Wives and Daughters

he had left his horse - when the kitchen door opened, and the girl who was underling in the establishment, came quickly into the hall with a note in her hand, and made as if she was ta

of her. As it was, he stepped quickly forwards, opened the kitchen door, an

e,' he said. She

s Molly,' she

before. She looked as if she would cry; but sti

into her own hands; and I p

iss Molly. Tell her

it into the fire, but she had not presence of mind enough. She stood immovable, only h

u were at home,' said in

rd. Here is Miss Moll

ss, I could

need not read it. Give it to me. Tell those who sent you, Bethia, that all letters for Miss Mol

you tell me who my

about that,

a flaming love-letter from Mr. Coxe; who professed himself unable to go on seeing her day after day without speaking to her of the passion she had inspired - an 'eternal passion,' he called it; on reading which Mr. Gibson laughed a little. Would she

onfession of his love," as he calls it. But it's an awful worry - to begin with lovers so early. Why, she's only just seventeen - not seventeen, indeed, till July; not for six weeks yet. Sixteen and three-quarters! Why, she's quite a baby. To be sure - poor Jeanie was not so old, and how I did love her! (Mrs. Gibson's name was Mary, so he must have been referring to someone else.)

strain, Mr. Gibson went and sat down at the

ter

to the quick,' said Mr. Gibson

cundiae

litatis Domes

entiae

nc dosim ter di

GIBS

e chose out an envelope, enclosed the fervid love-letter, and the above prescription; sealed it wi

to put him to unnecessary shame.' So the dire

ards he went back through the garden to the stables; and just as he had mounted his horse, he said to the stable-man - 'Oh! by the

the very last of the race. Still there were three years to be got over; and if this stupid passionate calf-love of his lasted, what was to be done? Sooner or later Molly would become aware of it. The contingencies of the affair were so excessively disagreeable to contemplate, that Mr. Gibson determined to dismiss the subject from his mind by a good strong effort. He put his horse to a gallop, and found that the violent shaking over the lanes - paved as they were with round stones, which had been dislocated by the wear and tear of a hundred years - was the very best thing for the spirits, if not for the bones. He made a long round that afternoon, and came back to his home imagining that the worst was over, and that Mr. Coxe would have taken the hint con

usually did. He remained where he was, pretending to read the newspaper, while Bethia, her face swelled up with crying, and with an aggrieved and offended aspect, remov

rather wanting to talk to you about

you - I would rather not sit down.' He, accordingly, stood in offended dignity.

ine - though, to be sure, patients are sometimes offended at being told the nature of their i

k you to pres

te through Bethia! Let me tell you it has cost her her

ir, to intercept it, and to open it, and

'I believe I was once considered tolerably good-looking, and I dare say I was as great a coxcomb as any one at twenty;

d Mr. Coxe, stammering over his words - he was going

excusable in consideration of your youth and extreme ignorance of what are considered the laws of domestic honour. I receiv

I never gave

e. You should always pay th

ed it corrupting with a

servants to risk her place, without offering her the slightest equivalent, b

you say so only the other day,' said Mr. Coxe, a

openly, "Mr. Gibson, I love - or I fancy that I love - your daughter; I do not think it right to conceal this from you, although unable to earn a penny; and with no prospect of an unassisted livelihood, even for myself, for several year

' said poor Mr. Coxe, in a hurry of anxiety, 'what would have

love until you had magnified it into a passion. And I dare say, to make up for the mortification I should have given you, I should have prescribed your joining the Hollingford Cricket Club, and set you at liberty as often as I could

,' said Mr. Coxe, startled i

ayal of confidence; for I trusted you, Edward, like a son of my own!' There was something in Mr. Gibson's voice when he spoke seriously, especially when he referred to any

is head a littl

n,' said he at length

I hope!' sai

replied Mr. Coxe. 'Mine was

say - if she wore blue spectacles at meal-times?

, Mr. Gibson. Do you forget tha

e Mr. Gibson's eyes; and

e about it. But I won't lose all respect for your father's son. If you will give me your word that, as long as you remain a member of my family - pupil, apprentice, what you will - you won't again try to disclose your passion - you see, I am careful to take your view of what I

stood i

r Miss Gibson, sir. He and I h

default of a Mr. Wynne, went to the reeds that grew on the shores of a neighbouring lake, and whispered to them, "King Midas has the ears of an ass." But he repeated it so often that the reeds lear

gentleman, sir, I pledge

e may be breathed upon, and sullied. Molly has no mother, and for that v

I'll swear it on the Bible,'

worth anything, was not enough! We'l

y, and almost squeezed Mr. G

said, a little uneasily, 'May

another word to her while she is here. I shall see t

e attended all the gentry within a circle of fifteen miles round Hollingford; and was the appointed doctor to the still greater families who went up to London every February - as the fashion then was - and returned to their acres in the early weeks of July. He was, of necessity, a great deal from home, and on this soft and pleasant summer evening he felt the absence as a great evil. He was startled into discovering that his little

not when he may, when he will he shall have nay." A

be sent out to ramble in the gardens, or told to read when the invalid was too much fatigued for conversation; and yet one whose youth and freshness would

voice. 'She may find it dull being with old people, like the squire and me, from morn

ot want his little Molly to be passing from Scylla to Charybdis; and, as he afterwards scoffed at h

think necessary, or how long they may take. You'll remember she is a little ignoramus, and has had no . . . no training in etique

arty hospitality, when his pride did not interfere with its gratification; and he was delighted to think of his sick wife's having such an agreeable companion

had?' asked his

of Hamley; not a family in the shire is as old as we are, or settled on their ground so well. Osborne may marry where he likes. If Lord Hollingford had a daughter, Osborne would h

Osborne had bet

some minutes. 'And as for Roger,' he continued, unconscious of the flutter he had put her into, 'he'll have to make his own way, and earn

e by way of concealing her palpitation than anything

is gaining five hundred a year by the time he's thirty, he shall not choose a wife with ten thousand pounds down; but I do say, if a boy of mine, with only two hundred a year - w

hole happiness depended upon their marryin

with any one else; but that's a different thing. People are not like what they were when we were

until the morning of the day on which Mrs. Hamley expected her. Then he said - 'By the way, Molly! you are to go to Hamley this afte

ur head - some mystery, or something. Please, tell me what it is. Go to Hamley for

lked before you put your feet to the gr

ook out of my hands before I could even see the writing of the direction.' She f

d said - 'You're

er since that day - Thursday, was it not? You've gone about in a kind of thoughtful perplexed way, just like a conspirator. Tell me, pa

ve been rather pleased than otherwise, although it would have put him into a great perplexity; but he

ust now I am so startled by the suddenness of the affair, I have not considered whether

has a great pair of scissors in her hands, and wants - as she always does, when any difficulty arises in the smoothness of the thread - to cut it off short; but the third, who has the most head of the three, plans how to undo th

you are only making me more curio

en I tell you this much, I expect you to be an honourable girl, and to try and not even conjecture what the reason may

question. I have had no new gowns this year, and I have outgrown all my last summer frocks. I have

ave got on, won't it? It

oing to dance) 'it's made of woollen, and so hot a

. 'How is a man to know when his daughter wants clothes? and how is he to rig h

estion!' said Moll

Does not she keep ready-made

, in some surprise; for Miss Rose was the great dressmaker and milli

iss anybody's, and get what you want at once. The Hamley carriage is to come for you at two, and anything that is not quite ready, can easily be sent by their cart on Saturday, when some of their people always come to market. Nay, don't thank me! I don't want to have the mo

again; and though my honourableness is very strong, I won't promise that

pounds. What did I give it y

days - by which was understood afternoons and Sundays - Miss Rose persuaded her to order a gay-coloured, flimsy plaid silk, which she assured her was quite the latest fashion in London, and which Molly thought would please her father's Scotch blood. But when he saw the scrap

or twice in the street, but he did not cross over the way when he was on the opposite side - only gave her a look or a nod, and

goes on with his imaginary fancy. She'll have to come back some time, and if he chooses to imagine himsel

er any

r a daughter.'<