Aunt Rachel / A Rustic Sentimental Comedy

sunshine had thrown itself broadly down to sleep about the tranquil fields. Heydon Hay was undisturbed by the presence of a single convent

opportunity to gather in knots about the lich-gate, or between it and the porch, where they exchange

e carried smaller green bags, and while they and Fuller exchanged greetings, Sennacherib and Isaiah appeared in different directions, each with a baize-clothed fiddle tucked beneath his arm. The church of Heydon Hay boasted a string band of such excellence that on special occasions people flocked from all the surrounding parishes to listen to i

their hats as he walked leisurely along, the female villagers bobbed courtesies at him, and the children raced before him to do him a sort of processional reverence. This simple incense was pleasant enough, for he had spent most of his time in larger places than He

t when he reached the lich-gate he was altogether friendly with Ful

ome of the local people were in favor of an organ for the church, and had

Sennacherib. "Parson kn

the band as being quite a part of the church, and s

y'd got it, theer's some on 'em as 'ud niver be content ti

hat kind of organ, Mr. Eld,

ess as could mek 'em want it at all. The Lord's made 'em a bit better off than their neighbors,

rrendered to him some moments before, shook his fat ribs at this so heartily that Sennacherib

re upon your audienc

got," said the mild Isaiah. "Touches no

nt and made a forward step, with his

ning, Mis

own aplomb and self-possession, but he felt now a curious flutt

vulgarians differed in no way from her manner in shaking hands with him. This in itself was a renewal of that calm, inexplicable disdain with which the girl had treated him from the first. If rustic beauty had been fluttered at his magnificent pressure, he cou

f dove color, a demurely coquettish hat, and a bit of cherry-colored ribbon. Rustic beauty was not altogether disdainful of town-gro

her own good taste and her own supple fingers. The young gentleman might have been supposed to know, perhaps, that her greatest

n of the young Ferdina

with himself if he could, though it were only for a mom

half-smiling charge of Se

ight along with the vicar, and it appears as some o' the fools he k

idea," said Ferdinand. "There

ing with vivacity, and addressing Ferdinand. "Everybody would miss it

a handsome fellow," or "I am a clever fellow," or "I am a fellow of a good heart," but in face of Ferdinand's obvious admiration of Ruth and his evident desire to stand well in her graces he had sprung up at once to self-measurement, and had set himself shoulder to shoulder with the intruder for purposes of comparison. With all the good the love for a good woman does us, with all the wheat and oil and wine it brings for the nourishment of the loftier half of us, it must needs bring a foolish bitter weed or two, which being eaten disturb the stomach and summon singular apparitions. And when Reuben saw the girl of his heart in vivacious public talk with a young man of another social sphere he was quite naturally a great deal more perturbed than he need have been. The gentleman admired her, and it was not ou

Fuller, "as theer's been some talk o' breaking up the

t, half-scrutinizing look at Ferdinand, as if he charged

icar's time," returned Ferdinand. "Besides, his lord

passed like a sunbeam into the shadow of the porch. Fuller took up his 'cello in a big armful, and followed, with the brethren in his rear. Ferdinand, feeling Reuben's company to be distasteful

ardness grew up between them, and this was becoming acute when Ezra appeared, and af

of the building. Reuben valued his place because it gave him a constant sight of Ruth, and perhaps, though the fancy is certain of condemnation at the hands of some of the severer sort, the visible presence of the maiden, for whose sake he hoped for all possible excellences in himself, was no bad aid to devotion. She sat in a broad band of tinted sunlight with her profile towards her lover, looking to his natura

ould afford to please himself; but its duration, short as it was, gave Reuben ample time to be rejected and accepted a score of times over, and to gild the future with the rosiest or cloud it with the most tempestuous of colors. The Earl of Barfield, according to his custom, had arrived late, an

omenal time, and the twenty minutes' discourse dragged into an age. Even when the vicar at last lifted his eyes from the neatly ranged papers which lay on the pulpit cushion before him, laid down his glasses, and without pause or change of voice passed on to the benediction, and even when after the customary decent pause the outward movement of the congregation began, Reuben's impatience had still to be controlled, for it was the duty of the band to play a solemn selection fro

b, "how didst come to let your hand

uld disappear. His lordship, in view of the approaching election, was much more amiable and talkative than common, and he and his protégé stood exchanging talk upon indifferent topics with a little crowd of church-goers, but in a while the earl climbed slowly into the carriage. Ferdinand skipped nimbly after him and the two were driven away. Reuben, with hasty nods and good-morni

rner. Then to pause suddenly in the midst of so violent a hurry was in itself a plain proclamation of his intent, and his hot courage had so rapidly gone cold that the change of inward temperature carried

er own sex, and observed the situation with a delighted mischief. But this was changed, as swiftly as Reuben's emotions themselves, to a state of freezing disc

rl, blushing scarlet, and castin

Gold," said the terrible old lady. "

haken back into self-possession.

away, leaving Reuben shaken back into internal chaos. Ruth's blushing face and humid brown eyes were turned towards him

d herself thus ignominiously to be towed awa

dly. "They are bad, root and branch. I know them, my dear. That yo

, only half knowing what she sai

I can see quite clearly. I am experienced. I know the Golds. I ha

of her native spirit. "I am sure that there is no better man

to passion. "I know them; they are villains. Have nothing to do with any member of that family, my dear, as you value your happiness." She pinched her niece's arm tightly as she spoke, and for a little time they walked on in silence, Ruth not knowing what to say in answer to this outburst, but by no means convinced as yet of the villany either of Ezra or Reuben. "Now, my dear," Aunt

, "he has never made any advances,

ith this she stood up birdlike, and pecked affectionately at Ruth's rosy cheek. The girl was well-n

unt. But you are quit

lushed before the old lady's keen and triumphant smile. She moved away downcast, while Aunt Rachel took the opposite direction. The old lady wore a determined air whic