To her it was an
episode of the morning's ride, almost forgotten at dinner-time. To him
it marked the boundary line between the old things and the new.
CHAPTER II
A STRANGE BETROTHAL
The room had all the chilly discomfort of the farmhouse parlour, unused,
save on state occasions--a funereal gloom which no sunlight could
pierce, a mustiness which savoured almost of the grave. One by one they
obeyed the stern forefinger of Gideon Strong, and took their seats on
comfortless chairs and the horse-hair sofa. First came John Magee,
factor and agent to the Earl of Cumberland, a great man in the district,
deacon of the chapel, slow and ponderous in his movements. A man of few
words but much piety. After him, with some hesitation as became his
lowlier station, came William Bull, six days in the week his master's
shepherd and faithful servant, but on the seventh an elder of the
chapel, a person of consequence and dignity. Then followed Joan and
Cicely Strong together, sisters in the flesh, but as far apart in kin
and the spirit as the poles of humanity themselves. And lastly, Douglas
Guest. At the head of his shining mahogany table, with a huge Bible
before him on which rested the knuckle of one clenched hand, stood
Gideon Strong, the master of Feldwick Hall Farm.
Pages:
1
2
3
4
5
6
7
8
9
10
11
12
13
14
15
16
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25