The Woodlanders Part 2, Thomas Hardy [e textbook reader txt] 📗
- Author: Thomas Hardy
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Winterborne'S House Had Been Pulled down. On This Account His
Face Had Been Seen But Fitfully In hintock; And He Would Probably
Have Disappeared from The Place Altogether But For His Slight
Business Connection With Melbury, On Whose Premises Giles Kept His
Cider-Making apparatus, Now That He Had No Place Of His Own To
Stow It In. Coming here One Evening on His Way To A Hut Beyond
The Wood Where He Now Slept, He Noticed that The Familiar Brown-
Thatched pinion Of His Paternal Roof Had Vanished from Its Site,
And That The Walls Were Levelled. In present Circumstances He Had
A Feeling for The Spot That Might Have Been Called morbid, And
When He Had Supped in the Hut Aforesaid He Made Use Of The Spare
Hour Before Bedtime To Return To Little Hintock In the Twilight
And Ramble Over The Patch Of Ground On Which He Had First Seen The
Day.
He Repeated this Evening visit On Several Like Occasions. Even In
The Gloom He Could Trace Where The Different Rooms Had Stood;
Could Mark The Shape Of The Kitchen Chimney-Corner, In which He
Had Roasted apples And Potatoes In his Boyhood, Cast His Bullets,
And Burned his Initials On Articles That Did And Did Not Belong To
Him. The Apple-Trees Still Remained to Show Where The Garden Had
Been, The Oldest Of Them Even Now Retaining the Crippled slant To
North-East Given Them By The Great November Gale Of 1824, Which
Carried a Brig Bodily Over The Chesil Bank. They Were At Present
Bent To Still Greater Obliquity By The Heaviness Of Their Produce.
Apples Bobbed against His Head, And In the Grass Beneath He
Crunched scores Of Them As He Walked. There Was Nobody To Gather
Them Now.
It Was On The Evening under Notice That, Half Sitting, Half
Leaning against One Of These Inclined trunks, Winterborne Had
Become Lost In his Thoughts, As Usual, Till One Little Star After
Another Had Taken Up A Position In the Piece Of Sky Which Now
Confronted him Where His Walls And Chimneys Had Formerly Raised
Their Outlines. The House Had Jutted awkwardly Into The Road, And
The Opening caused by Its Absence Was Very Distinct.
In The Silence The Trot Of Horses And The Spin Of Carriage-Wheels
Became Audible; And The Vehicle Soon Shaped itself Against The
Blank Sky, Bearing down Upon Him With The Bend In the Lane Which
Here Occurred, And Of Which The House Had Been The Cause. He
Could Discern The Figure Of A Woman High Up On The Driving-Seat Of
A Phaeton, A Groom Being just Visible Behind. Presently There Was
A Slight Scrape, Then A Scream. Winterborne Went Across To The
Spot, And Found The Phaeton Half Overturned, Its Driver Sitting on
The Heap Of Rubbish Which Had Once Been His Dwelling, And The Man
Seizing the Horses' Heads. The Equipage Was Mrs. Charmond'S, And
The Unseated charioteer That Lady Herself.
Part 2 Chapter 1 Pg 2
To His Inquiry If She Were Hurt She Made Some Incoherent Reply To
The Effect That She Did Not Know. The Damage In other Respects
Was Little Or None: The Phaeton Was Righted, Mrs. Charmond Placed
In It, And The Reins Given To The Servant. It Appeared that She
Had Been Deceived by The Removal Of The House, Imagining the Gap
Caused by The Demolition To Be The Opening of The Road, So That
She Turned in upon The Ruins Instead Of At The Bend A Few Yards
Farther On.
"Drive Home--Drive Home!" Cried the Lady, Impatiently; And They
Started on Their Way. They Had Not, However, Gone Many Paces
When, The Air Being still, Winterborne Heard Her Say "Stop; Tell
That Man To Call The Doctor--Mr. Fitzpiers--And Send Him On To The
House. I Find I Am Hurt More Seriously Than I Thought."
Winterborne Took The Message From The Groom And Proceeded to The
Doctor'S At Once. Having delivered it, He Stepped back Into The
Darkness, And Waited till He Had Seen Fitzpiers Leave The Door.
He Stood For A Few Minutes Looking at The Window Which By Its
Light Revealed the Room Where Grace Was Sitting, And Went Away
Under The Gloomy Trees.
Fitzpiers Duly Arrived at Hintock House, Whose Doors He Now Saw
Open For The First Time. Contrary To His Expectation There Was
Visible No Sign Of That Confusion Or Alarm Which A Serious
Accident To The Mistress Of The Abode Would Have Occasioned. He
Was Shown Into A Room At The Top Of The Staircase, Cosily And
Femininely Draped, Where, By The Light Of The Shaded lamp, He Saw
A Woman Of Full Round Figure Reclining upon A Couch In such A
Position As Not To Disturb A Pile Of Magnificent Hair On The Crown
Of Her Head. A Deep Purple Dressing-Gown Formed an Admirable Foil
To The Peculiarly Rich Brown Of Her Hair-Plaits; Her Left Arm,
Which Was Naked nearly Up To The Shoulder, Was Thrown Upward, And
Between The Fingers Of Her Right Hand She Held A Cigarette, While
She Idly Breathed from Her Plump Lips A Thin Stream Of Smoke
Towards The Ceiling.
The Doctor'S First Feeling was A Sense Of His Exaggerated
Prevision In having brought Appliances For A Serious Case; The
Next, Something more Curious. While The Scene And The Moment Were
New To Him And Unanticipated, The Sentiment And Essence Of The
Moment Were Indescribably Familiar. What Could Be The Cause Of
It? Probably A Dream.
Mrs. Charmond Did Not Move More Than To Raise Her Eyes To Him, And
He Came And Stood By Her. She Glanced up At His Face Across Her
Brows And Forehead, And Then He Observed a Blush Creep Slowly Over
Her Decidedly Handsome Cheeks. Her Eyes, Which Had Lingered upon
Him With An Inquiring, Conscious Expression, Were Hastily
Withdrawn, And She Mechanically Applied the Cigarette Again To Her
Lips.
Part 2 Chapter 1 Pg 3For A Moment He Forgot His Errand, Till Suddenly Arousing himself
He Addressed her, Formally Condoled with Her, And Made The Usual
Professional Inquiries About What Had Happened to Her, And Where
She Was Hurt.
"That'S What I Want You To Tell Me," She Murmured, In tones Of
Indefinable Reserve. "I Quite Believe In you, For I Know You Are
Very Accomplished, Because You Study So Hard."
"I'Ll Do My Best To Justify Your Good Opinion," Said The Young
Man, Bowing. "And None The Less That I Am Happy To Find The
Accident Has Not Been Serious."
"I Am Very Much Shaken," She Said.
"Oh Yes," He Replied; And Completed his Examination, Which
Convinced him That There Was Really Nothing the Matter With Her,
And More Than Ever Puzzled him As To Why He Had Been Fetched,
Since She Did Not Appear To Be A Timid Woman. "You Must Rest A
While, And I'Ll Send Something," He Said.
"Oh, I Forgot," She Returned. "Look Here." And She Showed him A
Little Scrape On Her Arm--The Full Round Arm That Was Exposed.
"Put Some Court-Plaster On That, Please."
He Obeyed. "And Now," She Said, "Before You Go I Want To Put A
Question To You. Sit Round There In front Of Me, On That Low
Chair, And Bring the Candles, Or One, To The Little Table. Do You
Smoke? Yes? That'S Right--I Am Learning. Take One Of These; And
Here'S A Light." She Threw A Matchbox Across.
Fitzpiers Caught It, And Having lit Up, Regarded her From His New
Position, Which, With The Shifting of The Candles, For The First
Time Afforded him A Full View Of Her Face. "How Many Years Have
Passed since First We Met!" She Resumed, In a Voice Which She
Mainly Endeavored to Maintain At Its Former Pitch Of Composure,
And Eying him With Daring bashfulness.
"We Met, Do You Say?"
She Nodded. "I Saw You Recently At An Hotel In london, When You
Were Passing through, I Suppose, With Your Bride, And I Recognized
You As One I Had Met In my Girlhood. Do You Remember, When You
Were Studying at Heidelberg, An English Family That Was Staying
There, Who Used to Walk--"
"And The Young Lady Who Wore A Long Tail Of Rare-Colored hair--Ah,
I See It Before My Eyes!--Who Lost Her Gloves On The Great
Terrace--Who Was Going back In the Dusk To Find Them--To Whom I
Said, 'I'Ll Go For Them,' And You Said, 'Oh, They Are Not Worth
Coming all The Way Up Again For.' I Do Remember, And How Very Long
We Stayed talking there! I Went Next Morning while The Dew Was On
The Grass: There They Lay--The Little Fingers Sticking out Damp
And Thin. I See Them Now! I Picked them Up, And Then--"
"Well?"
"I Kissed them," He Rejoined, Rather Shamefacedly.
Part 2 Chapter 1 Pg 4
"I Always Am Sad When I Come Here," She Said, Dropping to A Low
Tone With A Sense Of Having been Too Demonstrative.
"Then May I Inquire Why You Came?"
"A Man Brought Me. Women Are Always Carried about Like Corks Upon
The Waves Of Masculine Desires....I Hope I Have Not Alarmed you;
But Hintock Has The Curious Effect Of Bottling up The Emotions
Till One Can No Longer Hold Them; I Am Often Obliged to Fly Away
And Discharge My Sentiments Somewhere, Or I Should Die Outright."
"There Is Very Good Society In the County For Those Who Have The
Privilege Of Entering it."
"Perhaps So. But The Misery Of Remote Country Life Is That Your
Neighbors Have No Toleration For Difference Of Opinion And Habit.
My Neighbors Think I Am An Atheist, Except Those Who Think I Am A
Roman Catholic; And When I Speak Disrespectfully Of The Weather Or
The Crops They Think I Am A Blasphemer."
She Broke Into A Low Musical Laugh At The Idea.
"You Don'T Wish Me To Stay Any Longer?" He Inquired, When He Found
That She Remained musing.
"No--I Think Not."
"Then Tell Me That I Am To Be Gone."
"Why? Cannot You Go Without?"
"I May Consult My Own Feelings Only, If Left To Myself."
"Well, If You Do, What Then? Do You Suppose You'Ll Be In my Way?"
"I Feared it Might Be So."
"Then Fear No More. But Good-Night. Come To-Morrow And See If I
Am Going on Right. This Renewal Of Acquaintance Touches Me. I
Have Already A Friendship For You."
"If It Depends Upon Myself It Shall Last Forever."
"My Best Hopes That It May. Good-By."
Fitzpiers Went Down The Stairs Absolutely Unable To Decide
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