The Woodlanders Part 2, Thomas Hardy [e textbook reader txt] 📗
- Author: Thomas Hardy
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Place Proved to Be A Wretched little Shelter Of The Roughest Kind,
Formed of Four Hurdles Thatched with Brake-Fern. Underneath Were
Dry Sticks, Hay, And Other Litter Of The Sort, Upon Which He Sat
Down; And There In the Dark Tried to Eat His Meal. But His
Appetite Was Quite Gone. He Pushed the Plate Aside, And Shook Up
The Hay And Sacks, So As To Form A Rude Couch, On Which He Flung
Himself Down To Sleep, For It Was Getting late.
But Sleep He Could Not, For Many Reasons, Of Which Not The Least
Was Thought Of His Charge. He Sat Up, And Looked towards The Cot
Through The Damp Obscurity. With All Its External Features The
Same As Usual, He Could Scarcely Believe That It Contained the
Dear Friend--He Would Not Use A Warmer Name--Who Had Come To Him
So Unexpectedly, And, He Could Not Help Admitting, So Rashly.
He Had Not Ventured to Ask Her Any Particulars; But The Position
Was Pretty Clear Without Them. Though Social Law Had Negatived
Forever Their Opening paradise Of The Previous June, It Was Not
Without Stoical Pride That He Accepted the Present Trying
Conjuncture. There Was One Man On Earth In whom She Believed
Part 2 Chapter 16 Pg 97Absolutely, And He Was That Man. That This Crisis Could End In
Nothing but Sorrow Was A View For A Moment Effaced by This
Triumphant Thought Of Her Trust In him; And The Purity Of The
Affection With Which He Responded to That Trust Rendered him More
Than Proof Against Any Frailty That Besieged him In relation To
Her.
The Rain, Which Had Never Ceased, Now Drew His Attention By
Beginning to Drop Through The Meagre Screen That Covered him. He
Rose To Attempt Some Remedy For This Discomfort, But The Trembling
Of His Knees And The Throbbing of His Pulse Told Him That In his
Weakness He Was Unable To Fence Against The Storm, And He Lay Down
To Bear It As Best He Might. He Was Angry With Himself For His
Feebleness--He Who Had Been So Strong. It Was Imperative That She
Should Know Nothing of His Present State, And To Do That She Must
Not See His Face By Daylight, For Its Color Would Inevitably
Betray Him.
The Next Morning, Accordingly, When It Was Hardly Light, He Rose
And Dragged his Stiff Limbs About The Precincts, Preparing for Her
Everything she Could Require For Getting breakfast Within. On The
Bench Outside The Window-Sill He Placed water, Wood, And Other
Necessaries, Writing with A Piece Of Chalk Beside Them, "It Is
Best That I Should Not See You. Put My Breakfast On The Bench."
At Seven O'Clock He Tapped at Her Window, As He Had Promised,
Retreating at Once, That She Might Not Catch Sight Of Him. But
From His Shelter Under The Boughs He Could See Her Very Well,
When, In response To His Signal, She Opened the Window And The
Light Fell Upon Her Face. The Languid Largeness Of Her Eyes
Showed that Her Sleep Had Been Little More Than His Own, And The
Pinkness Of Their Lids, That Her Waking hours Had Not Been Free
From Tears.
She Read The Writing, Seemed, He Thought, Disappointed, But Took
Up The Materials He Had Provided, Evidently Thinking him Some Way
Off. Giles Waited on, Assured that A Girl Who, In spite Of Her
Culture, Knew What Country Life Was, Would Find No Difficulty In
The Simple Preparation Of Their Food.
Within The Cot It Was All Very Much As He Conjectured, Though
Grace Had Slept Much Longer Than He. After The Loneliness Of The
Night, She Would Have Been Glad To See Him; But Appreciating his
Feeling when She Read The Writing, She Made No Attempt To Recall
Him. She Found Abundance Of Provisions Laid In, His Plan Being to
Replenish His Buttery Weekly, And This Being the Day After The
Victualling van Had Called from Sherton. When The Meal Was Ready,
She Put What He Required outside, As She Had Done With The Supper;
And, Notwithstanding her Longing to See Him, Withdrew From The
Window Promptly, And Left Him To Himself.
It Had Been A Leaden Dawn, And The Rain Now Steadily Renewed its
Fall. As She Heard No More Of Winterborne, She Concluded that He
Had Gone Away To His Daily Work, And Forgotten That He Had
Promised to Accompany Her To Sherton; An Erroneous Conclusion, For
He Remained all Day, By Force Of His Condition, Within Fifty Yards
Of Where She Was. The Morning wore On; And In her Doubt When To
Start, And How To Travel, She Lingered yet, Keeping the Door
Part 2 Chapter 16 Pg 98Carefully Bolted, Lest An Intruder Should Discover Her. Locked in
This Place, She Was Comparatively Safe, At Any Rate, And Doubted
If She Would Be Safe Elsewhere.
The Humid Gloom Of An Ordinary Wet Day Was Doubled by The Shade
And Drip Of The Leafage. Autumn, This Year, Was Coming in with
Rains. Gazing, In her Enforced idleness, From The One Window Of
The Living-Room, She Could See Various Small Members Of The Animal
Community That Lived unmolested there--Creatures Of Hair, Fluff,
And Scale, The Toothed kind And The Billed kind; Underground
Creatures, Jointed and Ringed--Circumambulating the Hut, Under The
Impression That, Giles Having gone Away, Nobody Was There; And
Eying it Inquisitively With A View To Winter-Quarters. Watching
These Neighbors, Who Knew Neither Law Nor Sin, Distracted her A
Little From Her Trouble; And She Managed to While Away Some
Portion Of The Afternoon By Putting giles'S Home In order And
Making little Improvements Which She Deemed that He Would Value
When She Was Gone.
Once Or Twice She Fancied that She Heard A Faint Noise Amid The
Trees, Resembling a Cough; But As It Never Came Any Nearer She
Concluded that It Was A Squirrel Or A Bird.
At Last The Daylight Lessened, And She Made Up A Larger Fire For
The Evenings Were Chilly. As Soon As It Was Too Dark--Which Was
Comparatively Early--To Discern The Human Countenance In this
Place Of Shadows, There Came To The Window To Her Great Delight, A
Tapping which She Knew From Its Method To Be Giles'S.
She Opened the Casement Instantly, And Put Out Her Hand To Him,
Though She Could Only Just Perceive His Outline. He Clasped her
Fingers, And She Noticed the Heat Of His Palm And Its Shakiness.
"He Has Been Walking fast, In order To Get Here Quickly," She
Thought. How Could She Know That He Had Just Crawled out From The
Straw Of The Shelter Hard By; And That The Heat Of His Hand Was
Feverishness?
"My Dear, Good Giles!" She Burst Out, Impulsively.
"Anybody Would Have Done It For You," Replied winterborne, With As
Much Matter-Of-Fact As He Could Summon.
"About My Getting to Exbury?" She Said.
"I Have Been Thinking," Responded giles, With Tender Deference,
"That You Had Better Stay Where You Are For The Present, If You
Wish Not To Be Caught. I Need not Tell You That The Place Is
Yours As Long As You Like; And Perhaps In a Day Or Two, Finding
You Absent, He Will Go Away. At Any Rate, In two Or Three Days I
Could Do Anything to Assist--Such As Make Inquiries, Or Go A Great
Way Towards Sherton-Abbas With You; For The Cider Season Will Soon
Be Coming on, And I Want To Run Down To The Vale To See How The
Crops Are, And I Shall Go By The Sherton Road. But For A Day Or
Two I Am Busy Here." He Was Hoping that By The Time Mentioned he
Would Be Strong Enough To Engage Himself Actively On Her Behalf.
"I Hope You Do Not Feel Over-Much Melancholy In being a Prisoner?"
Part 2 Chapter 16 Pg 99She Declared that She Did Not Mind It; But She Sighed.
From Long Acquaintance They Could Read Each Other'S Heart-Symptoms
Like Books Of Large Type. "I Fear You Are Sorry You Came," Said
Giles, "And That You Think I Should Have Advised you More Firmly
Than I Did Not To Stay."
"Oh No, Dear, Dear Friend," Answered grace, With A Heaving bosom.
"Don'T Think That That Is What I Regret. What I Regret Is My
Enforced treatment Of You--Dislodging you, Excluding you From Your
Own House. Why Should I Not Speak Out? You Know What I Feel For
You--What I Have Felt For No Other Living man, What I Shall Never
Feel For A Man Again! But As I Have Vowed myself To Somebody Else
Than You, And Cannot Be Released, I Must Behave As I Do Behave,
And Keep That Vow. I Am Not Bound To Him By Any Divine Law, After
What He Has Done; But I Have Promised, And I Will Pay."
The Rest Of The Evening was Passed in his Handing her Such Things
As She Would Require The Next Day, And Casual Remarks Thereupon,
An Occupation Which Diverted her Mind To Some Degree From Pathetic
Views Of Her Attitude Towards Him, And Of Her Life In general.
The Only Infringement--If Infringement It Could Be Called--Of His
Predetermined bearing towards Her Was An Involuntary Pressing of
Her Hand To His Lips When She Put It Through The Casement To Bid
Him Good-Night. He Knew She Was Weeping, Though He Could Not See
Her Tears.
She Again Entreated his Forgiveness For So Selfishly Appropriating
The Cottage. But It Would Only Be For A Day Or Two More, She
Thought, Since Go She Must.
He Replied, Yearningly, "I--I Don'T Like You To Go Away."
"Oh, Giles," Said She, "I Know--I Know! But--I Am A Woman, And You
Are A Man. I Cannot Speak More Plainly. 'Whatsoever Things Are
Pure, Whatsoever Things Are Of Good Report'--You Know What Is In
My Mind, Because You Know Me So Well."
"Yes, Grace, Yes. I Do Not At All Mean That The Question Between
Us Has Not Been Settled by The Fact Of Your Marriage Turning out
Hopelessly Unalterable. I Merely Meant--Well, A Feeling no More."
"In A Week, At The Outside, I Should Be Discovered if I Stayed
Here: And I Think That By Law He Could Compel Me To Return To
Him."
"Yes; Perhaps You Are Right. Go When You Wish, Dear Grace."
His Last Words That Evening were A Hopeful Remark That All Might
Be Well With Her Yet; That Mr. Fitzpiers Would Not Intrude Upon
Her Life, If He Found That His Presence Cost Her So Much Pain.
Then The Window Was Closed, The Shutters Folded, And The Rustle Of
His Footsteps Died away.
No Sooner Had She Retired to Rest
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