The Woodlanders Part 2, Thomas Hardy [e textbook reader txt] 📗
- Author: Thomas Hardy
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At A Point Where The Road Took A Turning round A Large Chestnut-
Tree, The Form Of His Own Horse Blossom, At Which Melbury
Quickened darling'S Pace, Thinking to Come Up With Fitzpiers.
Nearer View Revealed that The Horse Had No Rider. At Melbury'S
Approach It Galloped friskily Away Under The Trees In a Homeward
Direction. Thinking something was Wrong, The Timber-Merchant
Dismounted as Soon As He Reached the Chestnut, And After Feeling
About For A Minute Or Two Discovered fitzpiers Lying on The
Ground.
"Here--Help!" Cried the Latter As Soon As He Felt Melbury'S Touch;
"I Have Been Thrown Off, But There'S Not Much Harm Done, I Think."
Since Melbury Could Not Now Very Well Read The Younger Man The
Lecture He Had Intended, And As Friendliness Would Be Hypocrisy,
His Instinct Was To Speak Not A Single Word To His Son-In-Law. He
Raised fitzpiers Into A Sitting posture, And Found That He Was A
Little Stunned and Stupefied, But, As He Had Said, Not Otherwise
Hurt. How This Fall Had Come About Was Readily Conjecturable:
Fitzpiers, Imagining there Was Only Old Darling under Him, Had
Been Taken Unawares By The Younger Horse'S Sprightliness.
Melbury Was A Traveller Of The Old-Fashioned sort; Having just
Come From Shottsford-Forum, He Still Had In his Pocket The
Pilgrim'S Flask Of Rum Which He Always Carried on Journeys
Exceeding a Dozen Miles, Though He Seldom Drank Much Of It. He
Poured it Down The Surgeon'S Throat, With Such Effect That He
Quickly Revived. Melbury Got Him On His Legs; But The Question
Was What To Do With Him. He Could Not Walk More Than A Few Steps,
And The Other Horse Had Gone Away.
With Great Exertion Melbury Contrived to Get Him Astride Darling,
Mounting himself Behind, And Holding fitzpiers Round His Waist
With One Arm. Darling being broad, Straight-Backed, And High In
The Withers, Was Well Able To Carry Double, At Any Rate As Far As
Hintock, And At A Gentle Pace.
Part 2 Chapter 10 Pg 54
The Mare Paced along With Firm And Cautious Tread Through The
Copse Where Winterborne Had Worked, And Into The Heavier Soil
Where The Oaks Grew; Past Great Willy, The Largest Oak In the
Part 2 Chapter 10 Pg 55Wood, And Thence Towards Nellcombe Bottom, Intensely Dark Now With
Overgrowth, And Popularly Supposed to Be Haunted by The Spirits Of
The Fratricides Exorcised from Hintock House.
By This Time Fitzpiers Was Quite Recovered as To Physical
Strength. But He Had Eaten Nothing since Making a Hasty Breakfast
In London That Morning, His Anxiety About Felice Having hurried
Him Away From Home Before Dining; As A Consequence, The Old Rum
Administered by His Father-In-Law Flew To The Young Man'S Head And
Loosened his Tongue, Without His Ever Having recognized who It Was
That Had Lent Him A Kindly Hand. He Began To Speak In desultory
Sentences, Melbury Still Supporting him.
"I'Ve Come All The Way From London To-Day," Said Fitzpiers. "Ah,
That'S The Place To Meet Your Equals. I Live At Hintock--Worse,
At Little Hintock--And I Am Quite Lost There. There'S Not A Man
Within Ten Miles Of Hintock Who Can Comprehend Me. I Tell You,
Farmer What'S-Your-Name, That I'M A Man Of Education. I Know
Several Languages; The Poets And I Are Familiar Friends; I Used to
Read More In metaphysics Than Anybody Within Fifty Miles; And
Since I Gave That Up There'S Nobody Can Match Me In the Whole
County Of Wessex As A Scientist. Yet I An Doomed to Live With
Tradespeople In a Miserable Little Hole Like Hintock!"
"Indeed!" Muttered melbury.
Fitzpiers, Increasingly Energized by The Alcohol, Here Reared
Himself Up Suddenly From The Bowed posture He Had Hitherto Held,
Thrusting his Shoulders So Violently Against Melbury'S Breast As
To Make It Difficult For The Old Man To Keep A Hold On The Reins.
"People Don'T Appreciate Me Here!" The Surgeon Exclaimed; Lowering
His Voice, He Added, Softly And Slowly, "Except One--Except
One!...A Passionate Soul, As Warm As She Is Clever, As Beautiful
As She Is Warm, And As Rich As She Is Beautiful. I Say, Old
Fellow, Those Claws Of Yours Clutch Me Rather Tight--Rather Like
The Eagle'S, You Know, That Ate Out The Liver Of Pro--Pre--The Man
On Mount Caucasus. People Don'T Appreciate Me, I Say, Except Her.
Ah, Gods, I Am An Unlucky Man! She Would Have Been Mine, She
Would Have Taken My Name; But Unfortunately It Cannot Be So. I
Stooped to Mate Beneath Me, And Now I Rue It."
The Position Was Becoming a Very Trying one For Melbury,
Corporeally And Mentally. He Was Obliged to Steady Fitzpiers With
His Left Arm, And He Began To Hate The Contact. He Hardly Knew
What To Do. It Was Useless To Remonstrate With Fitzpiers, In his
Intellectual Confusion From The Rum And From The Fall. He
Remained silent, His Hold Upon His Companion, However, Being stern
Rather Than Compassionate.
"You Hurt Me A Little, Farmer--Though I Am Much Obliged to You For
Your Kindness. People Don'T Appreciate Me, I Say. Between
Ourselves, I Am Losing my Practice Here; And Why? Because I See
Matchless Attraction Where Matchless Attraction Is, Both In person
And Position. I Mention No Names, So Nobody Will Be The Wiser.
But I Have Lost Her, In a Legitimate Sense, That Is. If I Were A
Free Man Now, Things Have Come To Such A Pass That She Could Not
Refuse Me; While With Her Fortune (Which I Don'T Covet For Itself)
I Should Have A Chance Of Satisfying an Honorable Ambition--A
Part 2 Chapter 10 Pg 56Chance I Have Never Had Yet, And Now Never, Never Shall Have,
Probably!"
Melbury, His Heart Throbbing against The Other'S Backbone, And His
Brain On Fire With Indignation, Ventured to Mutter Huskily, "Why?"
The Horse Ambled on Some Steps Before Fitzpiers Replied, "Because
I Am Tied and Bound To Another By Law, As Tightly As I Am To You
By Your Arm--Not That I Complain Of Your Arm--I Thank You For
Helping me. Well, Where Are We? Not Nearly Home Yet?...Home, Say
I. It Is A Home! When I Might Have Been At The Other House Over
There." In a Stupefied way He Flung His Hand In the Direction Of
The Park. "I Was Just Two Months Too Early In committing myself.
Had I Only Seen The Other First--"
Here The Old Man'S Arm Gave Fitzpiers A Convulsive Shake. "What
Are You Doing?" Continued the Latter. "Keep Still, Please, Or Put
Me Down. I Was Saying that I Lost Her By A Mere Little Two
Months! There Is No Chance For Me Now In this World, And It Makes
Me Reckless--Reckless! Unless, Indeed, Anything should Happen To
The Other One. She Is Amiable Enough; But If Anything should
Happen To Her--And I Hear She Is Ill--Well, If It Should, I Should
Be Free--And My Fame, My Happiness, Would Be Insured."
These Were The Last Words That Fitzpiers Uttered in his Seat In
Front Of The Timber-Merchant. Unable Longer To Master Himself,
Melbury, The Skin Of His Face Compressed, Whipped away His Spare
Arm From Fitzpiers'S Waist, And Seized him By The Collar.
"You Heartless Villain--After All That We Have Done For Ye!" He
Cried, With A Quivering lip. "And The Money Of Hers That You'Ve
Had, And The Roof We'Ve Provided to Shelter Ye! It Is To Me,
George Melbury, That You Dare To Talk Like That!" The Exclamation
Was Accompanied by A Powerful Swing from The Shoulder, Which Flung
The Young Man Head-Long Into The Road, Fitzpiers Fell With A Heavy
Thud Upon The Stumps Of Some Undergrowth Which Had Been Cut During
The Winter Preceding. Darling continued her Walk For A Few Paces
Farther And Stopped.
"God Forgive Me!" Melbury Murmured, Repenting of What He Had Done.
"He Tried me Too Sorely; And Now Perhaps I'Ve Murdered him!"
He Turned round In the Saddle And Looked towards The Spot On Which
Fitzpiers Had Fallen. To His Great Surprise He Beheld The Surgeon
Rise To His Feet With A Bound, As If Unhurt, And Walk Away Rapidly
Under The Trees.
Melbury Listened till The Rustle Of Fitzpiers'S Footsteps Died
Away. "It Might Have Been A Crime, But For The Mercy Of
Providence In providing leaves For His Fall," He Said To Himself.
And Then His Mind Reverted to The Words Of Fitzpiers, And His
Indignation So Mounted within Him That He Almost Wished the Fall
Had Put An End To The Young Man There And Then.
He Had Not Ridden Far When He Discerned his Own Gray Mare Standing
Under Some Bushes. Leaving darling for A Moment, Melbury Went
Forward And Easily Caught The Younger Animal, Now Disheartened at
Its Freak. He Then Made The Pair Of Them Fast To A Tree, And
Part 2 Chapter 10 Pg 57Turning back, Endeavored to Find Some Trace Of Fitzpiers, Feeling
Pitifully That, After All, He Had Gone Further Than He Intended
With The Offender.
But Though He Threaded the Wood Hither And Thither, His Toes
Ploughing layer After Layer Of The Little Horny Scrolls That Had
Once Been Leaves, He Could Not Find Him. He Stood Still Listening
And Looking round. The Breeze Was Oozing through The Network Of
Boughs As Through A Strainer; The Trunks And Larger Branches Stood
Against The Light Of The Sky In the Forms Of Writhing men,
Gigantic Candelabra, Pikes, Halberds, Lances, And Whatever Besides
The Fancy Chose To Make Of Them. Giving up The Search, Melbury
Came Back To The Horses, And Walked slowly Homeward, Leading one
In Each Hand.
It Happened that On This Self-Same Evening a Boy Had Been
Returning from Great To Little Hintock About The Time Of
Fitzpiers'S And Melbury'S Passage Home Along That Route. A Horse-
Collar That Had Been Left At The Harness-Mender'S To Be Repaired
Was Required for Use At Five O'Clock
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