United States or Timor-Leste ? Vote for the TOP Country of the Week !
Simple and earnest have been the words of the sermon, simple and earnest seem the countenances of the congregation, looking reverently upwards at the face of their pastor; and one might fancy, contemplating that grand old church, so much too spacious for the needs of the little flock gathered there to-night, that Lidford was a forgotten, half-deserted corner of this earth, in which a man, tired of the press and turmoil of the world, might find an almost monastic solitude and calm.
During this second visit of his, therefore, Marian came very often to Lidford House; sometimes accompanied by her uncle, sometimes alone; and there was perfect harmony between the elder and younger lady. The partridges upon Martin Lister's estate did not suffer much damage from his brother-in-law's gun that autumn.
There remained only one person whom he could question, and that was the old servant who had lived with Captain Sedgewick nearly all the time of his residence at Lidford, and whom Gilbert had conciliated by numerous gifts during his visits to Hazel Cottage. She was a good-humoured honest creature, of about fifty, and had been devoted to the Captain and Marian.
Gilbert would have had no objection to loiter away another half-hour in the bow-window, talking politics with the Captain, or light literature with Miss Nowell, but he knew that his prolonged absence must have already caused some amount of wonder at Lidford House; so he held firmly to his good-night, shook hands with his new friends, holding Marian Nowell's soft slender hand in his for the first time, and wondering at the strange magic of her touch, and then went out into the dreamy atmosphere of the summer night a changed creature.
The sick-room and the dark shadow of coming death brought back the thought of that bitter time when her uncle was lying unconscious and speechless in the pretty room at Lidford, with the wintry light shining coldly upon his stony face; while she sat by his pillow, watching him in hopeless silent agony, waiting for that dread change which they had told her was the only change that could come to him on earth.
A wild free life in the wilderness must be a happy exchange for all the petty worries and perplexities of this cursed existence." "And how about Mrs. Branston, John? By the way, I thought that she might have had something to do with your sudden journey to London." "No; she had nothing to do with it. I have not seen her since I came back from Lidford." "Indeed!" "No.
I want to be sure that Marian Nowell is happy, and in safe hands." "By what means do you hope to discover this?" "I rely a good deal upon repeated advertisements in the Times. They may bring me tidings of Marian if not directly, from some person who has seen her since she left Lidford." "If she really wished to hide herself from you, she would most likely change her name."
Gilds of bakers, of weavers, of mercers, of fullers, of butchers, goldsmiths, pepperers, clothiers, and pilgrims appeared in London, York, Gloucester, Nottingham, even in little boroughs such as that of St. Edmunds; while in distant Cornwall, Totnes, Lidford, and Bodmin set up their gilds. How Henry regarded the movement it is hard to say.
So thought a gentleman in the Squire's pew a good-looking man of about thirty, who was finishing his first Sunday at Lidford by devout attendance at evening service.
Granted that she wished to escape from her engagement, she might have trusted to my honour to give her a prompt release the moment I became acquainted with the real state of her feelings. There must have been some stronger influence than this at work when she left Lidford. I want to know the true cause of that hurried departure, John.
Word Of The Day