第17章

Atthismomentthetwoexclusive，chalk-markmen，havingatlastreallyfinishedtheirplay，couldbeheardcomingalongintherear，vociferouslysingingasongtomarch-time，andkeepingvigoroussteptothesameinfar-reachingstrides——

“Shemaygo，oh！

Shemaygo，oh！

Shemaygotothed——forme！”

Thetimber-merchantturnedindignantlytoMrs。Melbury。“That’sthesortofsocietywe’vebeenaskedtomeet。”hesaid。“Forusoldfolkitdidn’tmatter；butforGrace——Gilesshouldhaveknownbetter！”

Meanwhile，intheemptyhousefromwhichtheguestshadjustclearedout，thesubjectoftheirdiscoursewaswalkingfromroomtoroomsurveyingthegeneraldisplacementoffurniturewithnoecstaticfeeling；ratherthereverse，indeed。Atlastheenteredthebakehouse，andfoundthereRobertCreedlesittingovertheembers，alsolostincontemplation。Winterbornesatdownbesidehim。

“Well，Robert，youmustbetired。You’dbettergetontobed。”

“Ay，ay，Giles——whatdoIcallye？Maister，Iwouldsay。But’tiswelltothinkthedayISdone，when’tisdone。”

Winterbornehadabstractedlytakenthepoker，andwithawrinkledforeheadwasploughingabroadthewood-embersonthebroadhearth，tillitwaslikeavastscorchingSahara，withred-hotbowlderslyingabouteverywhere。“Doyouthinkitwentoffwell，Creedle？”

heasked。

“Thevictualsdid；thatIknow。Andthedrinkdid；thatI

steadfastlybelieve，fromthehollersoundofthebarrels。Good，honestdrink’twere，theheadiestmeadIeverbrewed；andthebestwinethatberriescouldriseto；andthebriskestHorner-and-

Cleevescidereverwrungdown，leavingoutthespiceandsperritsIputintoit，whilethategg-flipwouldha’passedthroughmuslin，solittlecurdled’twere。’Twasgoodenoughtomakeanyking’sheartmerry——ay，tomakehiswholecarcasssmile。Still，I

don’tdenyI’mafearedsomethingsdidn’tgowellwithHeandhis。”CreedlenoddedinadirectionwhichsignifiedwheretheMelburyslived。

“I’mafraid，too，thatitwasafailurethere！”

“Ifso，’tweredoomedtobeso。Notbutwhatthatsnailmightaswellhavecomeuponanybodyelse’splateashers。”

“Whatsnail？”

“Well，maister，therewasalittleoneupontheedgeofherplatewhenIbroughtitout；andsoitmusthavebeeninherfewleavesofwintergreen。”

“Howthedeucedidasnailgetthere？”

“ThatIdon’tknownomorethanthedead；buttheremygentlemanwas。”

“But，Robert，ofallplaces，thatwaswhereheshouldn’thavebeen！”

“Well，’twashisnativehome，cometothat；andwhereelsecouldweexpecthimtobe？Idon’tcarewhothemanis，snailsandcaterpillarsalwayswilllurkinclosetothestumpofcabbagesinthattantalizingway。”

“Hewasn’talive，Isuppose？”saidGiles，withashudderonGrace’saccount。

“Ohno。Hewaswellboiled。Iwarranthimwellboiled。GodforbidthataLIVEsnailshouldbeseedonanyplateofvictualsthat’sservedbyRobertCreedle。ButLord，there；Idon’tmind’emmyself——themsmallones，fortheywerebornoncabbage，andthey’velivedoncabbage，sotheymustbemadeofcabbage。Butshe，theclose-mouthedlittlelady，shedidn’tsayawordaboutit；though’twouldhavemadegoodsmallconversationastothenaterofsuchcreatures；especiallyaswitranshortamongussometimes。”

“Ohyes——’tisallover！”murmuredGilestohimself，shakinghisheadoverthegloomingplainofembers，andlininghisforeheadmorethanever。“Doyouknow，Robert。”hesaid，“thatshe’sbeenaccustomedtoservantsandeverythingsuperfinethesemanyyears？

How，then，couldshestandourways？”

“Well，allIcansayis，then，thatsheoughttohob-and-nobelsewhere。Theyshouldn’thaveschooledhersomonstroushigh，orelsebachelormenshouldn’tgiverandys，oriftheydogive’em，onlytotheirownrace。”

“Perhapsthat’strue。”saidWinterborne，risingandyawningasigh。

“’Tisapity——athousandpities！”herfatherkeptsayingnextmorningatbreakfast，Gracebeingstillinherbedroom。

Buthowcouldhe，withanyself-respect，obstructWinterborne’ssuitatthisstage，andnullifyaschemehehadlaboredtopromote——was，indeed，mechanicallypromotingatthismoment？A

crisiswasapproaching，mainlyasaresultofhiscontrivances，anditwouldhavetobemet。

Butherewasthefact，whichcouldnotbedisguised：sinceseeingwhatanimmensechangeherlasttwelvemonthsofabsencehadproducedinhisdaughter，aftertheheavysumperannumthathehadbeenspendingforseveralyearsuponhereducation，hewasreluctanttolethermarryGilesWinterborne，indefinitelyoccupiedaswoodsman，cider-merchant，apple-farmer，andwhatnot，evenwereshewillingtomarryhimherself。

“Shewillbehiswifeifyoudon’tupsethernotionthatshe’sboundtoaccepthimasanunderstoodthing。”saidMrs。Melbury。

“Blessye，she’llsoonshakedownhereinHintock，andbecontentwithGiles’swayofliving，whichhe’llimprovewithwhatmoneyshe’llhavefromyou。’Tisthestrangenessafterhergenteellifethatmakesherfeeluncomfortableatfirst。Why，whenIsawHintockthefirsttimeIthoughtInevercouldlikeit。Butthingsgraduallygetfamiliar，andstonefloorsseemnotsoverycoldandhard，andthehootingoftheowlsnotsoverydreadful，andlonelinessnotsoverylonely，afterawhile。”

“Yes，Ibelieveye。That’sjustit。IKNOWGracewillgraduallysinkdowntoourlevelagain，andcatchourmannersandwayofspeaking，andfeeladrowsycontentinbeingGiles’swife。ButI

can’tbearthethoughtofdraggingdowntothatoldlevelaspromisingapieceofmaidenhoodaseverlived——fittoornamentapalacewi’——thatI’vetakensomuchtroubletoliftup。Fancyherwhitehandsgettingreddereveryday，andhertonguelosingitsprettyup-countrycurlintalking，andherboundingwalkbecomingtheregularHintockshailandwamble！”

“Shemayshail，butshe’llneverwamble。”repliedhiswife，decisively。

WhenGracecamedown-stairshecomplainedofherlyinginbedsolate；notsomuchmovedbyaparticularobjectiontothatformofindulgenceasdiscomposedbytheseotherreflections。

Thecornersofherprettymouthdroppedalittledown。“YouusedtocomplainwithjusticewhenIwasagirl。”shesaid。“ButIamawomannow，andcanjudgeformyself。Butitisnotthat；itissomethingelse！”Insteadofsittingdownshewentoutsidethedoor。

Hewassorry。ThepetulancethatrelativesshowtowardseachotherisintruthdirectedagainstthatintangibleCausalitywhichhasshapedthesituationnolessfortheoffendersthantheoffended，butistooelusivetobediscernedandcorneredbypoorhumanityinirritatedmood。Melburyfollowedher。Shehadrambledontothepaddock，wherethewhitefrostlay，andwherestarlingsinflocksoftwentiesandthirtieswerewalkingabout，watchedbyacomfortablefamilyofsparrowsperchedinalinealongthestring-courseofthechimney，preeningthemselvesintheraysofthesun。

“Comeintobreakfast，mygirl。”hesaid。“AndastoGiles，useyourownmind。Whateverpleasesyouwillpleaseme。”

“Iampromisedtohim，father；andIcannothelpthinkingthatinhonorIoughttomarryhim，wheneverIdomarry。”

HehadastrongsuspicionthatsomewhereinthebottomofherhearttherepulsedanoldsimpleindigenousfeelingfavorabletoGiles，thoughithadbecomeoverlaidwithimplantedtastes。Buthewouldnotdistinctlyexpresshisviewsonthepromise。“Verywell。”hesaid。“ButIhopeIsha’n’tloseyouyet。Comeintobreakfast。WhatdidyouthinkoftheinsideofHintockHousetheotherday？”

“Ilikeditmuch。”

“DifferentfromfriendWinterborne’s？”

Shesaidnothing；buthewhoknewherwasawarethatshemeantbyhersilencetoreproachhimwithdrawingcruelcomparisons。

“Mrs。Charmondhasaskedyoutocomeagain——when，didyousay？”

“ShethoughtTuesday，butwouldsendthedaybeforetoletmeknowifitsuitedher。”Andwiththissubjectupontheirlipstheyenteredtobreakfast。

Tuesdaycame，butnomessagefromMrs。Charmond。NorwasthereanyonWednesday。Inbrief，afortnightslippedbywithoutasign，anditlookedsuspiciouslyasifMrs。Charmondwerenotgoingfurtherinthedirectionof“takingup“Graceatpresent。

Herfatherreasonedthereon。Immediatelyafterhisdaughter’stwoindubitablesuccesseswithMrs。Charmond——theinterviewinthewoodandavisittotheHouse——shehadattendedWinterborne’sparty。Nodoubttheout-and-outjovialityofthatgatheringhadmadeitatopicintheneighborhood，andthateveryonepresentasguestshadbeenwidelyspokenof——Grace，withherexceptionalqualities，aboveall。What，then，sonaturalasthatMrs。