the thing she cared about most in the whole world,
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Speaker 1: her unspoken deference, in short, all the unconscious ways she
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Speaker 1: possessed by instinct of tickling the vanity of men. So
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Speaker 1: while Molly quietly repelled him, Cynthia drew him to her
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Speaker 1: by her soft attractive ways, and his constancy fell before
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Speaker 1: her charms. He was thankful that he had not gone
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Speaker 1: too far with Molly, and grateful to mister Gibson for
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Speaker 1: having prohibited all declarations two years ago.
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Speaker 3: For Cynthia, and Cynthia alone could make him happy.
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Speaker 1: After a fortnight's time during which he had entirely veered
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Speaker 1: round in his allegiance, he thought it desirable to speak
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Speaker 1: to mister Gibson. He did so with a certain sense
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Speaker 1: of exultation in his own correct behavior in the affair,
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Speaker 1: but at the same time feeling rather ashamed of the
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Speaker 1: confession of his own changeableness, which was naturally involved now.
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Speaker 1: It had so happened that mister Gibson had been unusually
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Speaker 1: little at home during the fortnight that mister Coxe had
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Speaker 1: ostensibly lodged at the George, but in reality had spent
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Speaker 1: the greater part of his time at mister Gibson's house,
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Speaker 1: so that he had seen very little of his former pupil,
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Speaker 1: and on the whole he had thought him improved, especially
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Speaker 1: after Molly's manner had made her father pretty sure that
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Speaker 1: mister Cox stood no chance in that quarter. But mister
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Speaker 1: Gibson was quite ignorant of the attraction which Cynthia had
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Speaker 1: had for the young man. If he had perceived it,
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Speaker 1: he would have nipped it in the bud pretty quickly,
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Speaker 1: for he had no notion of any girl, even though
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Speaker 1: only partially engaged to one man, receiving offers from others.
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Speaker 1: If a little plain speaking could prevent it, mister Cox
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Speaker 1: had asked for a private interview. They were sitting in
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Speaker 1: the old surgery, now called the Consulting Room, but still
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Speaker 1: retaining so much of its former self as to be
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Speaker 1: the very last place in which mister Cox could feel
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Speaker 1: himself at ease. He was red up to the very
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Speaker 1: roots of his red hair, and kept turning his glossy
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Speaker 1: new hat round and round in his fingers, Unable to
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Speaker 1: find out the proper way of beginning his sentence, so
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Speaker 1: at length he plunged in grammar or no grammar.
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Speaker 3: Mister Gibson, I dare say. You'll be surprised. I'm sure
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Speaker 3: I am at what I want to say, but I
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Speaker 3: think it's the part of an honorable man, as you
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Speaker 3: said yourself, sir, a year or two ago, to speak
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Speaker 3: to the father first, and as you, sir, stand in
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Speaker 3: the place of a father to Miss Kirkpatrick, I should
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Speaker 3: like to express my feelings, my hopes, or perhaps I
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Speaker 3: should say wishes.
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Speaker 1: In short, Miss Kirkpatrick, said mister Gibson, A good deal surprised, Yes, sir,
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Speaker 1: continued mister Coxe, rushing on now he had got so far.
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Speaker 3: I know it may appear inconstant and changeable, but I
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Speaker 3: do assure you I came here with a heart as
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Speaker 3: faithful to your daughter as ever beat in a man's bosom.
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Speaker 3: I most fully intended to offer myself and all that
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Speaker 3: I had to our acceptance before I left. But really, Sir,
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Speaker 3: if you had seen a manner to me every time
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Speaker 3: I endeavored to press my suit a little, it was
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Speaker 3: more than coy. It was absolutely repellent. There could be
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Speaker 3: no mistaking it.
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Speaker 1: While Miss Kirkpatrick, he looked modestly down and smoothed the
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Speaker 1: nap of his hat, smiling a little while he did
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Speaker 1: so well, Miss Kirkpatrick, repeated mister Gibson, in such a
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Speaker 1: stern voice that mister Cox landed esquire as he was
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Speaker 1: now felt as much discomforted as he used to do
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Speaker 1: when he was an apprentice, and mister Gibson had spoken
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Speaker 1: to him in a similar manner.
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Speaker 3: I was only going to say, sir, that, so far
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Speaker 3: as one can judge from manna and willingness to listen
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Speaker 3: and apparent pleasure in my visits altogether, I think I
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Speaker 3: may venture to hope that Miss Kirkpatrick is not quite
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Speaker 3: indifferent to me, and I would wait, you have no objection,
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Speaker 3: have you sa to my speaking to her?
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Speaker 1: I mean, said mister Coxe, a little anxious at the
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Speaker 1: expression on mister Gibson's face.
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Speaker 3: I do assure you I haven't a chance with miss Gibson.
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Speaker 1: He continued, not knowing what to say, and fancying that
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Speaker 1: his inconstancy was rankling in mister Gibson's mind.
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Speaker 5: No, I don't suppose you have. Don't go and fancy
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Speaker 5: it is that which is annoying me. You're mistaken about
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Speaker 5: Miss kirk Patrick. However, I don't believe she could ever
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Speaker 5: have meant to give you encouragement.
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Speaker 1: Mister Coxe's face grew perceptibly paler. His feelings, if evanescent,
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Speaker 1: were evidently strong.
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Speaker 3: I think, sir, she could have seen her. I don't
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Speaker 3: consider myself vain and manner is so difficult to describe
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Speaker 3: at any rate, she can have no objection to my
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Speaker 3: taking my chance and speaking to her.
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Speaker 5: Of course, if you won't be convinced otherwise, I can
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Speaker 5: have no objection. But if you'll take my advice, you
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Speaker 5: will spare yourself the pain of a refusal. I may
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Speaker 5: perhaps be trenching on confidence, but I think I ought
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Speaker 5: to tell you that her affections are otherwise engaged.
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Speaker 1: It cannot be said, mister Coxe.
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Speaker 3: Mister Gibson. There must be some mistake. I have gone
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Speaker 3: as far as I did in expressing my feelings, and
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Speaker 3: her manner has been most gracious. I don't think she
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Speaker 3: could have misunderstood my meaning. Perhaps she has changed her mind.
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Speaker 3: It is possible that after consideration, she has left to
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Speaker 3: prefer another.
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Speaker 5: Is it not by another? You mean yourself? I suppose
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Speaker 5: I can believe in such inconstancy.
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Speaker 1: He could not help in his own mind, giving a
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Speaker 1: slight sneer at the instance before him.
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Speaker 5: But I should be very sorry to think that Miss
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Speaker 5: Kirkpatrick could be guilty of it.
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Speaker 3: But she may. It is a chance. Will you allow
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Speaker 3: me to see her?
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Speaker 5: Certainly, my poor fellow.
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Speaker 1: For intermingled with a little contempt, was a good deal
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Speaker 1: of respect for the simplicity, the unworldliness, the strength of feeling,
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Speaker 1: even though the feeling was evanescent.
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Speaker 5: I will send her to you directly.
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Speaker 3: Thank you, sir, God bless you for a kind friend.
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Speaker 1: Mister Gibson went upstairs to the drawing room, where he
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Speaker 1: was pretty sure he should find Cynthia. There she was
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Speaker 1: as bright and careless as usual, making up a bonnet
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Speaker 1: for her mother and chattering to Molly as she worked.
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Speaker 5: Cynthia, you will oblige me by going down into my
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Speaker 5: consulting room at once. Mister Cox wants to speak to you.
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Speaker 1: Mister Cox said, Cynthia, what can he want with me?
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Speaker 1: Evidently she answered her own question as soon as it
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Speaker 1: was asked for. She colored and avoided meeting mister Gibson's severe,
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Speaker 1: uncompromising look. As soon as she had left the room,
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Speaker 1: mister Gibson sat down and took up a new Edinburgh
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Speaker 1: lying on the table as an excuse for conversation. Was
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Speaker 1: there anything in the article that made him say, after
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Speaker 1: a minute or two, to Molly, who sat silent and wondering.
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Speaker 5: Molly, you must never trifle with the love of an
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Speaker 5: honest man. You don't know what pain you may give.
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Speaker 1: Presently, Cynthia came back into the drawing room, looking very
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Speaker 1: much confused. Most likely she would not have returned if
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Speaker 1: she had known that mister Gibson was still there. But
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Speaker 1: it was such an unheard of thing for him to
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Speaker 1: be sitting in that room in the middle of the day,
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Speaker 1: reading or making pretense to read, that she had never
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Speaker 1: thought of his remaining. He looked up at her the
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Speaker 1: moment she came in, so there was nothing for it
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Speaker 1: but putting a bold face on it and going back
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Speaker 1: to her work.
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Speaker 5: Is mister Cox still downstairs.
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Speaker 1: Asked mister Gibson.
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Speaker 6: No, he is gone. He asked me to give you
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Speaker 6: both his kind regards. I believe he is leaving this afternoon.
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Speaker 1: Cynthia tried to make her manner as commonplace as possible,
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Speaker 1: but she did not look up, and her voice trembled
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Speaker 1: a little. Mister Gibson went on looking at his book
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Speaker 1: for a few minutes, but Cynthia felt that more was
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Speaker 1: coming and only wished it would come quickly, for the
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Speaker 1: severe silence was very hard to bear. It came at last.
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Speaker 5: I trust this will never occur again.
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Speaker 1: Cynthia said, he in grave displeasure.
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Speaker 5: I should not feel satisfied with the conduct of any girl. However,
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Speaker 5: free who could receive marked attentions from a young man
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Speaker 5: with complacency and so lead him on to make an
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Speaker 5: offer which she never meant to accept. But what must
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Speaker 5: I think of a young woman in your position, engaged
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Speaker 5: yet accepting most graciously, For that was the way Coxe
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Speaker 5: expressed it, the overtures of another man. Do you consider
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Speaker 5: what unnecessary pain you have given him by your thoughtless behavior?
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Speaker 5: I call it thoughtless, but it's the mildest epithet I
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Speaker 5: can reply to it. I beg that such a thing
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Speaker 5: may not occur again, or I shall be obliged to
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Speaker 5: characterize it more severely.
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Speaker 1: Molly could not imagine what more severely could be, for
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Speaker 1: her father's manner appeared to her almost cruel in its sternness.
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Speaker 1: Cynthia colored up extremely, then went pale, and at length
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Speaker 1: raised her beautiful, appealing eyes full of tears to mister Gibson.
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Speaker 1: He was touched by that look, but he resolved immediately
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Speaker 1: not to be mollified by any of her physical charms
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Speaker 1: of expression, but to keep to his sober judgment of
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Speaker 1: her conduct.
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Speaker 6: Please, mister Gibson, hear my side of the story before
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Speaker 6: you speak so hardly to me. I do not mean
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Speaker 6: to flirt. I merely meant to make myself agreeable. I
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Speaker 6: can't help doing that, And that goose of a mister
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Speaker 6: Cox seems to have fancied I meant to give him encouragement.
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Speaker 5: Do you mean that you were not aware that he
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Speaker 5: was falling in love with you?
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Speaker 1: Mister Gibson was melting into a readiness to be convinced
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Speaker 1: by that sweet voice and pleading face.
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Speaker 6: Well, I suppose I must speak truly.
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Speaker 1: Cynthia blushed and smiled so little, but it was a smile,
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Speaker 1: and it hardened mister Gibson's heart again.
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Speaker 6: I did think once or twice that he was becoming
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Speaker 6: a little more complimentary than the occasion required. But I
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Speaker 6: hate throwing cold water and people, and I never thought
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Speaker 6: he could take it into his silly head to fancy
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Speaker 6: himself seriously in love, and to make such a fuss
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Speaker 6: at the last, after only a fortnight's acquaintance.
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Speaker 5: You seem to have been pretty well aware of his silliness.
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Speaker 5: I should rather call it simplicity. Don't you think you
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Speaker 5: should have remembered that it might lead him to exaggerate
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Speaker 5: what you were doing and saying into encouragement.
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Speaker 6: Perhaps I dare say I'm all wrong and that he
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Speaker 6: is all right.
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Speaker 1: Said Cynthia, piqued and pouting.
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Speaker 6: We used to say in France that lais ofsan On
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Speaker 6: toujours tours.
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Speaker 1: But really it seems as if he she stopped. She
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Speaker 1: was unwilling to be impertinent to a man whom she
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Speaker 1: respected and liked. She took up another point of her
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Speaker 1: defense and rather made matters worse.
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Speaker 6: Besides, Roger would not allow me to consider myself as
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Speaker 6: finally engaged to him. I would willingly have done it,
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Speaker 6: but he would not let me.
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Speaker 5: Nonsense. Don't let us go on talking about it, Cynthia.
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Speaker 5: I've said all that I mean to say. I believe
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Speaker 5: that you were only thoughtless, as I told you before.
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Speaker 5: But don't let it happen again.
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Speaker 1: He left the room at once to put a stop
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Speaker 1: to the conversation, the continuance of which would serve no
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Speaker 1: useful purpose and perhaps end by irritating him.
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Speaker 6: Not guilty, but we recommend the prisoner not to do
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Speaker 6: it again. It's pretty much that, isn't it.
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Speaker 1: Molly, said Cynthia, letting her tears down fall even while
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Speaker 1: she smiled.
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Speaker 6: I do believe your father might make a good woman
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Speaker 6: of me. Yet if he would only take the pains
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Speaker 6: and wasn't quite so severe. And to think of that
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Speaker 6: stupid little fellow making all this mischief. He pretended to
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Speaker 6: take it to heart, as if he had loved me
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Speaker 6: for years, instead of only for days. I dare say
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Speaker 6: only for hours, if the truth were told. I was
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Speaker 6: afraid he was becoming very fond of you, said Molly.
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Speaker 6: At least it struck me once or twice. But I
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Speaker 6: knew he could not stay long. And I thought it
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Speaker 6: would only make you uncomfortable if I said anything about it.
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Speaker 6: But now I wish I had.
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Speaker 1: It wouldn't have made a bit of difference, replied Cynthia.
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Speaker 6: I knew he liked me, and I like to be liked.
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Speaker 6: It's borne and me to try to make every one
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Speaker 6: I come near fond of me. But then they shouldn't
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Speaker 6: carry it too far, for it becomes very troublesome if
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Speaker 6: they do. I shall hate red haired people for the
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Speaker 6: rest of my life. To think of such a man
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Speaker 6: as that being the cause of your father's displeasure with me.
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Speaker 1: Molly had a question that her tongue's end that she
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Speaker 1: longed to put. She knew it was indiscreet, but at
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Speaker 1: last it came out almost against her will. Shall you
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Speaker 1: tell Roger about it, Cynthia replied, I've not thought about it. No,
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Speaker 1: I don't think I shall. There's no need, perhaps if
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Speaker 1: we are ever married, ever married, said Molly under her breath.
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Speaker 1: But Cynthia took no notice of the exclamation until she
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Speaker 1: had finished the sentence which had interrupted.
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Speaker 6: And I can see his face and know his mood.
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Speaker 6: I may tell it him men not in writing, and
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Speaker 6: when he is absent it might annoy him. I am
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Speaker 6: afraid it would.
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Speaker 1: Make him uncomfortable, said Molly simply.
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Speaker 4: And yet it must be so pleasant to be able
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Speaker 4: to tell him everything, all your difficulties and troubles.
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Speaker 6: Yes, only I don't worry him with these things. It's
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Speaker 6: better to write him marry letters and cheer him up
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Speaker 6: among the black folk. You repeated, ever married a little
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Speaker 6: while ago. Do you know, Molly, I don't think I
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Speaker 6: shall ever be married to him. I don't know why,
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Speaker 6: but I have a strong presentiment. So it's just as
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Speaker 6: well not to tell him all my secrets, for it
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Speaker 6: would be awkward for him to know them. If it
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Speaker 6: never came off.
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Speaker 1: Molly dropped her work and said silent, looking into the future.
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Speaker 1: At length, she said, I think it would break his heart.
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Speaker 6: Cynthia, nonsense, Why I am sure that mister Coxe came
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Speaker 6: here with the intention of falling in love with you.
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Speaker 6: You needn't blush so violently. I'm sure you saw it
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Speaker 6: as plainly as I did. Only you made yourself disagreeable,
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Speaker 6: and I took pity on him and consoled his wounded vanity.
17:59
Speaker 4: Can you do you dare to compare Roger Hamley to mister.
18:02
Speaker 1: Coxe, asked Molly indignantly. No, no, I don't, said Cynthia
18:08
Speaker 1: in a moment.
18:09
Speaker 2: They are as.
18:09
Speaker 6: Different his men can be, to be so dreadfully serious
18:12
Speaker 6: over everything. Molly, you look as oppressed with sad reproach
18:16
Speaker 6: as if I had been passing on to you the
18:17
Speaker 6: scolding your father gave me.
18:19
Speaker 4: Because I don't think you value Roger as you ought, Cynthia.
18:23
Speaker 1: Said Molly stoutly, for it required a good deal of
18:26
Speaker 1: courage to force herself to say this, although she could
18:29
Speaker 1: not tell why she shrank so from speaking.
18:31
Speaker 6: Yes, I do. It's not in my nature to go
18:34
Speaker 6: into ecstasies, and I don't suppose I shall ever be
18:36
Speaker 6: what people call in love. But I am glad he
18:39
Speaker 6: loves me, and I like to make him happy. And
18:42
Speaker 6: I think him the best and most agreeable men I know,
18:45
Speaker 6: always accepting your father when he isn't angry with me.
18:48
Speaker 6: What can I say more, Molly, would you like me
18:50
Speaker 6: to say? I think him handsome?
18:52
Speaker 4: I know most people think him.
18:54
Speaker 6: Plain, but well, I'm of the opinion of most people
18:57
Speaker 6: then and small blame to them. I like his face, oh,
19:01
Speaker 6: ten thousand times better than mister Preston's handsomeness.
19:05
Speaker 1: For the first time during the conversation, Cynthia seemed thoroughly
19:08
Speaker 1: in earnest Why mister Preston was introduced. Neither she nor
19:12
Speaker 1: Molly knew it came up and out by a sudden impulse,
19:16
Speaker 1: but a fierce look came into the eyes, and the
19:19
Speaker 1: soft lips contracted themselves as Cynthia named his name. Molly
19:23
Speaker 1: had noticed this look before, always at the mention of
19:26
Speaker 1: this one person. Cynthia, what makes you dislike mister Preston
19:30
Speaker 1: so much? Don't you?
19:32
Speaker 6: Why do you ask me? And yet Molly said.
19:35
Speaker 1: She suddenly relaxing into depression, not merely in tone and look,
19:39
Speaker 1: but in the droop of her limbs.
19:41
Speaker 6: Molly, what should you think of me if I married him?
19:43
Speaker 4: After all, married him? Has he ever asked you?
19:47
Speaker 1: But Cynthia, instead of replying to this question, went on
19:51
Speaker 1: uttering her own thoughts.
19:52
Speaker 6: More unlikely things have happened. Have you never heard of
19:56
Speaker 6: strong wills mesmerizing weaker ones into submission? One of the
19:59
Speaker 6: girl that Madame Lefev's went out as a governess to
20:02
Speaker 6: a Russian family and lived in near Moscow. I sometimes
20:05
Speaker 6: think I'll write to her to find me a situation
20:07
Speaker 6: in Russia, just to get out of the daily chance
20:10
Speaker 6: of seeing that man.
20:11
Speaker 4: But sometimes you seem quite intimate with him and talk
20:15
Speaker 4: to him.
20:16
Speaker 6: How can I help it?
20:17
Speaker 1: Said Cynthia impatiently. Then recovering herself, she added.
20:21
Speaker 6: We knew him so well at Ashcombe, and he's not
20:24
Speaker 6: a man to be easily thrown off. I can tell
20:26
Speaker 6: you I must be civil to him. It's not from liking,
20:30
Speaker 6: and he knows it's not, for I've told him.
20:32
Speaker 3: So.
20:33
Speaker 6: However, we won't talk about him. I don't know how
20:36
Speaker 6: he came to do it. I'm sure the mere fact
20:38
Speaker 6: of his existence and of his being within half a
20:40
Speaker 6: mile of us is bad enough. Oh I wish Roger
20:44
Speaker 6: was at home and rich and could marry me at
20:46
Speaker 6: once and carry me away from that man. If I'd
20:50
Speaker 6: thought of it, I really believe I would have taken
20:52
Speaker 6: poor red haired mister Coxe.
20:54
Speaker 4: I don't understand this at all, said Molly. I dislike
20:58
Speaker 4: mister Preston, but I shouldn't. I never think of taking
21:01
Speaker 4: such violent steps as you speak of to get away
21:04
Speaker 4: from the neighborhood in which he lives. No, because you
21:07
Speaker 4: are a reasonable little darling.
21:09
Speaker 1: Said Cynthia, resuming her usual manner and coming up to
21:12
Speaker 1: Molly and kissing her.
21:14
Speaker 6: At least you'll acknowledge I'm a good hater.
21:16
Speaker 4: Yes, but I still don't understand it.
21:19
Speaker 6: Oh, never mind, there are old complications with our affairs
21:22
Speaker 6: at Ashcombe. Money matters are at the root of it all,
21:26
Speaker 6: horrid poverty. Do let us talk of something else, or
21:29
Speaker 6: better still, let me go and finish my letter to Roger,
21:31
Speaker 6: or I shall be too late for the African mail.
21:34
Speaker 4: Isn't it gone?
21:35
Speaker 1: Oh?
21:35
Speaker 4: I ought to have reminded you it will be too late.
21:39
Speaker 4: Did you not see the notice of the post office
21:41
Speaker 4: that letters ought to be in London on the morning
21:43
Speaker 4: of the tenth instead of the evening.
21:46
Speaker 6: Oh?
21:46
Speaker 4: I am so sorry, so am I.
21:49
Speaker 6: But it can't be helped. It is to be hoped
21:51
Speaker 6: it will be the greater treat when he does get it.
21:54
Speaker 6: I've a far greater weight in my heart because your
21:56
Speaker 6: father seems so displeased with me. I was fond of him.
21:59
Speaker 6: Now he is making me quite a coward, you see,
22:02
Speaker 6: Molly continued she a little piteously. I've never lived with
22:06
Speaker 6: people with such a high standard of conduct before, and
22:09
Speaker 6: I don't quite know how to behave You.
22:11
Speaker 1: Must learn, said Molly tenderly. You'll find Roger quite astrict
22:15
Speaker 1: in his notion so right or wrong. Ah, but he
22:18
Speaker 1: is in love with me, said Cynthia, with a pretty
22:21
Speaker 1: consciousness of her power. Molly turned away her head and
22:25
Speaker 1: was silent. It was of no use combating the truth,
22:28
Speaker 1: and she tried rather not to feel it, not to feel,
22:31
Speaker 1: poor girl, that she too had a great weight on
22:33
Speaker 1: her heart, into the cause of which she shrank from examining.
22:37
Speaker 1: The whole winter long, she had felt as if her
22:39
Speaker 1: son was all shrouded over with gray mist and could
22:42
Speaker 1: no longer shine brightly for her. She wakened up in
22:45
Speaker 1: the morning with a dull sense of something being wrong.
22:48
Speaker 1: The world was out of joint, and if she were
22:51
Speaker 1: born to set it right, she did not know how
22:53
Speaker 1: to do it. Blind herself as she would, she could
22:56
Speaker 1: not help perceiving that her father was not satisfied with
22:59
Speaker 1: the wife he had For a long time, Molly had
23:02
Speaker 1: been surprised at his apparent contentment. Sometimes she had been
23:06
Speaker 1: unselfish enough to be glad that he was satisfied, but
23:08
Speaker 1: still more frequently nature would have its way, and she
23:11
Speaker 1: was almost irritated at what she considered his blindness. Something, however,
23:16
Speaker 1: had changed him now, something that had arisen at the
23:19
Speaker 1: time of Cynthia's engagement. He had become nervously sensitive to
23:23
Speaker 1: his wife's failings, and his whole manner had grown dry
23:26
Speaker 1: and sarcastic, not merely to her, but sometimes to Cynthia,
23:30
Speaker 1: and even but this very rarely to Molly herself. He
23:34
Speaker 1: was not a man to go into passions or ebolitions
23:37
Speaker 1: of feeling. They would have relieved him, even while degrading
23:40
Speaker 1: him in his own eyes. But he became hard and
23:43
Speaker 1: occasionally bitter in his speeches and ways. Molly now learnt
23:47
Speaker 1: to long after the vanished blindness in which her father
23:49
Speaker 1: had passed the first year of his marriage, Yet there
23:52
Speaker 1: were no outrageous infractions of domestic peace. Some people might
23:56
Speaker 1: say that mister Gibson accepted the inevitable. He told himself,
24:00
Speaker 1: in the more homely phrase, that it was.
24:02
Speaker 5: No use crying over spilt milk.
24:05
Speaker 1: And he, from principle, avoided all actual dissensions with his wife,
24:09
Speaker 1: preferring to cut short a discussion by a sarcasm or
24:12
Speaker 1: by leaving the room. Moreover, Missus Gibson had a very
24:15
Speaker 1: tolerable temper of her own, and her cat like nature
24:18
Speaker 1: purred and delighted in smooth ways and pleasant quietness. She
24:23
Speaker 1: had no great facility for understanding sarcasm. It is true
24:26
Speaker 1: it disturbed her, but as she was not quick at
24:29
Speaker 1: deciphering any depth of meaning, and felt it unpleasant to
24:32
Speaker 1: think about it, she forgot it as soon as possible.
24:35
Speaker 1: Yet she saw she was often in some kind of
24:37
Speaker 1: disfavor with her husband, and it made her uneasy. She
24:41
Speaker 1: resembled Cynthia in this. She liked to be liked, and
24:44
Speaker 1: she wanted to regain the esteem, which she did not
24:47
Speaker 1: perceive she had lost forever. Molly sometimes took her stepmother's
24:51
Speaker 1: part in secret. She felt as if she herself could
24:54
Speaker 1: never have borne her father's hard speeches so patiently. They
24:58
Speaker 1: would have cut her to the heart, and she must
25:00
Speaker 1: either have demanded an explanation and probe the saw to
25:03
Speaker 1: the bottom, or sat down despairing and miserable, instead of
25:08
Speaker 1: which Missus Gibson, after her husband had left the room
25:11
Speaker 1: on these occasions, would say, in a manner more bewildered
25:13
Speaker 1: than hurt.
25:14
Speaker 2: I think, dear Papa seems a little put out to day.
25:17
Speaker 2: We must see that he has a dinner that he
25:19
Speaker 2: likes when he comes home. I have often perceived that
25:21
Speaker 2: everything depends on making a man comfortable in his own house.
25:25
Speaker 1: And thus she went on groping about to find the
25:28
Speaker 1: means of reinstating herself in his good graces, really trying,
25:32
Speaker 1: according to her lights, till Molly was often compelled to
25:35
Speaker 1: pity her in spite of herself. And although she saw
25:38
Speaker 1: that her stepmother was the cause of her father's increased
25:40
Speaker 1: astringency of disposition, for indeed, he had got into that
25:44
Speaker 1: kind of exaggerated susceptibility with regard to his wife's faults,
25:48
Speaker 1: which may be best typified by the state of bodily
25:51
Speaker 1: irritation that is produced by the constant recurrence of any
25:54
Speaker 1: particular noise, Those who are brought within hearing of it
25:57
Speaker 1: are apt to be always on the watch for the repetition,
26:00
Speaker 1: if they are once made to notice it, and are
26:02
Speaker 1: in an irritable state of nerves. So that poor Molly
26:05
Speaker 1: had not passed a cheerful winter independently of any private
26:09
Speaker 1: sorrows that she might have in her own heart. She
26:11
Speaker 1: did not look well either. She was gradually falling into
26:15
Speaker 1: low health rather than bad health. Her heart beat more
26:18
Speaker 1: feebly and slower. The vivifying stimulant of hope, even unacknowledged hope,
26:23
Speaker 1: was gone out of her life. It seemed as if
26:26
Speaker 1: there was not, and never could be, in this world
26:29
Speaker 1: any help for the dumb discordancy between her father and
26:32
Speaker 1: his wife. Day after day, month after month, year after year.
26:37
Speaker 1: Would Molly have to sympathize with her father and pity
26:39
Speaker 1: her stepmother, feeling acutely for both, and certainly more than
26:44
Speaker 1: Missus Gibson felt for herself. Molly could not imagine how
26:48
Speaker 1: she had at one time wished for her father's eyes
26:50
Speaker 1: to be opened, and how she could ever have fancied
26:53
Speaker 1: that if they were, he would be able to change
26:55
Speaker 1: things in Missus Gibson's character.
26:57
Speaker 4: It was all hopeless, and the only tempt as a
27:00
Speaker 4: remedy was to think about it as little as possible.
27:03
Speaker 1: Then, Cynthia's ways and manners about Roger gave Molly a
27:06
Speaker 1: great deal of uneasiness. She did not believe that Cynthia
27:10
Speaker 1: cared enough for him at any rate, not with the
27:13
Speaker 1: sort of love that she herself would have bestowed if
27:15
Speaker 1: she had been so happy. No, that was not it.
27:18
Speaker 1: If she had been in Cynthia's place, she felt as
27:21
Speaker 1: if she should have gone to him both hands held
27:23
Speaker 1: out full and brimming over with tenderness, and been grateful
27:27
Speaker 1: for every word of precious confidence bestowed on her. Yet
27:31
Speaker 1: Cynthia received his letters with a kind of carelessness, and
27:34
Speaker 1: read them with a strange indifference, while Molly sat at
27:38
Speaker 1: her feet, so to speak, looking up with eyes as
27:40
Speaker 1: wistful as a dog's, waiting for crumbs and such chance beneficences.
27:46
Speaker 1: She tried to be patient on these occasions, but at
27:48
Speaker 1: last she must ask.
27:50
Speaker 4: Where is it, Cynthia? What does he say?
27:53
Speaker 1: By this time Cynthia had put down the letter on
27:55
Speaker 1: the table by her, smiling a little from time to
27:58
Speaker 1: time as she remembered the loving compliments it contained.
28:01
Speaker 6: Where oh, I didn't look exactly somewhere in Abyssinia.
28:06
Speaker 1: Who on?
28:07
Speaker 6: I can't read the word, and it doesn't much signify,
28:09
Speaker 6: for it would give me no idea.
28:11
Speaker 1: Is he well, asked greedy Molly.
28:13
Speaker 4: Yes.
28:13
Speaker 6: Now he has had a slight touch of fever, he says,
28:16
Speaker 6: but it's all over now, and he hopes he's getting
28:18
Speaker 6: acclimatized of fever.
28:21
Speaker 4: And who took care of him? He would want nursing
28:24
Speaker 4: and so far from home, Oh, Cynthia.
28:27
Speaker 6: Oh, I don't fancy he had any nursing. Poor fellow.
28:30
Speaker 6: One doesn't expect nursing in hospitals and doctors and Abyssinia.
28:34
Speaker 6: But he had plenty of Quinnie with him, and I
28:36
Speaker 6: suppose that is the best specific At any rate, he says,
28:39
Speaker 6: he is quite well now.
28:41
Speaker 1: Molly sat silent for a minute or two.
28:43
Speaker 6: What is the date of the letter, Cynthia, I didn't look. December,
28:47
Speaker 6: the December the tenth.
28:50
Speaker 4: That's nearly two months ago, said Molly.
28:53
Speaker 6: Yes, but I determined I wouldn't worry myself with useless
28:56
Speaker 6: anxiety when he went away. If anything did go wrong, you.
29:00
Speaker 1: Know, said Cynthia, using a euphuism for death, as most
29:04
Speaker 1: people do. It is an ugly word to speak plain
29:07
Speaker 1: out in the midst of life.
29:08
Speaker 6: It would be all over before I even heard of
29:10
Speaker 6: his illness, and I could be of no use to him,
29:13
Speaker 6: could I, Molly, No, I.
29:15
Speaker 4: Dare say it is all very true. Only I should
29:18
Speaker 4: think the squire could not take it so easily. I
29:21
Speaker 4: always write him a little note when I hear from Roger.
29:23
Speaker 4: But I don't think I'll name this touch of fever,
29:25
Speaker 4: shall I?
29:26
Speaker 1: Molly?
29:27
Speaker 4: I don't know, said Molly. People say one not, but
29:30
Speaker 4: I almost wish I hadn't heard it. Please, does he
29:33
Speaker 4: say anything else that I may hear?
29:36
Speaker 6: Oh, lovers and letters are so silly, and I think
29:38
Speaker 6: this is sillier than usual.
29:40
Speaker 1: Said Cynthia, looking over her letter again.
29:43
Speaker 6: Here's a piece you may read from that line.
29:45
Speaker 1: To that indicating two places.
29:47
Speaker 6: I haven't read it myself, for it looked dullish, all
29:50
Speaker 6: about Aristotle and Pliny. And I want to get this
29:53
Speaker 6: bonnet cap made up before we go out to pay
29:54
Speaker 6: our calls.
29:55
Speaker 1: Molly took the letter, the thought crossing her mind that
29:59
Speaker 1: he had touched it, had had his hands upon it
30:02
Speaker 1: in those far distant desert lands, or he might be
30:05
Speaker 1: lost to sight and to any human knowledge of his fate.
30:08
Speaker 1: Even now, her pretty brown fingers almost caressed the flimsy
30:11
Speaker 1: paper with their delicacy of touch. As she read, she
30:14
Speaker 1: saw references made to books which, with a little trouble,
30:17
Speaker 1: would be accessible to her here in Hollingford. Perhaps the
30:20
Speaker 1: details and the references would make the letter dull and
30:23
Speaker 1: dry to some people, but not to her, thanks to
30:26
Speaker 1: his former teaching and the interest he had excited in
30:29
Speaker 1: her for his pursuits. But as he said in apology.
30:33
Speaker 7: What had he to write about in that savage land
30:36
Speaker 7: but his love and his researches and travels. There was
30:41
Speaker 7: no society, no gaiety, no new books to write about,
30:46
Speaker 7: no gossip in Abyssinian violence.
30:49
Speaker 1: Molly was not in strong health, and perhaps this made
30:52
Speaker 1: her a little fanciful. But certain it is that her
30:55
Speaker 1: thoughts by day and her dreams by night were haunted
30:58
Speaker 1: by the idea of Rod lying ill and untended in
31:01
Speaker 1: those savage lands. Her constant prayer.
31:04
Speaker 4: Oh my Lord, give her the living child, and in
31:08
Speaker 4: no why.
31:08
Speaker 1: Slay It came from a heart as true as that
31:11
Speaker 1: of the real mother. In King Solomon's judgment.
31:14
Speaker 4: Let him live. Let him live, even though I may
31:17
Speaker 4: never set eyes upon him again, Have pity upon his father.
31:20
Speaker 4: Grant that he may come home safe and live happily
31:23
Speaker 4: with her, whom he loves so tenderly, so tenderly, Oh God.
31:29
Speaker 1: And then she would burst into tears and drop asleep
31:32
Speaker 1: at last, sobbing. End of Chapter thirty seven