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Updated: June 4, 2025
Other men had flattered her, and she had smiled, knowing what their compliments were worth, but she could not smile now. Then she roused herself and went in quietly. Festing met her next morning while the sun rose above the rounded masses of the beech wood, and entering a dewy pasture they skirted a fence half-smothered in briars.
"Ah," said Charnock, "you're an uncompromising fellow. You meant that if you'd had my debts and difficulties, you could have made good?" "I might; but we both know two or three other men whom I'd have backed to do so." "For all that, you'll admit that the thing was impossible for me?" Festing knitted his brows.
She knew her mistake as she saw the change in Festing's look, and weakly turned her head. When she looked back it was too late. His hands were clenched and his gaze was fixed. "I I didn't quite mean that," she faltered. "Anyhow, it's true," said Festing quietly. "The farm is yours as well, and I admit you have no grounds for being satisfied with the way I've managed your property.
Festing sent half the men to cut this portion away, and the others up the hill to haul posts for the snowshed to the top of the slides. It was obvious that a very heavy weight rested on the buried work, but the pressure was uniform, unlike the jarring of a train, and he did not feel disturbed.
Festing put down his pipe and looked at her with surprise. "You don't seem to understand that I'll have to work harder than before." "I don't understand," said Helen, taking away her hand. "To begin with, it's impossible; then I'd hoped the loss of money, serious as it is, would have made you cautious and, in a sense, more content." "You hoped the loss of the money !" Festing exclaimed.
After a short struggle he got his head out, and finding that he was thinly covered, made an effort to extricate himself. When he had done so, he saw the men some distance up the bank. They were all there except Festing, but he noticed a heap of big stones and broken beams close by. "Back here, boys! The boss is underneath!" he shouted, and threw himself upon the stones as the others ran up.
It was not exactly disturbing, because Festing had, to some extent, foreseen the line the superintendent would take; but a post to which he thought he had a claim had been offered to somebody else.
"I don't feel particularly happy," Charnock replied. "In fact, the reckoning I've just made looks very like a notice to quit." He threw Festing a paper and swept the others into a drawer. "You might examine the calculations and see if they're right. I'm not fond of figures." "That was obvious long since. However, if you'll keep quiet for a few minutes "
When he and Sadie had gone Festing frowned as he glanced at his watch. "It's too late to finish the job I wanted to do tonight," he said, and indicated the dark figures of a man and horses silhouetted against the sunset on the crest of the rise. "There's Jules coming home. He couldn't get on without me." Helen pretended not to notice his annoyance.
All the same, the fellow might amuse himself by mild indulgence in romantic sentiment. He was a fool and a slacker, and had now humiliated Helen for the second time. The longer Festing thought about it, the angrier he got, and when he roused himself as the horses plunged down the side of a ravine he was surprised to note how far he had gone.
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