She fancied her
husband, with all the fetters removed that had hampered his footsteps
hitherto, winning a name and a place in the world. It is so natural for a
romantic inexperienced girl to believe that the man she loves was born to
achieve greatness; and that if he misses distinction, it is from the
perversity of his surroundings or from his own carelessness, never from
the fact of his being only a very small creature after all.
It was broad daylight when Marian rose after an hour of sleeplessness and
thought, and refreshed herself with the contents of the cracked water-jug
upon the rickety little wash-stand. The old man was still asleep when she
went back to his room; but his breathing was more troubled than it had
been the night before, and the widow, who was experienced in sickness and
death, told Marian that he would not last very long. The shopman, Luke
Tulliver, had come upstairs to see his master, and was hovering over the
bed with a ghoulish aspect. This young man looked very sharply at Marian
as she came into the room--seemed indeed hardly able to take his eyes
from her face--and there was not much favour in his look. He knew who she
was, and had been told how kindly the old man had taken to her in those
last moments of his life; and he hated her with all his heart and soul,
having devoted all the force of his mind for the last ten years to the
cultivation of his employer's good graces, hoping that Mr.
Pages:
273
274
275
276
277
278
279
280
281
282
283
284
285
286
287
288
289
290
291
292
293
294
295
296
297