’Why，yousee，mylove，’saidhe，againtakingherhand，’thatyouareinaveryawkwardposition—agirlgrowingupinsuchafamilyasmine—youngmen—whichwasapieceofconfoundedstupidityonmypart。AndIamobligedtobeawaysomuch。’’ButthereisMissEyre，’saidshe，sickwiththestrengtheningindefinitepresageofwhatwastocome。’DearMissEyre，Iwantnothingbutherandyou。’’StilltherearetimeslikethepresentwhenMissEyrecannotbewithyou；
herhomeisnotwithus；shehasotherduties。I’vebeeningreatperplexityforsometime；butatlastI’vetakenastepwhichwill，Ihope，makeusbothhappier。’’You’regoingtobemarriedagain，’saidshe，helpinghimout，withaquietdryvoice，andgentlydrawingherhandoutofhis。’Yes。ToMrsKirkpatrick—yourememberher？TheycallherClareattheTowers。Yourecollecthowkindshewastoyouthatdayyouwereleftthere？’Shedidnotanswer。Shecouldnottellwhatwordstouse。Shewasafraidofsayinganything，lestthepassionofanger，dislike，indignation—whateveritwasthatwasboilingupinherbreast—shouldfindventincriesandscreams，orworse，inragingwordsthatcouldneverbeforgotten。Itwasasifthepieceofsolidgroundonwhichshestoodhadbrokenfromtheshore，andshewasdriftingouttotheinfiniteseaalone。MrGibsonsawthathersilencewasunnatural，andhalf—guessedatthecauseofit。Butheknewthatshemusthavetimetoreconcileherselftotheidea，andstillbelievedthatitwouldbeforhereventualhappiness。Hehad，besides，thereliefoffeelingthatthesecretwastold，theconfidencemade，whichhehadbeendreadingforthelasttwenty—fourhours。Hewentonrecapitulatingalltheadvantagesofthemarriage；heknewthemoffbyheartnow。’She’saverysuitableageforme。Idon’tknowhowoldsheisexactly，butshemustbenearlyforty。Ishouldn’thavewishedtomarryanyoneyounger。She’shighlyrespectedbyLordandLadyCumnorandtheirfamily，whichisofitselfacharacter。Shehasveryagreeableandpolishedmanners—ofcourse，fromthecirclesshehasbeenthrowninto—andyouandI
，goosey，areapttobealittlebrusque，orso；wemustbrushupourmannersnow。’Noremarkfromheronthislittlebitofplayfulness。Hewenton，—’Shehasbeenaccustomedtohousekeeping—economicalhousekeeping，too—foroflateyearsshehashadaschoolatAshcombe，andhashad，ofcourse，toarrangeallthingsforalargefamily。Andlast，butnotleast，shehasadaughter—aboutyourage，Molly—who，ofcourse，willcomeandlivewithus，andbeanicecompanion—asister—foryou。’Stillshewassilent。Atlengthshesaid，—’SoIwassentoutofthehousethatallthismightbequietlyarrangedinmyabsence？’Outofthebitternessofherheartshespoke，butshewasrousedoutofherassumedimpassivenessbytheeffectproduced。Herfatherstartedup，andquicklylefttheroom，sayingsomethingtohimself—what，shecouldnothear，thoughsheranafterhim，followedhimthroughdarkstonepassages，intotheglareofthestable—yard，intothestables—’Oh，papa，papa—I’mnotmyself—Idon’tknowwhattosayaboutthishateful—detestable——’Heledhishorseout。Shedidnotknowifhebeardherwords。Justashemounted，heturnedrounduponherwithagreygrimface，—’Ithinkit’sbetterforbothofus，formetogoawaynow。Wemaysaythingsdifficulttoforget。Wearebothmuchagitated。Byto—morrowweshallbemorecomposed；youwillhavethoughtitover，andhaveseenthattheprincipal—onegreatmotive，Imean—wasyourgood。YoumaytellMrsHamley—Imeanttohavetoldhermyself。Iwillcomeagainto—morrow。
Good—by，Molly。’Formanyminutesafterhehadriddenaway—longafterthesoundofhishorse’shoofsontheroundstonesofthepavedlane，beyondthehome—meadows，haddiedaway—Mollystoodthere，shadinghereyes，andlookingattheemptyspaceofairinwhichhisformhadlastappeared。Herverybreathseemedsuspended；only，twoorthreetimes，afterlongintervalsshedrewamiserablesigh，whichwascaughtupintoasob。Sheturnedwayatlast，butcouldnotgointothehouse，couldnottellMrsHamley，couldnotforgethowherfatherhadlookedandspoken—andlefther。Shewentoutbyaside—door—itwasthewaybywhichthegardenerspassedwhentheytookthemanureintothegarden—andthewalktowhichitledwasconcealedfromsightasmuchaspossiblebyshrubsandevergreensandover—archingtrees。Noonewouldknowwhatbecameofher，and，withtheingratitudeofmisery，sheaddedtoherself，noonewouldcare。MrsHamleyhadherownhusband，herownchildren，herclosehomeinterests—shewasverygoodandkind，buttherewasabittergriefinMolly’sheart，withwhichthestrangercouldnotintermeddle。Shewentquicklyontothebournewhichshehadfixedforherself—aseatalmostsurroundedbythedroopingleavesofaweeping—ash—aseatonthelongbroadterracewalkontheothersideofthewood，thatoverlookedthepleasantslopeofthemeadowsbeyond；thewalkhadprobablybeenmadetocommandthissunny，peacefullandscape，withtrees，andachurchspire，twoorthreered—tiledroofsofoldcottages，andapurplebitofrisinggroundinthedistance；andatsomepreviousdate，whentheremighthavebeenalargefamilyofHamleysresidingatthehall，ladiesinhoops，andgentlemeninbag—wigswithswordsbytheirsides，mighthavefilledupthebreadthoftheterrace，astheysauntered，smiling，along。Butnooneevercaredtosauntertherenow。
Itwasadesertedwalk。Thesquireorhissonsmightcrossitinpassingtoalittlegatethatledtothemeadowbeyond；butnooneloiteredthere。