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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Judith Shakespeare, by William Black
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Judith Shakespeare
+       Her love affairs and other adventures
+
+Author: William Black
+
+Release Date: October 18, 2011 [EBook #37788]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK JUDITH SHAKESPEARE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Juliet Sutherland, Eleni Christofaki and the
+Online Distributed Proofreading Team at http://www.pgdp.net
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+Transcriber's Notes:
+
+
+Minor punctuation errors have been silently corrected. Variant spellings
+and hyphenations changed when there is a clear majority. Other variable
+and archaic spellings were retained. A list of the changes made can be
+found at the end of the book. Italics indicated by _underscores_.
+
+
+
+
+  JUDITH SHAKESPEARE
+
+  HER LOVE AFFAIRS AND OTHER ADVENTURES
+
+  By WILLIAM BLACK
+
+  Author of "A Daughter of Heth," "Madcap Violet," "A Princess of Thule,"
+  "White Wings," "Yolande," etc., etc.
+
+
+  A. L. BURT COMPANY, PUBLISHERS
+
+  NEW YORK
+
+
+
+
+JUDITH SHAKESPEARE.
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+AN ASSIGNATION.
+
+
+It was a fair, clear, and shining morning, in the sweet May-time of the
+year, when a young English damsel went forth from the town of
+Stratford-upon-Avon to walk in the fields. As she passed along by the
+Guild Chapel and the Grammar School, this one and the other that met her
+gave her a kindly greeting; for nearly every one knew her, and she was a
+favorite; and she returned those salutations with a frankness which
+betokened rather the self-possession of a young woman than the timidity
+of a girl. Indeed, she was no longer in the first sensitive dawn of
+maidenhood--having, in fact, but recently passed her five-and-twentieth
+birthday--but nevertheless there was the radiance of youth in the
+rose-leaf tint of her cheeks, and in the bright cheerfulness of her
+eyes. Those eyes were large, clear, and gray, with dark pupils and dark
+lashes; and these are a dangerous kind; for they can look demure, and
+artless, and innocent, when there is nothing in the mind of the owner of
+them but a secret mirth; and also--and alas!--they can effect another
+kind of concealment, and when the heart within is inclined to soft pity
+and yielding, they can refuse to confess to any such surrender, and can
+maintain, at the bidding of a wilful coquetry, an outward and obstinate
+coldness and indifference. For the rest, her hair, which was somewhat
+short and curly, was of a light and glossy brown, with a touch of
+sunshine in it; she had a good figure, for she came of a quite notably
+handsome family; she walked with a light step and a gracious carriage;
+and there were certain touches of style and color about her costume
+which showed that she did not in the least undervalue her appearance.
+And so it was "Good-morrow to you, sweet Mistress Judith," from this one
+and the other; and "Good-morrow, friend So-and-so," she would answer;
+and always she had the brightest of smiles for them as they passed.
+
+Well, she went along by the church, and over the foot-bridge spanning
+the Avon, and so on into the meadows lying adjacent to the stream. To
+all appearance she was bent on nothing but deliberate idleness, for she
+strayed this way and that, stooping to pick up a few wild flowers, and
+humming to herself as she went. On this fresh and clear morning the air
+seemed to be filled with sweet perfumes after the close atmosphere of
+the town; and if it was merely to gather daisies, and cuckoo-flowers,
+and buttercups, that she had come, she was obviously in no hurry about
+it. The sun was warm on the rich green grass; the swallows were dipping
+and flashing over the river; great humble-bees went booming by; and far
+away somewhere in the silver-clear sky a lark was singing. And she also
+was singing, as she strayed along by the side of the stream, picking
+here and there a speedwell, and here and there a bit of self-heal or
+white dead-nettle; if, indeed that could be called singing that was but
+a careless and unconscious recalling of snatches of old songs and
+madrigals. At one moment it was:
+
+    Why, say you so? Oh no, no, no;
+    Young maids must never a-wooing go.
+
+And again it was:
+
+    Come, blow thy horn, hunter!
+    Come, blow thy horn, hunter!
+    Come, blow thy horn, jolly hunter!
+
+And again it was:
+
+    For a morn in spring is the sweetest thing
+    Cometh in all the year!
+
+And in truth she could not have lit upon a sweeter morning than this
+was; just as a chance passer-by might have said to himself that he had
+never seen a pleasanter sight than this young English maiden presented
+as she went idly along the river-side, gathering wild flowers the while.
+
+But in course of time, when she came to a part of the Avon from which
+the bank ascended sharp and steep, and when she began to make her way
+along a narrow and winding foot-path that ascended through the
+wilderness of trees and bushes hanging on this steep bank, she became
+more circumspect. There was no more humming of songs; the gathering of
+flowers was abandoned, though here she might have added a wild hyacinth
+or two to her nosegay; she advanced cautiously, and yet with an
+affectation of carelessness; and she was examining, while pretending not
+to examine, the various avenues and open spaces in the dense mass of
+foliage before her. Apparently, however, this world of sunlight and
+green leaves and cool shadow was quite untenanted; there was no sound
+but that of the blackbird and the thrush; she wandered on without
+meeting any one. And then, as she had now arrived at a little dell or
+chasm in the wood, she left the foot-path, climbed up the bank, gained
+the summit, and finally, passing from among the bushes, she found
+herself in the open, at the corner of a field of young corn.
+
+Now if any one had noticed the quick and searching look that she flashed
+all around on the moment of her emerging from the brush-wood--the
+swiftness of lightning was in that rapid scrutiny--he might have had
+some suspicion as to the errand that had brought her hither; but in an
+instant her eyes had recovered their ordinary look of calm and
+indifferent observation. She turned to regard the wide landscape spread
+out below her; and the stranger, if he had missed that quick and eager
+glance, would have naturally supposed that she had climbed up through
+the wood to this open space merely to have a better view. And indeed
+this stretch of English-looking country was well worth the trouble,
+especially at this particular time of the year, when it was clothed in
+the fresh and tender colors of the spring-time; and it was with much
+seeming content that this young English maiden stood there and looked
+abroad over the prospect--at the placid river winding through the lush
+meadows; at the wooden spire of the church rising above the young
+foliage of the elms; at here and there in the town a red-tiled house
+visible among the thatched roofs and gray walls and orchards--these
+being all pale and ethereal and dream-like in the still sunshine of this
+quiet morning. It was a peaceful English-looking picture that ought to
+have interested her, however familiar it may have been; and perhaps it
+was only to look at it once more that she had made her way up hither;
+and also to breathe the cool sweet air of the open, and to listen to
+the singing of the birds, that seemed to fill the white wide spaces of
+the sky as far as ever she could hear.
+
+Suddenly she became aware that some one was behind her and near her, and
+instantly turning, she found before her an elderly man with a voluminous
+gray beard, who appeared to affect some kind of concealment by the way
+he wore his hat and his long cloak.
+
+"God save you, sweet lady!" he had said, almost before she turned.
+
+But if this stranger imagined that by his unlooked-for approach and
+sudden address he was likely to startle the young damsel out of her
+self-possession, he knew very little with whom he had to deal.
+
+"Good-morrow to you, good Master Wizard," said she, with perfect
+calmness, and she regarded him from head to foot with nothing beyond a
+mild curiosity. Indeed, it was rather he who was embarrassed. He looked
+at her with a kind of wonder--and admiration also; and if she had been
+sufficiently heedful and watchful she might have observed that his eyes,
+which were singularly dark, had a good deal of animation in them for one
+of his years. It was only after a second or so of this bewildered and
+admiring contemplation of her that he managed to say, in a grave and
+formal voice, something in praise of her courage in thus keeping the
+appointment he had sought.
+
+"Nay, good sir," said she, with much complacency, "trouble not yourself
+about me. There is no harm in going out to gather a few flowers in the
+field, surely. If there be any danger, it is rather you that have to
+fear it, for there is the pillory for them that go about the country
+divining for gold and silver."
+
+"It is for no such vain and idle purposes that I use my art," said he;
+and he regarded her with such an intensity of interest that sometimes he
+stumbled forgetfully in his speech, as if he were repeating a lesson but
+ill prepared, "It is for the revelation of the future to them that are
+born under fortunate planets. And you are one of these, sweet lady, or I
+would not have summoned you to a meeting that might have seemed perilous
+to one of less courage and good heart. If it please you to listen, I can
+forecast that that will befall you----"
+
+"Nay, good sir," said she, with a smile, "I have heard it frequently,
+though perhaps never from one so skilled. 'Tis but a question between
+dark and fair, with plenty of money and lands thrown in. For that
+matter, I might set up in the trade myself. But if you could tell me,
+now----"
+
+"If I were to tell you--if by my art I could show you," said he, with a
+solemnity that was at least meant to be impressive (though this young
+maid, with her lips inclining to a smile, and her inscrutable eyes, did
+not seem much awe-stricken)--"if I could convince you, sweet lady, that
+you shall marry neither dark nor fair among any of those that would now
+fain win you--and rumor says there be several of those--what then?"
+
+"Rumor?" she repeated, with the color swiftly mantling in her face. But
+she was startled, and she said, quickly, "What do you say, good wizard?
+Not any one that I know? What surety have you of that? Is it true? Can
+you show it to me? Can you assure me of it? Is your skill so great that
+you can prove to me that your prophecy is aught but idle guessing? No
+one that I have seen as yet, say you? Why," she added half to herself,
+"but that were good news for my gossip Prue."
+
+"My daughter," said this elderly person, in slow and measured tones, "it
+is not to all that the stars have been so propitious at their birth."
+
+"Good sir," said she, with some eagerness, "I beseech you to forgive me
+if I attend you not; but--but this is the truth, now, as to how I came
+in answer to your message to me. I will speak plain. Perchance rumor
+hath not quite belied herself. There may be one or two who think too
+well of me, and would have me choose him or him to be my lover;
+and--and--do you see now?--if there were one of those that I would fain
+have turn aside from idle thoughts of me and show more favor to my dear
+cousin and gossip Prudence Shawe--nay, but to tell the truth, good
+wizard, I came here to seek of your skill whether it could afford some
+charm and magic that would direct his heart to her. I have heard of such
+things----"
+
+And here she stopped abruptly, in some confusion, for she had in her
+eagerness admitted a half-belief in the possible power of his witchcraft
+which she had been careful to conceal before. She had professed
+incredulity by her very manner; she had almost laughed at his
+pretensions; she had intimated that she had come hither only out of
+curiosity; but now she had blundered into the confession that she had
+cherished some vague hope of obtaining a love-philtre, or some such
+thing, to transfer away from herself to her friend the affections of one
+of those suitors whose existence seemed to be so well known to the
+wizard. However, he soon relieved her from her embarrassment by assuring
+her that this that she demanded was far away beyond the scope of his
+art, which was strictly limited to the discovery and revelation of such
+secrets as still lay within the future.
+
+"And if so, good sir," said she, after a moment's reflection, "that were
+enough, or nearly enough, so that you can convince us of it."
+
+"To yourself alone, gracious lady," said he, "can I reveal that which
+will happen to you. Nay, more, so fortunate is the conjunction of the
+planets that reigned at your birth--the _ultimum supplicium auri_ might
+almost have been declared to you--that I can summon from the ends of the
+earth, be he where he may, the man that you shall hereafter marry, or
+soon or late I know not; if you will, you can behold him at such and
+such a time, at such and such a place, as the stars shall appoint."
+
+She looked puzzled, half incredulous and perplexed, inclined to smile,
+blushing somewhat, and all uncertain.
+
+"It is a temptation--I were no woman else," said she, with a laugh.
+"Nay, but if I can see him, why may not others? And if I can show them
+him who is to be my worshipful lord and master, why, then, my gossip
+Prue may have the better chance of reaching the goal where I doubt not
+her heart is fixed. Come, then, to prove your skill, good sir. Where
+shall I see him, and when? Must I use charms? Will he speak, think you,
+or pass as a ghost? But if he be not a proper man, good wizard, by my
+life I will have none of him, nor of your magic either."
+
+She was laughing now, and rather counterfeiting a kind of scorn; but she
+was curious; and she watched him with a lively interest as he took forth
+from a small leather bag a little folded piece of paper, which he
+carefully opened.
+
+"I cannot answer all your questions, my daughter," said he; "I can but
+proceed according to my art. Whether the person you will see may be
+visible to others I know not, nor can I tell you aught of his name or
+condition. Pray Heaven he be worthy of such beauty and gentleness; for I
+have heard of you, gracious lady, but rumor had but poor words to
+describe such a rarity and a prize."
+
+"Nay," said she, in tones of reproof (but the color had mounted to a
+face that certainly showed no sign of displeasure), "you speak like one
+of the courtiers now."
+
+"This charm," said he, dropping his eyes, and returning to his grave
+and formal tones, "is worth naught without a sprig of rosemary; that
+must you get, and you must place it within the paper in a threefold
+manner--thus; and then, when Sol and Luna are both in the
+descendant--but I forget me, the terms of my art are unknown to you; I
+must speak in the vulgar tongue; and meanwhile you shall see the charm,
+that there is nothing wicked or dangerous in it, but only the
+wherewithal to bring about a true lovers' meeting."
+
+He handed her the open piece of paper; but she, having glanced at the
+writing, gave it him back again.
+
+"I pray you read it to me," she said.
+
+He regarded her for a second with some slight surprise; but he took the
+paper, and read aloud, slowly, the lines written thereon:
+
+    "Dare you haunt our hallowed green?
+    None but fairies here are seen.
+            Down and sleep,
+            Wake and weep,
+    Pinch him black, and pinch him blue,
+    That seeks to steal a lover true,
+    When you come to hear us sing,
+    Or to tread our fairy ring,
+    Pinch him black, and pinch him blue--
+    Oh, thus our nails shall handle you!"
+
+"Why, 'tis like what my father wrote about Herne the Hunter," said she,
+with a touch of indifference; perhaps she had expected to hear something
+more weird and unholy.
+
+"Please you, forget not the rosemary; nothing will come of it else," he
+continued. "Then this you must take in your hand secretly, and when no
+one has knowledge of your outgoing; and when Luna--nay, but I mean when
+the moon has risen to-night so that, standing in the church-yard, you
+shall see it over the roof of the church, then must you go to the
+yew-tree that is in the middle of the church-yard, and there you shall
+scrape away a little of the earth from near the foot of the tree, and
+bury this paper, and put the earth firmly down on it again, saying
+thrice, _Hieronymo! Hieronymo! Hieronymo!_ You follow me, sweet lady?"
+
+"'Tis simple enough," said she, "but that on these fine evenings the
+people are everywhere about; and if one were to be seen conjuring in the
+church-yard----"
+
+"You must watch your opportunity, my daughter," said he, speaking with
+an increased assumption of authority. "One minute will serve you; and
+this is all that needs be done."
+
+"Truly? Is this all?" said she, and she laughed lightly. "Then will my
+gallant, my pride o' the world, my lord and master, forthwith spring out
+of the solid ground? God mend me, but that were a fearful meeting--in a
+church-yard! Gentle wizard, I pray you----"
+
+"Not so," he answered, interrupting her. "The charm will work there; you
+must let it rest; the night dews shall nourish it; the slow hours shall
+pass over it; and the spirits that haunt these precincts must know of
+it, that they may prepare the meeting. To-night, then, sweet lady, you
+shall place this charm in the church-yard at the foot of the yew-tree,
+and to-morrow at twelve of the clock----"
+
+"By your leave, not to-morrow," said she, peremptorily. "Not to-morrow,
+good wizard; for my father comes home to-morrow; and, by my life, I
+would not miss the going forth to meet him for all the lovers between
+here and London town!"
+
+"Your father comes home to-morrow, Mistress Judith?" said he, in
+somewhat startled accents.
+
+"In truth he does; and Master Tyler also, and Julius Shawe--there will
+be a goodly company, I warrant you, come riding to-morrow through
+Shipston and Tredington and Alderminster; and by your leave, reverend
+sir, the magic must wait."
+
+"That were easily done," he answered, after a moment's thought, "by the
+alteration of a sign, if the day following might find you at liberty.
+Will it so, gracious lady?"
+
+"The day after! At what time of the day?" she asked.
+
+"The alteration of the sign will make it but an hour earlier, if I
+mistake not; that is to say, at eleven of the forenoon you must be at
+the appointed place----"
+
+"Where, good wizard!" said she--"where am I to see the wraith, the
+ghost, the phantom husband that is to own me?"
+
+"That know I not myself as yet; but my aids and familiars will try to
+discover it for me," he answered, taking a small sun-dial out of his
+pocket and adjusting it as he spoke.
+
+"And with haste, so please you, good sir," said she, "for I would not
+that any chance comer had a tale of this meeting to carry back to the
+gossips."
+
+He stooped down and placed the sun-dial carefully on the ground, at a
+spot where the young corn was but scant enough on the dry red soil, and
+then with his forefinger he traced two or three lines and a semicircle
+on the crumbling earth.
+
+"South by west," said he, and he muttered some words to himself. Then he
+looked up. "Know you the road to Bidford, sweet lady?"
+
+"As well as I know my own ten fingers," she answered.
+
+"For myself, I know it not, but if my art is not misleading there should
+be, about a mile or more along that road, another road at right angles
+with it, bearing to the right, and there at the junction should stand a
+cross of stone. Is it so?"
+
+"'Tis the lane that leads to Shottery; well I know it," she said.
+
+"So it has been appointed, then," said he, "if the stars continue their
+protection over you. The day after to-morrow, at eleven of the forenoon,
+if you be within stone's-throw of the cross at the junction of the
+roads, there shall you see, or my art is strangely mistaken, the man or
+gentleman--nay, I know not whether he be parson or layman, soldier or
+merchant, knight of the shire or plain goodman Dick--I say there shall
+you see him that is to win you and wear you; but at what time you shall
+become his wife, and where, and in what circumstances, I cannot reveal
+to you. I have done my last endeavor."
+
+"Nay do not hold me ungrateful," she said, though there was a smile on
+her lips, "but surely, good sir, what your skill has done, that it can
+also undo. If it have power to raise a ghost, surely it has power to lay
+him. And truly, if he be a ghost, I will not have him. And if he be a
+man, and have a red beard, I will not have him. And if he be a
+slape-face, I will have none of him. And if he have thin legs, he may
+walk his ways for me. Good wizard, if I like him not, you must undo the
+charm."
+
+"My daughter, you have a light heart," said he, gravely. "May the
+favoring planets grant it lead you not into mischief; there be unseen
+powers that are revengeful. And now I must take my leave, gracious lady.
+I have given you the result of much study and labor, of much solitary
+communion with the heavenly bodies; take it, and use it with heed, and
+so fare you well."
+
+He was going, but she detained him.
+
+"Good sir, I am your debtor," said she, with the red blood mantling in
+her forehead, for all through this interview she had clearly recognized
+that she was not dealing with any ordinary mendicant fortune-teller.
+"So much labor and skill I cannot accept from you without becoming a
+beggar. I pray you----"
+
+He put up his hand.
+
+"Not so," said he, with a certain grave dignity. "To have set eyes on
+the fairest maid in Warwickshire--as I have heard you named--were surely
+sufficient recompense for any trouble; and to have had speech of you,
+sweet lady, is what many a one would venture much for. But I would
+humbly kiss your hand; and so again fare you well."
+
+"God shield you, most courteous wizard, and good-day," said she, as he
+left; and for a second she stood looking after him in a kind of wonder,
+for this extraordinary courtesy and dignity of manner were certainly not
+what she had expected to find in a vagabond purveyor of magic. But now
+he was gone, and she held the charm in her hand, and so without further
+ado she set out for home again, getting down through the brushwood to
+the winding path.
+
+She walked quickly, for she had heard that Master Bushell's daughter,
+who was to be married that day, meant to beg a general holiday for the
+school-boys; and she knew that if this were granted these sharp-eyed
+young imps would soon be here, there, and everywhere, and certain to spy
+out the wizard if he were in the neighborhood. But when she had got
+clear of this hanging copse, that is known as the Wier Brake, and had
+reached the open meadows, so that from any part around she could be seen
+to be alone, she had nothing further to fear, and she returned to her
+leisurely straying in quest of flowers. The sun was hotter on the grass
+now; but the swallows were busy as ever over the stream; and the great
+bees hummed aloud as they went past; and here and there a white
+butterfly fluttered from petal to petal; and, far away, she could hear
+the sound of children's voices in the stillness. She was in a gay mood.
+The interview she had just had with one in league with the occult powers
+of magic and witchery did not seem in the least to have overawed her.
+Perhaps, indeed, she had not yet made up her mind to try the potent
+charm that she had obtained; at all events the question did not weigh
+heavily on her. For now it was,
+
+    Oh, mistress mine, where are you roaming?
+
+and again it was,
+
+    For a morn in spring is the sweetest thing
+    Cometh in all the year!
+
+and always another touch of color added to the daintily arranged
+nosegay in her hand. And then, of a sudden, as she chanced to look
+ahead, she observed a number of the school-boys come swarming down to
+the foot-bridge; and she knew right well that one of them--to wit, young
+Willie Hart--would think a holiday quite thrown away and wasted if he
+did not manage to seek out and secure the company of his pretty cousin
+Judith.
+
+"Ah! there, now," she was saying to herself, as she watched the
+school-boys come over the bridge one by one and two by two, "there, now,
+is my sweetheart of sweethearts; there is my prince of lovers! If ever I
+have lover as faithful and kind as he, it will go well. 'Nay, Susan,'
+says he, 'I love you not; you kiss me hard, and speak to me as if I were
+still a child; I love Judith better.' And how cruel of my father to put
+him in the play, and to slay him so soon; but perchance he will call him
+to life again--nay, it is a favorite way with him to do that; and pray
+Heaven he bring home with him to-morrow the rest of the story, that Prue
+may read it to me. And so are you there, among the unruly imps, you
+young Prince Mamillius? Have you caught sight of me yet, sweetheart
+blue-eyes? Why, come, then; you will outstrip them all, I know, when you
+get sight of Cousin Judith; for as far off as yon are, you will reach me
+first, that I am sure of; and then, by my life, sweetheart Willie, you
+shall have a kiss as soft as a dove's breast!"
+
+And so she went on to meet them, arranging the colors of her straggling
+blossoms the while, with now and again a snatch of careless song:
+
+    Come, blow thy horn, hunter!
+    Come, blow thy horn, hunter!
+    Come, blow thy horn--jolly hunter!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+SIGNIOR CRAB-APPLE.
+
+
+There was much ado in the house all that day, in view of the home-coming
+on the morrow, and it was not till pretty late in the evening that
+Judith was free to steal out for a gossip with her friend and chief
+companion, Prudence Shawe. She had not far to go--but a couple of doors
+off, in fact; and her coming was observed by Prudence herself, who
+happened to be sitting at the casemented window for the better
+prosecution of her needle-work, there being still a clear glow of
+twilight in the sky. A minute or so thereafter the two friends were in
+Prudence's own chamber, which was on the first floor, and looking out to
+the back over barns and orchards; and they had gone to the window, to
+the bench there, to have their secrets together. This Prudence Shawe was
+some two years Judith's junior--though she really played the part of
+elder sister to her; she was of a pale complexion, with light
+straw-colored hair; not very pretty, perhaps, but she had a restful kind
+of face that invited friendliness and sympathy, of which she had a large
+abundance to give in return. Her custom was of a Puritanical plainness
+and primness, both in the fashion of it and in its severe avoidance of
+color; and that was not the only point on which she formed a marked
+contrast to this dear cousin and wilful gossip of hers, who had a way of
+pleasing herself (more especially if she thought she might thereby catch
+her father's eye) in apparel as in most other things. And on this
+occasion--at the outset at all events--Judith would not have a word said
+about the assignation of the morning. The wizard was dismissed from her
+mind altogether. It was about the home-coming of the next day that she
+was all eagerness and excitement; and her chief prayer and entreaty was
+that her friend Prudence should go with her to welcome the travellers
+home.
+
+"Nay, but you must and shall, dear Prue; sweet mouse, I beg it of you!"
+she was urging. "Every one at New Place is so busy that they have fixed
+upon Signior Crab-apple to ride with me; and you know I cannot suffer
+him; and I shall not have a word of my father all the way back, not a
+word; there will be nothing but a discourse about fools, and idle jests,
+and wiseman Matthew the hero of the day--"
+
+"Dear Judith, I cannot understand how you dislike the old man so," her
+companion said, in that smooth voice of hers. "I see no garden that is
+better tended than yours."
+
+"I would I could let slip the mastiff at his unmannerly throat!" was the
+quick reply--and indeed for a second she looked as if she would fain
+have seen that wish fulfilled. "The vanity of him!--the puffed-up pride
+of him.--he thinks there be none in Warwickshire but himself wise
+enough to talk to my father; and the way he dogs his steps if he be
+walking in the garden--no one else may have a word with him!--sure my
+father is sufficiently driven forth by the preachers and the
+psalm-singing within-doors that out-of-doors, in his own garden, he
+might have some freedom of speech with his own daughter--"
+
+"Judith, Judith," her friend said, and she put her hand on her arm, "you
+have such wilful thoughts, and wild words too. I am sure your father is
+free of speech with every one--gentle and simple, old and young, it
+matters not who it is that approaches him."
+
+"This Signior Crab-apple truly!" the other exclaimed, in the impetuosity
+of her scorn. "If his heart be as big as a crab-apple, I greatly doubt;
+but that it is of like quality I'll be sworn. And the bitterness of his
+railing tongue! All women are fools--vools he calls them, rather--first
+and foremost; and most men are fools; but of all fools there be none
+like the fools of Warwickshire--that is because my worshipful goodman
+gardener comes all the way from Bewdley. 'Tis meat and drink to him, he
+says, to discover a fool, though how he should have any difficulty in
+the discovering, seeing that we are all of us fools, passes my
+understanding. Nay, but I know what set him after that quarry; 'twas one
+day in the garden, and my father was just come home from London, and he
+was talking to my uncle Gilbert, and was laughing at what his friend
+Benjamin Jonson had said, or had written, I know not which. 'Of all
+beasts in the world,' says he, 'I love most the serious ass.' Then up
+steps goodman Matthew. 'There be plenty of 'em about 'ere, zur,' says
+he, with a grin on his face like that on a cat when a dog has her by the
+tail. And my father, who will talk to any one, as you say truly, and
+about anything, and always with the same attention, must needs begin to
+challenge goodman Crab-apple to declare the greatest fools that ever he
+had met with; and from that day to this the ancient sour-face hath been
+on the watch--and it suits well with his opinion of other people and his
+opinion of himself as the only wise man in the world--I say ever since
+he hath been on the watch for fools; and the greater the fool the
+greater his wisdom, I reckon, that can find him out. A purveyor of
+fools!--a goodly trade! I doubt not but that it likes him better than
+the tending of apricots when he has the free range of the ale-houses to
+work on. He will bring a couple of them into the garden when my father
+is in the summer-house. ''Ere, zur, please you come out and look 'ere,
+zur; 'ere be a brace of rare vools.' And the poor clowns are proud of
+it; they stand and look at each other and laugh. 'We be, zur--we be.'
+And then my father will say no, and will talk with them, and cheer them
+with assurance of their wisdom; then must they have spiced bread and ale
+ere they depart; and this is a triumph for Master Matthew--the withered,
+shrivelled, dried-up, cankered nutshell that he is!"
+
+"Dear Judith, pray have patience--indeed you are merely jealous."
+
+"Jealous!" she exclaimed, as if her scorn of this ill-conditioned old
+man put that well out of the question.
+
+"You think he has too much of your father's company, and you like it
+not; but consider of it, Judith, he being in the garden, and your father
+in the summer-house, and when your father is tired for the moment of his
+occupation, whatever that may be, then can he step out and speak to this
+goodman Matthew, that amuses him with his biting tongue, and with the
+self-sufficiency of his wisdom--nay, I suspect your father holds him to
+be a greater fool than any that he makes sport of, and that he loves to
+lead him on."
+
+"And why should my father have to be in the summer-house but that
+in-doors the wool-spinning is hardly more constant than the lecturing
+and the singing of psalms and hymns?"
+
+"Judith! Judith!" said her gentle friend, with real trouble on her face,
+"you grieve me when you talk like that--indeed you do, sweetheart! There
+is not a morning nor a night passes that I do not pray the Lord that
+your heart may be softened and led to our ways--nay, far from that, but
+to the Lord's own ways--and the answer will come; I have faith; I know
+it; and God send it speedily, for you are like an own sister to me, and
+my heart yearns over you!"
+
+The other sat silent for a second. She could not fail to be touched by
+the obvious sincerity, the longing kindness of her friend, but she would
+not confess as much in words.
+
+"As yet, sweet Prue," said she, lightly, "I suppose I am of the
+unregenerate, and if it is wicked to cherish evil thoughts of your
+neighbor, then am I not of the elect, for I heartily wish that Tom
+Quiney and some of the youths would give Matthew gardener a sound
+ducking in a horse-pond, to tame his arrogance withal. But no matter.
+What say you, dear Prue? Will you go with me to-morrow, so that we may
+have the lad Tookey in charge of us, and Signior Crab-apple be left to
+his weeding and grafting and railing at human kind? Do, sweet mouse--"
+
+"The maids are busy now, Judith," said she, doubtfully.
+
+"But a single day, dear mouse!" she urged. "And if we go early we may
+get as far as Shipston, and await them there. Have you no desire to meet
+your brother, Prudence--to be the first of all to welcome him home? Nay,
+that is because you can have him in your company as often as you wish;
+there is no goodman-wiseman-fool to come between you."
+
+"Dear heart," said Prudence Shawe, with a smile, "I know not what is the
+witchery of you, but there is none I wot of that can say you nay."
+
+"You will, then?" said the other, joyfully. "Ah, look, now, the long
+ride home we shall have with my father, and all the news I shall have to
+tell him! And all good news, Prue; scarcely a whit or bit that is not
+good news: the roan that he bought at Evesham is well of her
+lameness--good; and the King's mulberry is thriving bravely (I wonder
+that wiseman Matthew has not done it a mischief in the night-time, for
+the King, being above him in station, must needs have nothing from him
+but sour and envious words); and then the twenty acres that my father so
+set his heart upon he is to have--I hear that the Combes have said as
+much--and my father will be right well pleased; and the vicar is talking
+no longer of building the new piggery over against the garden--at least
+for the present there is nothing to be done: all good news; but there is
+better still, as you know; for what will he say when he discovers that I
+have taught Bess Hall to ride the mastiff?"
+
+"Pray you have a care, dear Judith," said her friend, with some
+apprehension on her face. "'Tis a dangerous-looking beast."
+
+"A lamb, a very lamb!" was the confident answer. "Well, now, and as we
+are riding home he will tell me of all the things he has brought from
+London; and you know he has always something pretty for you, sweet
+Puritan, though you regard such adornment as snares and pitfalls. And
+this time I hope it will be a silver brooch for you, dear mouse, that so
+you must needs wear it and show it, or he will mark its absence; and for
+the others let us guess; let us see. There may be some more of that
+strange-fashioned Murano glass for Susan, for as difficult as it is to
+carry; and some silk hangings or the like for my mother, or store of
+napery, perchance, which she prizeth more; and be sure there is the
+newest book of sermons from Paul's Churchyard for the Doctor; a
+greyhound, should he hear of a famous one on the way, for Thomas Combe;
+toys for the little Harts, that is certain; for my aunt Joan--what?--a
+silver-topped jug, or some perfumes of musk and civet?--and what
+else--and for whom else--well--"
+
+"But what for yourself, dear Judith?" her friend said, with a smile.
+"Will he forget you? Has Matthew gardener driven you out even from his
+recollection? Will he not have for you a pretty pair of rose
+shoe-strings, or one of the new tasselled French hoods they are speaking
+of, or something of the kind, that will turn the heads of all the lads
+in Stratford twice further round? You are a temptress surely,
+sweetheart; I half forget that such vanities should displease me when I
+see the way you wear them; and that I think you must take from your
+father, Judith; for no matter how plain his apparel is--and it is plain
+indeed for one that owns the New Place--he wears it with such an ease,
+and with such a grace and simplicity, that you would say a prince should
+wear it even so."
+
+"You put me off, Prue," her friend said with a sort of good-natured
+impatience. "Why, I was showing you what nicelings and delicates my
+father was bringing, and what I had thought to say was this: that he may
+have this for one, and that for the other, and many a one proud to be
+remembered (as I shall be if he thinks of me), but this that I know he
+is bringing for little Bess Hall is something worth all of these, for it
+is nothing less than the whole love of his heart. Nay, but I swear it;
+there is not a human creature in the world to compare with her in his
+eyes; she is the pearl that he wears in his heart of hearts. If it were
+London town she wanted, and he could give it to her, that is what he
+would bring for her."
+
+"What! are you jealous of her too?" said Prudence, with her placid
+smile.
+
+"By yea and nay, sweet Puritan, if that will content you, I declare it
+is not so," was the quick answer. "Why, Bess is my ally! We are in
+league, I tell you; we will have a tussle with the enemy ere long; and,
+by my life, I think I know that that will put goodman-wiseman's nose
+awry!"
+
+At this moment the secret confabulation of these two friends was
+suddenly and unexpectedly broken in upon by a message from without.
+Something white came fluttering through the open casement, and fell, not
+quite into Judith's lap, which was probably its intended destination,
+but down toward her feet. She stooped and picked it up; it was a letter,
+addressed to her, and tied round with a bit of rose-red silk ribbon that
+was neatly formed into a true-lover's knot.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+THE PLANTING OF THE CHARM.
+
+
+The embarrassment that ensued--on her part only, for the pale and gentle
+face of her friend betrayed not even so much as surprise--was due to
+several causes. Judith could neither read nor write. In her earlier
+years she had been a somewhat delicate child, and had consequently been
+excused from the ordinary tuition, slight as that usually was in the
+case of girls; but when, later on, she grew into quite firm and robust
+health, in her wilfulness and pride and petulance she refused to
+retransform herself into a child and submit to be taught children's
+lessons. Moreover, she had an acute and alert brain; and she had a
+hundred reasons ready to show that what was in reality a mere
+waywardness on her part was the most wise and natural thing in the
+world; while her father, who had a habitual and great tolerance for
+everything and everybody that came within his reach, laughed with her
+rather than at her, and said she should do very well without
+book-learning so long as those pink roses shone in her cheeks. But she
+had one reason that was not merely an excuse. Most of the printed matter
+that reached the house was brought thither by this or that curate, or by
+this or that famous preacher, who, in going through the country, was
+sure of an eager and respectful welcome at New Place; and perhaps it was
+not kindly nor civilly done of them--though it may have been regarded as
+a matter of conscience--that they should carry thither and read aloud,
+among other things, the fierce denunciations of stage-plays and
+stage-players which were common in the polemical and puritanical
+literature of the day. Right or wrong, Judith resented this with a
+vehement indignation; and she put a ban upon all books, judging by what
+she had heard read out of some; nay, one day she had come into the house
+and found her elder sister, who was not then married, greatly
+distressed, and even in the bitterness of tears; and when she discovered
+that the cause of this was a pamphlet that had been given to Susanna, in
+which not only were the heinous wickednesses of plays and players
+denounced, but also her own father named by his proper name, Judith,
+with hot cheeks and flashing eyes, snatched the pamphlet from her
+sister's hand and forthwith sent it flying through the open window into
+the mud without, notwithstanding that books and pamphlets were scarce
+and valuable things, and that this one had been lent. And when she
+discovered that this piece of writing had been brought to the house by
+the pious and learned Walter Blaise--a youthful divine he was who had a
+small living some few miles from Stratford, but who dwelt in the town,
+and was one of the most eager and disputatious of the Puritanical
+preachers there--it in no way mitigated her wrath that this worthy
+Master Blaise was regarded by many, and even openly spoken of, as a
+suitor for her own hand.
+
+"God mend me," said she, in her anger (and greatly to the distress of
+the mild-spoken Prudence), "but 'tis a strange way of paying court to a
+young woman to bring into the house abuse of her own father! Sir Parson
+may go hang, for me!" And for many a day she would have nothing to say
+to him; and steeled and hardened her heart not only against him, but
+against the doctrines and ways of conduct that he so zealously
+advocated; and she would not come in to evening prayers when he happened
+to be present; and wild horses would not have dragged her to the parish
+church on the Sunday afternoon that it was his turn to deliver the
+fortnightly lecture there. However, these things abated in time. Master
+Walter Blaise was a civil-spoken and an earnest and sincere young man,
+and Prudence Shawe was the gentle intermediary. Judith suffered his
+presence, and that was about all as yet; but she would not look the way
+of printed books. And when Prudence tried to entice her into a study of
+the mere rudiments of reading and writing, she would refuse
+peremptorily, and say, with a laugh, that, could she read, the first
+thing she should read would be plays, which, as sweet cousin Prue was
+aware, were full of tribulation and anguish, and fit only for the
+foolish Galatians of the world, the children of darkness and the devil.
+But this obstinacy did not prevent her overcoming her dear cousin Prue's
+scruples, and getting her to read aloud to her in the privacy of their
+secret haunts this or the other fragments of a play, when that she had
+adroitly purloined a manuscript from the summer-house in New Place; and
+in this surreptitious manner she had acquired a knowledge of what was
+going on at the Globe and the Blackfriars theatres in London, which, had
+they but guessed of it, would have considerably astounded her mother,
+her sister, and good Parson Blaise as well.
+
+In more delicate matters still, Prudence was her confidante, her
+intermediary, and amanuensis: and ordinarily this caused her no
+embarrassment, for she wished for no secrets with any of human kind. But
+in one direction she had formed certain suspicions; and so it was that
+on this occasion, when she stooped down and picked up the letter that
+had been so deftly thrown in at the casement, her face flushed somewhat.
+
+"I know from whom it comes," said she, and she seemed inclined to put it
+into the little wallet of blue satin that hung at her side.
+
+Then she glanced at Prudence's eyes. There was nothing there in the
+least approaching displeasure or pique, only a quiet amusement.
+
+"It was cleverly done," said Prudence, and she raised her head
+cautiously and peeped through one of the small panes of pale green
+glass. But the twilight had sunk into dusk, and any one outside could
+easily have made his escape unperceived through the labyrinth of barns
+and outhouses.
+
+Judith glanced at the handwriting again, and said, with an affectation
+of carelessness:
+
+"There be those who have plenty of time, surely, for showing the wonders
+of their skill. Look at the twisting and turning and lattice-work of
+it--truly he is a most notable clerk; I would he spent the daylight to
+better purpose. Read it for me, sweet Prue."
+
+She would have handed the letter--with much studied indifference of look
+and manner--to her friend, but that Prudence gently refused it.
+
+"'Tis you must undo the string; you know not what may be inside."
+
+So Judith herself opened the letter, which contained merely a sprig of
+rosemary, along with some lines written in a most ornate calligraphy.
+
+"What does he say?" she asked, but without any apparent interest, as she
+gave the open letter to her companion.
+
+Prudence took the letter and read aloud;
+
+    "Rosemary is for remembrance
+      Between us day and night;
+    Wishing that I might always have
+      You present in my sight.
+
+     This from your true well-wisher, and one that would be your loving
+     servant unto death.
+
+  T. Q."
+
+"The idle boy!" she said, and again she directed a quick and penetrating
+look of inquiry to her friend's face. But Prudence was merely regarding
+the elaborate handwriting. There was no trace of wounded pride or
+anything of the kind in her eyes. Nay, she looked up and said, with a
+smile,
+
+"For one that can wrestle so well, and play at foot-ball, and throw the
+sledge as they say he can, he is master of a most delicate handwriting."
+
+"But the rosemary, Prue!" Judith exclaimed, suddenly, and she groped
+about at her feet until she had found it. "Why, now, look there, was
+ever anything so fortunate? Truly I had forgotten all about rosemary,
+and my reverend wizard, and the charm that is to be buried to-night; and
+you know not a word of the story. Shall I tell you, sweet mouse? Is
+there time before the moon appears over the roof of the church?--for
+there I am summoned to fearful deeds. Why, Prue, you look as frightened
+as if a ghost had come into the room--you yourself are like a ghost now
+in the dusk--or is it the coming moonlight that is making you so pale?"
+
+"I had thought that better counsels would have prevailed with you,
+Judith," she said, anxiously. "I knew not you had gone to see the man,
+and I reproach myself that I have been an agent in the matter."
+
+"A mouth-piece only, sweet Prue!--a mere harmless, innocent whistle that
+had nothing to do with the tune. And the business was not so dreadful
+either; there was no caldron, nor playing with snakes and newts, no, nor
+whining for money, which I expected most; but a most civil and courteous
+wizard, a most town-bred wizard as ever the sun set eye on, that called
+me 'gracious lady' every other moment, and would not take a penny for
+his pains. Marry, if all the powers of evil be as well-behaved, I shall
+have less fear of them; for a more civil-spoken gentleman I have never
+encountered; and 'sweet lady' it was, and 'gracious lady,' and a voice
+like the voice of my lord bishop; and the assurance that the planets and
+the stars were holding me in their kindest protection; and a promise of
+a ghost husband that is to appear that I may judge whether I like him or
+like him not; and all this and more--and he would kiss my hand, and so
+farewell, and the reverend magician makes his obeisance and vanishes,
+and I am not a penny the poorer, but only the richer because of my
+charm! There, I will show it to you, dear mouse."
+
+After a little search she found the tiny document; and Prudence Shawe
+glanced over it.
+
+"Judith! Judith!" said she, almost in despair, "I know not whither your
+wilfulness will carry you. But tell me what happened. How came you by
+this paper? And what ghost husband do you speak of?"
+
+Then Judith related, with much circumstantiality, what had occurred that
+morning: not toning it down in the least, but rather exaggerating here
+and there; for she was merry-hearted, and she liked to see the sweet
+Puritan face grow more and more concerned. Moreover, the dull gray light
+outside, instead of deepening into dark, appeared to be becoming a
+trifle clearer, so that doubtless the moon was declaring itself
+somewhere; and she was looking forward, when the time came, to securing
+Prudence's company as far as the church-yard, if her powers of
+persuasion were equal to that.
+
+"But you will not go--surely you will not go, darling Judith," said
+Prudence, in accents of quite pathetic entreaty. "You know the sin of
+dealing with such ungodly practices--nay, and the danger too, for you
+would of your own free will go and seek a meeting with unholy things,
+whereas I have been told that not so long ago they used in places to
+carry a pan of frankincense round the house each night to keep away
+witchcraft from them as they slept. I beseech you, dearest Judith, give
+me the paper, and I will burn it!"
+
+"Nay, nay, it is but an idle tale, a jest; I trust it not," said her
+friend to reassure her. "Be not afraid, sweet Prue. Those people who go
+about compelling the planets and summoning spirits and the like have
+lesser power than the village folk imagine, else would their own
+affairs thrive better than they seem to do."
+
+"Then give me the paper; let me burn it, Judith!"
+
+"Nay, nay, mouse," said she, withholding it; and then she added, with a
+sort of grave merriment or mischief in her face:
+
+"Whether the thing be aught or naught, sure I cannot treat so ill my
+courteous wizard. He was no goose-herd, I tell you, but a most proper
+and learned man; and he must have the chance of working the wonders he
+foretold. Come, now, think of it with reason, dear Prue. If there be no
+power in the charm, if I go to Shottery for my morning walk and find no
+one in the lane, who is harmed? Why, no one; and Grandmother Hathaway is
+pleased, and will show me how her garden is growing. Then, on the other
+hand, should the charm work, should there be some one there, what evil
+if I regard him as I pass from the other side of the way? Is it such a
+wonder that one should meet a stranger on the Bidford road? And what
+more? Man or ghost, he cannot make me marry him if I will not. He cannot
+make me speak to him if I will not. And if he would put a hand on me, I
+reckon Roderigo would speedily have him by the throat, as I hope he may
+some day have goodman Matthew."
+
+"But, Judith, such things are unlawful and forbidden----"
+
+"To you, sweet saint--to you," said the other, with much good-humor.
+"But I have not learned to put aside childish things as yet; and this is
+only a jest, good Prue; and you, that are so faithful to your word, even
+in the smallest trifle, would not have me break my promise to my gentle
+wizard? 'Gracious lady,' he says, and 'sweet lady,' as if I were a dame
+of the court; it were unmannerly of me not to grant him this small
+demand----"
+
+"I wish I had misread the letter," said Prudence, so occupied with her
+own fears that she scarcely knew what to do.
+
+"What!" exclaimed her friend, in tones of raillery, "you would have
+deceived me? Is this your honesty, your singleness of heart, sweet
+Puritan? You would have sent me on some fool's errand, would you?"
+
+"And if it were to be known you had gone out to meet this conjurer,
+Judith, what would your mother and sister say?--and your father?"
+
+"My mother and sister--hum!" was the demure reply. "If he had but come
+in the garb of a preacher, with a Bible under one arm and a prayer-book
+under the other, I doubt not that he would have been welcome enough at
+New Place--ay, and everything in the house set before him, and a
+Flanders jug full of Quiney's best claret withal to cheer the good man.
+But when you speak of my father, dear Prue, there you are wide of the
+mark--wide, wide of the mark; for the wizard is just such an one as he
+would be anxious to know and see for himself. Indeed, if my mother and
+Susan would have the house filled with preachers, my father would rather
+seek his company from any strange kind of vagrant cattle you could find
+on the road--ballad-singers, strolling players, peddlers, and the like;
+and you should see him when some ancient harper in his coat of green
+comes near the town--nay, the constable shall not interfere with him,
+license or no license--my father must needs entertain him in the garden;
+and he will sit and talk to the old man; and the best in the house must
+be brought out for him; and whether he try his palsied fingers on the
+strings, or perchance attempt a verse of 'Pastime with good company'
+with his quavering old voice, that is according to his own good-will and
+pleasure; nothing is demanded of him but that he have good cheer, and
+plenty of it, and go on his way the merrier, with a groat or two in his
+pouch. Nay, I mind me, when Susan was remonstrating with my father about
+such things, and bidding him have some regard for the family
+name--'What?' says he, laughing; 'set you up, Madam Pride! Know you not,
+then, whence comes our name? And yet 'tis plain enough. _Shacks_, these
+are but vagrant, idle, useless fellows; and then we come to _pere_, that
+is, an equal and companion. There you have it complete--_Shackspere_,
+the companion of strollers and vagabonds, of worthless and idle fellows.
+What say you, Madam Pride?' And, indeed, poor Susan was sorely
+displeased, insomuch that I said, 'But the spear in the coat of arms,
+father--how came we by that?' 'Why, there, now,' says he, 'you see how
+regardless the heralds are of the King's English. I warrant me they
+would give a ship to Shipston and a hen to Enstone.' Indeed, he will
+jest you out of anything. When your brother would have left the Town
+Council, Prue----"
+
+But here she seemed suddenly to recollect herself. She rose quickly,
+thrust open the casement still wider, and put out her head to discover
+whereabouts the moon was; and when she withdrew her head again there
+was mischief and a spice of excitement in her face.
+
+"No more talking and gossip now, Prue; the time has arrived for fearful
+deeds."
+
+Prudence put her small white hand on her friend's arm.
+
+"Stay, Judith. Be guided--for the love of me be guided, sweetheart! You
+know not what you do. The profaning of sacred places will bring a
+punishment."
+
+"Profaning, say you, sweet mouse? Is it anything worse than the children
+playing tick round the grave-stones; or even, when no one is looking,
+having a game of King-by-your-leave?"
+
+"It is late, Judith. It must be nine o'clock. It is not seemly that a
+young maiden should be out-of-doors alone at such an hour of the night."
+
+"Marry, that say I," was the light answer. "And the better reason that
+you should come with me, Prue."
+
+"I?" said Prudence, in affright.
+
+"Wherefore not, then? Nay, but you shall suffer no harm through the
+witchery, sweet mouse; I ask your company no further than the little
+swing-gate. One minute there, and I shall be back with you. Come, now,
+for your friend's sake; get your hood and your muffler, dear Prue, and
+no one shall know either of us from the witch of Endor, so quickly shall
+we be there and back."
+
+Still she hesitated.
+
+"If your mother were to know, Judith----"
+
+"To know what, sweetheart? That you walked with me as far as the church
+and back again? Why, on such a fine and summer-like night I dare be
+sworn, now, that half the good folk of Stratford are abroad; and it is
+no such journey into a far country that we should take one of the maids
+with us. Nay, come, sweet Prue! We shall have a merry ride to-morrow;
+to-night for your friendship's sake you must do me this small service."
+
+Prudence did not answer, but somewhat thoughtfully, and even
+reluctantly, she went to a small cupboard of boxes that stood in the
+corner of the apartment, and brought forth some articles of attire which
+(although she might not have confessed it) were for the better
+disguising of herself, seeing that the night was fine and warm. And then
+Judith, having also drawn a muffler loosely round her neck and the lower
+half of her face, was ready to go, and was gone, in fact, as far as the
+door, when she suddenly said:
+
+"Why, now, I had nearly forgot the rosemary, and without that the charm
+is naught. Did I leave it on the window-shelf?"
+
+She went back and found it, and this time she took the precaution of
+folding it within the piece of paper that she was to bury in the
+church-yard.
+
+"Is it fair, dear Judith?" Prudence said, reproachfully, before she
+opened the door. "Is it right that you should take the bit of rosemary
+sent you by one lover, and use it as a charm to bring another?"
+
+"Nay, why should you concern yourself, sweet mouse?" said Judith, with a
+quick glance, but indeed at this end of the room it was too dark for her
+to see anything. "My lover, say you? Let that be as the future may show.
+In the meantime I am pledged to no one, nor anxious that I should be so.
+And a scrap of rosemary, now, what is it? But listen to this, dear Prue:
+if it help to show me the man I shall marry--if there be aught in this
+magic--will it not be better for him that sent the rosemary that we
+should be aware of what is in store for us?"
+
+"I know not--I scarcely ever know--whether you are in jest or in
+earnest, Judith," her friend said.
+
+"Why, then, I am partly in starched cambric, good mouse, if you must
+know, and partly in damask, and partly in taffeta of popinjay blue. But
+come, now, let us be going. The awful hour approaches, Prue. Do you not
+tremble, like Faustus in the cell? What was't he said?
+
+    It strikes; it strikes. Now, body, turn to air!
+
+Come along, sweet Prue."
+
+But she was silent as they left. Indeed, they went down the dark little
+staircase and out at the front door with as little noise as might be.
+Judith had not been mistaken: the fine, clear, warm evening had brought
+out many people; and they were either quietly walking home or standing
+in dusky little groups at the street corners talking to each other;
+whilst here and there came a laugh from a ruddy-windowed ale-house; and
+here and there a hushed sound of singing, where a casement had been left
+a bit open, told that the family within were at their devotional
+exercises for the night. The half-moon was now clear and silvery in the
+heavens. As they passed under the massive structure of the Guild Chapel
+the upper portions of the tall windows had a pale greenish glow shining
+through them that made the surrounding shadows look all the more
+solemn. Whether it was that their mufflers effectually prevented their
+being recognized, or whether it was that none of their friends happened
+to be abroad, they passed along without attracting notice from any one,
+nor was a word spoken between themselves for some time.
+
+But when they drew near to the church, the vast bulk of which, towering
+above the trees around, seemed almost black against the palely clear
+sky, the faithful Prudence made bold to put in a final word of
+remonstrance and dissuasion.
+
+"It is wickedness and folly, Judith. Naught can come of such work," she
+said.
+
+"Then let naught come of it, and what harm is done?" her companion said,
+gayly. "Dear mouse, are you so timorous? Nay, but you shall not come
+within the little gate; you shall remain without. And if the spirits
+come and snatch me, as they snatched off Doctor Faustus, you shall see
+all the pageant, and not a penny to pay. What was it in the paper?
+
+    'Pinch him black, and pinch him blue,
+    That seeks to steal a lover true!'
+
+Did it not run so? But they cannot pinch you, dear heart; so stand here
+now, and hush!--pray do not scream if you see them whip me off in a
+cloud of fire--and I shall be with you again in a minute."
+
+She passed through the little swinging gate and entered the church-yard,
+casting therewith a quick glance around. Apparently no one was within
+sight of her, either among the gray stones or under the black-stemmed
+elms by the river; but there were people not far off, for she could hear
+their voices--doubtless they were going home through the meadows on the
+other side of the stream. She looked but once in that direction. The
+open country was lying pale and clear in the white light; and under the
+wide branches of the elms one or two bats were silently darting to and
+fro; but she could not see the people, and she took it for granted that
+no one could now observe what she was about. So she left the path, made
+her way through the noiseless grass, and reached the small yew-tree
+standing there among the grave-stones. The light was clear enough to
+allow her to open the package and make sure that the sprig of rosemary
+was within; then she rapidly, with her bare hand, stooped down and
+scooped a little of the earth away; she imbedded the packet there,
+repeating meanwhile the magic words; she replaced the earth, and brushed
+the long grass over it, so that, indeed, as well as she could make out,
+the spot looked as if it had not been disturbed in any manner. And then,
+with a quick look toward the roof of the church to satisfy herself that
+all the conditions had been fulfilled, she got swiftly back to the path
+again, and so to the little gate, passing through the church-yard like a
+ghost.
+
+"The deed is done, good Prue," said she, gayly, but in a tragic whisper,
+as she linked her arm within the arm of her friend and set out homeward.
+"Now are the dark powers of the earth at league to raise me up--what
+think you, sweetheart?--such a gallant as the world ne'er saw! Ah! now
+when you see him come riding in from Shottery, will not the town stare?
+None of your logget-playing, tavern-jesting, come-kiss-me-Moll lovers,
+but a true-sworn knight on his white war steed, in shining mail, with a
+golden casque on his head and ostrich feathers, and on his silver shield
+'St. George and England!'"
+
+"You are light-hearted, Judith," said the timid and gentle-voiced
+Puritan by her side; "and in truth there is nothing that you fear. Well,
+I know not, but it will be in my prayers that no harm come of this
+night."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+A PAGEANT.
+
+
+On the morning after the arrival of Judith's father he was out and
+abroad with his bailiff at an early hour, so that she had no chance of
+speaking to him; and when he returned to New Place he went into the
+summer-house in the orchard, where it was the general habit and custom
+to leave him undisturbed. And yet she only wished to ask permission to
+take the mastiff with her as far as Shottery; and so, when she had
+performed her share of the domestic duties, and got herself ready, she
+went out through the back court and into the garden, thinking that he
+would not mind so brief an interruption.
+
+It was a fresh and pleasant morning, for there had been some rain in the
+night, and now there was a slight breeze blowing from the south, and
+the air was sweet with the scent of the lilac bushes. The sun lay warm
+on the pink and white blossoms of the apple-trees and on the creamy
+masses of the cherry; martins were skimming and shooting this way and
+that, with now and again a rapid flight to the eaves of the barn; the
+bees hummed from flower to flower, and everywhere there was a chirping,
+and twittering, and clear singing of birds. The world seemed full of
+light and color, of youth, and sweet things, and gladness: on such a
+morning she had no fear of a refusal, nor was she much afraid to go near
+the summer-house that the family were accustomed to hold sacred from
+intrusion.
+
+But when she passed into the orchard, and came in sight of it, there was
+a sudden flash of anger in her eyes. She might have guessed--she might
+have known. There, blocking up the doorway of the latticed and
+green-painted tenement, was the figure of goodman Matthew; and the
+little bandy-legged pippin-faced gardener was coolly resting on his
+spade while he addressed his master within. Was there ever (she asked
+herself) such hardihood, such audacity and impertinence? And then she
+rapidly bethought her that now was a rare opportunity for putting in
+practice a scheme of revenge that she had carefully planned. It is true
+that she might have gone forward and laid her finger on Matthew's arm
+(he was rather deaf), and so have motioned him away. But she was too
+proud to do that. She would dispossess and rout him in another fashion.
+So she turned and went quickly again into the house.
+
+Now at this time Dr. Hall was making a round of professional visits at
+some distance away in the country; and on such occasions Susanna Hall
+and her little daughter generally came to lodge at New Place, where
+Judith was found to be an eager and assiduous, if somewhat impatient and
+unreasoning, nurse, playmate, and music-mistress. In fact, the young
+mother had to remonstrate with her sister, and to point out that,
+although baby Elizabeth was a wonder of intelligence and
+cleverness--indeed, such a wonder as had never hitherto been beheld in
+the world--still, a child of two years and three months or so could not
+be expected to learn everything all at once; and that it was just as
+reasonable to ask her to play on the lute as to imagine that she could
+sit on the back of Don the mastiff without being held. However, Judith
+was fond of the child, and that incomparable and astute small person had
+a great liking for her aunt (in consequence of benefits received), and a
+trust in her which the wisdom of maturer years might have modified; and
+so, whenever she chose, Judith found no difficulty in obtaining
+possession of this precious charge, even the young mother showing no
+anxiety when she saw the two go away together.
+
+So it was on this particular morning that Judith went and got hold of
+little Bess Hall, and quickly smartened up her costume, and carried her
+out into the garden. Then she went into the barn, outside of which was
+the dog's kennel; she unclasped the chain and set free the huge,
+slow-stepping, dun-colored beast, that seemed to know as well as any one
+what was going forward; she affixed to his collar two pieces of silk
+ribbon that did very well for reins; and then she sat little Bess Hall
+on Don Roderigo's back, and gave her the reins to hold, and so they set
+out for the summer-house.
+
+On that May morning the wide and gracious realm of England--which to
+some minds, and especially at that particular season of the year, seems
+the most beautiful country of any in the world--this rich and variegated
+England lay basking in the sunlight, with all its lush meadows and woods
+and hedges in the full and fresh luxuriance of the spring; and the small
+quiet hamlets were busy in a drowsy and easy-going kind of fashion; and
+far away around the white coasts the blue sea was idly murmuring in; but
+it may be doubted whether in all the length and breadth of that fair
+land there was any fairer sight than this that the wit of a young woman
+had devised. She herself was pleasant enough to look on (and she was
+always particularly attentive about her attire when her father was at
+home), and now she was half laughing as she thought of her forthcoming
+revenge; she had dressed her little niece in her prettiest costume of
+pink and white, and pink was the color of the silken reins; while the
+great slow-footed Don bore his part in the pageant with a noble majesty,
+sometimes looking up at Judith as if to ask whether he were going in the
+right direction. And so the procession passed on between the white-laden
+cherry-trees and the redder masses of the apple-blossom; and the
+miniature Ariadne, sitting sideways on the back of the great beast,
+betrayed no fear whatsoever; while her aunt Judith held her, walking by
+her, and scolding her for that she would not sing.
+
+"Tant sing, Aunt Judith," said she.
+
+"You can sing well enough, you little goose, if you try," said her
+aunt, with the unreasoning impatience of an unmarried young woman.
+"What's the use of your going hunting without a hunting song? Come
+along, now:
+
+    'The hunt is up, the hunt is up,
+    And it is well-nigh day;--'
+
+try it, Bess!"
+
+"Hunt is up, hunt is up," said the small rider; but she was occupied
+with the reins, and clearly did not want to be bothered.
+
+"No, no, that is not singing, little goose. Why, sing it like this, now:
+
+    'The hunt is up, the hunt is up,
+      And it is well-nigh day;--
+    And Harry our king is gone hunting
+      To bring his deer to bay!'"
+
+However, the music lesson came to an abrupt end. They had by this time
+almost reached the summer-house. Saturnine Matthew, gardener, who still
+stood there, blocking up the doorway, had not heard them approach, but
+his master within had. The next instant goodman Matthew suddenly found
+himself discarded, dismissed, and treated, indeed, as if he were simply
+non-existent in the world; for Judith's father, having paused for a
+moment to regard from the doorway the pretty pageant that had been
+arranged for him (and his face lit up, as it were, with pleasure at the
+sight), was the next minute down beside his little granddaughter, with
+one knee on the ground, so that he was just on a level with her
+outstretched hands.
+
+"What, Bess?" he said, as he caught her by both hands and feet. "You
+imp, you inch, you elfin queen, you!--would you go a-hunting, then?"
+
+"Send away Don--me want to ride the high horse," said the small Bess,
+who had her own ideas as to what was most comfortable, and also secure.
+
+"And so you shall, you sprite, you Ariel, you moonlight wonder!" he
+exclaimed, as he perched her on his shoulder and rose to his feet again.
+"The high horse, truly; indeed, you shall ride the high horse! Come,
+now, we will go see how the King's mulberry thrives; that is the only
+tree we have that is younger than yourself, you ancient, you beldame,
+you witch of Endor, you!"
+
+"Father," said Judith, seeing that he was going away perfectly
+regardless of anybody or anything except his granddaughter, "may I take
+the Don with me for an hour or so?"
+
+"Whither away, wench--whither?" he asked, turning for a moment.
+
+"To Shottery, father."
+
+"Well, well," said he, and he turned again and went off.
+
+"Come, Bess, you world's jewel, you, you shall ride with me to London
+some day, and tell the King how his mulberry thrives; that shall you,
+you fairy, you princess, you velvet-footed maidiekin! To London,
+Bess--to London!"
+
+Judith did not stay to regard them further; but she could not help
+casting a look before she left at goodman Matthew, who stood there
+discomfited, dispossessed, unheeded, annihilated, as it were. And then,
+calling the dog after her, she went in by the back court and through the
+house again (for Chapel Lane was in a sad condition after the rain of
+the night, and was not a pleasant pathway even in the best of times).
+And she was laughing to herself at Matthew's discomfiture, and she was
+singing to herself as she went out by the front door,
+
+    There's never a maid in all the town,
+    But well she knows that malt's come down.
+
+And in the street it was "Good-morrow to you, Master Jelleyman; the rain
+will do good, will it not?" and, again, "Good-morrow, Neighbor Pike; do
+you know that my father is come home?" and again, "Get you within the
+doorway, little Parsons, else the wagon-wheels will be over thee." And
+then, when she was in the freedom of the fields, she would talk blithely
+to Don Roderigo, or snatch a buttercup here or there from among the
+long, lush, warm grass, or return to her careless singing:
+
+    For malt's come down, and malt's come down--
+    Oh, well she knows that malt's come down!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+IN A WOODED LANE.
+
+
+Now it would be extremely difficult to say with what measure of faith or
+scepticism, of expectation or mere curiosity, she was now proceeding
+through these meadows to the spot indicated to her by the wizard.
+Probably she could not have told herself, for what was really uppermost
+in her mind was a kind of malicious desire to frighten her timid Puritan
+friend with the wildness of such an adventure. And then she was pretty
+safe. Ostensibly she was going to Shottery to pay a visit to her
+grandmother; to look at the pansies, the wall-flowers, the
+forget-me-nots in the little garden, and see how the currants and
+raspberries were getting on. She could hardly expect a ghost to rise
+from the ground in broad daylight. And if any mere strangers happened to
+be coming along the lane leading in from the Bidford road, Don Roderigo
+was a sufficient guardian. On the other hand, if there was anything real
+and of verity in this witchcraft--which had sought her, and not she
+it--was it not possible that the wizard might on one point have been
+mistaken? If her future husband were indeed to appear, would it not be
+much more likely to be Parson Blaise or Tom Quiney, or young Jelleyman,
+or one or other of them that she knew in everyday life? But yet she said
+to herself--and there was no doubt about her absolute conviction and
+certainty on this point--that, even if she were to meet one of those
+coming in from Evesham, not all the magic and mystery and wizardry in
+the world would drive her to marry him but of her own free good-will and
+choice.
+
+When she had passed through the meadows and got near to the scattered
+cottages and barns and orchards of the little hamlet, instead of going
+forward to these, she bore away to the left, and eventually found
+herself in a wide and wooded lane. She was less light of heart now; she
+wished the place were not so still and lonely. It was a pretty lane,
+this; the ruddy-gray road that wound between luxuriant hedges and tall
+elms was barred across by alternate sunlight and shadow, and every now
+and again she had glimpses of the rich and fertile country lying around,
+with distant hills showing an outline serrated by trees along the pale,
+summer-like sky. But there was not a human being visible anywhere, nor a
+sound to be heard but the soft repeated note of the cuckoo. She wished
+that there were some farm people near at hand, or a shepherd lad, or
+anybody. She spoke to Roderigo, and her voice sounded strange--it
+sounded as if she were afraid some one was listening. Nay, she began,
+quite unreasonably, to be angry with the wizard. What business had he to
+interfere with her affairs, and to drive her on to such foolish
+enterprises? What right had he to challenge her to show that she was not
+afraid? She was not afraid, she assured herself. She had as good a title
+to walk along this lane as any one in Warwickshire. Only the thought
+that as soon as she had got as far as the cross at the meeting of the
+roads (this was all that had been demanded of her) she would go back to
+Stratford by the public highway rather than return by this solitary
+lane, for on the public highway there would be farm servants and laden
+wains and carriers, and such-like comfortable and companionable objects.
+
+The next minute--she had almost reached the cross--her heart bounded
+with an unreasoning tremor of fear: she had suddenly become aware that a
+stranger was entering the lane from the wide highway beyond. She had
+only one glimpse of him, for instantly and resolutely she bent her eyes
+on Don Roderigo, and was determined to keep them there until this person
+should have passed; and yet that one lightning-like glimpse had told her
+somewhat. The stranger was young, and of a distinguished bearing and
+presence; and it certainly was a singular and unusual thing that a
+gentleman (as he seemed to be, although his travelling cloak concealed
+most of his attire) should be going afoot and unattended. But her only
+concern was to let him pass. Ghost or man as he might be, she kept her
+eyes on Don Roderigo. And then, to her increased alarm, she found that
+the stranger was approaching her.
+
+"I beseech your pardon, lady," said he, in a most respectful voice, "but
+know you one in this town of the name of Master Shakespeare?"
+
+She certainly was startled, and even inwardly aghast; but she had a
+brave will. She was determined that nothing would drive her either to
+scream or to run away. And indeed when she looked up and said, rather
+breathlessly, "There be several of the name, sir," she was quickly
+assured that this was no ghost at all, but a substantial and living and
+breathing young man, tall and dark, of a pleasant expression of face,
+though in truth there was nothing in those singularly black eyes of his
+but the most ordinary and matter-of-fact inquiry.
+
+"One Master William Shakespeare," said he, in answer to her, "that is
+widely known."
+
+"It is my father, sir, you speak of," said she, hastily and, in fact,
+somewhat ashamed of her fright.
+
+At this news he removed his hat and made her a gracious obeisance, yet
+simply, and with not too elaborate a courtesy.
+
+"Since I am so fortunate," said he, "may I beg you to direct me how I
+shall find the house when I get to the town? I have a letter for him, as
+you may see."
+
+He took out a letter, and held it so that, if she liked, she might read
+the superscription--"_To my loving good friend Master William
+Shakespeare: Deliver these._" But Judith merely glanced at the writing.
+
+"'Tis from Master Ben Jonson--that you know of, doubtless,
+madam--commending me to your father. But perhaps," he added, directing
+toward her a curious timid look of inquiry, "it were as well that I did
+not deliver it?"
+
+"How so, sir?" she asked.
+
+"I am one that is in misfortune," said he, simply; "nay, in peril."
+
+"Truly I am sorry for that, sir," said she, regarding him with frank
+eyes of sympathy, for indeed there was a kind of sadness in his air,
+that otherwise was distinguished enough, and even noble. And then she
+added: "But surely that is the greater reason you should seek my
+father."
+
+"If I dared--if I knew," he said, apparently to himself. And then he
+addressed her: "If I make so bold, sweet lady, as to ask you if your
+father be of the ancient faith--or well disposed toward that, even if he
+do not openly profess it--I pray you set it down to my need and hard
+circumstances."
+
+She did not seem to understand.
+
+"I would ask if he be not at heart with the Catholic gentlemen that are
+looking for better times--for indeed I have heard it stated of him."
+
+"Oh no, sir--surely not," said Judith, in some alarm, for she knew quite
+enough about the penal laws against priests and recusants, and would not
+have her father associated in any way with these, especially as she was
+talking with a stranger.
+
+"Nay, then, it were better I did not deliver the letter," said the young
+man, with just a touch of hopelessness in his tone. "Under the
+protection of your father I might have had somewhat more of liberty,
+perchance; but I am content to remain as I am until I can get proofs
+that will convince them in authority of my innocence; or mayhap I may
+get away from the country altogether, and to my friends in Flanders. If
+they would but set my good friend Walter Raleigh free from the Tower,
+that also were well, for he and I might make a home for ourselves in
+another land. I crave your pardon for detaining you, madam, and so bid
+you farewell."
+
+He raised his hat and made her a most respectful obeisance, and was
+about to withdraw.
+
+"Stay, sir," said she, scarcely knowing what she said, but with trouble
+and anxiety in her gentle eyes.
+
+Indeed, she was somewhat bewildered. So sudden had been the shock of
+surprise that she had forgotten, or very nearly forgotten, all about
+ghosts and wizards, about possible lovers or husbands, and only knew
+that here, in actual fact, was a stranger--and a modest young stranger,
+too--that was in trouble, and yet was afraid to seek shelter and aid
+from her father. That he had no reason to be thus afraid she was certain
+enough; and yet she dare not assume--she had no reason for
+believing--that her father was secretly inclined to favor those that
+were still hoping for the re-establishment of the Catholic faith. The
+fact was that her father scarcely ever spoke of such matters. He would
+listen, if he happened to be in the house, to any theological discussion
+that might be going on, and he would regard this or that minister or
+preacher calmly, as if trying to understand the man and his opinions;
+but he would take no part in the talk; and when the discussion became
+disputatious, as sometimes happened, and the combatants grew warm and
+took to making hot assertions, he would rise and go out idly into the
+garden, and look at the young apple-trees or talk to Don Roderigo.
+Indeed, at this precise moment, Judith was quite incapable of deciding
+for herself which party her father would most likely be in sympathy
+with--the Puritans, who were sore at heart because of the failure of the
+Hampton Court Conference, or the Catholics, who were no less bitter on
+account of the severity of the penal laws--and a kind of vague wish
+arose in her heart that she could ask Prudence Shawe (who paid more
+attention to such matters, and was, in fact, wrapped up in them) before
+sending this young man away with his letter of commendation unopened.
+
+"Your brother-in-law, madam, Dr. Hall," said he, seeing that she did not
+wish him to leave on the instant, "is well esteemed by the Catholic
+gentry, as I hear."
+
+Judith did not answer that; she had been rapidly considering what she
+could do for one in distress.
+
+"By your leave, sir, I would not have you go away without making
+further inquiry," said she. "I will myself get to know how my father is
+inclined, for indeed he never speaks of such matters to us; and sure I
+am that, whatever be his opinion, no harm could come to you through
+seeking his friendship. That I am sure of. If you are in distress, that
+is enough; he will not ask you whence you come; nor has he censure for
+any one; and that is a marvel in one that is so good a man himself, that
+he hath never a word of blame for any one, neither for the highwayman
+that was taken red-handed, as it were, last Sunday near to
+Oxford--'Why,' says my father, 'if he take not life, and be a civil
+gentleman, I grudge him not a purse or two'--nor for a lesser criminal,
+my cousin Willie Hart, that but yesterday let the Portuguese
+singing-bird escape from its cage. 'Well, well,' says my father, 'so
+much the better, if only it can find food for itself.' Indeed, you need
+fear naught but kindness and gentleness; and sure I am that he would be
+but ill pleased to know that one coming from his friend Benjamin Jonson
+had been in the neighborhood and gone away without having speech of
+him."
+
+"But this is no matter of courtesy, sweet lady," said he. "It is of a
+more dangerous cast; and I must be wary. If, now, you were inclined to
+do as you say--to make some discreet inquiry as to your good father's
+sentiments----"
+
+"Not from himself," said she, quickly, and with some color mounting to
+her cheeks--"for he would but laugh at my speaking of such things--but
+from my gossip and neighbor I think I could gain sufficient assurance
+that would set your fears at rest."
+
+"And how should I come to know?" he said, with some hesitation--for this
+looked much like asking for another meeting.
+
+But Judith was frank enough. If she meant to confer a kindness, she did
+not stay to be too scrupulous about the manner of doing it.
+
+"If it were convenient that you could be here this evening," said she,
+after a moment's thought, "Willie Hart and myself often walk over to
+Shottery after supper. Then could I let you know."
+
+"But how am I to thank you for such a favor?" said he.
+
+"Nay, it is but little," she answered, "to do for one that comes from my
+father's friend."
+
+"Rare Ben, as they call him," said he, more brightly. "And now I bethink
+me, kind lady, that it ill becomes me to have spoken of nothing but my
+own poor affairs on my first having the honor of meeting with you.
+Perchance you would like to hear something of Master Jonson, and how he
+does? May I accompany you on your homeward way for a space, if you are
+returning to the town? The road here is quiet enough for one that is in
+hiding, as well as for pleasant walking; and you are well escorted,
+too," he added, looking at the grave and indifferent Don. "With such a
+master as your father, and such a sweet mistress, I should not wonder if
+he became as famous as Sir John Harrington's Bungey that the Prince
+asked about. You have not heard of him?--the marvellous dog that Sir
+John would intrust with messages all the way to the court at Greenwich;
+and he would bring back the answer without more ado. I wonder not that
+Prince Henry should have asked for an account of all his feats and
+doings."
+
+Now insensibly she had turned and begun to walk toward Shottery (for she
+would not ask this unhappy young man to court the light of the open
+highway), and as he respectfully accompanied her his talk became more
+and more cheerful, so that one would scarcely have remembered that he
+was in hiding, and in peril of his life mayhap. And he quickly found
+that she was most interested in Jonson as being her father's friend and
+intimate.
+
+"Indeed, I should not much marvel to hear of his being soon in this very
+town of Stratford," said he, "for he has been talking of late--nay, he
+has been talking this many a day of it, but who knows when the adventure
+will take place?--of travelling all the way to Scotland on foot, and
+writing an account of his discoveries on the road. And then he has a
+mind to get to the lake of Lomond, to make it the scene of a fisher and
+pastoral play, he says; and his friend Drummond will go with him; and
+they speak of getting still farther to the north, and being the guests
+of the new Scotch lord, Mackenzie of Kintail, that was made a peer last
+winter. Nay, friend Ben, though at times he gibes at the Scots, at other
+times he will boast of his Scotch blood--for his grandfather, as I have
+heard, came from Annandale--and you will often hear him say that whereas
+the late Queen was a niggard and close-fisted, this Scotch King is
+lavish and a generous patron. If he go to Scotland, as is his purpose,
+surely he will come by way of Stratford."
+
+"It were ill done of him else," said Judith. But truly this young
+gentleman was so bent on entertaining her with tales of his acquaintance
+in London, and with descriptions of the court shows and pageants, that
+she had not to trouble herself much to join in the conversation.
+
+"A lavish patron the King has been to him truly," he continued, stooping
+to pat the Don's head, as if he would make friends with him too, "what
+with the masks, and revels, and so forth. Their last tiltings at Prince
+Henry's barriers exceeded everything that had gone before, as I
+think--and I marvel not that Ben was found at his best, seeing how the
+King had been instructing him. Nay, but it was a happy conceit to have
+our young Lord of the Isles addressed by the Lady of the Lake, and have
+King Arthur hand him his armor out of the clouds----"
+
+"But where was it, good sir?" said she (to show that she was
+interested). And now he seemed so cheerful and friendly that she
+ventured to steal a look at him. In truth, there was nothing very
+doleful or tragic in his appearance. He was a handsomely made young man,
+of about eight-and-twenty or so, with fine features, a somewhat pale and
+sallow complexion (that distinguished him markedly from the rustic red
+and white and sun-brown she was familiar with), and eyes of a singular
+blackness and fire that were exceedingly respectful; but that could, as
+any one might see, easily break into mirth. He was well habited too, for
+now he had partly thrown his travelling cloak aside, and his slashed
+doublet and hose and shoes were smart and clearly of a town fashion. He
+wore no sword; in his belt there was only a small dagger, of Venetian
+silver-work on the handle, and with a sheath of stamped crimson velvet.
+
+"Dear lady, you must have heard of them," he continued, lightly--"I mean
+of the great doings in the banqueting-house at Whitehall, when Prince
+Henry challenged so many noble lords. 'Twas a brave sight, I assure you;
+the King and Queen were there, and the ambassadors from Spain and
+Venice, and a great and splendid assemblage. And then, when Ben's
+speeches came to be spoken, there was Cyril Davy, that is said to have
+the best woman's voice in London, as the Lady of the Lake, and he came
+forward and said,
+
+    'Lest any yet should doubt, or might mistake
+    What Nymph I am, behold the ample Lake
+    Of which I'm styled; and near it Merlin's tomb;'
+
+and then King Arthur appeared, and our young Lord of the Isles had a
+magic shield handed to him. Oh, 'twas a noble sight, I warrant you! And
+I heard that the Duke of Lennox and the Earls of Arundel and Southampton
+and all of them were but of one mind, that friend Ben had never done
+better."
+
+Indeed, the young man, as they loitered along the pretty wooded lane in
+the hush of the warm still noon (there was scarce enough wind to make a
+rustle in the great branching elms), and as he talked of all manner of
+things for the entertainment of this charming companion whom a happy
+chance had thrown in his way, seemed to be well acquainted with the
+court and its doings, and all the busy life of London. If she gathered
+rightly, he had himself been present when the King and the nobles went
+in the December of the previous year to Deptford to witness the
+launching of the great ship of the East India Company--the _Trade's
+Encrease_, it was called--for he described the magnificent banquet in
+the chief cabin, and how the King gave to Sir Thomas Smith, the
+Governor, a fine chain of gold, with his portrait set in a jewel, and
+how angry his Majesty became when they found that the ship could not be
+launched on account of the state of the tide. But when he again brought
+in the name of Jonson, and said how highly the King thought of his
+writings, and what his Majesty had said of this or the other device or
+masque that had been commanded of him, Judith grew at length to be not
+so pleased; and she said, with some asperity, "But the King holds my
+father in honor also, for he wrote him a letter with his own hand."
+
+"I heard not of that," said he, but of course without appearing to doubt
+her word.
+
+"Nay, but I saw it," said she--"I saw the letter; and I did not think it
+well that my father should give it to Julius Shawe, for there are some
+others that would have valued it as much as he--yes, and been more proud
+of it, too."
+
+"His own daughter, perchance?" he said gently.
+
+Judith did not speak. It was a sore subject with her; indeed, she had
+cried in secret, and bitterly, when she learned that the letter had been
+casually given away, for her father seemed to put no great store by it.
+However, that had nothing to do with this unhappy young gentleman that
+was in hiding. And soon she had dismissed it from her mind, and was
+engaged in fixing the exact time at which, as she hoped, she would be
+able to bring him that assurance, or that caution, in the evening.
+
+"I think it must be the province of women to be kind to the
+unfortunate," said he, as they came in sight of the cottages; and he
+seemed to linger and hesitate in his walk, as if he were afraid of going
+further.
+
+"It is but a small kindness," said she; "and I hope it will bring you
+and my father together. He has but just returned from London, and you
+will not have much news to give him from his friend; but you will be
+none the less welcome, for all are welcome to him, but especially those
+whom he can aid."
+
+"If I were to judge of the father by the daughter, I should indeed
+expect a friendly treatment," said he, with much courtesy.
+
+"Nay, but it is so simple a matter," said she.
+
+"Then fare you well, Mistress Judith," said he, "if I may make so bold
+as to guess at a name that I have heard named in London."
+
+"Oh, no, sir?" said she, glancing up with some inquiry.
+
+"But indeed, indeed," said he, gallantly. "And who can wonder? 'Twas
+friend Ben that I heard speak of you; I marvel not that he carried your
+praises so far. But now, sweet lady, that I see you would go--and I wish
+not to venture nearer the village there--may I beseech of you at parting
+a further grace and favor? It is that you would not reveal to any one,
+no matter what trust you may put in them, that you have seen me or
+spoken with me. You know not my name, it is true, though I would
+willingly confide it to you--indeed, it is Leofric Hope, madam; but if
+it were merely known that you had met with a stranger, curious eyes
+might be on the alert."
+
+"Fear not, sir," said she, looking at him in her frank way--and there
+was a kind of friendliness, too, and sympathy in her regard. "Your
+secret is surely safe in my keeping. I can promise you that none shall
+know through me that you are in the neighborhood. Farewell, good sir. I
+hope your fortunes will mend speedily."
+
+"God keep you, sweet Mistress Judith," said he, raising his hat and
+bowing low, and not even asking to be allowed to take her hand. "If my
+ill fortune should carry it so that I see you not again, at least I will
+treasure in my memory a vision of kindness and beauty that I trust will
+remain forever there. Farewell, gentle lady; I am your debtor."
+
+And so they parted; and he stood looking after her and the great dog as
+they passed through the meadows; and she was making all the haste she
+might, for although, when Judith's father was at home, the dinner hour
+was at twelve instead of at eleven, still it would take her all the time
+to be punctual, and she was scrupulous not to offend. He stood looking
+after her as long as she was in sight, and then he turned away, saying
+to himself:
+
+"Why, our Ben did not tell us a tithe of the truth!--for why?--because
+it was with his tongue, and not with his pen, that he described her. By
+heaven, she is a marvel!--and I dare be sworn, now, that half the clowns
+in Stratford imagine themselves in love with her."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+WITHIN-DOORS.
+
+
+When in the afternoon Judith sought out her gentle gossip, and with much
+cautious tact and discretion began to unfold her perplexities to her,
+Prudence was not only glad enough to hear nothing further of the
+wizard--who seemed to have been driven out of Judith's mind altogether
+by the actual occurrences of the morning--but also she became possessed
+with a secret wonder and joy; for she thought that at last her dearest
+and closest friend was awaking to a sense of the importance of spiritual
+things, and that henceforth there would be a bond of confidence between
+them far more true and abiding than any that had been before. But soon
+she discovered that politics had a good deal to do with these hesitating
+inquiries; and at length the bewildered Prudence found the conversation
+narrowing and narrowing itself to this definite question: Whether,
+supposing there were a young man charged with complicity in a Catholic
+plot, or perhaps having been compromised in some former affair of the
+kind, and supposing him to appeal to her father, would he, Judith's
+father, probably be inclined to shelter him and conceal him, and give
+him what aid was possible until he might get away from the country?
+
+"But what do you mean, Judith?" said Prudence, in dismay. "Have you seen
+any one? What is't you mean? Have you seen one of the desperate men that
+were concerned with Catesby?"
+
+Indeed, it was not likely that either of these two Warwickshire maidens
+had already forgotten the terrible tidings that rang through the land
+but a few years before, when the Gunpowder Treason was discovered; nor
+how the conspirators fled into this very county; nor yet how in the
+following January, on a bitterly cold and snowy day, there was brought
+into the town the news of the executions in St. Paul's Churchyard and at
+Westminster. And, in truth, when Prudence Shawe mentioned Catesby's
+name, Judith's cheek turned pale. It was but for an instant. She
+banished the ungenerous thought the moment that it occurred to her. No,
+she was sure the unhappy young man who had appealed to her compassion
+could not have been concerned in any such bloody enterprise. His speech
+was too gentle for that. Had he not declared that he only wanted time to
+prove his innocence? It is true he had said something about his friends
+in Flanders, and often enough had she heard the Puritan divines
+denouncing Flanders as the very hot-bed of the machinations of the
+Jesuits; but that this young man might have friends among the Jesuits
+did not appear to her as being in itself a criminal thing, any more than
+the possibility of his being a Catholic was sufficient of itself to
+deprive him of her frank and generous sympathy.
+
+"I may not answer you yea nor nay, sweet mouse," said she; "but assure
+yourself that I am not in league with any desperate villain. I but put a
+case. We live in quiet times now, do we not, good Prue? and I take it
+that those who like not the country are free to leave it. But tell me,
+if my father were to speak openly, which of the parties would he most
+affect? And how stands he with the King? Nay, the King himself, of what
+religion is he at heart, think you?"
+
+"These be questions!" said Prudence, staring aghast at such ignorance.
+
+"I but use my ears," said Judith, indifferently, "and the winds are not
+more variable than the opinions that one listens to. Well you know it,
+Prue. Here is one that says the King is in conscience a papist, as his
+mother was; and that he gave a guarantee to the Catholic gentry ere he
+came to the throne; and that soon or late we shall have mass again; and
+then comes another with the story that the Pope is hot and angry because
+the King misuseth him in his speech, calling him Antichrist and the like
+and that he has complained to the French King on the matter, and that
+there is even talk of excommunication. What can one believe? How is one
+to know? Indeed, good mouse, you would have me more anxious about such
+things; but why should one add to one's difficulties? I am content to be
+like my father, and stand aside from the quarrel."
+
+"Your wit is too great for me, dear Judith," her friend said, rather
+sadly; "and I will not argue with you. But well I know there may be a
+calmness that is of ignorance and indifference, and that is slothful and
+sinful; and there may be a calmness that is of assured wisdom and
+knowledge of the truth, and that I trust your father has attained to.
+That he should keep aside from disputes, I can well understand."
+
+"But touching the King, dear cousin," said Judith, who had her own ends
+in view. "How stands my father with the King and his religion? Nay, but
+I know, and every one knows, that in all other matters they are friends;
+for your brother has the King's letter----"
+
+"That I wish you had yourself, Judith, since your heart is set upon it,"
+said her companion, gently.
+
+Judith did not answer that.
+
+"But as regards religion, sweet Prue, what think you my father would
+most favor, were there a movement any way?--a change to the ancient
+faith perchance?"
+
+She threw out the question with a kind of studied carelessness, as if it
+were a mere matter of speculation; but there was a touch of warmth in
+Prudence's answer:
+
+"What, then, Judith? You think he would disturb the peace of the land,
+and give us over again to the priests and their idol-worship? I trow
+not." Then something seemed to occur to her suddenly. "But if you have
+any doubt, Judith, I can set your mind at rest--of a surety I can."
+
+"How, then, dear mouse?"
+
+"I will tell you the manner of it. No longer ago than yesterday evening
+I was seated at the window reading--it was the volume that Dr. Hall
+brought me from Worcester, and that I value more and more the longer I
+read it--and your father came into the house asking for Julius. So I put
+the book on the table, with the face downward, and away I went to seek
+for my brother. Well, then, sweet cousin, when I came back to the room,
+there was your father standing at the window reading the book that I had
+left, and I would not disturb him; and when he had finished the page,
+he turned, saying, 'Good bishop! good bishop!' and putting down the book
+on the table just as he had found it. Dear Judith, I hope you will think
+it no harm and no idle curiosity that made me take up the book as soon
+as my brother was come in, and examine the passage, and mark it----"
+
+"Harm!--bless thee, sweetheart!" Judith exclaimed. And she added,
+eagerly: "But have you the book? Will you read it to me? Is it about the
+King? Do, dear cousin, read to me what it was that my father approved.
+Beshrew me! but I shall have to take to school lessons, after all, lest
+I outlive even your gentle patience."
+
+Straightway Prudence had gone to a small cupboard of boxes in which she
+kept all her most valued possessions, and from thence she brought a
+stout little volume, which, as Judith perceived, had a tiny book-mark of
+satin projecting from the red-edged leaves.
+
+"Much comfort indeed have I found in these Comfortable Notes," said she.
+"I wish, Judith, you, that can think of everything, would tell me how I
+am to show to Dr. Hall that I am more and more grateful to him for his
+goodness. What can I do?--words are such poor things!"
+
+"But the passage, good Prue--what was't he read? I pray you let me
+hear," said Judith, eagerly; for here, indeed, might be a key to many
+mysteries.
+
+"Listen, then," said her companion, opening the book. "The Bishop, you
+understand, Judith, is speaking of the sacrifices the Jews made to the
+Lord, and he goes on to say:
+
+"'Thus had this people their peace-offerings; that is, duties of
+thankfulness to their God for the peace and prosperity vouchsafed unto
+them. And most fit it was that He should often be thanked for such
+favors. The like mercies and goodness remain to us at this day: are we
+either freed from the duty or left without means to perform it? No, no;
+but as they had oxen and kine, and sheep and goats, then appointed and
+allowed, so have we the calves of our lips and the sacrifice of
+thanksgiving still remaining for us, and as strictly required of us as
+these (in those days) were of them. Offer them up, then, with a free
+heart and with a feeling soul. Our peace is great; our prosperity
+comfortable; our God most sweet and kind; and shall we not offer? The
+public is sweet, the private is sweet, and forget you to offer? We lay
+us down and take our rest, and this our God maketh us dwell in safety.
+Oh, where is your offering? We rise again and go to our labor, and a dog
+is not heard to move his tongue among us: owe we no offering? O Lord, O
+Lord, make us thankful to Thee for these mercies: the whole state we
+live in, for the common and our several souls, for several mercies now
+many years enjoyed! O touch us; O turn us from our fearful dulness, and
+abusing of this so sweet, so long, and so happy peace! Continue thy
+sacred servant'--surely you know, Judith, whom he means--'the chiefest
+means under Thee of this our comfort, and ever still furnish him with
+wise helps, truly fearing Thee, and truly loving him. Let our heads go
+to the grave in this peace, if it may be Thy blessed pleasure, and our
+eyes never see the change of so happy an estate. Make us thankful and
+full of peace-offerings; be Thou still ours, and ever merciful. Amen!
+Amen!'"
+
+"And what said he, sweet Prue--what said my father?" Judith asked,
+though her eyes were distant and thoughtful.
+
+"'Good bishop! good bishop!' said he, as if he were right well pleased,
+and he put down the book on the table. Nay, you may be certain, Judith,
+that your father would have naught to do with the desperate men that
+would fain upset the country, and bring wars among us, and hand us over
+to the Pope again. I have heard of such; I have heard that many of the
+great families have but a lip loyalty, and have malice at their heart,
+and would willingly plunge the land in blood if they could put the
+priests in power over us again. Be sure your father is not of that
+mind."
+
+"But if one were in distress, Prudence," said the other, absently,
+"perchance with a false charge hanging over him that could be
+disproved--say that one were in hiding, and only anxious to prove his
+innocence, or to get away from the country, is my father likely to look
+coldly on such a one in misfortune? No, no, surely, sweet mouse!"
+
+"But of whom do you speak, Judith?" exclaimed her friend, regarding her
+with renewed alarm. "It cannot be that you know of such a one? Judith, I
+beseech you speak plainly! You have met with some stranger that is
+unknown to your own people? You said you had but put a case, but now you
+speak as if you knew the man. I beseech you, for the love between us,
+speak plainly to me, Judith!"
+
+"I may not," said the other rising. And then she added, more lightly,
+"Nay, have no fear, sweet Prue; if there be any danger, it is not I that
+run it, and soon there will be no occasion for my withholding the
+secret from you, if secret there be."
+
+"I cannot understand you, Judith," said her friend, with the pale,
+gentle face full of a tender wistfulness and anxiety.
+
+"Such timid eyes!" said Judith, laughing good-naturedly. "Indeed,
+Prudence, I have seen no ghost, and goodman Wizard has failed me
+utterly; nor sprite nor phantom has been near me. In sooth I have buried
+poor Tom's bit of rosemary to little purpose. And now I must get me
+home, for Master Parson comes this afternoon, and I will but wait the
+preaching to hear Susan sing: 'tis worth the penance. Farewell, sweet
+mouse; get you rid of your alarm. The sky will clear all in good time."
+
+So they kissed each other, and she left; still in much perplexity, it is
+true, but nevertheless resolved to tell the young man honestly and
+plainly the result of her inquiries.
+
+As it turned out, she was to hear something more about the King and
+politics and religion that afternoon; for when she got home to New
+Place, Master Blaise was already there, and he was eagerly discussing
+with Judith's mother and her sister the last news that had been brought
+from London; or rather he was expounding it, with emphatic assertions
+and denunciations that the women-folk received for the most part with a
+mute but quite apparent sympathy. He was a young man of about
+six-and-twenty, rather inclined to be stout, but with strongly lined
+features, fair complexion and hair, an intellectual forehead, and sharp
+and keen gray eyes. The one point that recommended him to Judith's
+favor--which he openly and frankly, but with perfect independence,
+sought--was the uncompromising manner in which he professed his
+opinions. These frequently angered her, and even at times roused her to
+passionate indignation; and yet, oddly enough, she had a kind of lurking
+admiration for the very honesty that scorned to curry favor with her by
+means of any suppression or evasion. It may be that there was a trace of
+the wisdom of the serpent in this attitude of the young parson, who was
+shrewd-headed as well as clear-eyed, and was as quick as any to read the
+fearless quality of Judith's character. At all events, he would not
+yield to any of her prejudices; he would not stoop to flatter her; he
+would not abate one jot of his protests against the vanity and pride,
+the heathenish show and extravagance, of women; the heinousness and
+peril of indifferentism in matters of doctrine; and the sinfulness of
+the life of them that countenanced stage plays and such like devilish
+iniquities. It was this last that was the real stumbling-block and
+contention between them. Sometimes Judith's eyes burned. Once she rose
+and got out of the room. "If I were a man, Master Parson," she was
+saying to herself, with shut teeth, "by the life of me I would whip you
+from Stratford town to Warwick!" And indeed there was ordinarily a kind
+of armed truce between these two, so that no stranger or acquaintance
+could very easily decide what their precise relations were, although
+every one knew that Judith's mother and sister held the young divine in
+great favor, and would fain have had him of the family.
+
+At this moment of Judith's entrance he was much exercised, as has been
+said, on account of the news that was but just come from London--how
+that the King was driving at still further impositions because of the
+Commons begrudging him supplies; and naturally Master Blaise warmly
+approved of the Commons, that had been for granting the liberties to the
+Puritans which the King had refused. And not only was this the
+expression of a general opinion on the subject, but he maintained as an
+individual--and as a very emphatic individual too--that the prerogatives
+of the crown, the wardships and purveyances and what not, were monstrous
+and abominable, and a way of escape from the just restraint of
+Parliament, and he declared with a sudden vehemence that he would rather
+perish at the stake than contribute a single benevolence to the royal
+purse. Judith's mother, a tall, slight, silver-haired woman, with eyes
+that had once been of extraordinary beauty, but now were grown somewhat
+sad and worn, and her daughter Susanna Hall, who was darker than her
+sister Judith as regarded hair and eyebrows, but who had blue-gray eyes
+of a singular clearness and quickness and intelligence, listened and
+acquiesced; but perhaps they were better pleased when they found the
+young parson come out of that vehement mood; though still he was sharp
+of tongue and sarcastic, saying as an excuse for the King that now he
+was revenging himself on the English Puritans for the treatment he had
+received at the hands of the Scotch Presbyterians, who had harried him
+not a little. He had not a word for Judith; he addressed his discourse
+entirely to the other two. And she was content to sit aside, for indeed
+this discontent with the crown on the part of the Puritans was nothing
+strange or novel to her, and did not in the least help to solve her
+present perplexity.
+
+And now the maids (for Judith's father would have no serving-men, nor
+stable-men, nor husbandmen of any grade whatever, come within-doors; the
+work of the house was done entirely by women-folk) entered to prepare
+the long oaken table for supper, seeing which Master Blaise suggested
+that before that meal it might be as well to devote a space to divine
+worship. So the maids were bidden to stay their preparations, and to
+remain, seating themselves dutifully on a bench brought crosswise, and
+the others sat at the table in their usual chairs, while the preacher
+opened the large Bible that had been fetched for him, and proceeded to
+read the second chapter of the Book of Jeremiah, expounding as he went
+along. This running commentary was, in fact, a sermon applied to all the
+evils of the day, as the various verses happened to offer texts; and the
+ungodliness and the vanity and the turning away from the Lord that
+Jeremiah lamented were attributed in no unsparing fashion to the town of
+Stratford and the inhabitants thereof: "Hear ye the word of the Lord, O
+house of Jacob, and all the families of the house of Israel: thus saith
+the Lord, What iniquity have your fathers found in me, that they are
+gone far from me, and have walked after vanity, and are become vain?"
+Nor did he spare himself and his own calling: "The priests said not,
+Where is the Lord? and they that should minister the law knew me not:
+the pastors also offended against me, and the prophets prophesied in
+Baal, and went after things that did not profit." And there were bold
+paraphrases and inductions, too: "What hast thou now to do in the way of
+Egypt, to drink the waters of Nilus? or what makest thou in the way of
+Asshur, to drink the waters of the river?" Was not that the seeking of
+strange objects--of baubles, and jewels, and silks, and other
+instruments of vanity--from abroad, from the papist land of France, to
+lure the eye and deceive the senses, and turn away the mind from the
+dwelling on holy things? "Can a maid forget her ornament, or the bride
+her attire? yet my people have forgotten me days without number." This
+was, indeed, a fruitful text, and there is no doubt that Judith was
+indirectly admonished to regard the extreme simplicity of her mother's
+and sister's attire; so that there can be no excuse whatever for her
+having in her mind at this very moment some vague fancy that as soon as
+supper was over she would go to her own chamber and take out a certain
+beaver hat. She did not often wear it, for it was a present that her
+father had once brought her from London, and it was ranked among her
+most precious treasures; but surely on this evening (she was saying to
+herself) it was fitting that she should wear it, not from any personal
+vanity, but to the end that this young gentleman, who seemed to know
+several of her father's acquaintances in London, should understand that
+the daughter of the owner of New Place was no mere country wench,
+ignorant of what was in the fashion. It is grievous that she should have
+been concerned with such frivolous thoughts. However, the chapter came
+to an end in due time.
+
+Then good Master Blaise said that they would sing the
+One-hundred-and-thirty-seventh Psalm; and this was truly what Judith had
+been waiting for. She herself was but an indifferent singer. She could
+do little more than hum such snatches of old songs as occurred to her
+during her careless rambles, and that only for her private ear; but her
+sister Susanna had a most noble, pure, and clear contralto voice, that
+could at any time bring tears to Judith's eyes, and that, when she
+joined in the choral parts of the service in church, made many a young
+man's heart tremble strangely. In former days she used to sing to the
+accompaniment of her lute; but that was given over now. Once or twice
+Judith had brought the discarded instrument to her, and said,
+
+"Susan, sweet Susan, for once, for once only, sing to me '_The rose is
+from my garden gone_.'"
+
+"Why, then--to make you cry, silly one?" the elder sister would answer.
+"What profit those idle tears, child, that are but a luxury and a sinful
+indulgence?"
+
+"Susan, but once!" Judith would plead (with the tears almost already in
+her eyes)--"once only, '_The rose is from my garden gone_.' There is
+none can sing it like you."
+
+But the elder sister was obdurate, as she considered was right; and
+Judith, as she walked through the meadows in the evening, would
+sometimes try the song for herself, thinking, or endeavoring to think,
+that she could hear in it the pathetic vibrations of her sister's voice.
+Indeed, at this moment the small congregation assembled around the table
+would doubtless have been deeply shocked had they known with what a
+purely secular delight Judith was now listening to the words of the
+psalm. There was but one Bible in the house, so that Master Blaise read
+out the first two lines (lest any of the maids might have a lax memory):
+
+    "When as we sat in Babylon,
+      The rivers round about;"
+
+and that they sang; then they proceeded in like manner:
+
+    "And in remembrance of Sion,
+      The tears for grief burst out;
+    We hanged our harps and instruments
+      The willow-trees upon;
+    For in that place men for their use
+      Had planted many a one."
+
+It is probable, indeed, that Judith was so wrapped up in her sister's
+singing that it did not occur to her to ask herself whether this psalm,
+too, had not been chosen with some regard to the good preacher's
+discontent with those in power. At all events, he read out, and they
+sang, no further than these two verses:
+
+    "Then they to whom we prisoners were,
+      Said to us tauntingly:
+    Now let us hear your Hebrew songs
+      And pleasant melody.
+    Alas! (said we) who can once frame
+      His sorrowful heart to sing
+    The praises of our loving God
+      Thus under a strange king?
+
+    "But yet if I Jerusalem
+      Out of my heart let slide,
+    Then let my fingers quite forget
+      The warbling harp to guide;
+    And let my tongue within my mouth
+      Be tied forever fast,
+    If that I joy before I see
+      Thy full deliverance past."
+
+Then there was a short and earnest prayer; and, that over, the maids set
+to work to get forward the supper; and young Willie Hart was called in
+from the garden--Judith's father being away at Wilmcote on some
+important business there. In due course of time, supper being finished,
+and a devout thanksgiving said, Judith was free; and instantly she fled
+away to her own chamber to don her bravery. It was not vanity (she again
+said to herself), it was that her father's daughter should show that she
+knew what was due to him and his standing in the town; and indeed, as
+she now regarded herself in the little mirror--she wore a half-circle
+farthingale, and had on one of her smartest ruffs--and when she set on
+her head of short brown curls this exceedingly pretty hat (it was a
+gray beaver above, and underneath it was lined with black satin, and all
+around the rim was a row of hollow brass beads that tinkled like small
+bells), she was quite well satisfied with her appearance, and that she
+was fairly entitled to be. Then she went down and summoned her
+sweetheart Willie, to act as her companion and protector and ally; and
+together these two passed forth from the house--into the golden clear
+evening.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+A FAREWELL.
+
+
+Always, when she got out into the open air, her spirits rose into a pure
+content; and now, as they were walking westward through the peaceful
+meadows, the light of the sunset was on her face; and there was a kind
+of radiance there, and careless happiness, that little Willie Hart
+scarce dared look upon, so abject and wistful was the worship that the
+small lad laid at his pretty cousin's feet. He was a sensitive and
+imaginative boy; and the joy and crown of his life was to be allowed to
+walk out with his cousin Judith, her hand holding his; and it did not
+matter to him whether she spoke to him, or whether she was busy with her
+private thinking, and left him to his own pleasure and fancies. He had
+many of these; for he had heard of all kinds of great and noble
+persons--princesses, and empresses, and queens; but to him his cousin
+Judith was the Queen of queens; he could not believe that any one ever
+was more beautiful--or more gentle and lovable, in a magical and
+mystical way--than she was; and in church, on the quiet Sunday mornings,
+when the choir was singing, and all else silence, and dreams were busy
+in certain small brains, if there were any far-away pictures of angels
+in white and shining robes, coming toward one through rose-red celestial
+gardens, be sure they had Judith's eyes and the light and witchery of
+these; and that, when they spoke (if such wonderful creatures vouchsafed
+to speak), it was with the softness of Judith's voice. So it is not to
+be conceived that Judith, who knew something of this mute and secret
+adoration, had any malice in her heart when, on this particular
+evening, she began to question the boy as to the kind of sweetheart he
+would choose when he was grown up: the fact being that she spoke from
+idleness, and a wish to be friendly and companionable, her thoughts
+being really occupied elsewhere.
+
+"Come now, Willie, tell me," said she, "what sort of one you will
+choose, some fifteen or twenty years hence, when you are grown up to be
+a man, and will be going abroad from place to place. In Coventry,
+perchance, you may find her, or over at Evesham, or in Warwick, or
+Worcester, or as far away as Oxford; in all of them are plenty of pretty
+maidens to be had for the asking, so you be civil-spoken enough, and
+bear yourself well. Now tell me your fancy, sweetheart; what shall her
+height be?"
+
+"Why, you know, Judith," said he, rather shamefacedly. "Just your
+height."
+
+"My height?" she said, carelessly. "Why, that is neither the one way nor
+the other. My father says I am just as high as his heart; and with that
+I am content. Well, now, her hair--what color of hair shall she have?"
+
+"Like yours, Judith; and it must come round about her ears like yours,"
+said he, glancing up for a moment.
+
+"Eyes: must they be black, or gray, or brown, or blue? nay, you shall
+have your choice, sweetheart Willie; there be all sorts, if you go far
+enough afield and look around you. What eyes do you like, now?"
+
+"You know well, Judith, there is no one has such pretty eyes as you;
+these are the ones I like, and no others."
+
+"Bless the boy!--would you have her to be like me?"
+
+"Just like you, Judith--altogether," said he, promptly; and he added,
+more shyly, "for you know there is none as pretty, and they all of them
+say that."
+
+"Marry, now!" said she, with a laugh. "Here be news. What? When you go
+choosing your sweetheart, would you pick out one that had as large hands
+as these?"
+
+She held forth her hands, and regarded them; and yet with some
+complacency, for she had put on a pair of scented gloves which her
+father had brought her from London, and these were beautifully
+embroidered with silver, for he knew her tastes, and that she was not
+afraid to wear finery, whatever the preachers might say.
+
+"Why, you know, Judith," said he, "that there is none has such pretty
+hands as you, nor so white, nor so soft."
+
+"Heaven save us! am I perfection, then?" she cried (but she was
+pleased). "Must she be altogether like me?"
+
+"Just so, Cousin Judith; altogether like you; and she must wear pretty
+things like you, and walk as you walk, and speak like you, else I shall
+not love her nor go near her, though she were the Queen herself."
+
+"Well said, sweetheart Willie!--you shall to the court some day, if you
+can speak so fair. And shall I tell you, now, how you must woo and win
+such a one?" she continued, lightly. "It may be you shall find her here
+or there--in a farm-house, perchance; or she may be a great lady with
+her coach; or a wench in an ale-house; but if she be as you figure her,
+this is how you shall do: you must not grow up to be too nice and fine
+and delicate-handed; you must not bend too low for her favor; but be her
+lord and governor; and you must be ready to fight for her, if need there
+be--yes, you shall not suffer a word to be said in dispraise of her; and
+for slanderers you must have a cudgel and a stout arm withal; and yet
+you must be gentle with her, because she is a woman; and yet not too
+gentle, for you are a man; and you must be no slape-face, with whining
+through the nose that we are all devilish and wicked and the children of
+sin; and you must be no tavern-seeker, with oaths and drunken jests and
+the like; and when you find her you must be the master of her--and yet a
+gentle master: marry, I cannot tell you more; but, as I hope for heaven,
+sweet Willie, you will do well and fairly if she loves thee half as much
+as I do."
+
+And she patted the boy's head. What sudden pang was it that went through
+his heart?
+
+"They say you are going to marry Parson Blaise, Judith," said he,
+looking up at her.
+
+"Do they, now?" said she, with a touch of color in her face. "They are
+too kind that would take from me the business of choosing for myself."
+
+"Is it true, Judith?"
+
+"It is but idle talk; heed it not, sweetheart," said she, rather
+sharply. "I would they were as busy with their fingers as with their
+tongues; there would be more wool spun in Warwickshire!"
+
+But here she remembered that she had no quarrel with the lad, who had
+but innocently repeated the gossip he had heard; and so she spoke to him
+in a more gentle fashion; and, as they were now come to a parting of the
+ways, she said that she had a message to deliver, and bade him go on by
+himself to the cottage, and have some flowers gathered for her from out
+of the garden by the time she should arrive. He was a biddable boy, and
+went on without further question. Then she turned off to the left, and
+in a few minutes was in the wide and wooded lane where she was to meet
+the young gentleman that had appealed to her friendliness.
+
+And there, sure enough, he was; and as he came forward, hat in hand, to
+greet her, those eloquent black eyes of his expressed so much pleasure
+(and admiration of a respectful kind) that Judith became for a moment a
+trifle self-conscious, and remembered that she was in unusually brave
+attire. There may have been something else: some quick remembrance of
+the surprise and alarm of the morning; and also--in spite of her
+determination to banish such unworthy fancies--some frightened doubt as
+to whether, after all, there might not be a subtle connection between
+her meeting with this young gentleman and the forecasts of the wizard.
+This was but for a moment, but it confused her in what she had intended
+to say (for, in crossing the meadows, she had been planning out certain
+speeches as well as talking idly to Willie Hart), and she was about to
+make some stumbling confession to the effect that she had obtained no
+clear intelligence from her gossip Prudence Shawe, when the young
+gentleman himself absolved her from all further difficulty.
+
+"I beseech your pardon, sweet lady," said he, "that I have caused you so
+much trouble, and that to no end; for I am of a mind now not to carry
+the letter to your father, whatever hopes there might be of his sympathy
+and friendship."
+
+She stared in surprise.
+
+"Nay, but, good sir," said she, "since you have the letter, and are so
+near to Stratford, that is so great a distance from London, surely it
+were a world of pities you did not see my father. Not that I can
+honestly gather that he would have any favor for a desperate enterprise
+upsetting the peace of the land----"
+
+"I am in none such, Mistress Judith, believe me," said he, quickly. "But
+it behooves me to be cautious; and I have heard that within the last few
+hours which summons me away. If I were inclined to run the risk, there
+is no time at this present: and what I can do now is to try to thank you
+for the kindness you have shown to one that has no habit of forgetting."
+
+"You are going away forthwith?" said she.
+
+There was no particular reason why she should be sorry at his departure
+from the neighborhood, except that he was an extraordinarily
+gentle-spoken young man, and of a courteous breeding, whom her father,
+as she thought, would have been pleased to welcome as being commended
+from his friend Ben Jonson. Few visitors came to New Place; the faces to
+be met with there were grown familiar year after year. It seemed a pity
+that this stranger--and so fair-spoken a stranger, moreover--should be
+close at hand, without making her father's acquaintance.
+
+"Yes, sweet lady," said he, in the same respectful way, "it is true that
+I must quit my present lodging for a time; but I doubt whether I could
+find anywhere a quieter or securer place--nay, I have no reason to fear
+you; I will tell you freely that it is Bassfield Farm, that is on the
+left before you go down the hill to Bidford; and it is like enough I may
+come back thither, when that I see how matters stand with me in London."
+
+And then he glanced at her with a certain diffidence.
+
+"Perchance I am too daring," said he; "and yet your courtesy makes me
+bold. Were I to communicate with you when I return----"
+
+He paused, and his hesitation well became him; it was more eloquent in
+its modesty than many words.
+
+"That were easily done," said Judith at once, and with her usual
+frankness; "but I must tell you, good sir, that any written message you
+might send me I should have to show to my friend and gossip Prudence
+Shawe, that reads and writes for me, being so skilled in that; and when
+you said that to no one was the knowledge to be given that you were in
+this neighborhood----"
+
+"Sweet lady," said he, instantly, with much gratitude visible in those
+handsome dark eyes, "if I may so far trespass on your goodness, I would
+leave that also within your discretion. One that you have chosen to be
+your friend must needs be trustworthy--nay, I am sure of that."
+
+"But my father too, good sir----"
+
+"Nay, not so," said he, with some touch of entreaty in his voice. "Take
+it not ill of me, but one that is in peril must use precautions for his
+safety, even though they savor of ill manners and suspicion."
+
+"As you will, sir--as you will; I know little of such matters," Judith
+said. "But yet I know that you do wrong to mistrust my father."
+
+"Nay, dearest lady," he said, quickly, "it is you that do me wrong to
+use such words. I mistrust him not; but, indeed, I dare not disclose to
+him the charge that is brought against me until I have clearer proofs of
+my innocence, and these I hope to have in time, when I may present
+myself to your father without fear. Meanwhile, sweet Mistress Judith, I
+can but ill express my thanks to you that you have vouchsafed to lighten
+the tedium of my hiding through these few words that have passed between
+us. Did you know the dulness of the days at the farm--for sad thoughts
+are but sorry companions--you would understand my gratitude toward
+you----"
+
+"Nay, nothing, good sir, nothing," said she; and then she paused, in
+some difficulty. She did not like to bid him farewell without any
+reference whatsoever to the future; for in truth she wished to hear more
+of him, and how his fortunes prospered. And yet she hesitated about
+betraying so much interest--of however distant and ordinary a kind--in
+the affairs of a stranger. Her usual frank sympathy conquered: besides,
+was not this unhappy young man the friend of her father's friend?
+
+"Is it to the farm that you return when you have been to London?" she
+asked.
+
+"I trust so: better security I could not easily find elsewhere; and my
+well-wishers have means of communication with me, so that I can get the
+news there. Pray Heaven I may soon be quit of this skulking in corners!
+I like it not: it is not the life of a free man."
+
+"I hope your fortunes will mend, sir, and speedily," said she, and there
+was an obvious sincerity in her voice.
+
+"Why," said he, with a laugh--for, indeed, this young man, to be one in
+peril of his life, bore himself with a singularly free and undaunted
+demeanor; and he was not looking around him in a furtive manner, as if
+he feared to be observed, but was allowing his eyes to rest on Judith's
+eyes, and on the details of her costume (which he seemed to approve), in
+a quite easy and unconcerned manner--"the birds and beasts we hunt are
+allowed to rest at times, but a man in hiding has no peace nor freedom
+from week's end to week's end--no, nor at any moment of the day or
+night. And if the good people that shelter him are not entirely of his
+own station, and if he cares to have but little speech with them, and if
+the only book in the house be the family Bible, then the days are like
+to pass slowly with him. Can you wonder, sweet Mistress Judith," he
+continued, turning his eyes to the ground in a modest manner, "that I
+shall carry away the memory of this meeting with you as a treasure, and
+dwell on it, and recall the kindness of each word you have spoken?"
+
+"In truth, no, good sir," she said, with a touch of color in her cheeks,
+that caught the warm golden light shining over from the west. "I would
+not have you think them of any importance, except the hope that matters
+may go well with you."
+
+"And if they should," said he, "or if they should go ill, and if I were
+to presume to think that you cared to know them, when I return to
+Bassfield I might make so bold as to send you some brief tidings,
+through your friend Mistress Prudence Shawe, that I am sure must be
+discreet, since she has won your confidence. But why should I do so?" he
+added, after a second. "Why should I trouble you with news of one whose
+good or evil fortune cannot concern you?"
+
+"Nay, sir, I wish you well," said she, simply, "and would fain hear
+better tidings of your condition. If you may not come at present to New
+Place, where you would have better counsel than I can give you, at least
+you may remember that there is one in the household there that will be
+glad when she hears of your welfare, and better pleased still when she
+learns that you are free to make her father's friendship."
+
+This was clearly a dismissal; and after a few more words of gratitude on
+his part (he seemed almost unable to take away his eyes from her face,
+or to say all that he would fain say of thanks for her gracious
+intervention and sympathy) they parted; and forthwith Judith--now with a
+much lighter heart, for this interview had cost her not a little
+embarrassment and anxiety--hastened away back through the lane in the
+direction of the barns and gardens of Shottery. All these occurrences of
+the day had happened so rapidly that she had had but little time to
+reflect over them; but now she was clearly glad that she should be able
+to talk over the whole affair with Prudence Shawe. There would be
+comfort in that, and also safety; for, if the truth must be told, that
+wild and bewildering fancy that perchance the wizard had prophesied
+truly would force itself on her mind in a disquieting manner. But she
+strove to reason herself and laugh herself out of such imaginings. She
+had plenty of courage and a strong will. From the first she had made
+light of the wizard's pretensions; she was not going to alarm herself
+about the possible future consequences of this accidental meeting. And,
+indeed, when she recalled the particulars of that meeting, she came to
+think that the circumstances of the young man could not be so very
+desperate. He did not speak nor look like one in imminent peril; his gay
+description of the masques and entertainments of the court was not the
+talk of a man seriously and really in danger of his life. Perhaps he had
+been in some thoughtless escapade, and was waiting for the bruit of it
+to blow over: perhaps he was unused to confinement, and may have
+exaggerated (for this also occurred to her) somewhat in order to win her
+sympathy. But, anyhow, he was in some kind of misfortune or trouble, and
+she was sorry for him; and she thought that if Prudence Shawe could see
+him, and observe how well-bred and civil-spoken and courteous a young
+gentleman he seemed to be, she, too, would pity the dulness of the life
+he must be leading at the farm, and be glad to do anything to relieve
+such a tedium. In truth, by the time Judith was drawing near her
+grandmother's cottage, she had convinced herself that there was no dark
+mystery connected with this young man; that she had not been holding
+converse with any dangerous villain or conspirator; and that soon
+everything would be cleared up, and perhaps he himself present himself
+at New Place, with Ben Jonson's letter in his hand. So she was in a
+cheerful enough frame of mind when she arrived at the cottage.
+
+This was a picturesque little building of brick and timber, with a
+substantial roof of thatch, and irregularly placed small windows; and it
+was prettily set in front of a wild and variegated garden, and of course
+all the golden glow of the west was now flooding the place with its
+beautiful light, and causing the little rectangular panes in the open
+casements to gleam like jewels. And here, at the wooden gate of the
+garden, was Willie Hart, who seemed to have been using the time
+profitably, for he had a most diverse and sweet-scented gathering of
+flowers and herbs of a humble and familiar kind--forget-me-nots, and
+pansies, and wall-flower, and mint, and sweet-brier, and the like--to
+present to his pretty cousin.
+
+"Well done, sweetheart? and are all these for me?" said she, as she
+passed within the little gate, and stood for a moment arranging and
+regarding them. "What, then, what is this?--what mean you by it, Cousin
+Willie?"
+
+"By what, Cousin Judith?" said the small boy, looking up with his
+wondering and wistful eyes.
+
+"Why," said she, gayly, "this pansy that you have put fair in the front.
+Know you not the name of it?"
+
+"Indeed I know it not, Cousin Judith."
+
+"Ah, you cunning one! well you know it, I'll be sworn! Why, 'tis one of
+the chiefest favorites everywhere. Did you never hear it called 'kiss me
+at the gate?' Marry, 'tis an excellent name; and if I take you at your
+word, little sweetheart?"
+
+And so they went into the cottage together; and she had her arm lying
+lightly round his neck.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+A QUARREL.
+
+
+But instantly her manner changed. Just within the doorway of the passage
+that cut the rambling cottage into two halves, and attached to a string
+that was tied to the handle of the door, lay a small spaniel-gentle,
+peacefully snoozing; and well Judith knew that the owner of the dog
+(which she had heard, indeed, was meant to be presented to herself) was
+inside. However, there was no retreat possible, if retreat she would
+have preferred; for here was the aged grandmother--a little old woman,
+with fresh pink cheeks, silver-white hair, and keen eyes--come out to
+see if it were Judith's footsteps she had heard; and she was kindly in
+her welcome of the girl, though usually she grumbled a good deal about
+her, and would maintain that it was pure pride and wilfulness that kept
+her from getting married.
+
+"Here be finery!" said she, stepping back as if to gain a fairer view.
+"God's mercy, wench, have you come to your senses at last?--be you
+seeking a husband?--would you win one of them? They have waited a goodly
+time for the bating of your pride; but you must after them at last--ay,
+ay, I thought 'twould come to that."
+
+"Good grandmother, you give me no friendly welcome," said Judith. "And
+Willie here; have you no word for him, that he is come to see how you
+do?"
+
+"Nay, come in, then, sweetings both; come in and sit ye down: little
+Willie has been in the garden long enough, though you know I grudge you
+not the flowers, wench. Ay, ay, there is one within, Judith, that would
+fain be a nearer neighbor, as I hear, if you would but say yea; and
+bethink ye, wench, an apple may hang too long on the bough--your bravery
+may be put on to catch the eye when it is overlate----"
+
+"I pray you, good grandmother, forbear," said Judith, with some
+asperity. "I have my own mind about such things."
+
+"All's well, wench, all's well," said the old dame, as she led the way
+into the main room of the cottage. It was a wide and spacious apartment,
+with heavy black beams overhead, a mighty fire-place, here or there a
+window in the walls just as it seemed to have been wanted, and in the
+middle of the floor a plain old table, on which were placed a jug and
+two or three horn tumblers.
+
+Of course Judith knew whom she had to expect: the presence of the little
+spaniel-gentle at the door had told her that. This young fellow that now
+quickly rose from his chair and came forward to meet her--"Good-even to
+you, Judith," said he, in a humble way, and his eyes seemed to beseech
+her favor--was as yet but in his two-and-twentieth year, but his tall
+and lithe and muscular figure had already the firm set of manhood on it.
+He was spare of form and square-shouldered; his head smallish, his brown
+hair short; his features were regular, and the forehead, if not high,
+was square and firm; the general look of him was suggestive of a
+sculptured Greek or Roman wrestler, but that this deprecating glance of
+the eyes was not quite consistent. And, to tell the truth, wrestling and
+his firm-sinewed figure had something to do with his extreme humility on
+this occasion. He was afraid that Judith had heard something. To have
+broken the head of a tapster was not a noble performance, no matter how
+the quarrel was forced on him; and this was but the most recent of
+several squabbles; for the championship in the athletic sports of a
+country neighborhood is productive of rivals, who may take many ways of
+provoking anger. "Good-even to you, Judith," said he, as if he really
+would have said, "Pray you believe not all the ill you hear of me!"
+Judith, however, did not betray anything by her manner, which was
+friendly enough in a kind of formal way, and distinctly reserved. She
+sat down, and asked her grandmother what news she had of the various
+members of the family, that now were widely scattered throughout
+Warwickshire. She declined the cup of merry-go-down that the young man
+civilly offered to her. She had a store of things to tell about her
+father; and about the presents he had brought; and about the two pieces
+of song-music that Master Robert Johnson had sent, that her father would
+have Susan try over on the lute; and the other twenty acres that were to
+be added; and the talk there had been of turning the house opposite New
+Place, at the corner of Chapel Street and Scholars Lane, into a tavern,
+and how that had happily been abandoned--for her father wanted no
+tavern-revelry within hearing; and so forth; but all this was addressed
+to the grandmother. The young man got scarce a word, though now and
+again he would interpose gently, and, as it were, begging her to look
+his way. She was far kinder to Willie Hart, who was standing by her
+side; for sometimes she would put her hand on his shoulder, or stroke
+his long yellow-brown hair.
+
+"Willie says he will have just such another as I, grandmother," said
+she, when these topics were exhausted, "to be his sweetheart when he
+grows up; so you see there be some that value me."
+
+"Look to it that you be not yourself unmarried then, Judith," said the
+old dame, who was never done grumbling on this account. "I should not
+marvel; they that refuse when they are sought come in time to wonder
+that there are none to seek--nay, 'tis so, I warrant you. You are
+hanging late on the bough, wench; see you be not forgotten."
+
+"But, good grandmother," said Judith, with some color in her cheeks (for
+this was an awkward topic in the presence of this youth), "would you
+have me break from the rule of the family? My mother was six-and-twenty
+when she married, and Susan four-and-twenty; and indeed there might come
+one of us who did not perceive the necessity of marrying at all."
+
+"In God's name, if that be your mind, wench, hold to it. Hold to it, I
+say!" And then the old dame glanced with her sharp eyes at the pretty
+costume of her visitor. "But I had other thoughts when I saw such a fine
+young madam at the door; in truth, they befit you well, these braveries;
+indeed they do; though 'tis a pity to have them bedecking out one that
+is above the marrying trade. But take heed, wench, take heed lest you
+change your mind when it is too late; the young men may hold you to your
+word, and you find yourself forsaken when you least expect it."
+
+"Give ye thanks for your good comfort, grandmother," said Judith,
+indifferently. And then she rose. "Come, Willie, 'tis about time we were
+going through the fields to the town. What message have you,
+grandmother, for my father? He is busy from morning till night since his
+coming home; but I know he will be over to visit you soon. The flowers,
+Willie--did you leave them on the bench outside?"
+
+But she was not allowed to depart in this fashion. The old dame's
+discontents with her pretty granddaughter--that was now grown into so
+fair and blithe a young woman--were never of a lasting nature; and now
+she would have both Judith and little Willie taste of some gingerbread
+of her own baking, and then Judith had again to refuse a sup of the ale
+that stood on the table, preferring a little water instead. Moreover,
+when they had got out into the garden, behold! this young man would come
+also, to convoy them home on their way across the fields. It was a
+gracious evening, sweet and cool; there was a clear twilight shining
+over the land; the elms were dark against the palely luminous sky. And
+then, as the three of them went across the meadows toward Stratford
+town, little Willie Hart was intrusted with the care of the
+spaniel-gentle--that was young and wayward, and possessed with a mad
+purpose of hunting sparrows--and as the dog kept him running this way
+and that, he was mostly at some distance from these other two, and
+Judith's companion, young Quiney, had every opportunity of speaking with
+her.
+
+"I sent you a message, Judith," said he, rather timidly, but anxiously
+watching the expression of her face all the time, "a token of
+remembrance: I trust it did not displease you?"
+
+"You should have considered through whose hands it would come," said
+she, without regarding him.
+
+"How so?" he asked, in some surprise.
+
+"Why, you know that Prudence would have to read it."
+
+"And why not, Judith? Why should she not? She is your friend; and I care
+not who is made aware that--that--well, you know what I mean, dear
+Judith, but, I fear to anger you by saying it. You were not always so
+hard to please."
+
+There was a touch of reproach in this that she did not like. Besides,
+was it fair? Of course she had been kinder to him when he was a mere
+stripling--when they were boy and girl together; but now he had put
+forth other pretensions; and they stood on a quite different footing;
+and in his pertinacity he would not understand why she was always
+speaking to him of Prudence Shawe, and extolling her gentleness and
+sweet calm wisdom and goodness. "The idle boy!" she would say to
+herself; "Why did God give him such a foolish head that he must needs
+come fancying me?" And sometimes she was angry because of his dulness
+and that he would not see; though, indeed, she could not speak quite
+plainly.
+
+"You should think," said she, on this occasion, with some sharpness,
+"that these idle verses that you send me are read by Prudence. Well,
+doubtless, she may not heed that----"
+
+"Why should she heed, Judith?" said he. "'Tis but an innocent part she
+takes in the matter--a kindness, merely."
+
+She dared not say more, and she was vexed with him for putting this
+restraint upon her. She turned upon him with a glance of sudden and
+rather unfriendly scrutiny.
+
+"What is this now that I hear of you?" said she. "Another brawl! A
+tavern brawl! I marvel you have escaped so long with a whole skin."
+
+"I know not who carries tales of me to you, Judith," said he, somewhat
+warmly, "but if you yourself were more friendly you would take care to
+choose a more friendly messenger. It is always the worst that you hear.
+If there was a brawl, it was none of my seeking. And if my skin is
+whole, I thank God I can look after that for myself; I am not one that
+will be smitten on one cheek and turn the other--like your parson
+friend."
+
+This did not mend matters much.
+
+"My parson friend?" said she, with some swift color in her cheeks. "My
+parson friend is one that has respect for his office, and has a care for
+his reputation, and lives a peaceable, holy life. Would you have him
+frequent ale-houses, and fight with drawers and tapsters? Marry and
+amen! but I find no fault with the parson's life."
+
+"Nay, that is true, indeed," said he, bitterly: "you can find no fault
+in the parson--as every one says. But there are others that see with
+other eyes, and would tell you in what he might amend----"
+
+"I care not to know," said she.
+
+"It were not amiss," said he, for he was determined to speak--"it were
+not amiss if Sir Parson showed a little more honesty in his daily
+walk--that were not amiss, for one thing."
+
+"In what is he dishonest, then?" said she, instantly, and she turned and
+faced him with indignant eyes.
+
+Well, he did not quail. His blood was up. This championship of the
+parson, that he had scarce expected of her, only fired anew certain
+secret suspicions of his; and he had no mind to spare his rival, whether
+he were absent or no.
+
+"Why, then, does he miscall the King, and eat the King's bread?" said
+he, somewhat hotly. "Is it honest to conform in public, and revile in
+private? I say, let him go forth, as others have been driven forth, if
+the state of affairs content him not. I say that they who speak against
+the King--marry, it were well done to chop the rogues' ears off!--I say
+they should be ashamed to eat the King's bread."
+
+"He eats no King's bread?" said Judith.--and alas! her eyes had a look
+in them that pierced him to the heart: it was not the glance he would
+fain have met with there. "He eats the bread of the Church, that has
+been despoiled of its possessions again and again by the Crown and the
+lords; and why should he go forth? He is a minister; is there harm that
+he should wish to see the services reformed? He is at his post; would
+you have him desert it, or else keep silent? No, he is no such coward, I
+warrant you. He will speak his mind; it were ill done of him else?"
+
+"Nay, he can do no harm at all--in your judgment," said he, somewhat
+sullenly, "if it all be true that they say."
+
+"And who is it, then, that should speak of idle tales and the believing
+of them?" said she, with indignant reproach. "You say I welcome evil
+stories about you? And you? Are you so quick to put away the idle gossip
+they bring you about me? Would you not rather believe it? I trow you
+would as lief believe it as not. That it is to have friends! That it is
+to have those who should defend you in your absence; but would rather
+listen to slander against you! But when they speak about women's idle
+tongues, they know little; it is men who are the readiest to listen, and
+to carry evil reports and lying!"
+
+"I meant not to anger you, Judith," said he, more humbly.
+
+"Yes, but you have angered me," said she (with her lips becoming
+tremulous, but only for a second). "What concern have I with Parson
+Blaise? I would they that spake against him were as good men and honest
+as he----"
+
+"Indeed, they speak no ill of him, Judith," said he (for he was grieved
+that they were fallen out so, and there was nothing he would not have
+retracted that so he might win back to her favor again, in however small
+a degree), "except that he is disputatious, and would lead matters no
+one knows whither. 'Tis but a few minutes ago that your grandmother
+there was saying that we should never have peace and quiet in Church
+affairs till the old faith was restored----"
+
+Here, indeed, she pricked up her ears; but she would say no more. She
+had not forgiven him yet; and she was proud and silent.
+
+"And though I do not hold with that--for there would be a bloody
+struggle before the Pope could be master in England again--nevertheless,
+I would have the ministers men of peace, as they profess to be, and
+loyal to the King, who is at the head of the Church as well as of the
+realm. However, let it pass. I wish to have no quarrel with you,
+Judith."
+
+"How does your business?" said she, abruptly changing the subject.
+
+"Well--excellently well; it is not in that direction that I have any
+anxiety about the future."
+
+"Do you give it your time? You were best take heed, for else it is like
+to slip away from you," she said; and he thought she spoke rather
+coldly, and as if her warning were meant to convey something more than
+appeared.
+
+And then she added:
+
+"You were at Wilmecote on Tuesday?"
+
+"You must have heard why, Judith," he said. "Old Pike was married again
+that day, and they would have me over to his wedding."
+
+"And on the Wednesday, what was there at Bidford, then, that you must
+needs be gone when my mother sent to you?"
+
+"At Bidford?" said he (and he was sorely puzzled as to whether he should
+rejoice at these questions as betraying a friendly interest in his
+affairs, or rather regarded them as conveying covert reproof, and
+expressing her dissatisfaction with him, and distrust of him). "At
+Bidford, Judith--well, there was business as well as pleasure there. For
+you must know that Daniel Hutt is come home for a space from the new
+settlements in Virginia, and is for taking back with him a number of
+laborers that are all in due time to make their fortunes there. Marry,
+'tis a good chance for some of them, for broken men are as welcome as
+any, and there are no questions asked as to their having been intimate
+with the constable and the justice. So there was a kind of merry-meeting
+of Daniel's old friends, that was held at the Falcon at Bidford--and the
+host is a good customer of mine, so it was prudent of me to go
+thither--and right pleasant was it to hear Daniel Hutt tell of his
+adventures by sea and shore. And he gave us some of the tobacco that he
+had brought with him. And to any that will go back with him to Jamestown
+he promises allotments of land, though at first there will be tough
+labor, as he says, honestly. Oh, a worthy man is this Daniel Hutt,
+though, as yet his own fortune seems not so secure."
+
+"With such junketings," said she, with ever so slight a touch of
+coldness, "'tis no wonder you could not spare the time to come and see
+my father on the evening of his getting home."
+
+"There, now, Judith!" he exclaimed. "Would you have me break in upon him
+at such a busy season, when even you yourself are careful to refrain? It
+had been ill-mannered of me to do such a thing; but 'twas no
+heedlessness that led to my keeping away, as you may well imagine."
+
+"It is difficult to know the reasons when friends hold aloof," said she.
+"You have not been near the house for two or three weeks, as I reckon."
+
+And here again he would have given much to know whether her
+speech--which was curiously reserved in tone--meant that she had marked
+these things out of regard for him, or that she wished to reprove him.
+
+"I can give you the reason for that, Judith," said this tall and
+straight young fellow, who from time to time regarded his companion's
+face with some solicitude, as if he fain would have found some greater
+measure of friendliness there. "I have not been often to New Place of
+late because of one I thought I might meet there who would be no better
+pleased to see me than I him; and--and perhaps because of another--that
+I did not know whether she might be the better pleased to have me there
+or find me stay away----"
+
+"Your reasons are too fine," said she. "I scarce understand them."
+
+"That is because you won't understand; I think I have spoken plain
+enough ere now, Judith, I make bold to say."
+
+She flushed somewhat at this; but it was no longer in anger. She seemed
+willing to be on good terms with him, but always in that measured and
+distant way.
+
+"Willie!" she called. "Come hither, sweetheart!"
+
+With some difficulty her small cousin made his way back to her, dragging
+the reluctant spaniel so that its head seemed to be in jeopardy.
+
+"He _will_ go after the birds, Cousin Judith; you will never teach him
+to follow you."
+
+"I?" she said.
+
+"Willie knows I want you to have the dog, Judith," her companion said,
+quickly. "I got him for you when I was at Gloucester. 'Tis a good
+breed--true Maltese, I can warrant him; and the fashionable ladies will
+scarce stir abroad without one to follow them, or to carry with them in
+their coaches when they ride. Will you take him Judith?"
+
+She was a little embarrassed.
+
+"'Tis a pretty present," said she, "but you have not chosen the right
+one to give it to."
+
+"What mean you?" said he.
+
+"Nay, now, have not I the Don?" she said, with greater courage. "He is a
+sufficient companion if I wish to walk abroad. Why should you not give
+this little spaniel to one that has no such companion--I mean to
+Prudence Shaw?"
+
+"To Prudence!" said he, regarding her; for this second introduction of
+Judith's friend seemed strange, as well as the notion that he should
+transfer this prized gift to her.
+
+"There, now, is one so gentle and kind to every one and everything that
+she would tend the little creature with care," she continued. "It would
+be more fitting for her than for me."
+
+"You could be kind enough, Judith--if you chose," said he, under his
+breath, for Willie Hart was standing by.
+
+"Nay, I have the Don," said she, "that is large, and worldly, and
+serious, and clumsy withal. Give this little playfellow to Prudence, who
+is small and neat and gentle like itself; surely that were fitter."
+
+"I had hoped you would have accepted the little spaniel from me,
+Judith," said he, with very obvious disappointment.
+
+"Moreover," said she, lightly, "two of a trade would never agree: we
+should have this one and the Don continually quarrelling, and sooner or
+later the small one would lose its head in the Don's great jaws."
+
+"Why, the mastiff is always chained, and at the barn gate, Judith," said
+he. "This one would be within-doors, as your playfellow. But I care not
+to press a gift."
+
+"Nay, now, be not displeased," said she, gently enough. "I am not
+unthankful; I think well of your kindness, but it were still better done
+if you were to change your intention and give the spaniel to one that
+would have a gentler charge over it, and think none the less of it, as I
+can vouch for. Pray you give it to Prudence."
+
+"A discarded gift is not worth the passing on," said he; and as they
+were now come quite near to the town, where there was a dividing of
+ways, he stopped as though he would shake hands and depart.
+
+"Will you not go on to the house? You have not seen my father since his
+coming home," she said.
+
+"No, not to-night, Judith," he said. "Doubtless he is still busy, and I
+have affairs elsewhere."
+
+She glanced at him with one of those swift keen glances of hers.
+
+"Where go you to spend the evening, if I may make so bold?" she said.
+
+"Not to the ale-house, as you seem to suspect," he answered, with just a
+trifle of bitterness; and then he took the string to lead away the
+spaniel, and he bade her farewell--in a kind of half-hearted and
+disappointed and downcast way--and left.
+
+She looked after him a second or so, as she fastened a glove-button that
+had got loose. And then she sighed as she turned away.
+
+"Sweetheart Willie," said she, putting her hand softly on the boy's
+shoulder, as he walked beside her, "I think you said you loved me?"
+
+"Why, you know I do, Cousin Judith," said he.
+
+"What a pity it is, then," said she, absently, "that you cannot remain
+always as you are, and keep your ten years forever and a day, so that we
+should always be friends as we are now!"
+
+He did not quite know what she meant, but he was sufficiently well
+pleased and contented when he was thus close by her side; and when her
+hand was on his shoulder or on his neck it was to him no burden, but a
+delight. And so walking together, and with some gay and careless prattle
+between them, they went on and into the town.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+THROUGH THE MEADOWS.
+
+
+Some two or three days after that, and toward the evening, Prudence
+Shawe was in the church-yard, and she was alone, save that now and again
+some one might pass along the gravelled pathway, and these did not stay
+to interrupt her. She had with her a basket, partly filled with flowers,
+also a small rake and a pair of gardener's shears, and she was engaged
+in going from grave to grave, here putting a few fresh blossoms to
+replace the withered ones, and there removing weeds, or cutting the
+grass smooth, and generally tending those last resting-places with a
+patient and loving care. It was a favorite employment with her when she
+had a spare afternoon; nor did she limit her attention to the graves of
+those whom she had known in life; her charge was a general one, and when
+they who had friends or relatives buried there came to the church on a
+Sunday morning, and perhaps from some distance, and when they saw that
+some gentle hand had been employed there in the interval, they knew
+right well that that hand was the hand of Prudence Shawe. It was a
+strange fancy on the part of one who was so averse from all ornament or
+decoration in ordinary life that nothing was too beautiful for a grave.
+She herself would not wear a flower, but her best, and the best she
+could beg or borrow anywhere, she freely gave to those that were gone
+away; she seemed to have some vague imagination that our poor human
+nature was not worthy of this beautifying care until it had become
+sanctified by the sad mystery of death.
+
+It was a calm, golden-white evening, peaceful and silent; the rooks were
+cawing in the dark elms above her; the swallows dipping and darting
+under the boughs; the smooth-flowing yellow river was like glass, save
+that now and again the perfect surface was broken by the rising of a
+fish. Over there in the wide meadows beyond the stream a number of boys
+were playing at rounders or prisoner's-base, or some such noisy game;
+but the sound of their shouting was softened by the distance; so quiet
+was it here, as she continued at her pious task, that she might almost
+have heard herself breathing. And once or twice she looked up, and
+glanced toward the little gate as if expecting some one.
+
+It was Judith, of course, that she was expecting; and at this moment
+Judith was coming along to the church-yard to seek her out. What a
+contrast there was between these two--this one pale and gentle and
+sad-eyed, stooping over the mute graves in the shadow of the elms; that
+other coming along through the warm evening light with all her usual
+audacity of gait, the peach-bloom of health on her cheek, carelessness
+and content in her clear-shining eyes, and the tune of "Green Sleeves"
+ringing through a perfectly idle brain. Indeed, what part of her brain
+may not have been perfectly idle was bent solely on mischief. Prudence
+had been away for two or three days, staying with an ailing sister. All
+that story of the adventure with the unfortunate young gentleman had
+still to be related to her. And again and again Judith had pictured to
+herself Prudence's alarm and the look of her timid eyes when she should
+hear of such doings, and had resolved that the tale would lose nothing
+in the telling. Here, indeed, was something for two country maidens to
+talk about. The even current of their lives was broken but by few
+surprises, but here was something more than surprise--something with
+suggestions of mystery and even danger behind it. This was no mere going
+out to meet a wizard. Any farm wench might have an experience of that
+kind; any ploughboy, deluded by the hope of digging up silver in one of
+his master's fields. But a gentleman in hiding--one that had been at
+court--one that had seen the King sitting in his chair of state, while
+Ben Jonson's masque was opened out before the great and noble
+assemblage--this was one to speak about, truly, one whose fortunes and
+circumstances were like to prove a matter of endless speculation and
+curiosity.
+
+But when Judith drew near to the little gate of the church-yard, and saw
+how Prudence was occupied, her heart smote her.
+
+    Green sleeves was all my joy,
+    Green sleeves was my delight,
+
+went clear out of her head. There was a kind of shame on her face; and
+when she went along to her friend she could not help exclaiming, "How
+good you are, Prue!"
+
+"I!" said the other, with some touch of wonder in the upturned face. "I
+fear that cannot be said of any of us, Judith."
+
+"I would I were like you, sweetheart," was the answer, with a bit of a
+sigh.
+
+"Like me, Judith?" said Prudence, returning to her task (which was
+nearly ended now, for she had but few more flowers left). "Nay, what
+makes you think that? I wish I were far other than I am."
+
+"Look, now," Judith said, "how you are occupied at this moment. Is there
+another in Stratford that has such a general kindness? How many would
+think of employing their time so? How many would come away from their
+own affairs----"
+
+"It may be I have more idle time than many," said Prudence, with a
+slight flush. "But I commend not myself for this work; in truth, no;
+'tis but a pastime; 'tis for my own pleasure."
+
+"Indeed, then, good Prue, you are mistaken, and that I know well," said
+the other, peremptorily. "Your own pleasure? Is it no pleasure, then,
+think you, for them that come from time to time, and are right glad to
+see that some one has been tending the graves of their friends or
+kinsmen? And do you think, now, it is no pleasure to the poor people
+themselves--I mean them that are gone--to look at you as you are engaged
+so, and to think that they are not quite forgotten? Surely it must be a
+pleasure to them. Surely they cannot have lost all their interest in
+what happens here--in Stratford--where they lived; and surely they must
+be grateful to you for thinking of them, and doing them this kindness? I
+say it were ill done of them else. I say they ought to be thankful to
+you. And no doubt they are, could we but learn."
+
+"Judith! Judith! you have such a bold way of regarding what is all a
+mystery to us," said her gentle-eyed friend. "Sometimes you frighten
+me."
+
+"I would I knew, now," said the other, looking absently across the river
+to the boys that were playing there, "whether my little brother
+Hamnet--had you known him you would have loved him as I did, Prudence--I
+say I wish I knew whether he is quite happy and content where he is, or
+whether he would not rather be over there now with the other boys. If he
+looks down and sees them, may it not make him sad sometimes--to be so
+far away from us? I always think of him as being alone there, and he was
+never alone here. I suppose he thinks of us sometimes. Whenever I hear
+the boys shouting like that at their play I think of him; but indeed he
+was never noisy and unruly. My father used to call him the girl-boy, but
+he was fonder of him than of all us others; he once came all the way
+from London when he heard that Hamnet was lying sick of a fever."
+
+She turned to see how Prudence was getting on with her work; but she was
+in no hurry; and Prudence was patient and scrupulously careful; and the
+dead, had they been able to speak, would not have bade her cease and go
+away, for a gentler hand never touched a grave.
+
+"I suppose it is Grandmother Hathaway who will go next," Judith
+continued, in the same absent kind of way; "but indeed she says she is
+right well content either to go or to stay; for now, as she says, she
+has about as many kinsfolk there as here, and she will not be going
+among strangers. And well I know she will make for Hamnet as soon as she
+is there, for like my father's love for Bess Hall was her love for the
+boy while he was with us. Tell me, Prudence, has he grown up to be of my
+age? You know we were twins. Is he a man now, so that we should see him
+as some one different? Or is he still our little Hamnet, just as we used
+to know him?"
+
+"How can I tell you, Judith?" the other said, almost in pain. "You ask
+such bold questions; and all these things are hidden from us and behind
+a veil."
+
+"But these are what one would like to know," said Judith, with a sigh.
+"Nay, if you could but tell me of such things, then you might persuade
+me to have a greater regard for the preachers; but when you come and ask
+about such real things, they say it is all a mystery; they cannot tell;
+and would have you be anxious about schemes of doctrine, which are but
+strings of words. My father, too: when I go to him--nay, but it is many
+a day since I tried--he would look at me and say, 'What is in your brain
+now? To your needle, wench, to your needle!'"
+
+"But naturally, Judith! Such things are mercifully hidden from us now,
+but they will be revealed when it is fitting for us to know them. How
+could our ordinary life be possible if we knew what was going on in the
+other world? We should have no interest in the things around us, the
+greater interest would be so great."
+
+"Well, well, well," said Judith, coming with more practical eyes to the
+present moment, "are you finished, sweet mouse, and will you come away?
+What, not satisfied yet? I wonder if they know the care you take. I
+wonder if one will say to the other: 'Come and see. She is there again.
+We are not quite forgotten.' And will you do that for me, too, sweet
+Prue? Will you put some pansies on my grave, too?--and I know you will
+say out of your charity, 'Well, she was not good and pious, as I would
+have had her to be; she had plenty of faults; but at least she often
+wished to be better than she was.' Nay, I forgot," she added, glancing
+carelessly over to the church; "they say we shall lie among the great
+people, since my father bought the tithes--that we have the right to be
+buried in the chancel; but indeed I know I would a hundred times liefer
+have my grave in the open here, among the grass and the trees."
+
+"You are too young to have such thoughts as these, Judith," said her
+companion, as she rose and shut down the lid of the now empty basket.
+"Come; shall we go?"
+
+"Let us cross the foot-bridge, sweet Prue," Judith said, "and go through
+the meadows and round by Clopton's bridge, and so home; for I have that
+to tell you will take some time; pray Heaven it startle you not out of
+your senses withal!"
+
+It was not, however, until they had got away from the church-yard, and
+were out in the clear golden light of the open, that she began to tell
+her story. She had linked her arm within that of her friend. Her manner
+was grave; and if there was any mischief in her eyes, it was of a demure
+kind, not easily detected. She confessed that it was out of mere wanton
+folly that she had gone to the spot indicated by the wizard, and without
+any very definite hope or belief. But as chance would have it, she did
+encounter a stranger--one, indeed, that was coming to her father's
+house. Then followed a complete and minute narrative of what the young
+man had said--the glimpses he had given her of his present condition,
+both on the occasion of that meeting and on the subsequent one, and how
+she had obtained his permission to state these things to this gentle
+gossip of hers. Prudence listened in silence, her eyes cast down; Judith
+could not see the gathering concern on her face. Nay, the latter spoke
+rather in a tone of raillery; for, having had time to look back over the
+young gentleman's confessions, and his manner, and so forth, she had
+arrived at a kind of assurance that he was in no such desperate case.
+There were many reasons why a young man might wish to lie perdu for a
+time; but this one had not talked as if any very imminent danger
+threatened him; at least, if he had intimated as much, the impression
+produced upon her was not permanent. And if Judith now told the story
+with a sort of careless bravado--as if going forth in secret to meet
+this stranger was a thing of risk and hazard--it was with no private
+conviction that there was any particular peril in the matter, but rather
+with the vague fancy that the adventure looked daring and romantic, and
+would appear as something terrible in the eyes of her timid friend.
+
+But what now happened startled her. They were going up the steps of the
+foot-bridge, Prudence first, and Judith, following her, had just got to
+the end of her story. Prudence suddenly turned round, and her face, now
+opposed to the westering light, was, as Judith instantly saw, quite
+aghast.
+
+"But, Judith, you do not seem to understand!" she exclaimed. "Was not
+that the very stranger the wizard said you would meet?--the very hour,
+the very place? In good truth, it must have been so! Judith, what manner
+of man have you been in company with?"
+
+For an instant a flush of color overspread Judith's face, and she said,
+with a sort of embarrassed laugh:
+
+"Well, and if it were so, sweet mouse? If that were the appointed one,
+what then?"
+
+She was on the bridge now. Prudence caught her by both hands, and there
+was an anxious and piteous appeal in the loving eyes.
+
+"Dear Judith, I beseech you, be warned! Have nothing to do with the man!
+Did I not say that mischief would come of planting the charm in the
+church-yard, and shaming a sacred place with such heathenish magic? And
+now look already--here is one that you dare not speak of to your own
+people; he is in secret correspondence with you. Heaven alone knows what
+dark deeds he may be bent upon, or what ruin he may bring upon you and
+yours. Judith, you are light-hearted and daring, and you love to be
+venturesome; but I know you better than you know yourself, sweetheart.
+You would not willingly do wrong, or bring harm on those that love you;
+and for the sake of all of us, Judith, have nothing to do with this
+man."
+
+Judith was embarrassed, and perhaps a trifle remorseful; she had not
+expected her friend to take this adventure so very seriously.
+
+"Dear Prue, you alarm yourself without reason," she said (but there was
+still some tell-tale color in her face). "Indeed, there is no magic or
+witchery about the young man. Had I seen a ghost, I should have been
+frightened, no doubt, for all that Don Roderigo was with me; and had I
+met one of the Stratford youths at the appointed place, I should have
+said that perhaps the good wizard had guessed well; but this was merely
+a stranger coming to see my father; and the chance that brought us
+together--well, what magic was in that?--it would have happened to you
+had you been walking in the lane: do you see that, dear mouse?--it would
+have happened to yourself had you been walking in the lane, and he would
+have asked of you the question that he asked of me. Nay, banish that
+fancy, sweet Prue, else I should be ashamed to do anything further for
+the young man that is unfortunate, and very grateful withal for a few
+words of friendliness. And so fairly spoken a young man, too; and so
+courtly in his bearing; and of such a handsome presence----"
+
+"But, dear Judith, listen to me!--do not be led into such peril! Know
+you not that evil spirits can assume goodly shapes--the Prince of
+Darkness himself----"
+
+She could not finish what she had to say, her imagination was so filled
+with terror.
+
+"Sweet Puritan," said Judith, with a smile, "I know well that he goeth
+about like a raging lion, seeking whom he may devour; I know it well;
+but believe me it would not be worth his travail to haunt such a lonely
+and useless place as the lane that goes from Shottery to the Bidford
+road. Nay, but I will convince you, good mouse, by the best of all
+evidence, that there is nothing ghostly or evil about the young man; you
+shall see him, Prue--indeed you must and shall. When that he comes back
+to his hiding, I will contrive that you shall see him and have speech
+with him, and sure you will pity him as much as I do. Poor young
+gentleman, that he should be suspected of being Satan! Nay, how could he
+be Satan, Prue, and be admitted to the King's court? Hath not our good
+King a powerful insight into the doings of witches and wizards and the
+like? and think you he would allow Satan in person to come into the very
+Banqueting-hall to see a masque?"
+
+"Judith! Judith!" said the other, piteously, "when you strive against me
+with your wit, I cannot answer you; but my heart tells me that you are
+in exceeding danger. I would warn you, dear cousin; I were no true
+friend to you else."
+
+"But you are the best and truest of friends, you dearest Prue," said
+Judith, lightly, as she released her hands from her companion's earnest
+grasp. "Come, let us on, or we shall go supperless for the evening."
+
+She passed along and over the narrow bridge, and down the steps on the
+other side. She did not seem much impressed by Prudence's entreaties;
+indeed, she was singing aloud:
+
+    Hey, good fellow, I drink to thee,
+    Pardonnez moi, je vous en prie;
+    To all good fellows, where'er they be,
+    With never a penny of money!
+
+Prudence overtook her.
+
+"Judith," said she, "even if he be not of that fearful kind--even if he
+be a real man, and such as he represents himself, bethink you what you
+are doing! There may be another such gathering as that at Dunchurch; and
+would you be in correspondence with a plotter and murderer? Nay, what
+was't you asked of me the other day?" she added, suddenly; and she stood
+still to confront her friend, with a new alarm in her eyes. "Did you not
+ask whether your father was well affected toward the Papists? Is there
+another plot?--another treason against the King?--and you would harbor
+one connected with such a wicked, godless, and bloodthirsty plan?"
+
+"Nay, nay, sweet mouse! Have I not told you? He declares he has naught
+to do with any such enterprise; and if you would but see him, Prudence,
+you would believe him. Sure I am that you would believe him instantly.
+Why, now, there be many reasons why a young gentleman might wish to
+remain concealed----"
+
+"None, Judith, none!" the other said, with decision. "Why should an
+honest man fear the daylight?"
+
+"Oh, as for that," was the careless answer, "there be many an honest man
+that has got into the clutches of the twelve-in-the-hundred rogues; and
+when the writs are out against such a one, I hold it no shame that he
+would rather be out of the way than be thrown among the wretches in
+Bocardo. I know well what I speak of; many a time have I heard my father
+and your brother talk of it; how the rogues of usurers will keep a man
+in prison for twelve years for a matter of sixteen shillings--what is it
+they call it?--making dice of his bones? And if the young gentleman
+fear such treatment and the horrible company of the prisons, I marvel
+not that he should prefer the fresh air of Bidford, howsoever dull the
+life at the farm may be."
+
+"And if that were all, why should he fear to bring the letter to your
+father?" the other said, with a quick glance of suspicion: she did not
+like the way in which Judith's ready brain could furnish forth such
+plausible conjectures and excuses. "Answer me that, Judith. Is your
+father one likely to call aloud and have the man taken, if that be all
+that is against him? Why should he be afraid to bring the letter from
+your father's friend? Nay, why should he be on the way to the house with
+it, and thereafter stop short and change his mind? There is many a mile
+betwixt London and Stratford; 'tis a marvellous thing he should travel
+all that way, and change his mind within a few minutes of being in the
+town. I love not such dark ways, Judith; no good thing can come of them,
+but evil; and it were ill done of you--even if you be careless of danger
+to yourself, as I trow you mostly are--I say it is ill done of you to
+risk the peace of your family by holding such dangerous converse with a
+stranger, and one that may bring harm to us all."
+
+Judith was not well pleased; her mouth became rather proud.
+
+"Marry, if this be your Christian charity, I would not give a penny
+ballad for it!" said she, with some bitterness of tone. "I had thought
+the story had another teaching--I mean the story of him who fell among
+thieves and was beaten and robbed and left for dead--and that we were to
+give a helping hand to such, like the Samaritan. But now I mind me 'twas
+the Priest that passed by on the other side--yes, the Priest and the
+Levite--the godly ones who would preserve a whole skin for themselves,
+and let the other die of his wounds, for aught they cared! And here is a
+young man in distress--alone and friendless--and when he would have a
+few words of cheerfulness, or a message, or a scrap of news as to what
+is going on in the world--no, no, say the Priest and the Levite--go not
+near him--because he is in misfortune he is dangerous--because he is
+alone he is a thief and a murderer--perchance a pirate, like Captain
+Ward and Dansekar, or even Catesby himself come alive again. I say, God
+keep us all from such Christian charity!"
+
+"You use me ill, Judith," said the other, and then was silent.
+
+They walked on through the meadows, and Judith was watching the play of
+the boys. As she did so, a leather ball, struck a surprising distance,
+came rolling almost to her feet, and forthwith one of the lads came
+running after it. She picked it up and threw it to him--threw it
+awkwardly and clumsily, as a girl throws, but nevertheless she saved him
+some distance and time, and she was rewarded with many a loud "Thank
+you! thank you!" from the side who were out. But when they got past the
+players and their noise, Prudence could no longer keep silent; she had a
+forgiving disposition, and nothing distressed her so much as being on
+unfriendly terms with Judith.
+
+"You know I meant not that, dear Judith," said she. "I only meant to
+shield you from harm."
+
+As for Judith, all such trivial and temporary clouds of misunderstanding
+were instantly swallowed up in the warm and radiant sunniness of her
+nature. She broke into a laugh.
+
+"And so you shall, dear mouse," said she, gayly; "you shall shield me
+from the reproach of not having a common and ordinary share of humanity;
+that shall you, dear Prue, should the unfortunate young gentleman come
+into the neighborhood again; for you will read to me the message that he
+sends me, and together we will devise somewhat on his behalf. No? Are
+you afraid to go forth and meet the pirate Dansekar? Do you expect to
+find the ghost of Gamaliel Ratsey walking on the Evesham road? Such
+silly fears, dear Prue, do not become you: you are no longer a child."
+
+"You are laying too heavy a burden on me, Judith," the other said,
+rather sadly. "I know not what to do; and you say I may not ask counsel
+of any one. And if I do nothing, I am still taking a part."
+
+"What part, then, but to read a few words and hold your peace?" said her
+companion, lightly. "What is that? But I know you will not stay there,
+sweet mouse. No, no; your heart is too tender. I know you would not
+willingly do any one an injury, or harbor suspicion and slander. You
+shall come and see the young gentleman, good Prue, as I say; and then
+you will repent in sackcloth and ashes for all that you have urged
+against him. And perchance it may be in New Place that you shall see
+him----"
+
+"Ah, Judith, that were well!" exclaimed the other, with a brighter light
+on her face.
+
+"What? Would you desire to see him, if he were to pay us a visit?"
+Judith said, regarding her with a smile.
+
+"Surely, surely, after what you have told me: why not, Judith?" was the
+placid answer.
+
+"There would be nothing ghostly about him then?"
+
+"There would be no secret, Judith," said Prudence, gravely, "that you
+have to keep back from your own people."
+
+"Well, well, we will see what the future holds for us," said Judith, in
+the same careless fashion. "And if the young gentleman come not back to
+Stratford, why, then, good fortune attend him, wherever he may be! for
+one that speaks so fair and is so modest sure deserves it. And if he
+come not back, then shall your heart be all the lighter, dear Prue; and
+as for mine, mine will not be troubled--only, that I wish him well, as I
+say, and would fain hear of his better estate. So all is so far happily
+settled, sweet mouse; and you may go in to supper with me with
+untroubled eyes and a free conscience: marry, there is need for that, as
+I bethink me; for Master Parson comes this evening, and you know you
+must have a pure and joyful heart with you, good Prudence, when you
+enter into the congregation of the saints."
+
+"Judith, for my sake!"
+
+"Nay, I meant not to offend, truly; it was my wicked, idle tongue, that
+I must clap a bridle on now--for, listen!----"
+
+They were come to New Place. There was singing going forward within; and
+one or two of the casements were open; but perhaps it was the glad and
+confident nature of the psalm that led to the words being so clearly
+heard without:
+
+    The man is blest that hath not bent
+      To wicked rede his ear;
+    Nor led his life as sinners do,
+      Nor sat in scorner's chair.
+    But in the law of God the Lord
+      Doth set his whole delight,
+    And in that law doth exercise
+      Himself both day and night.
+
+    He shall be like the tree that groweth
+      Fast by the river's side;
+    Which bringeth forth most pleasant fruit
+      In her due time and tide;
+    Whose leaf shall never fade nor fall,
+      But flourish still and stand:
+    Even so all things shall prosper well
+      That this man takes in hand.
+
+And so, having waited until the singing ceased, they entered into the
+house, and found two or three neighbors assembled there, and Master
+Walter was just about to begin his discourse on the godly life, and the
+substantial comfort and sweet peace of mind pertaining thereto.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Some few days after this, and toward the hour of noon, the mail-bearer
+came riding post-haste into the town; and in due course the contents of
+his saddle-bags were distributed among the folk entitled to them. But
+before the news-letters had been carefully spelled out to the end, a
+strange rumor got abroad. The French king was slain, and by the hand of
+an assassin. Some, as the tidings passed quickly from mouth to mouth,
+said the murderer was named Ravelok, others Havelok; but as to the main
+fact of the fearful crime having been committed, there was no manner of
+doubt. Naturally the bruit of this affair presently reached Julius
+Shawe's house; and when the timid Prudence heard of it--and when she
+thought of the man who had been in hiding, and who had talked with
+Judith, and had been so suddenly and secretly summoned away--her face
+grew even paler than its wont, and there was a sickly dread at her
+heart. She would go to see Judith at once; and yet she scarcely dared to
+breathe even to herself the terrible forebodings that were crowding in
+on her mind.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+A PLAY-HOUSE.
+
+
+But Judith laughed aside these foolish fears; as it happened, far more
+important matters were just at this moment occupying her mind.
+
+She was in the garden. She had brought out some after-dinner fragments
+for the Don; and while the great dun-colored beast devoured these, she
+had turned from him to regard Matthew gardener; and there was a sullen
+resentment on her face; for it seemed to her imagination that he kept
+doggedly and persistently near the summer-house, on which she had
+certain dark designs. However, the instant she caught sight of Prudence,
+her eyes brightened up; and, indeed, became full of an eager animation.
+
+"Hither, hither, good Prue!" she exclaimed, hurriedly. "Quick! quick! I
+have news for you."
+
+"Yes, indeed, Judith," said the other; and at the same moment Judith
+came to see there was something wrong--the startled pale face and
+frightened eyes had a story to tell.
+
+"Why, what is to do?" said she.
+
+"Know you not, Judith? Have you not heard? The French king is
+slain--murdered by an assassin!"
+
+To her astonishment the news seemed to produce no effect whatever.
+
+"Well, I am sorry for the poor man," Judith said, with perfect
+self-possession. "They that climb high must sometimes have a sudden
+fall. But why should that alarm you, good Prue? Or have you other news
+that comes more nearly home?"
+
+And then, when Prudence almost breathlessly revealed the apprehensions
+that had so suddenly filled her mind, Judith would not even stay to
+discuss such a monstrous possibility. She laughed it aside altogether.
+That the courteous young gentleman who had come with a letter from Ben
+Jonson should be concerned in the assassination of the King of France
+was entirely absurd and out of the question.
+
+"Nay, nay, good Prue," said she, lightly, "you shall make him amends for
+these unjust suspicions; that you shall, dear mouse, all in good time.
+But listen now: I have weightier matters; I have eggs on the spit,
+beshrew me else! Can you read me this riddle, sweet Prue? Know you by
+these tokens what has happened? My father comes in to dinner to-day in
+the gayest of humors; there is no absent staring at the window, and
+forgetting of all of us; it is all merriment this time; and he must
+needs have Bess Hall to sit beside him; and he would charge her with
+being a witch; and reproach her for our simple meal, when that she might
+have given us a banquet like that of a London Company, with French
+dishes and silver flagons of Theologicum, and a memorial to tell each of
+us what was coming. And then he would miscall your brother--which you
+know, dear Prudence, he never would do were he in earnest--and said he
+was chamberlain now, and was conspiring to be made alderman, only that
+he might sell building materials to the Corporation and so make money
+out of his office. And I know not what else of jests and laughing; but
+at length he sent to have the Evesham roan saddled; and he said that
+when once he had gone along to the sheep-wash to see that the hurdles
+were rightly up for the shearing, he would give all the rest of the day
+to idleness--to idleness wholly; and perchance he might ride over to
+Broadway to see the shooting-match going forward there. Now, you wise
+one, can you guess what has happened? Know you what is in store for us?
+Can you read me the riddle?"
+
+"I see no riddle, Judith," said the other, with puzzled eyes. "I met
+your father as I came through the house; and he asked if Julius were at
+home: doubtless he would have him ride to Broadway with him."
+
+"Dear mouse, is that your skill at guessing? But listen now"--and here
+she dropped her voice as she regarded goodman Matthew, though that
+personage seemed busily enough occupied with his watering-can. "This is
+what has happened: I know the signs of the weather. Be sure he has
+finished the play--the play that the young prince Mamillius was in: you
+remember, good Prue?--and the large fair copy is made out and locked
+away in the little cupboard, against my father's next going to London;
+and the loose sheets are thrown into the oak chest, along with the
+others. And now, good Prue, sweet Prue, do you know what you must
+manage? Indeed, I dare not go near the summer-house while that ancient
+wiseman is loitering about; and you must coax him, Prue; you must get
+him away; sometimes I see his villain eyes watching me, as if he had
+suspicion in his mind----"
+
+"'Tis your own guilty conscience, Judith," said Prudence, but with a
+smile; for she had herself connived at this offence ere now.
+
+"By fair means or foul, sweet mouse, you must get him away to the other
+end of the garden," said she, eagerly; "for now the Don has nearly
+finished his dinner, and goodman-wiseman-fool will wonder if we stay
+longer here. Nay, I have it, sweet Prue: you must get him along to the
+corner where my mother grows her simples; and you must keep him there
+for a space, that I may get out the right papers; and this is what you
+must do: you will ask him for something that sounds like Latin--no
+matter what nonsense it may be; and he will answer you that he knows it
+right well, but has none of it at the present time; and you will say
+that you have surely seen it among my mother's simples, and thus you
+will lead him away to find it and the longer you seek the better. Do you
+understand, good Prue?--and quick! quick!"
+
+Prudence's pale face flushed.
+
+"You ask too much, Judith. I cannot deceive the poor man so."
+
+"Nay, nay, you are too scrupulous, dear mouse. A trifle--a mere trifle."
+
+And then Prudence happened to look up, and she met Judith's eyes; and
+there was such frank self-confidence and audacity in them, and also such
+a singular and clear-shining beauty, that the simple Puritan was in a
+manner bedazzled. She said, with a quiet smile, as she turned away her
+head again:
+
+"Well, I marvel not, Judith, that you can bewitch the young men, and
+bewilder their understanding. 'Tis easy to see--if they have eyes and
+regard you, they are lost; but how you have your own way with all of us,
+and how you override our judgment, and do with us what you please, that
+passes me. Even Dr. Hall: for whom else would he have brought from
+Coventry the green silk stockings and green velvet shoes?--you know such
+vanities find little favor in his own home----"
+
+"Quick, quick, sweetheart, muzzle me that gaping ancient!" said Judith,
+interrupting her. "The Don has finished; and I will dart into the
+summer-house as I carry back the dish. Detain him, sweet Prue; speak a
+word or two of Latin to him; he will swear he understands you right
+well, though you yourself understand not a word of it----"
+
+"I may not do all you ask, Judith," said the other, after a moment's
+reflection (and still with an uneasy feeling that she was yielding to
+the wiles of a temptress), "but I will ask the goodman to show me your
+mother's simples, and how they thrive."
+
+A minute or two thereafter Judith had swiftly stolen into the
+summer-house--which was spacious and substantial of its kind, and
+contained a small black cupboard fixed up in a corner of the walls, a
+table and chair, and a long oak chest on the floor. It was this last
+that held the treasure she was in search of; and now, the lid having
+been raised, she was down on one knee, carefully selecting from a mass
+of strewn papers (indeed, there were a riding-whip, a sword and
+sword-belt, and several other articles mixed up in this common
+receptacle) such sheets as were without a minute mark which she had
+invented for her own private purposes. These secured and hastily hidden
+in her sleeve, she closed the lid, and went out into the open again,
+calling upon Prudence to come to her, for that she was going into the
+house.
+
+They did not, however, remain within-doors at New Place, for that might
+have been dangerous; they knew of a far safer resort. Just behind Julius
+Shawe's house, and between that and the garden, there was a recess
+formed by the gable of a large barn not quite reaching the adjacent
+wall. It was a three-sided retreat; overlooked by no window whatsoever;
+there was a frail wooden bench on two sides of it, and the entrance to
+it was partly blocked up by an empty cask that had been put there to be
+out of the way. For outlook there was nothing but a glimpse of the path
+going into the garden, a bit of greensward, and two apple-trees between
+them and the sky. It was not a noble theatre, this little den behind the
+barn; but it had produced for these two many a wonderful pageant; for
+the empty barrel and the bare barn wall and the two trees would at one
+time be transformed into the forest of Arden, and Rosalind would be
+walking there in her pretty page costume, and laughing at the love-sick
+Orlando; and again they would form the secret haunts of Queen Titania
+and her court, with the jealous Oberon chiding her for her refusal; and
+again they would become the hall of a great northern castle, with
+trumpets and cannon sounding without as the King drank to Hamlet.
+Indeed, the elder of these two young women had an extraordinarily vivid
+imagination; she saw the things and people as if they were actually
+there before her; she realized their existence so intensely that even
+Prudence was brought to sympathize with them, and to follow their
+actions now with hot indignation, and now with triumphant delight over
+good fortune come at last. There was no stage-carpenter there to
+distract them with his dismal expedients; no actor to thrust his
+physical peculiarities between them and the poet's ethereal visions; the
+dream-world was before them, clear and filled with light; and Prudence's
+voice was gentle and of a musical kind. Nay, sometimes Judith would leap
+to her feet. "You shall not!--you shall not!" she would exclaim, as if
+addressing some strange visitant that was showing the villainy of his
+mind; and tears came quickly to her eyes if there was a tale of pity;
+and the joy and laughter over lovers reconciled brought warm color to
+her face. They forgot that these walls that enclosed them were of gray
+mud; they forgot that the prevailing odor in the air was that of the
+malt in the barn for now they were regarding Romeo in the moonlight,
+with the dusk of the garden around, and Juliet uttering her secrets to
+the honeyed night; and again they were listening to the awful voices of
+the witches on the heath, and guessing at the sombre thoughts passing
+through the mind of Macbeth; and then again they were crying bitterly
+when they saw before them an old man, gray-haired, discrowned, and
+witless, that looked from one to the other of those standing by, and
+would ask who the sweet lady was that sought with tears for his
+benediction. They could hear the frail and shaken voice:
+
+    "Methinks I should know you, and know this man;
+    Yet I am doubtful: for I am mainly ignorant
+    What place this is: and all the skill I have
+    Remembers not these garments; nor I know not
+    Where I did lodge last night. Do not laugh at me;
+    For, as I am a man, I think this lady
+    To be my child Cordelia."
+
+And now, as they had retired into this sheltered nook, and Prudence was
+carefully placing in order the scattered sheets that had been given her,
+Judith was looking on with some compunction.
+
+"Indeed I grieve to give you so much trouble, sweetheart," said she. "I
+would I could get at the copy that my father has locked away----"
+
+"Judith!" her friend said, reproachfully. "You would not take that? Why,
+your father will scarce show it even to Julius, and sure I am that none
+in the house would put a hand upon it----"
+
+"If it were a book of psalms and paraphrases, they might be of another
+mind," Judith said; but Prudence would not hear.
+
+"Nay," said she, as she continued to search for the connecting pages. "I
+have heard your father say to Julius that there is but little
+difference; and that 'tis only when he has leisure here in Stratford
+that he makes this copy writ out fair and large; in London he takes no
+such pains. Truly I would not that either Julius or any of his
+acquaintance knew of my fingering in such a matter: what would they say,
+Judith? And sometimes, indeed, my mind is ill at ease with regard to
+it--that I should be reading to you things that so many godly people
+denounce as wicked and dangerous----"
+
+"You are too full of fears, good mouse," said Judith, coolly, "and too
+apt to take the good people at their word. Nay, I have heard; they will
+make you out everything to be wicked and sinful that is not to their own
+minds; and they are zealous among the saints; but I have heard, I have
+heard."
+
+"What, then?" said the other, with some faint color in her face.
+
+"No matter," said Judith, carelessly. "Well, I have heard that when they
+make a journey to London they are as fond of claret wine and oysters as
+any; but no matter: in truth the winds carry many a thing not worth the
+listening to. But as regards this special wickedness, sweet mouse,
+indeed you are innocent of it; 'tis all laid to my charge; I am the
+sinner and temptress; be sure you shall not suffer one jot through my
+iniquity. And now have you got them all together? Are you ready to
+begin?"
+
+"But you must tell me where the story ceased, dear Judith, when last we
+had it; for indeed you have a marvellous memory, even to the word and
+the letter. The poor babe that was abandoned on the sea-shore had just
+been found by the old shepherd--went it not so?--and he was wondering at
+the rich bearing-cloth it was wrapped in. Why, here is the
+name--Perdita," she continued, as she rapidly scanned one or two of the
+papers--"who is now grown up, it appears, and in much grace; and this is
+a kind of introduction, I take it, to tell you all that has happened
+since your father last went to London--I mean since the story was broken
+off. And Florizel--I remember not the name--but here he is so named as
+the son of the King of Bohemia----"
+
+A quick laugh of intelligence rose to Judith's eyes; she had an alert
+brain.
+
+"Prince Florizel?" she exclaimed. "And Princess Perdita! That were a
+fair match, in good sooth, and a way to heal old differences. But to the
+beginning, sweetheart, I beseech you; let us hear how the story is to
+be; and pray Heaven he gives me back my little Mamillius, that was so
+petted and teased by the court ladies."
+
+However, as speedily appeared, she had anticipated too easy a
+continuation and conclusion. The young Prince Florizel proved to be
+enamored, not of one of his own station, but of a simple shepherdess;
+and although she instantly guessed that this shepherdess might turn out
+to be the forsaken Perdita, the conversation between King Polixenes and
+the good Camillo still left her in doubt. As for the next scene--the
+encounter between Autolycus and the country clown--Judith wholly and
+somewhat sulkily disapproved of that. She laughed, it is true; but it
+was sorely against her will. For she suspected that goodman Matthew's
+influence was too apparent here; and that, were he ever to hear of the
+story, he would in his vanity claim this part as his own; moreover,
+there was a kind of familiarity and every-day feeling in the
+atmosphere--why, she herself had been rapidly questioned by her father
+about the necessary purchases for a sheep-shearing feast, and Susan,
+laughing, had struck in with the information as to the saffron for
+coloring the warden-pies. But when the sweet-voiced Prudence came to the
+scene between Prince Florizel and the pretty shepherdess, then Judith
+was right well content.
+
+"Oh, do you see, now, how her gentle birth shines through her lowly
+condition!" she said, quickly. "And when the old shepherd finds that he
+has been ordering a king's daughter to be the mistress of the feast--ay,
+and soundly rating her, too, for her bashful ways--what a fright will
+seize the good old man! And what says she in answer?--again, good
+Prue--let me hear it again--marry, now, I'll be sworn she had just such
+another voice as yours!"
+
+"To the King Polixenes," Prudence continued, regarding the manuscript,
+"who is in disguise, you know, Judith, she says:
+
+                'Welcome, sir!
+    It is my father's will I should take on me
+    The hostess-ship o' the day:--you're welcome, sir.'
+
+And then to both the gentlemen:
+
+    'Give me those flowers there, Dorcas.--Reverend sirs,
+    For you there's rosemary and rue; these keep
+    Seeming and savor all the winter long:
+    Grace and remembrance be to you both,
+    And welcome to our shearing!'"
+
+"Ah, there, now, will they not be won by her gentleness?" she cried,
+eagerly. "Will they not suspect and discover the truth? It were a new
+thing for a prince to wed a shepherdess, but this is no shepherdess, as
+an owl might see! What say they then, Prue? Have they no suspicion?"
+
+So Prudence continued her patient reading--in the intense silence that
+was broken only by the twittering of the birds in the orchard, or the
+crowing of a cock in some neighboring yard; and Judith listened keenly,
+drinking in every varying phrase. But when Florizel had addressed his
+speech to the pretty hostess of the day, Judith could no longer forbear:
+she clapped her hands in delight.
+
+"There, now, that is a true lover; that is spoken like a true lover,"
+she cried, with her face radiant and proud. "Again, good Prue--let us
+hear what he says--ay, and before them all, too, I warrant me he is not
+ashamed of her."
+
+So Prudence had to read once more Florizel's praise of his gentle
+mistress:
+
+                                  "'What you do
+    Still betters what is done. When you speak, sweet,
+    I'd have you do it ever: when you sing,
+    I'd have you buy and sell so; so give alms;
+    Pray so; and, for the ordering your affairs,
+    To sing them too. When you do dance, I wish you
+    A wave o' the sea, that you might ever do
+    Nothing but that; move still, still so, and own
+    No other function. Each your doing,
+    So singular in each particular,
+    Crowns what you are doing in the present deeds,
+    That all your acts are queens!'"
+
+"In good sooth, it is spoken like a true lover," Judith said, with a
+light on her face as if the speech had been addressed to herself. "Like
+one that is well content with his sweetheart, and is proud of her, and
+approves! Marry, there be few of such in these days; for this one is
+jealous and unreasonable, and would have the mastery too soon; and that
+one would frighten you to his will by declaring you are on the highway
+to perdition; and another would have you more civil to his tribe of
+kinsfolk. But there is a true lover, now; there is one that is courteous
+and gentle; one that is not afraid to approve: there may be such in
+Stratford, but God wot, they would seem to be a scarce commodity! Nay, I
+pray your pardon, good Prue: to the story, if it please you--and is
+there aught of the little Mamillius forthcoming?"
+
+And so the reading proceeded; and Judith was in much delight that the
+old King seemed to perceive something unusual in the grace and carriage
+of the pretty Perdita.
+
+"What is't he says? What are the very words?"
+
+    "'This is the prettiest low-born lass that ever
+    Ran on the greensward: nothing she does or seems
+    But smacks of something greater than herself;
+    Too noble for this place.'"
+
+"Yes! yes! yes!" she exclaimed, quickly. "And sees he not some likeness
+to the Queen Hermione? Surely he must remember the poor injured Queen,
+and see that this is her daughter? Happy daughter, that has a lover that
+thinks so well of her! And now, Prue?"
+
+But when in the course of the hushed reading all these fair hopes came
+to be cruelly shattered; when the pastoral romance was brought to a
+sudden end; when the King, disclosing himself, declared a divorce
+between the unhappy lovers, and was for hanging the ancient shepherd,
+and would have Perdita's beauty scratched with briers; and when Prudence
+had to repeat the farewell words addressed to the prince by his hapless
+sweetheart--
+
+                "'Wilt please you, sir, be gone?
+    I told you what would come of this. Beseech you,
+    Of your own state take care: this dream of mine--
+    Being now awake, I'll queen it no inch further,
+    But milk my ewes, and weep--'"
+
+there was something very like tears in the gentle reader's eyes; but
+that was not Judith's mood; she was in a tempest of indignation.
+
+"God's my life!" she cried, "was there ever such a fool as this old
+King? He a king! He to sit on a throne! Better if he sate in a barn and
+helped madge-howlet to catch mice! And what says the prince? Nay, I'll
+be sworn he proves himself a true man, and no summer playfellow; he will
+stand by her; he will hold to her, let the ancient dotard wag his beard
+as he please!"
+
+And so, in the end, the story was told, and all happily settled; and
+Prudence rose from the rude wooden bench with a kind of wistful look on
+her face, as if she had been far away, and seen strange things. Then
+Judith--pausing for a minute or so as if she would fix the whole thing
+in her memory, to be thought over afterward--proceeded to tie the pages
+together for the better concealment of them on her way home.
+
+"And the wickedness of it?" said she, lightly. "Wherein lies the
+wickedness of such a reading, sweet mouse?"
+
+Prudence was somewhat shamefaced on such occasions; she could not
+honestly say that she regretted as she ought to have done, giving way to
+Judith's importunities.
+
+"Some would answer you, Judith," she said, "that we had but ill used
+time that was given us for more serious purposes."
+
+"And for what more serious purposes, good gossip? For the repeating of
+idle tales about our neighbors? Or the spending of the afternoon in
+sleep, as is the custom with many? Are we all so busy, then, that we may
+not pass a few minutes in amusement? But, indeed, sweet Prue," said she,
+as she gave a little touch to her pretty cap and snow-white ruff, to put
+them right before she went out into the street, "I mean to make amends
+this afternoon. I shall be busy enough to make up for whatever loss of
+time there has been over this dangerous and godless idleness. For, do
+you know, I have everything ready now for the new Portugal receipts that
+you read to me; and two of them I am to try as soon as I get home; and
+my father is to know nothing of the matter--till the dishes be on the
+table. So fare you well, sweet mouse; and give ye good thanks, too: this
+has been but an evil preparation for the church-going of the morrow, but
+remember, the sin was mine--you are quit of that."
+
+And then her glance fell on the roll of papers that she held in her
+hand.
+
+"The pretty Perdita!" said she. "Her beauty was not scratched with
+briers, after all. And I doubt not she was in brave attire at the court;
+though methinks I better like to remember her as the mistress of the
+feast, giving the flowers to this one and that. And happy Perdita, also,
+to have the young prince come to the sheep-shearing, and say so many
+sweet things to her! Is't possible, think you, Prue, there might come
+such another handsome stranger to our sheep-shearing that is now at
+hand?"
+
+"I know not what you mean, Judith."
+
+"Why, now, should such things happen only in Bohemia?" she said, gayly,
+to the gentle and puzzled Prudence, "Soon our shearing will begin, for
+the weather has been warm, and I hear the hurdles are already fixed. And
+there will be somewhat of a merry-making, no doubt; and--and the road
+from Evesham hither is a fair and goodly road, that a handsome young
+stranger might well come riding along. What then, good mouse? If one
+were to meet him in the lane that crosses to Shottery--and to bid him to
+the feast--what then?"
+
+"Oh, Judith, surely you are not still thinking of that dangerous man!"
+the other exclaimed.
+
+But Judith merely regarded her for a second, with the clear-shining eyes
+now become quite demure and inscrutable.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+A REMONSTRANCE.
+
+
+Next morning was Sunday; and Judith, having got through her few domestic
+duties at an early hour, and being dressed in an especially pretty
+costume in honor of the holy day, thought she need no longer remain
+within-doors, but would walk along to the church-yard, where she
+expected to find Prudence. The latter very often went thither on a
+Sunday morning, partly for quiet reverie and recalling of this one and
+the other of her departed but not forgotten friends whose names were
+carven on the tombstones, and partly--if this may be forgiven her--to
+see how the generous mother earth had responded to her week-day labors
+in the planting and tending of the graves. But when Judith, idly and
+carelessly as was her wont, reached the church-yard, she found the wide,
+silent space quite empty; so she concluded that Prudence had probably
+been detained by a visit to some one fallen sick; and she thought she
+might as well wait for her; and with that view--or perhaps out of mere
+thoughtlessness--she went along to the river-side, and sat down on the
+low wall there, having before her the slowly moving yellow stream and
+the fair, far-stretching landscape beyond.
+
+There had been some rain during the night; the roads she had come along
+were miry; and here the grass in the church-yard was dripping with the
+wet; but there was a kind of suffused rich light abroad that bespoke the
+gradual breaking through of the sun; and there was a warmth in the moist
+atmosphere that seemed to call forth all kinds of sweet odors from the
+surrounding plants and flowers. Not that she needed these, for she had
+fixed in her bosom a little nosegay of yellow-leaved mint, that was
+quite sufficient to sweeten the scarcely moving air. And as she sat
+there in the silence it seemed to her as if all the world were
+awake--and had been awake for hours--but that all the human beings were
+gone out of it. The rooks were cawing in the elms above her; the bees
+hummed as they flew by into the open light over the stream; and far away
+she could hear the lowing of the cattle on the farms; but there was no
+sound of any human voice, nor any glimpse of any human creature in the
+wide landscape. And she grew to wonder what it would be like if she were
+left alone in the world, all the people gone from it, her own relatives
+and friends no longer here and around her, but away in the strange
+region where Hamnet was, and perhaps, on such a morning as this,
+regarding her not without pity, and even, it might be, with some touch
+of half-recalled affection. Which of them all should she regret the
+most? Which of them all would this solitary creature--left alone in
+Stratford, in an empty town--most crave for, and feel the want of? Well,
+she went over these friends and neighbors and companions and would-be
+lovers; and she tried to imagine what, in such circumstances, she might
+think of this one and that; and which of them she would most desire to
+have back on the earth and living with her. But right well she knew in
+her heart that all this balancing and choosing was but a pretence. There
+was but the one; the one whose briefest approval was a kind of heaven to
+her, and the object of her secret and constant desire; the one who
+turned aside her affection with a jest; who brought her silks and scents
+from London as if her mind were set on no other things than these. And
+she was beginning to wonder whether, in those imagined circumstances, he
+might come to think differently of her and to understand her somewhat;
+and indeed she was already picturing to herself the life they might
+lead--these two, father and daughter, together in the empty and silent
+but sun-lit and sufficiently cheerful town--when her idle reverie was
+interrupted. There was a sound of talking behind her; doubtless the
+first of the people were now coming to church; for the doors were
+already open.
+
+She looked round, and saw that this was Master Walter Blaise who had
+just come through the little swinging gate, and that he was accompanied
+by two little girls, one at each side of him, and holding his hand.
+Instantly she turned her head away, pretending not to have seen him.
+
+"Bless the man!" she said to herself, "what does he here of a Sunday
+morning? Why is so diligent a pastor not in charge of his own flock?"
+
+But she felt secure enough. Not only was he accompanied by the two
+children, but there was this other safeguard that he would not dare to
+profane the holy day by attempting anything in the way of wooing. And it
+must be said that the young parson had had but few opportunities for
+that, the other members of the household eagerly seeking his society
+when he came to New Place, and Judith sharp to watch her chances of
+escape.
+
+The next moment she was startled by hearing a quick footstep behind her.
+She did not move.
+
+"Give you good-morrow, Judith," said he, presenting himself, and
+regarding her with his keen and confident gray eyes. "I would crave a
+word with you; and I trust it may be a word in season, and acceptable to
+you."
+
+He spoke with an air of cool authority, which she resented. There was
+nothing of the clownish bashfulness of young Jelleyman about him; nor
+yet of the half-timid, half-sulky jealousy of Tom Quiney; but a kind of
+mastery, as if his office gave him the right to speak, and commanded
+that she should hear. And she did not think this fair, and she
+distinctly wished to be alone; so that her face had but little welcome
+in it, and none of the shining radiance of kindness that Willy Hart so
+worshipped.
+
+"I know you like not hearing of serious things, Judith," said he (while
+she wondered whither he had sent the two little girls: perhaps into the
+church?), "but I were no true friend to you, as I desire to be, if I
+feared to displease you when there is need."
+
+"What have I done, then? In what have I offended? I know we are all
+miserable sinners, if that be what you mean," said she, coldly.
+
+"I would not have you take it that way, Judith," said he; and there
+really was much friendliness in his voice. "I meant to speak kindly to
+you. Nay, I have tried to understand you; and perchance I do in a
+measure. You are in the enjoyment of such health and spirits as fall to
+the lot of few; you are well content with your life and the passing
+moment; you do not like to be disturbed, or to think of the future. But
+the future will come, nevertheless, and it may be with altered
+circumstances; your light-heartedness may cease, sorrow and sickness may
+fall upon you, and then you may wish you had learned earlier to seek for
+help and consolation where these alone are to be found. It were well
+that you should think of such things now, surely; you cannot live always
+as you live now--I had almost said a godless life, but I do not wish to
+offend; in truth, I would rather lead you in all kindliness to what I
+know is the true pathway to the happiness and peace of the soul. I
+would speak to you, Judith, if in no other way, as a brother in Christ;
+I were no true friend to you else; nay, I have the command of the Master
+whom I serve to speak and fear not."
+
+She did not answer, but she was better content now. So long as he only
+preached at her, he was within his province, and within his right.
+
+"And bethink you, Judith," said he, with a touch of reproach in his
+voice, "how and why it is you enjoy such health and cheerfulness of
+spirits; surely through the Lord in His loving-kindness answering the
+prayers of your pious mother. Your life, one might say, was vouchsafed
+in answer to her supplications; and do you owe nothing of duty and
+gratitude to God, and to God's Church, and to God's people? Why should
+you hold aloof from them? Why should you favor worldly things, and walk
+apart from the congregation, and live as if to-morrow were always to be
+as to-day, and as if there were to be no end to life, no calling to
+account as to how we have spent our time here upon earth? Dear Judith, I
+speak not unkindly; I wish not to offend; but often my heart is grieved
+for you; and I would have you think how trifling our present life is in
+view of the great eternity whither we are all journeying; and I would
+ask you, for your soul's sake, and for your peace of mind here and
+hereafter, to join with us, and come closer with us, and partake of our
+exercises. Indeed you will find a truer happiness. Do you not owe it to
+us? Have you no gratitude for the answering of your mother's prayers?"
+
+"Doubtless, doubtless," said she (though she would rather have been
+listening in silence to the singing of the birds, that were all
+rejoicing now, for the sun had at length cleared away the morning
+vapors, and the woods and the meadows and the far uplands were all
+shining in the brilliant new light). "I go to church as the others do,
+and there we give thanks for all the mercies that have been granted."
+
+"And is it enough, think you?" said he--and as he stood, while she sat,
+she did not care to meet those clear, keen, authoritative eyes that were
+bent on her. "Does your conscience tell you that you give sufficient
+thanks for what God in His great mercy has vouchsafed to you?
+Lip-service every seventh day!--a form of words gone through before you
+take your afternoon walk! Why, if a neighbor were kind to you, you
+would show him as much gratitude as that; and this is all you offer to
+the Lord of heaven and earth for having in His compassion listened to
+your mother's prayers, and bestowed on you life and health and a
+cheerful mind?"
+
+"What would you have me do? I cannot profess to be a saint while at
+heart I am none," said she, somewhat sullenly.
+
+It was an unlucky question. Moreover, at this moment the bells in the
+tower sent forth their first throbbing peals into the startled air; and
+these doubtless recalled him to the passing of time, and the fact that
+presently the people would be coming into the church-yard.
+
+"I will speak plainly to you, Judith; I take no shame to mention such a
+matter on the Lord's day; perchance the very holiness of the hour and of
+the spot where I have chanced to meet you will the better incline your
+heart. You know what I have wished; what your family wish; and indeed
+you cannot be so blind as not to have seen. It is true, I am but a
+humble laborer in the Lord's vineyard; but I magnify my office; it is an
+honorable work; the saving of souls, the calling to repentance, the
+carrying of the Gospel to the poor and stricken ones of the earth--I say
+that is an honorable calling, and one that blesses them that partake in
+it, and gives a peace of mind far beyond what the worldlings dream of.
+And if I have wished that you might be able and willing--through God's
+merciful inclining of your heart--to aid me in this work, to become my
+helpmeet, was it only of my own domestic state I was thinking? Surely
+not. I have seen you from day to day--careless and content with the
+trifles and idle things of this vain and profitless world; but I have
+looked forward to what might befall in the future, and I have desired
+with all my heart--yea, and with prayers to God for the same--that you
+should be taught to seek the true haven in time of need. Do you
+understand me, Judith?"
+
+He spoke with little tenderness, and certainly with no show of
+lover-like anxiety; but he was in earnest; and she had a terrible
+conviction pressing upon her that her wit might not be able to save her.
+The others she could easily elude when she was in the mind; this one
+spoke close and clear; she was afraid to look up and face his keen,
+acquisitive eyes.
+
+"And if I do understand you, good Master Blaise," said she desperately;
+"if I do understand you--as I confess I have gathered something of this
+before--but--but surely--one such as I--such as you say I am--might she
+not become pious--and seek to have her soul saved--without also having
+to marry a parson?--if such be your meaning, good Master Blaise."
+
+It was she who was in distress and in embarrassment; not he.
+
+"You are not situated as many others are," said he. "You owe your life,
+as one may say, to the prayers of God's people; I but put before you one
+way in which you could repay the debt--by laboring in the Lord's
+vineyard, and giving the health and cheerfulness that have been bestowed
+on you to the comfort of those less fortunate----"
+
+"I? Such a one as I? Nay, nay, you have shown me how all unfit I were
+for that," she exclaimed, glad of this one loophole.
+
+"I will not commend you, Judith, to your face," said he, calmly, "nor
+praise such worldly gifts as others, it may be, overvalue; but in truth
+I may say you have a way of winning people toward you; your presence is
+welcome to the sick; your cheerfulness gladdens the troubled in heart;
+and you have youth and strength and an intelligence beyond that of many.
+Are all these to be thrown away?--to wither and perish as the years go
+by? Nay, I seek not to urge my suit to you by idle words of wooing, as
+they call it, or by allurements of flattery; these are the foolish
+devices of the ballad-mongers and the players, and are well fitted, I
+doubt not, for the purposes of the master of these, the father of lies
+himself; rather would I speak to you words of sober truth and reason; I
+would show you how you can make yourself useful in the garden of the
+Lord, and so offer some thanksgiving for the bounties bestowed on you.
+Pray consider it, Judith; I ask not for yea or nay at this moment; I
+would have your heart meditate over it in your own privacy, when you can
+bethink you of what has happened to you and what may happen to you in
+the future. Life has been glad for you so far; but trouble might come;
+your relatives are older than you; you might be left so that you would
+be thankful to have one beside you whose arm you could lean on in time
+of distress. Think over it, Judith, and may God incline your heart to
+what is right and best for you."
+
+But at this moment the first of the early comers began to make their
+appearance--strolling along toward the church-yard, and chatting to each
+other as they came--and all at once it occurred to her that if he and
+she separated thus, he might consider that she had given some silent
+acquiescence to his reasons and arguments; and this possibility alarmed
+her.
+
+"Good Master Blaise," said she, hurriedly, "pray mistake me not. Surely,
+if you are choosing a helpmeet for such high and holy reasons, it were
+well that you looked further afield. I am all unworthy for such a
+place--indeed I know it; there is not a maid in Stratford that would not
+better become it; nay, for my own part, I know several that I could
+point out to you, though your own judgment were best in such a matter. I
+pray you think no more of me in regard to such a position; God help me,
+I should make a parson's wife such as all the neighbors would stare at;
+indeed I know there be many you could choose from--if their heart were
+set in that direction--that are far better than I."
+
+And with this protest she would fain have got away; and she was all
+anxiety to catch a glimpse of Prudence, whose appearance would afford
+her a fair excuse. How delightful would be the silence of the great
+building and the security of the oaken pew! with what a peace of mind
+would she regard the soft-colored beams of light streaming into the
+chancel, and listen to the solemn organ music, and wait for the
+silver-clear tones of Susan's voice! But good Master Walter would have
+another word with her ere allowing her to depart.
+
+"In truth you misjudge yourself, Judith," said he, with a firm
+assurance, as if he could read her heart far better than she herself. "I
+know more of the duties pertaining to such a station than you; I can
+foresee that you would fulfil them worthily, and in a manner pleasing to
+the Lord. Your parents, too: will you not consider their wishes before
+saying a final nay?"
+
+"My parents?" she said, and she looked up with a quick surprise. "My
+mother, it may be----"
+
+"And if your father were to approve also?"
+
+For an instant her heart felt like lead; but before this sudden fright
+had had time to tell its tale in her eyes she had reassured herself.
+This was not possible.
+
+"Has my father expressed any such wish?" said she; but well she knew
+what the reply would be.
+
+"No, he has not, Judith," he said, distinctly; "for I have not spoken to
+him. But if I were to obtain his approval, would that influence you?"
+
+She did not answer.
+
+"I should not despair of gaining that," said he, with a calm confidence
+that caused her to lift her eyes and regard him for a second, with a
+kind of wonder, as it were, for she knew not what this assurance meant.
+"Your father," he continued, "must naturally desire to see your future
+made secure, Judith. Think what would happen to you all if an accident
+befell him on his journeyings to London. There would be no man to
+protect you and your mother. Dr. Hall has his own household and its
+charges, and two women left by themselves would surely feel the want of
+guidance and help. If I put these worldly considerations before you, it
+is with no wish that you should forget the higher duty you owe to God
+and his Church, and the care you should have of your own soul. Do I
+speak for myself alone? I think not. I trust it is not merely selfish
+hopes that have bidden me appeal to you. And you will reflect, Judith;
+you will commune with yourself before saying the final yea or nay; and
+if your father should approve----"
+
+"Good Master Blaise," said she, interrupting him--and she rose and
+glanced toward the straggling groups now approaching the church--"I
+cannot forbid you to speak to my father, if it is your wish to do that;
+but I would have him understand that it is through no desire of mine;
+and--and, in truth, he must know that I am all unfit to take the charge
+you would put upon me. I pray you hold it in kindness that I say
+so:--and there, now," she quickly added, "is little Willie Hart, that I
+have a message for, lest he escape me when we come out again."
+
+He could not further detain her; but he accompanied her as she walked
+along the path toward the little swinging gate, for she could see that
+her small cousin, though he had caught sight of her, was shyly uncertain
+as to whether he should come to her, and she wished to have his hand as
+far as the church door. And then--alas! that such things should
+befall--at the very same moment a number of the young men and maidens
+also entered the church-yard; and foremost among them was Tom Quiney.
+One rapid glance that he directed toward her and the parson was all that
+passed; but instantly in her heart of hearts she knew the suspicion that
+he had formed. An assignation?--and on a Sunday morning, too! Nay, her
+guess was quickly confirmed. He did not stay to pay her even the
+ordinary courtesy of a greeting. He went on with the others; he was
+walking with two of the girls; his laughter and talk were louder than
+any. Indeed, this unseemly mirth was continued to within a yard or two
+of the church door--perhaps it was meant for her to hear?
+
+Little Willie Hart, as he and his cousin Judith went hand in hand
+through the porch, happened to look up at her.
+
+"Judith," said he, "why are you crying?"
+
+"I am not!" she said, angrily. And with her hand she dashed aside those
+quick tears of vexation.
+
+The boy did not pay close heed to what now went on within the hushed
+building. He was wondering over what had occurred--for these mysteries
+were beyond his years. But at least he knew that his cousin Judith was
+no longer angry with him; for she had taken him into the pew with her,
+and her arm, that was interlinked with his, was soft and warm and gentle
+to the touch; and once or twice, when the service bade them to stand up,
+she had put her hand kindly on his hair. And not only that, but she had
+at the outset taken from her bosom the little nosegay of mint and given
+it to him; and the perfume of it (for it was Judith's gift, and she had
+worn it near her heart, and she had given it him with a velvet touch of
+her fingers) seemed to him a strange and sweet and mystical
+thing--something almost as strange and sweet and inexplicable as the
+beauty and shining tenderness of her eyes.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+DIVIDED WAYS.
+
+
+Some few weeks passed quite uneventfully, bringing them to the end of
+June; and then it was that Mistress Hathaway chanced to send a message
+into the town that she would have her granddaughter Judith come over to
+see her roses, of which there was a great show in the garden. Judith was
+nothing loath; she felt she had somewhat neglected the old dame of late;
+and so, one morning--or rather one midday it was, for the family had but
+finished dinner--found her in her own room, before her mirror, busy with
+an out-of-door toilet, with Prudence sitting patiently by. Judith seemed
+well content with herself and with affairs in general on this warm
+summer day; now she spoke to Prudence, again she idly sang a scrap of
+some familiar song, while the work of adornment went on apace.
+
+"But why such bravery, Judith?" her friend said, with a quiet smile.
+"Why should you take such heed about a walk through the fields to
+Shottery?"
+
+"Truly I know not," said Judith, carelessly; "but well I wot my
+grandmother will grumble. If I am soberly dressed, she says I am a
+sloven, and will never win me a husband; and if I am pranked out, she
+says I am vain, and will frighten away the young men with my pride. In
+Heaven's name, let them go, say I; I can do excellent well without them.
+What think you of the cap, good Prue? 'Twas but last night I finished
+it, and the beads I had from Warwick."
+
+She took it up and regarded it, humming the while:
+
+    O say, my Joan, say, my Joan, will not that do?
+    I cannot come every day to woo.
+
+"Is't not a pretty cap, good gossip?"
+
+Prudence knew that she ought to despise such frivolities, which truly
+were a snare to her, for she liked to look at Judith when she was
+dressed as she was now, and she forgot to condemn these pretty colors.
+On this occasion Judith was clad in a gown of light gray, or rather
+buff, with a petticoat of pale blue taffeta, elaborately quilted with
+her own handiwork; the small ruff she wore, which was open in front, and
+partly showed her neck, was snow-white and stiffly starched; and she was
+now engaged in putting on her soft brown hair this cap of gray velvet,
+adorned with two rows of brass beads, and with a bit of curling feather
+at the side of it. Prudence's eyes were pleased, if her conscience bade
+her disapprove; nay, sometimes she had to confess that at heart she was
+proud to see her dear gossip wear such pretty things, for that she
+became them so well.
+
+"Judith," said she, "shall I tell you what I heard your father say of
+you last night? He was talking to Julius, and they were speaking of this
+one and that, and how they did; and when you were mentioned, 'Oh yes,'
+says your father, 'the wench looks bravely well; 'tis a pity she cannot
+sell the painting of her cheeks: there may be many a dame at the court
+would buy it of her for a goodly sum.'"
+
+Judith gave a quick, short laugh: this was music in her ears--coming
+from whence it did.
+
+"But, Judith," said her friend, with a grave inquiry in her face, "what
+is't that you have done to Tom Quiney that he comes no longer near the
+house?--nay, he will avoid you when he happens to see you abroad, for
+that I have observed myself, and more than once. What is the matter? How
+have you offended him?"
+
+"What have I done?" she said; and there was a swift and angry color in
+her face. "Let him ask what his own evil imaginings have done. Not that
+I care, in good sooth!"
+
+"But what is it, Judith? There must be a reason."
+
+"Why," said Judith, turning indignantly to her, "you remember,
+sweetheart, the Sunday morning that Mrs. Pike's little boy was taken
+ill, and you were sent for, and did not come to church? Well, I had gone
+along to the church-yard to seek you, and was waiting for you, when who
+must needs make his appearance but the worthy Master Blaise--nay, but I
+told you, good Prue, the honor he would put upon me; and, thank Heaven,
+he hath not returned to it, nor spoken to my father yet, as far as I can
+learn. Then, when the good parson's sermon was over--body o' me, he let
+me know right sharply I was no saint, though a saint I might become, no
+doubt, were I to take him for my master--as I say, the lecture he gave
+me was over, and we were walking to the church door, when who should
+come by but Master Quiney and some of the others. Oh, well I know my
+gentleman! The instant he clapped eyes on me he suspected there had been
+a planned meeting--I could see it well--and off he goes in high dudgeon,
+and not a word nor a look--before the others, mind you, before the
+others, good Prue; that was the slight he put upon me. Marry, I care
+not! Whither he has gone, there he may stay!"
+
+She spoke rapidly and with warmth: despite the scorn that was in her
+voice, it was clear that that public slight had touched her deeply.
+
+"Nay, Judith," said her gentle companion, "'twere surely a world of pity
+you should let an old friend go away like that--through a mischance
+merely----"
+
+"An old friend?" said she. "I want none of such friends, that have ill
+thoughts of you ere you can speak. Let him choose his friends elsewhere,
+say I; let him keep to his tapsters, and his ale-house wenches; there he
+will have enough of pleasure, I doubt not, till his head be broke in a
+brawl some night!"
+
+Then something seemed to occur to her. All at once she threw aside the
+bit of ribbon she had in her fingers, and dropped on her knee before her
+friend, and seized hold of Prudence's hands.
+
+"I beseech your pardon, sweet Prue!--indeed, indeed, I knew not what I
+said; they were but idle words; good mouse, I pray you heed them not. He
+may have reasons for distrusting me; and in truth I complain not; 'tis a
+small matter; but I would not have you think ill of him through these
+idle words of mine. Nay, nay, they tell me he is sober and diligent,
+that his business prospers, that he makes many friends, and that the
+young men regard him as the chief of them, whether it be at merriment or
+aught else."
+
+"I am right glad to hear you speak so of the young man, Judith,"
+Prudence said, in her gentle way, and yet mildly wondering at this
+sudden change of tone. "If he has displeased you, be sure he will be
+sorry for it, when he knows the truth."
+
+"Nay, nay, sweet mouse," Judith said, rising and resuming her careless
+manner, as she picked up the ribbon she had thrown aside. "'Tis of no
+moment. I wish the young man well. I pray you speak to none of that I
+have told you; perchance 'twas but an accident, and he meant no slight
+at all; and then--and then," she added, with a kind of laugh, "as the
+good parson seems determined that willy-nilly I must wed him and help
+him in his charge of souls, that were a good ending, sweet Prue?"
+
+She was now all equipped for setting forth, even to the feather fan that
+hung from her girdle by a small silver cord.
+
+"But I know he hath not spoken to my father yet, else I should have
+heard of it, in jest or otherwise. Come, mouse, shall we go? or the good
+dame will have a scolding for us."
+
+Indeed, this chance reference to the slight put upon her in the
+church-yard seemed to have left no sting behind it. She was laughing as
+she went down the stair, at some odd saying of Bess Hall's that her
+father had got hold of. When they went outside she linked her arm within
+that of her friend, and nodded to this or the other passer-by, and had a
+merry or a pleasant word for them, accordingly as they greeted her. And
+
+    Green sleeves was all my joy,
+    Green sleeves was my delight,
+
+came naturally into her idle brain; for the day seemed a fit one for
+holiday-making; the skies were clear, with large white clouds moving
+slowly across the blue; and there was a fair west wind to stir the
+leaves of the trees and the bushes, and to touch warmly and softly her
+pink-hued cheek and pearly neck.
+
+"Ah, me," said she, in mock desolation, "why should one go nowadays to
+Shottery? What use is in't, sweet Prue, when all the magic and
+enticement is gone from it? Aforetime I had the chance of meeting with
+so gracious a young gentleman, that brought news of the King's court,
+and spoke so soft you would think the cuckoo in the woods was still to
+listen. That was something to expect when one had walked so far--the
+apparition--a trembling interview--and then so civil and sweet a
+farewell! But now he is gone away, I know not whither; and he has
+forgotten that ever he lodged in a farm-house, like a king consorting
+with shepherds; and doubtless he will not seek to return. Well----"
+
+"You have never heard of him since, Judith?" her friend said, with rapid
+look.
+
+"Alas, no!" she said, in the same simulated vein. "And sometimes I ask
+myself whether there ever was such a youth--whether the world ever did
+produce such a courtly gentleman, such a paragon, such a marvel of
+courtesy--or was it not but a trick of the villain wizard? Think of it,
+good Prue--to have been walking and talking with a ghost, with a thing
+of air, and that twice, too! Is't not enough to chill the marrow in your
+bones? Well, I would that all ghosts were as gentle and mannerly; there
+would be less fear of them among the Warwickshire wenches. But do you
+know, good Prue," she said, suddenly altering her tone into something of
+eagerness, "there is a matter of more moment than ghosts that concerns
+us now. By this time, or I am mistaken quite, there must be a goodly
+bulk of the new play lying in the oaken chest; and again and again have
+I tried to see whether I might dare to carry away some of the sheets,
+but always there was some one to hinder. My father, you know, has been
+much in the summer-house since the business of the new twenty acres was
+settled; and then again, when by chance he has gone away with the
+bailiff somewhere, and I have had my eye on the place, there was goodman
+Matthew on the watch, or else a maid would come by to gather a dish of
+green gooseberries for the baking, or Susan would have me seek out a
+ripe raspberry or two for the child, or my mother would call to me from
+the brew-house. But 'tis there, Prue, be sure; and there will come a
+chance, I warrant; I will outwit the ancient Matthew----"
+
+"Do you never bethink you, Judith, what your father would say were he to
+discover?" her friend said, glancing at her, as they walked along the
+highway.
+
+Judith laughed, but with some heightened color.
+
+"My father?" said she. "Truly, if he alone were to discover, I should
+have easy penance. Were it between himself and me, methinks there were
+no great harm done. A daughter may fairly seek to know the means that
+has gained for her father the commendation of so many of the great
+people, and placed him in such good estate in his own town. Marry, I
+fear not my father's knowing, were I to confess to himself; but as for
+the others, were they to learn of it--my mother, and Susan, and Dr.
+Hall, and the pious Master Walter--I trow there might be some stormy
+weather abroad. At all events, good Prue, in any such mischance, you
+shall not suffer; 'tis I that will bear the blame, and all the blame;
+for indeed I forced you to it, sweet mouse, and you are as innocent of
+the wickedness as though you had ne'er been born."
+
+And now they were just about to leave the main road for the foot-path
+leading to Shottery, when they heard the sound of some one coming along
+on horseback; and turning for a second, they found it was young Tom
+Quiney, who was on a smart galloway nag, and coming at a goodly pace. As
+he passed them he took off his cap, and lowered it with formal courtesy.
+
+"Give ye good-day," said he; but he scarcely looked at them, nor did he
+pull up for further talk or greeting.
+
+"We are in such haste to be rich nowadays," said Judith, with a touch of
+scorn in her voice, as the two maidens set forth to walk through the
+meadows, "that we have scarce time to be civil to our friends."
+
+But she bore away no ill-will; the day was too fine for that. The soft
+west wind was tempering the heat and stirring the leaves of the elms;
+red and white wild roses were sprinkled among the dark green of the
+hedges; there was a perfume of elder blossom in the air; and perhaps
+also a faint scent of hay, for in the distance they could see the mowers
+at work among the clover, and could see the long sweep of the scythe.
+The sun lay warm on the grass and the wild flowers around them; there
+was a perfect silence but for the singing of the birds; and now and
+again they could see one of the mowers cease from his work, and a soft
+clinking sound told them that he was sharpening the long, curving blade.
+They did not walk quickly; it was an idle day.
+
+Presently some one came up behind them and overtook them. It was young
+Master Quiney, who seemed to have changed his mind, and was now on foot.
+
+"You are going over to Shottery, Prudence?" said he.
+
+Prudence flushed uneasily. Why should he address her, and have no word
+for Judith?
+
+"Yes," said she; "Mistress Hathaway would have us see her roses; she is
+right proud of them this year."
+
+"'Tis a good year for roses," said he, in a matter-of-fact way, and as
+if there were no restraint at all on any of the party.
+
+And then it seemed to occur to him that he ought to account for his
+presence.
+
+"I guessed you were going to Shottery," said he, indifferently, and
+still addressing himself exclusively to Prudence; "and I got a lad to
+take on the nag and meet me at the cross-road; the short-cut through the
+meadows is pleasant walking. To Mistress Hathaway's, said you? I dare
+promise you will be pleased with the show; there never was such a year
+for roses; and not a touch of blight anywhere, as I have heard. And a
+fine season for the crops, too; just such weather as the farmers might
+pray for; Look at that field of rye over there, now--is't not a goodly
+sight?"
+
+He was talking with much appearance of self-possession; it was Prudence
+who was embarrassed. As for Judith, she paid no heed; she was looking
+before her at the hedges and the elms, at the wild flowers around, and
+at the field of bearded rye that bent in rustling gray-green undulations
+before the westerly breeze.
+
+"And how does your brother, Prudence?" he continued. "'Tis well for him
+his business goes on from year to year without respect of the seasons;
+he can sleep o' nights without thinking of the weather. It is the common
+report that the others of the Town Council hold him in great regard, and
+will have him become alderman ere long; is it not so?"
+
+"I have heard some talk of it," Prudence said, with her eyes cast down.
+
+At this moment they happened to be passing some patches of the common
+mallow that were growing by the side of the path; and the tall and
+handsome youth who was walking with the two girls (but who never once
+let his eyes stray in the direction of Judith) stooped down and pulled
+one of the brightest clusters of the pale lilac blossoms.
+
+"You have no flower in your dress, Prudence," said he, offering them to
+her.
+
+"Nay, I care not to wear them," said she; and she would rather have
+declined them, but as he still offered them to her, how could she help
+accepting them and carrying them in her hand? And then, in desperation,
+she turned and addressed the perfectly silent and impassive Judith.
+
+"Judith," said she, "you might have brought the mastiff with you for a
+run."
+
+"Truly I might, sweetheart," said Judith, cheerfully, "but that my
+grandmother likes him not in the garden; his ways are overrough."
+
+"Now that reminds me," said he, quickly (but always addressing
+Prudence), "of the little spaniel-gentle that I have. Do you know the
+dog, Prudence? 'Tis accounted a great beauty, and of the true Maltese
+breed. Will you accept him from me? In truth I will hold it a favor if
+you will take the little creature."
+
+"I?" said Prudence, with much amazement; for she had somehow vaguely
+heard that the dog had been purchased and brought to Stratford for the
+very purpose of being presented to Judith.
+
+"I assure you 'tis just such an one as would make a pleasant companion
+for you," said he; "a gentle creature as ever was, and affectionate
+too--a most pleasant and frolicsome playfellow. Will you take it,
+Prudence? for what can I do with the little beast? I have no one to look
+after it."
+
+"I had thought you meant Judith to have the spaniel," said she, simply.
+
+"Nay, how would that do, sweetheart?" said Judith, calmly. "Do you think
+the Don would brook such invasion of his domain? Would you have the
+little thing killed? You should take it, good cousin; 'twill be company
+for you should you be alone in the house."
+
+She had spoken quite as if she had been engaged in the conversation all
+the way through; there was no appearance of anger or resentment at his
+ostentatious ignoring of her presence: whatever she felt she was too
+proud to show.
+
+"Then you will take the dog, Prudence," said he. "I know I could not
+give it into gentler hands, for you could not but show it kindness, as
+you show to all."
+
+"Give ye good thanks," said Prudence, with her pale face flushing with
+renewed embarrassment, "for the offer of the gift; but in truth I doubt
+if it be right and seemly to waste such care on a dumb animal when there
+be so many of our fellow-creatures that have more pressing claims on us.
+And there are enough of temptations to idleness without our wilfully
+adding to them. But I thank you for the intention of your
+kindness--indeed I do."
+
+"Nay, now, you shall have it, good Prudence, whether you will or no,"
+said he with a laugh. "You shall bear with the little dog but for a
+week, that I beg of you; and then if it please you not, if you find no
+amusement in its tricks and antics, I will take it back again. 'Tis a
+bargain; but as to your sending of it back, I have no fears; I warrant
+you 'twill overcome your scruples, for 'tis a most cunning and crafty
+playfellow, and merry withal; nor will it hinder you from being as kind
+and helpful to those around you as you have ever been. I envy the dog
+that is to have so gentle a guardian."
+
+They were now come to a parting of the ways; and he said he would turn
+off to the left, so as to reach the lane at the end of which his nag was
+awaiting him.
+
+"And with your leave, Prudence," said he, "I will bring the little
+spaniel to your house this evening, for I am only going now as far as
+Bidford; and if your brother be at home he may have half an hour to
+spare, that we may have a chat about the Corporation, and the new
+ordinances they propose to make. And so fare you well, and good wishes
+go with you!"
+
+And with that he departed, and was soon out of sight.
+
+"Oh, Judith," Prudence exclaimed, almost melting into tears, "my heart
+is heavy to see it!"
+
+"What, then, good cousin?" said Judith, lightly.
+
+"The quarrel."
+
+"The quarrel, dear heart! Think of no such thing. In sober truth, dear
+Prudence, I would not have matters other than they are; I would not; I
+am well content; and as for Master Quiney, is not he improved? Did ever
+mortal hear him speak so fair before? Marry, he hath been learning good
+manners, and profited well. But there it is; you are so gentle,
+sweetheart, that every one, no matter who, must find you good company;
+while I am fractious, and ill to bear with; and do I marvel to see any
+one prefer your smooth ways and even disposition? And when he comes
+to-night, heed you, you must thank him right civilly for bringing you
+the little spaniel; 'tis a great favor; the dog is one of value that
+many would prize----"
+
+"I cannot take it--I will not have it. 'Twas meant for you, Judith, as
+well you know," the other cried, in real distress.
+
+"But you must and shall accept the gift," her friend said, with
+decision. "Ay, and show yourself grateful for his having singled you out
+withal. Neither himself nor his spaniel would go long a-begging in
+Stratford, I warrant you; give him friendly welcome, sweetheart."
+
+"He went away without a word to you, Judith."
+
+"I am content."
+
+"But why should it be thus?" Prudence said, almost piteously.
+
+"Why? Dear mouse, I have told you. He and I never did agree; 'twas ever
+something wrong on one side or the other; and wherefore should not he
+look around for a gentler companion? 'Twere a wonder should he do aught
+else; and now he hath shown more wisdom than ever I laid to his credit."
+
+"But the ungraciousness of his going, Judith," said the gentle Prudence,
+who could in no wise understand the apparent coolness with which Judith
+seemed to regard the desperate thing that had taken place.
+
+"Heaven have mercy! why should that trouble you if it harm not me?" was
+the instant answer. "My spirits are not like to be dashed down for want
+of a 'fare you well.' In good sooth, he had given you so much of his
+courtesy and fair speeches that perchance he had none to spare for
+others."
+
+By this time they were come to the little wooden gate leading into the
+garden; and it was no wonder they should pause in passing through that
+to regard the bewildering and glowing luxuriance of foliage and blossom,
+though this was but a cottage inclosure, and none of the largest. The
+air seemed filled with the perfume of this summer abundance; and the
+clear sunlight shone on the various masses of color--roses red and
+white, pansies, snapdragon, none-so-pretty, sweet-williams of every
+kind, to say nothing of the clustering honeysuckle that surrounded the
+cottage door.
+
+"Was't not worth the trouble, sweetheart?" Judith said. "Indeed, the
+good dame does well to be proud of such a pageant."
+
+As she spoke her grandmother suddenly made her appearance, glancing
+sharply from one to the other of them.
+
+"Welcome, child, welcome," she said, "and to you, sweet Mistress Shawe."
+
+And yet she did not ask them to enter the cottage; there was some kind
+of hesitation about the old dame's manner that was unusual.
+
+"Well, grandmother," said Judith, gayly, "have you no grumbling? My cap
+I made myself; then must it be out of fashion. Or I did not make it
+myself; then it must have cost a mint of money. Or what say you to my
+petticoat--does not the color offend you? Shall I ever attain to the
+pleasing of you, think you, good grandmother?"
+
+"Wench, wench, hold your peace!" the old dame said, in a lower voice.
+"There is one within that may not like the noise of strangers--though he
+be no stranger to you, as he says----"
+
+"What, grandmother?" Judith exclaimed, and involuntarily she shrank back
+a little, so startled was she. "A stranger? In the cottage? You do not
+mean the young gentleman that is in hiding--that I met in the lane----"
+
+"The same, Judith, the same," she said, quickly; "and I know not whether
+he would wish to be seen by more than needs be----"
+
+She glanced at Judith, who understood: moreover, the latter had pulled
+together her courage again.
+
+"Have no fear, good grandmother," said she; and she turned to Prudence.
+"You hear, good Prue, who is within."
+
+"Yes," the other answered, but somewhat breathless.
+
+"Now, then, is such an opportunity as may ne'er occur again," Judith
+said. "You will come with me, good Prue? Nay, but you must."
+
+"Indeed I shall not!" Prudence exclaimed, stepping back in affright.
+"Not for worlds, Judith, would I have aught to do with such a thing. And
+you, Judith, for my sake, come away! We will go back to Stratford!--we
+will look at the garden some other time!--in truth, I can see your
+grandmother is of my mind too. Judith, for the love of me, come!--let us
+get away from this place!"
+
+Judith regarded her with a strange kind of smile.
+
+"I have had such courtesy and fair manners shown me to-day, sweet
+Prue," said she, with a sort of gracious calmness, "that I am fain to
+seek elsewhere for some other treatment, lest I should grow vain. Will
+it please you wait for me in the garden, then? Grandmother, I am going
+in with you to help you give your guest good welcome."
+
+"Judith!" the terrified Prudence exclaimed, in a kind of despair.
+
+But Judith, with her head erect, and with a perfect and proud
+self-possession, had followed her grandmother into the house.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII
+
+A HERALD MERCURY.
+
+
+The distance between this luxuriant garden, all radiant and glowing in
+light and color, and the small and darkened inner room of the cottage,
+was but a matter of a few yards; yet in that brief space, so alert was
+her brain, she had time to reconsider much. And with her, pride or anger
+was always of short duration, the sunny cheerfulness of her nature
+refusing to harbor such uncongenial guests. Why, she asked herself,
+should she take umbrage at the somewhat too open neglect that had just
+been shown her? Was it not tending in the very direction she had herself
+desired? Had she not begged and prayed him to give Prudence the little
+spaniel-gentle? Nay, had she not wilfully gone and buried in the
+church-yard the bit of rosemary that he had sent her to keep, putting it
+away from her with the chance of it summoning an unknown lover? So now,
+she said to herself, she would presently come out again to the poor
+affrighted Prudence, and would reassure her, and congratulate her,
+moreover, with words of good cheer and comfort for the future.
+
+And then again, in this lightning-like survey of the situation, she was
+conscious that she was becomingly dressed--and right glad indeed that
+she had chanced to put on the gray velvet cap with the brass beads and
+the curling feather; and she knew that the young gentleman would be
+courteous and civil, with admiring eyes. Moreover, she had a vague
+impression that he was somewhat too much given to speak of Ben Jonson;
+and she hoped for some opportunity to let him understand that her father
+was one of good estate, and much thought of by every one around, whose
+daughter knew what was due to his position, and could conduct herself
+not at all as a country wench. And so it was that the next minute found
+her in the twilight of the room; and there, truly enough, he was,
+standing at the small window.
+
+"Give ye good welcome sir," said she.
+
+"What! fair Mistress Judith?" he said, as he quickly turned round. And
+he would have come forward and kissed her hand, perchance, but that a
+moment's hesitation prevented him.
+
+"It may be that I have offended you," said he, diffidently.
+
+"In what, good sir?"
+
+She was quite at her ease; the little touch of modest color in her face
+could scarcely be attributed to rustic shyness; it was but natural; and
+it added to the gentleness of her look.
+
+"Nay, then, sweet lady, 'twas but a lack of courage that I would ask you
+to pardon," said he--though he did not seem conscious of heavy guilt, to
+judge by the way in which his black and eloquent eyes regarded Judith's
+face and the prettinesses of her costume. "There was a promise that I
+should communicate with you if I returned to this part of the country;
+but I found myself not bold enough to take advantage of your kindness.
+However, fortune has been my friend, since again I meet you; 'tis the
+luckiest chance; I but asked your good grandmother here for a cup of
+water as I passed, and she would have me take a cup of milk instead; and
+then she bade me to come in out of the heat for a space--which I was
+nothing loath to do, as you may guess; and here have I been taking up
+the good lady's time with I know not what of idle gossip----"
+
+"But sit ye down, grandchild," the good dame said; "and you, sir, pray
+sit you down. Here, wench," she called to the little maid that was her
+sole domestic; "go fill this jug from the best barrel."
+
+And then she herself proceeded to get down from the high wooden rail
+some of the pewter trenchers that shone there like a row of white moons
+in the dusk; and these she placed on the table, with one or two knives;
+and then she began to get forth cakes, a cheese, a ham, some spiced
+bread, the half of a cold gooseberry-tart, and what not.
+
+"'Tis not every day we come by a visitor in these quiet parts," said
+she--"ay, good sir, and one that is not afraid to speak out his mind.
+Nay, nay, grandchild, I tell thee sit thee down; thou art too fine a
+madam this morning to meddle wi' kitchen matters. Tell the gentleman I
+be rather deaf; but I thank him for his good company. Sit ye down,
+sweeting; sooth, you look bravely this morning."
+
+"Have I pleased you at last, grandmother?--'tis a miracle, surely," she
+said, with a smile; and then she turned gravely to entertain the old
+dame's visitor. "I hope your fortunes have mended, sir," said she.
+
+"In a measure--somewhat; but still I am forced to take heed--"
+
+"Perchance you have still the letter to my father?" she asked.
+
+"Nay, madam, I considered it a prudent thing to destroy it--little as
+that was in my heart."
+
+"I had thought on your next coming to the neighborhood that you would
+have taken the chance to make my father's friendship," said she, and not
+without some secret disappointment; for she was anxious that this
+acquaintance of Ben Jonson's should see the New Place, with all its
+tapestries, and carved wood, and silver-gilt bowls; with its large fair
+garden, too, and substantial barns and stables. Perhaps she would have
+had him carry the tale to London? There were some things (she
+considered) quite as fine as the trumpery masques and mummeries of the
+court that the London people seemed to talk about. She would have liked
+him to see her father at the head of his own table, with her mother's
+napery shining, and plenty of good friends round the board, and her
+father drinking to the health of Bess Hall out of the silver-topped
+tankard that Thomas Combe, and Russell, and Sadler, and Julius Shawe,
+and the rest of them, had given him on his last birthday. Or perchance
+she would have had him see her father riding through the town of
+Stratford with some of these good neighbors (and who the handsomest of
+all the company? she would make bold to ask), with this one and that
+praising the Evesham roan, and the wagoners as they passed touching
+their caps to "worthy Mahster Shacksper." Ben Jonson! Well, she had seen
+Ben Jonson. There was not a maid in the town would have looked his way.
+Whereas, if there were any secret enchantments going forward on
+Hallowmas-eve (and she knew of such, if the ministers did not), and if
+the young damsels were called on to form a shape in their brain as they
+prayed for the handsome lover that was to be sent them in the future,
+she was well aware what type of man they would choose from amongst those
+familiar to them; and also it had more than once reached her ears that
+the young fellows would jokingly say among themselves that right well it
+was that Master Shakespeare was married and in safe-keeping, else they
+would never have a chance. In the meanwhile, and with much courtesy,
+this young gentleman was endeavoring to explain to her why it was he
+dared not go near Stratford town.
+
+"Truly, sweet Mistress Judith," said he, in his suave voice, and with
+modestly downcast eyes, "it is a disappointment to me in more regards
+than one; perchance I dare not say how much. But in these times one has
+to see that one's own misfortunes may not prove harmful to one's
+friends; and then again, ever since the French King's murder, they are
+becoming harder and harder against any one, however innocent he may be,
+that is under suspicion. And whom do they not suspect? The Parliament
+have entreated the King to be more careful of his safety; and the
+recusants--as they call those that have some regard for the faith they
+were brought up in--must not appear within ten miles of the court. Nay,
+they are ordered to betake themselves to their own dwellings; and by the
+last proclamation all Roman priests, Jesuits, and seminaries are
+banished the kingdom. I wonder not your good grandmother should have a
+word of pity for them that are harried this way and that for conscience'
+sake."
+
+"I say naught, I say naught; 'twere well to keep a still tongue," the
+old dame said, being still busy with the table. "But I have heard there
+wur more peace and quiet in former days when there wur but one faith in
+the land; ay, and good tending of the poor folk by the monks and the
+rich houses."
+
+However, the chance reference to the French King had suddenly recalled
+to Judith that Prudence was waiting her in the garden; and her
+conscience smote her for her neglect; while she was determined that so
+favorable an opportunity should not be lost of banishing once and
+forever her dear gossip's cruel suspicions. So she rose.
+
+"I crave your pardon, good sir," said she, "if I leave you for a moment
+to seek my gossip Prudence Shawe, that was to wait for me in the garden.
+I would have you acquainted with each other; but pray you, sir, forbear
+to say anything against the Puritan section of the church, for she is
+well inclined that way, and she has a heart that is easily wounded."
+
+"And thank you for the caution, fair Mistress Judith," said he; and he
+rose, and bowed low, and stood hat in hand until she had left the
+apartment.
+
+At first, so blinding was the glare of light and color, she could hardly
+see; but presently, when her eyes were less dazzled, she looked
+everywhere, and found the garden quite empty. She called; there was no
+answer. She went down to the little gate; there was no one in the road.
+And so, taking it for granted that Prudence had sought safety in flight,
+and was now back in Stratford town, or on the way thither, she returned
+into the cottage with a light heart, and well content to hear what news
+was abroad.
+
+"Pray you, sir," said old Mistress Hathaway, "sit in to the table; and
+you, grandchild, come your ways. If the fare be poor, the welcome is
+hearty. What, then, Judith? Dined already, sayst thou? Body o' me, a
+fresh-colored young wench like you should be ready for your dinner at
+any time. Well, well, sit thee in, and grace the table; and you shall
+sip a cup of claret for the sake of good company."
+
+Master Leofric Hope, on the other hand, was not at all backward in
+applying himself to this extemporized meal; on the contrary, he did it
+such justice as fairly warmed the old dame's heart. And he drank to her,
+moreover, bending low over his cup of ale; but he did not do the like by
+Judith--for some reason or another. And all the while he was telling
+them of the affairs of the town; as to how there was much talking of the
+new river that was to bring water from some ten or twelve miles off, and
+how one Middleton was far advanced with the cutting of it, although many
+were against it, and would have the project overthrown altogether. Of
+these and similar matters he spoke right pleasantly, and the old dame
+was greatly interested; but Judith grew to think it strange that so much
+should be said about public affairs, and what the people were talking
+about, and yet no mention made of her father. And so it came about, when
+he went on to tell them of the new ship of war that so many were going
+to see at Woolwich, and that the King made so much of, she said:
+
+"Oh, my father knows all about that ship. 'Twas but the other day I
+heard him and Master Combe speak of it; and of the King too; and my
+father said, 'Poor man, 'tis a far smaller ship than that he will make
+his last voyage in.'"
+
+"Said he that of the King?"
+
+She looked up in quick alarm.
+
+"But as he would have said it of me, or of you, or of any one," she
+exclaimed. "Nay, my father is well inclined toward the King, though he
+be not as much at the court as some, nor caring to make pageants for the
+court ladies and their attendants and followers."
+
+If there were any sarcasm in this speech, he did not perceive it; for it
+merely led him on to speak of the new masque that Ben Jonson was
+preparing for the Prince Henry; and incidentally he mentioned that the
+subject was to be Oberon, the Fairy Prince.
+
+"Oberon?" said Judith, opening her eyes. "Why, my father hath writ about
+that!"
+
+"Oh, yes, as we all know," said he, courteously; "but there will be a
+difference----"
+
+"A difference?" said she. "By my life, yes! There will be a difference.
+I wonder that Master Jonson was not better advised."
+
+"Nay, in this matter, good Mistress Judith," said he, "there will be no
+comparison. I know 'tis the fashion to compare them----"
+
+"To compare my father and Master Jonson?" she said, as if she had not
+heard aright. "Why, what comparison? In what way? Pray you remember,
+sir, I have seen Master Ben Jonson. I have seen him, and spoken with
+him. And as for my father, I'll be bound there is not his fellow for a
+handsome presence and gracious manners in all Warwickshire--no, nor in
+London town neither, I'll be sworn!"
+
+"I meant not that, sweet lady," said he, with a smile; and he added,
+grimly: "I grant you our Ben looks as if he had been in the wars; he
+hath had a tussle with Bacchus on many a merry night, and bears the
+scars of these noble combats. No; 'tis the fashion to compare them as
+wits----"
+
+"I'd as lief compare them as men, good sir," said she, with a touch of
+pride; "and I know right well which should have my choice."
+
+"When it is my good fortune, dear lady," said the young man, "to have
+Master William Shakespeare's daughter sitting before me, I need no other
+testimony to his grace and bearing, even had I never set eyes on him."
+And with that he bowed low; and there was a slight flush on her face
+that was none of displeasure; while the old dame said:
+
+"Ay, ay, there be many a wench in Warwickshire worse favored than she.
+Pray Heaven it turn not her head! The wench is a good wench, but ill to
+manage; and 'twere no marvel if the young men got tired of waiting."
+
+To escape from any further discussion of this subject, Judith proposed
+that they should go out and look at her grandmother's roses and pansies,
+which was in truth the object of her visit; and she added that if Master
+Hope (this was the first time she had named him by his name) were still
+desirous of avoiding observation, they could go to the little bower at
+the upper hedge-row, which was sufficiently screened from the view of
+any passer-by. The old dame was right willing, for she was exceedingly
+proud of this garden, that had no other tending than her own; and so she
+got her knitting-needles and ball of wool, and preceded them out into
+the warm air and the sunlight.
+
+"Dear, dear me," said she, stopping to regard two small shrubs that
+stood withered and brown by the side of the path. "There be something
+strange in that rosemary, now; in good sooth there be. Try as I may, I
+cannot bring them along; the spring frost makes sure to kill them." And
+then she went on again.
+
+"Strange, indeed," said the young man to his companion, these two being
+somewhat behind, "that a plant that is so fickle and difficult to hold
+should be the emblem of constancy."
+
+"I know not what they do elsewhere," said Judith, carelessly pulling a
+withered leaf or two to see if they were quite inodorous, "but
+hereabouts they often use a bit of rosemary for a charm, and the
+summoning of spirits."
+
+He started somewhat, and glanced at her quickly and curiously. But there
+was clearly no subtle intention in the speech. She idly threw away the
+leaves.
+
+"Have you faith in such charms, Mistress Judith?" said he, still
+regarding her.
+
+"In truth I know not," she answered, as if the question were of but
+little moment. "There be some who believe in them, and others that
+laugh. But strange stories are told; marry, there be some of them that
+are not pleasant to hear of a winter's night, when one has to change the
+warm chimney-corner for the cold room above. There is my grandmother,
+she hath a rare store of them; but they fit not well with the
+summer-time and with such a show as this."
+
+"A goodly show, indeed," said he; and by this time they were come to a
+small arbor of rude lattice-work mostly smothered in foliage; and there
+was a seat within it, and also a tiny table; while in front they were
+screened from the gaze of any one going along the road by a straggling
+and propped-up wall of peas that were now showing their large white
+blossoms plentifully among the green.
+
+"'Tis a quiet spot," said he, when they were seated, and the old dame
+had taken to her knitting; "'tis enough to make one pray never to hear
+more of the din and turmoil of London."
+
+"I should have thought, sir," said Judith, "you would have feared to go
+near London, if there be those that would fain get to know of your
+whereabout."
+
+"Truly," said he, "I have no choice. I must run the risk. From time to
+time I must seek to see whether the cloud that is hanging over me give
+signs of breaking. And surely such must now be the case, when fortune
+hath been so kind to me as to place me where I am at this moment--in
+such company--with such a quiet around. 'Tis like the work of a
+magician; though from time to time I remind me that I should rise and
+leave, craving your pardon for intruding on you withal."
+
+"Trouble not yourself, young sir," the old dame said, in her
+matter-of-fact way, as she looked up from her knitting; "if the place
+content you, 'tis right well; we be in no such hurry in these country
+parts; we let the day go by as it lists, and thank God for a sound
+night's rest at the end of it."
+
+"And you have a more peaceful and happy life than the London citizens,
+I'll be bound," said he, "with all their feasts and gayeties and the
+noise of drums and the like."
+
+"We hear but the murmur of such things from a far distance," Judith
+said. "Was there not a great to-do on the river when the citizens gave
+their welcome to the Prince?"
+
+"Why, there, now," said he, brightening up at this chance of repaying in
+some measure the courtesy of his entertainers; "there was as wonderful a
+thing as London ever saw. A noble spectacle, truly; for the Companies
+would not be outdone; and such bravery of apparel, and such a banqueting
+in the afternoon! And perchance you heard of it but through some
+news-letter! Shall I tell you what I saw on my own part?"
+
+"If it be not too troublesome to you, good sir."
+
+He was glad enough; for he had noticed, when he was describing such
+things, that Judith's eyes grew absent, and he could gaze at them
+without fear of causing her to start and blush. Moreover, it was a
+pretty face to tell a story to; and the day was so still and shining;
+and all around them there was a scent of roses in the air.
+
+"Why, it was about daybreak, as I should think," he said, "that the
+citizens began to come forth; and a bright fair morning it was; and all
+of them in their best array. And you may be sure that when the Companies
+learned that the whole of the citizens were minded to show their love
+for the Prince Henry on his coming back from Richmond, they were not
+like to be behindhand; and such preparations had been made as you would
+scarce believe. Well, then, so active were they in their several ways
+that by eight of the clock the Companies were all assembled in their
+barges of state to wait the Lord Mayor and Aldermen; and such a sound of
+drums and trumpets and fifes was there; and the water covered with the
+fleet, and the banks all crowded with them that had come down to see.
+Then the Lord Mayor and the Aldermen being arrived, the great procession
+set forth in state; and such a booming of cannon there was, and cheering
+from the crowd. 'Twas a sight, on my life; for they bore the pageant
+with them--that was a huge whale and a dolphin; and on the whale sat a
+fair and lovely nymph, Corinea she was called, the Queen of Cornwall;
+and she had a coronet of strange sea-shells, and strings of pearls
+around her neck and on her wrists; and her dress was of crimson silk, so
+that all could make her out from a distance; and she had a silver shield
+slung on to her left arm, and in her right hand a silver spear--oh, a
+wonderful sight she was; I marvel not the crowd cheered and cheered
+again. Then on the other animal--that is, the dolphin--sat one that
+represented Amphion--he was the father of music, as you must know; and a
+long beard he wore, and he also had a wreath of sea-shells on his head,
+and in his hand a harp of gold that shone in the sun. Well, away they
+set toward Chelsea; and there they waited for the Prince's approach----"
+
+"And the young Prince himself," Judith said, quickly and eagerly; "he
+bears himself well, does he not? He bears himself like a prince? He
+would match such a pageant right royally, is't not so?"
+
+"Why, he is the very model and mirror of princehood!--the pink of
+chivalry!--nor is there one of them at the court that can match him at
+the knightly exercises," said this enthusiastic chronicler, who had his
+reward in seeing how interested she was. "Well, when the young Prince
+was come to Chelsea, there he paused; and the Queen Corinea addressed
+him in a speech of welcome--truly, I could not hear a word of it, there
+was such a noise among the multitude; but I was told thereafter that it
+presented him with their love and loyal duty; and then they all set
+forth toward Whitehall again. By this time 'twas late in the day; and no
+man would have believed so many dwelt in the neighborhood of our great
+river; and that again was as naught to the crowd assembled when they
+were come again to the town. And here--as it must have been arranged
+beforehand, doubtless--the fleet of barges separated and formed two long
+lines, so as to make a lane for the Prince to pass through, with great
+cheering and shouting, so that when they were come to the court steps,
+he was at the head of them all. And now it was that the dolphin
+approached, and Amphion, that was riding on his back, bid the Prince a
+loyal farewell in the name of all the citizens; and at the end of the
+speech--which, in truth the people guessed at rather than heard--there
+was such a tumult of huzzas, and a firing of cannon, and the drums and
+the trumpets sounding, and on every hand you could hear nothing but
+'Long live our Prince of Wales, the Royal Henry!'"
+
+"And he bore himself bravely, I'll dare be sworn!" she exclaimed. "I
+have heard my father speak of him; he is one that will uphold the honor
+of England when he comes to the throne!"
+
+"And there was such a feasting and rejoicing that evening," he
+continued, "within doors and without; and many an honest man, I fear me,
+transgressed, and laid the train for a sore-distracted head next day.
+Then 'twas some two or three evenings after that, if I remember aright,
+that we had the great water-fight and the fire-works; but perchance you
+heard of these, sweet Mistress Judith?"
+
+"In truth, good sir," she answered, "I heard of these, as of the welcome
+you speak of, but in so scant a way as to be worth naught. 'Tis not a
+kind of talking that is encouraged at our house; unless, indeed, when
+Julius Shawe and Master Combe and some of them come in of an evening to
+chat with my father; and then sometimes I contrive to linger, with the
+bringing in of a flagon of Rhenish or the like, unless I am chid and
+sent forth. I pray you, good sir, if I do not outwear your patience, to
+tell us of the water-fight, too."
+
+"'Tis I that am more like to outwear your patience, fair Judith," said
+he. "I would I had a hundred fights to tell you of. But this one--well,
+'twas a goodly pageant; and a vast crowd was come down to the water's
+edge to see what was going forward, for most of the business of the day
+was over, and both master and 'prentice were free. And very soon we saw
+how the story was going; for there was a Turkish pirate, with fierce men
+with blackened faces; and they would plunder two English merchantmen and
+make slaves of the crews. This was but the beginning of the fight; and
+there was great firing of guns and manoeuvring of the vessels; and the
+merchantmen were like to fare badly, not being trained to arms like the
+pirate. In sooth they were sore bestead; but presently up came two ships
+of war to rescue; and then the coil began in good earnest, I warrant
+you; for there was boarding and charging and clambering over the
+bulwarks--ay, and many a man on both sides knocked into the sea; until
+in the end they had killed or secured all the pirates, and then there
+was naught to do but to blow up the pirate ship into the air, with a
+noise like thunder, and scarce a rag or spar of him remaining. 'Twas a
+right good ending, I take it, in the minds of the worthy citizens;
+doubtless they hoped that every Turkish rogue would be served the like.
+And then it was that the blowing up of the pirate ship was a kind of
+signal for the beginning of the fire-works; and it had grown to dusk
+now, so that the blazes of red light and blue light and the whizzing of
+the squibs and what not seemed to fill all the air. 'Twas a rare climax
+to the destruction of the Turks; and the people cheered and cheered
+again when 'twas well done; and then at the end came a great discharge
+of guns and squibs and showers of stars, that one would have thought the
+whole world was on fire. Sure I am that the waters of the Thames never
+saw such a sight before. And the people went home right well content,
+and I doubt not drank to the confusion of all pirates, as well as to the
+health of the young Prince, that is to preserve the realm to us in years
+to come."
+
+They talked for some time thereafter about that and other matters, and
+about his own condition and occupations at the farm; and then he rose,
+and there was a smile on his face.
+
+"You know, fair Mistress Judith," said he, "that a wise man is careful
+not to out-stay his welcome, lest it be not offered to him again; and
+your good grandmother has afforded me so pleasant an hour's gossip and
+good company that I would fain look forward to some other chance of the
+same in the future."
+
+"Must you go, good sir?" said Judith, also rising. "I trust we have not
+over-taxed your patience. We country folk are hungry listeners."
+
+"To have been awarded so much of your time, sweet Mistress Judith," said
+he, bowing very low, "is an honor I am not likely to forget."
+
+And then he addressed the old dame, who had missed something of this.
+
+"Give ye good thanks for your kindness, good Mistress Hathaway," said
+he.
+
+"Good fortune attend ye, sir," said the old dame, contentedly, and
+without ceasing from her knitting.
+
+Judith was standing there, with her eyes cast down.
+
+"Sweet lady, by your leave," said he, and he took her hand and raised it
+and just touched her fingers with his lips. Then he bowed low again, and
+withdrew.
+
+"Fare you well, good sir," Judith had said at the same moment, but
+without any word as to a future meeting. Then she returned into the
+little arbor and sat down.
+
+"Is't not like a meteor, grandmother, shooting across the sky?" said
+she, merrily. "Beshrew me, but the day has grown dark since he left!
+Didst ever hear of such a gallymawfrey of dolphins and whales, and
+prince's barges, and the roaring of cannon, and fire-works? Sure 'tis
+well we live in the country quiet, our ears would be riven in twain
+else. And you, grandmother, that was ever preaching about prudent
+behavior, to be harboring one that may be an outlaw--a recusant;
+perchance he hath drawn his sword in the King's presence----"
+
+"What know you of the young gentleman, Judith?" the old dame said,
+sharply.
+
+"Marry, not a jot beyond what he hath doubtless told to yourself, good
+grandmother. But see you any harm in him? Have you suspicion of him?
+Would you have me think--as Prudence would fain believe--that there is
+witchcraft about him?"
+
+"Truly I see no harm in the young gentleman," the old grandmother was
+constrained to say. "And he be fair-spoken, and modest withal. But look
+you to this, wench, should you chance to meet him again while he bideth
+here in this neighborhood--I trow 'twere better you did not--but should
+that chance, see you keep a still tongue in your head about Church and
+King and Parliament. Let others meddle who choose; 'tis none of your
+affairs: do you hear me, child? These be parlous times, as the talk is;
+they do well that keep the by-ways, and let my lord's coaches go whither
+they list."
+
+"Grandmother," said Judith, gravely, "I know there be many things in
+which I cannot please you, but this sin that you would lay to my
+charge--nay, dear grandam, when have you caught me talking about Church
+and King and Parliament? Truly I wish them well; but I am content if
+they go their own way."
+
+The old dame glanced at her, to see what this demure tone of speech
+meant.
+
+"Thou?" she said, in a sort of grumble. "Thy brain be filled with other
+gear, I reckon. 'Tis a bit of ribbon that hath hold of thee; or the
+report as to which of the lads shot best at the match; or perchance 'tis
+the purchase of some penny ballads, that you may put the pictures on
+your chamber wall, as if you were a farm wench just come in from the
+milking pail."
+
+"Heaven have pity on me, good grandmother," said she, with much
+penitence, and she looked down at her costume, "but I can find no way of
+pleasing you. You scold me for being but a farm wench; and truly this
+petticoat, though it be pretty enough, methinks might have been made of
+a costlier stuff; and my cap--good grandmother, look at my cap--"
+
+She took it off, and smoothed the gray velvet of it, and arranged the
+beads and the feather.
+
+"--is the cap also too much of the fashion of a farm wench? or have I
+gone amiss the other way, and become too like a city dame? Would that I
+knew how to please you, grandam!"
+
+"Go thy ways, child; get thee home!" the old woman said, but only half
+angrily. "Thy foolish head hath been turned by hearing of those court
+gambols. Get you to your needle; be your mother's napery all so well
+mended that you can spend the whole day in idleness?"
+
+"Nay, but you are in the right there, good grandmother," said Judith,
+drawing closer to her, and taking her thin and wrinkled hand in her own
+warm, white, soft ones. "But not to the needle--not to the needle, good
+grandam; I have other eggs on the spit. Did not I tell you of the
+Portugal receipts that Prudence got for me?--in good sooth I did; well,
+the dishes were made; and next day at dinner my father was right well
+pleased. 'Tis little heed he pays to such matters; and we scarce thought
+of asking him how he liked the fare, when all at once he said: 'Good
+mother, you must give my thanks to Jane cook; 'twill cheer her in her
+work; nay, I owe them.' Then says my mother: 'But these two dishes were
+not prepared by the cook, good husband; 'twas one of the maids.' 'One of
+the maids?' he says. 'Well, which one of the maids? Truly, 'tis
+something rare to be found in a country house.' And then there was a
+laughing amongst all of them; and he fixes his eyes on me. 'What?' he
+says, 'that saucy wench? Is she striving to win her a husband at last?'
+And so you see, good grandmother, I must waste no more time here, for
+Prudence hath one or two more of these receipts; and I must try them to
+see whether my father approves or not."
+
+And so she kissed the old dame, and bade her farewell, refusing at the
+same time to have the escort of the small maid across the meadows to the
+town.
+
+All the temporary annoyance of the morning was now over and forgotten;
+she was wholly pleased to have had this interview, and to have heard
+minutely of all the great doings in London. She walked quickly; a
+careless gladness shone in her face; and she was lightly singing to
+herself, as she went along the well-beaten path through the fields,
+
+    "Sigh no more, ladies, sigh no more,
+      Men were deceivers ever."
+
+But it was not in the nature of any complaint against the inconstancy of
+man that this rhyme had come into her head. Quite other thoughts came as
+well. At one moment she was saying to herself:
+
+"Why, now, have I no spaniel-gentle with me to keep me company?"
+
+And then the next minute she was saying with a sort of laugh:
+
+"God help me, I fear I am none of the spaniel-gentle kind!"
+
+But there was no deep smiting of conscience even when she confessed so
+much. Her face was radiant and content; she looked at the cattle, or the
+trees, or the children, as it chanced, as if she knew them all, and
+knew that they were friendly toward her; and then again the idle air
+would come into her brain:
+
+    Then sigh not so, but let them go,
+      And be you blithe and bonny,
+    Converting all your sounds of woe
+      Into hey, nonny, nonny!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+A TIRE-WOMAN.
+
+
+It was not until after supper that evening that Judith was free to seek
+out her companion, who had fled from her in the morning; and when she
+did steal forth--carrying a small basket in her hand--she approached the
+house with much more caution than was habitual with her. She glanced in
+at the lower windows, but could see nothing. Then, instead of trying
+whether the latch was left loose, she formally knocked at the door.
+
+It was opened by a little rosy-cheeked girl of eleven or twelve, who
+instantly bobbed a respectful courtesy.
+
+"Is Mistress Prudence within, little Margery?" she said.
+
+"Yes, if it please you," said the little wench, and she stood aside to
+let Judith pass.
+
+But Judith did not enter; she seemed listening.
+
+"Where is she?"
+
+"In her own chamber, if it please you."
+
+"Alone, then?"
+
+"Yes, if it please you, Mistress Judith."
+
+Judith patted the little maid in requital of her courtesy, and then
+stole noiselessly up-stairs. The door was open. Prudence was standing
+before a small table ironing a pair of snow-white cuffs, the while she
+was repeating to herself verses of a psalm. Her voice, low as it was,
+could be heard distinctly:
+
+    Open thou my lips, O Lord, and my mouth shall shew forth thy praise.
+
+    For thou desirest no sacrifice, though I would give it; thou
+    delightest not in burnt-offering.
+
+    The sacrifices of God are a contrite spirit; a contrite and a broken
+    heart, O God, thou will not despise.
+
+    Be favorable unto Zion for thy good pleasure; build the walls of
+    Jerusalem.
+
+    Then shalt thou accept the sacrifices of righteousness, even the
+    burnt offering and oblation; then shall they offer calves upon thine
+    altar.
+
+She happened to turn her head; and then she uttered a slight cry of
+surprise, and came quickly to Judith, and caught her by the hand.
+
+"What said he?" she exclaimed, almost breathlessly. "You saw him? 'Twas
+the same, was it not? How came he there? Judith, tell me!"
+
+"You timid mouse that ran away!" the other said, with a complacent
+smile. "Why, what should he say? But prithee go on with the cuffs, else
+the iron will be cold. And are you alone in the house, Prudence? There
+is no one below?"
+
+"None but the maids, I trow; or Julius, perchance, if he be come in from
+the malt-house."
+
+"Quick, then, with the cuffs," Judith said, "and get them finished. Nay,
+I will tell thee all about the young gentleman thereafter. Get thee
+finished with the cuffs, and put them on----"
+
+"But I meant them not for this evening, Judith," said she, with her eyes
+turned away.
+
+"'Tis this evening, and now, you must wear them," her friend said,
+peremptorily. "And more than these. See, I have brought you some things,
+dear mouse, that you must wear for my sake--nay, nay, I will take no
+denial--you must and shall--and with haste, too, must you put them on,
+lest any one should come and find the mistress of the house out of call.
+Is not this pretty, good Prudence?"
+
+She had opened the basket and taken therefrom a plaited ruff that the
+briefest feminine glance showed to be of the finest cobweb lawn, tinged
+a faint saffron hue, and tied with silken strings. Prudence, who now
+divined the object of her visit, was overwhelmed with confusion. The
+fair and pensive face became rose red with embarrassment, and she did
+not even know how to protest.
+
+"And this," said Judith, in the most matter-of-fact way, taking
+something else out of the basket, "will also become you well--nay, not
+so, good mouse, you shall be as prim and Puritanical as you please
+to-morrow; to-night you shall be a little braver; and is it not
+handsome, too?--'twas a gift to my mother--and she knows that I have
+it--though I have never worn it."
+
+This second article that she held out and stroked with her fingers was a
+girdle of buff-colored leather, embroidered with flowers in silk of
+different colors, and having a margin of filigree silver-work both above
+and below and a broad silver clasp.
+
+"Come, then, let's try----"
+
+"Nay, Judith," the other said, retreating a step; "I cannot--indeed I
+cannot----"
+
+"Indeed you must, silly child!" Judith said, and she caught hold of her
+angrily. "I say you shall. What know you of such things? Must I teach
+you manners?"
+
+And when Judith was in this authoritative mood, Prudence had but little
+power to withstand her. Her face was still burning with embarrassment,
+but she succumbed in silence, while Judith whipped off the plain linen
+collar that her friend wore, and set on in its stead this small but
+handsome ruff. She arranged it carefully, and smoothed Prudence's soft
+fair hair, and gave a finishing touch to the three-cornered cap; then
+she stepped back a pace or two to contemplate her handiwork.
+
+"There!" she exclaimed (pretending to see nothing of Prudence's
+blushes). "A princess! On my life, a princess! And now for the girdle;
+but you must cast aside that housewife's pouch, sweetheart, and I will
+lend thee this little pomander of mine; in truth 'twill suit it well."
+
+"No, no, dear Judith!" the other said, almost piteously. "Indeed I
+cannot prank me out in these borrowed plumes. If you will have it so, I
+will wear the ruff; but not the girdle--not the girdle, dear
+cousin--that all would see was none of mine----"
+
+"What's that?" Judith exclaimed, suddenly, for there was a noise below.
+
+"'Tis Julius come in from the barn," Prudence said.
+
+"Mercy on us," the other cried, with a laugh, "I thought 'twas the
+spaniel-gentle come already. So you will not wear the girdle? Well, the
+ruff becomes you right fairly: and--and those roses in your cheeks, good
+Prue--why, what is the matter? Is there aught wonderful in one of
+Julius's friends coming to see him in the evening? And as the mistress
+of the house you must receive him well and courteously; and be not so
+demure of speech and distant in manner, dearest heart, for youth must
+have a little merriment, and we cannot always be at our prayers."
+
+"I know not what you mean, Judith, unless it be something that is far
+away from any thought or wish of mine."
+
+There was a touch of sincerity in this speech that instantly recalled
+Judith from her half-gibing ways. The truth was that while she herself
+was free enough in confiding to this chosen gossip of hers all about
+such lovers or would-be lovers as happened to present themselves,
+Prudence had never volunteered any similar confidence in return; and the
+very fact that there might be reasons for this reticence was enough to
+keep Judith from seeking to remove the veil. Judith herself was
+accustomed to make merry over the whole matter of sweethearts and rhymed
+messages and little tender gifts; but Prudence was sensitive, and Judith
+was careful not to wound her by indiscreet questioning. And at this
+moment, when Prudence was standing there confused and abashed, some
+compunction seized the heart of her friend. She took her hand.
+
+"In good sooth, I meant not to tease you, sweetheart," said she, in a
+kindly way; "and if I advise you in aught, 'tis but that you should make
+your brother's house a pleasant resort for them that would be friendly
+with him and visit him. What harm can there be in receiving such with a
+cheerful welcome, and having a pretty house-mistress, and all things
+neat and comfortable? Dear mouse, you so often lecture me that I must
+have my turn; and I do not find fault or cause of quarrel; 'tis but a
+wish that you would be less severe in your ways, and let your kind heart
+speak more freely. Men, that have the burden of the world's fight to
+bear, love to meet women-folk that have a merry and cheerful
+countenance; 'twere a marvel else; and of an evening, when there is
+idleness and some solace after the labors of the day, why should one be
+glum, and thinking ever of that next world that is coming soon enough of
+its own accord? Look you how well the ruff becomes you; and what sin is
+in it? The girdle, too; think you my mother would have worn it had there
+been aught of evil in a simple piece of leather and embroidery?"
+
+"'Tis many a day since she put it aside, as I well remember," Prudence
+said, but with a smile, for she was easily won over.
+
+"Truly," said Judith, with a touch of scorn, "the good preachers are
+pleased to meddle with small matters when they would tell a woman what
+she should wear, and order a maiden to give up a finger ring or a bit of
+lace on peril of her losing her soul. These be marvellous small deer to
+be so hunted and stormed about with bell, book, and candle. But now,
+good Prudence, for this one evening, I would have you please your
+visitor and entertain him; and the spaniel-gentle--that, indeed, you
+must take from him----"
+
+"I cannot, dear Judith; 'twas meant for you," Prudence exclaimed.
+
+"You cannot go back from your promise, good cousin," Judith said,
+coolly, and with some slight inattention to facts. "'Twould be
+unmannerly of you to refuse the gift, or to refuse ample thanks for it
+either. And see you have plenty on the board, for men like good fare
+along with good company; and let there be no stint of wine or ale as
+they may choose, for your brother's house, Prudence, must not be
+niggard, were it only for appearance' sake."
+
+"But you will stay, dear Judith, will you not?" the other said,
+anxiously. "In truth you can entertain them all wherever you go; and
+always there is such heart in the company----"
+
+"Nay, I cannot, sweet mouse," Judith said, lightly. "There is much for
+me to do now in the evenings since Susan has gone back to her own home.
+And now I must go, lest your visitor arrive and find you unprepared:
+marry, you must wear the cuffs as they are, since I have hindered you in
+the ironing."
+
+"But you cannot go, Judith, till you have told me what happened to-day
+at the cottage," the other pleaded.
+
+"What happened? Why, nothing," Judith said, brightly. "Only that my
+grandmother is of a mind with myself that a fairer-spoken young
+gentleman seldom comes into these parts, and that, when he does, he
+should be made welcome. Bless thy heart, hadst thou but come in and seen
+how attentive the good dame was to him! And she would press him to have
+some claret wine; but he said no: perchance he guessed that good grandam
+had but small store of that. Nay, but you should have come in, sweet
+mouse; then would you have been conscience-smitten about all your dark
+surmisings. A murderer, forsooth! a ghost! a phantom! Why, so civil was
+his manner that he but asked for a cup of water in passing, and my
+grandmother must needs have him come in out of the sun, and rest him,
+and have some milk. Was that like a ghost? I warrant you there was
+naught of the ghost about him when she put a solid repast before him on
+the table: ghosts make no such stout attacks on gooseberry tart and
+cheese, else they be sore belied."
+
+"But who and what is this man, Judith?"
+
+"Why, who can tell what any man is?" said the other. "They all of them
+are puzzles, and unlike other human creatures. But this one--well, he
+hath a rare store of knowledge as to what is going forward at the
+court--and among the players, too; and as we sat in the little bower
+there you would have sworn you could see before you the river Thames,
+with a wonderful pageant on it--dolphins, and whales, and crowned
+sea-queens, and the like; and in the midst of them all the young Prince
+Henry--'Long live the young Prince Henry!' they cried; and there was
+such a noise of drums and cannons and trumpets that you could scarce
+hear my grandmother's bees among the flowers. I warrant you the good
+dame was well repaid for her entertainment, and right well pleased with
+the young gentleman. I should not marvel to find him returning thither,
+seeing that he can remain there in secrecy, and have such gossip as
+pleases him."
+
+"But, Judith, you know not what you do!" her friend protested,
+anxiously. "Do you forget--nay, you cannot forget--that this was the
+very man the wizard prophesied that you should meet; and, more than
+that, that he would be your husband!"
+
+"My husband?" said Judith, with a flush of color, and she laughed
+uneasily. "Nay, not so, good Prudence. He is not one that is likely to
+choose a country wench. Nay, nay, the juggler knave failed me--that is
+the truth of it; the charm was a thing of naught; and this young
+gentleman, if I met him by accident, the same might have happened to
+you, as I showed you before. Marry, I should not much crave to see him
+again, if anything like that were in the wind. This is Stratford town,
+'tis not the forest of Arden; and in this neighborhood a maiden may not
+go forth to seek her lover, and coax him into the wooing of her. My
+father may put that into a play, but methinks if he heard of his own
+daughter doing the like, the key would quickly be turned on her. Nay,
+nay, good Prue, you shall not fright me out of doing a civil kindness to
+a stranger, and one that is in misfortune, by flaunting his lovership
+before my eyes. There be no such thing: do not I know the tokens? By my
+life, this gentleman is too courteous to have a lover's mind within
+him!"
+
+"And you will go and see him again, Judith?" her friend asked, quickly.
+
+"Nay, I said not that," Judith answered, complacently. "'Tis not the
+forest of Arden; would to Heaven it were, for life would move to a
+pleasanter music! I said not that I would go forth and seek him; that
+were not maidenly; and belike there would come a coil of talking among
+the gossips or soon or late; but at this time of the year, do you see,
+sweet cousin, the country is fair to look upon, and the air is sweeter
+in the meadows than it is here in the town; and if a lone damsel,
+forsaken by all else, should be straying silent and forlorn along the
+pathway or by the river-side, and should encounter one that hath but
+lately made her acquaintance, why should not that acquaintance be
+permitted in all modesty and courtesy to ripen into friendship? The
+harm, good Prue--the harm of it? Tush! your head is filled with childish
+fears of the wizard; that is the truth; and had you but come into the
+house to-day, and had but five minutes' speech of the young gentleman,
+you would have been as ready as any one to help in the beguilement of
+the tedium of his hiding, if that be possible to two or three silly
+women. And bethink you, was't not a happy chance that I wore my new
+velvet cap this morning?"
+
+But she had been speaking too eagerly. This was a slip; and instantly
+she added, with some touch of confusion,
+
+"I mean that I would fain have my father's friends in London know that
+his family are not so far out of the world, or out of the fashion."
+
+"Is he one of your father's friends, Judith?" Prudence said, gravely.
+
+"He is a friend of my father's friends, at least," said she, "and some
+day, I doubt not, he will himself be one of these. Truly that will be a
+rare sight, some evening at New Place, when we confront you with him,
+and tell him how he was charged with being a ghost, or a pirate, or an
+assassin, or something of the like."
+
+"Your fancy runs free, Judith," her friend said. "Is't a probable thing,
+think you, that one that dares not come forth into the day, that is
+hiding from justice, or perchance scheming in Catholic plots, should
+become the friend of your house?"
+
+"You saw him not at my grandmother's board, good Prue," said Judith,
+coolly. "The young gentleman hath the trick of making himself at home
+wherever he cometh, I warrant you. And when this cloud blows away, and
+he is free to come to Stratford, there is none will welcome him more
+heartily than I, for methinks he holdeth Master Benjamin Jonson in too
+high consideration, and I would have him see what is thought of my
+father in the town, and what his estate is, and that his family, though
+they live not in London, are not wholly of Moll the milkmaid kind. And
+I would have Susan come over too; and were she to forget her preachers
+and her psalms for but an evening, and were there any merriment going
+forward, the young gentleman would have to keep his wits clear, I'll be
+bound. There is the house, too, I would have him see; and the
+silver-topped tankard with the writing on it from my father's good
+friends; nay, I warrant me Julius would not think of denying me the loan
+of the King's letter to my father--were it but for an hour or two----"
+
+But here they were startled into silence by a knocking below; then there
+was the sound of a man's voice in the narrow passage.
+
+"'Tis he, sweetheart," Judith said, quickly, and she kissed her friend,
+and gave a final touch to the ruff and the cap. "Get you down and
+welcome him; I will go out when that you have shut the door of the room.
+And be merry, good heart, be merry--be brave and merry, as you love me."
+
+She almost thrust her out of the apartment, and listened to hear her
+descend the stairs; then she waited for the shutting of the chamber
+door; and finally she stole noiselessly down into the passage, and let
+herself out without waiting for the little maid Margery.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+A FIRST PERFORMANCE.
+
+
+"Nay, zur," said the sour-visaged Matthew, as he leaned his chin and
+both hands on the end of a rake, and spoke in his slow-drawling,
+grumbling fashion--"nay, zur, this country be no longer the country it
+wur; no, nor never will be again."
+
+"Why, what ails the land?" said Judith's father, turning from the small
+table in the summer-house, and lying back in his chair, and crossing one
+knee over the other, as if he would give a space to idleness.
+
+"Not the land, zur," rejoined goodman Matthew, oracularly--"not the
+land; it be the men that live in it, and that are all in such haste to
+make wealth, with plundering of the poor and each other, that there's
+naught but lying and cheating and roguery--God-a-mercy, there never wur
+the loike in any country under the sun! Why, zur, in my vather's time a
+pair o' shoes would wear you through all weathers for a year; but now,
+with their half-tanned leather, and their horse-hide, and their cat-skin
+for the inner sole, 'tis a marvel if the rotten leaves come not asunder
+within a month. And they be all aloike; the devil would have no choice
+among 'em. The cloth-maker he hideth his bad wool wi' liquid stuff; and
+the tailor, no matter whether it be doublet, cloak, or hose, he will
+filch you his quarter of the cloth ere you see it again; and the
+chandler--he be no better than the rest--he will make you his wares of
+stinking offal that will splutter and run over, and do aught but give
+good light; and the vintner, marry, who knoweth not his tricks and
+knaveries of mixing and blending, and the selling of poison instead of
+honest liquor? The rogue butcher, too, he will let the blood soak in,
+ay, and puff wind into the meat--meat, quotha!--'tis as like as not to
+have been found dead in a ditch!"
+
+"A bad case indeed, good Matthew, if they be all preying on each other
+so."
+
+"'Tis the poor man pays for all, zur. Though how he liveth to pay no man
+can tell; what with the landlords racking the rents, and inclosing the
+commons and pasturages--nay, 'tis a noble pastime the making of parks
+and warrens, and shutting the poor man out that used to have his cow
+there and a pig or two; but no, now shall he not let a goose stray
+within the fence. And what help hath the poor man? May he go to the
+lawyers, with their leases and clauses that none can understand--ay, and
+their fists that must be well greased ere they set to the business? 'Tis
+the poor man pays for all, zur, I warrant ye; nor must he grumble when
+the gentleman goes a-hunting and breaks down his hedges and tramples his
+corn. Corn? 'Tis the last thing they think of, beshrew me else! They are
+busiest of all in sending our good English grain--ay, and our good
+English beef and bacon and tallow--beyond the seas; and to bring back
+what?--baubles of glass beads and amber, fans for my ladies, and new
+toys from Turkey! The proud dames--I would have their painted faces
+scratched!"
+
+"What, what, good Matthew?" Judith's father said, laughing. "What know
+you of the city ladies and their painting?"
+
+"Nay, nay, zur, the London tricks be spread abroad, I warrant ye;
+there's not a farmer's wife nowadays but must have her french-hood, and
+her daughter a taffeta cap--marry, and a grogram gown lined through with
+velvet. And there be other towns in the land than London to learn the
+London tricks; I have heard of the dames and their daughters; set them
+up with their pinching and girding with whalebone, to get a small waist
+withal!--ay, and the swallowing of ashes and candles, and whatever will
+spoil their stomach, to give them a pale bleak color. Lord, what a thing
+'tis to be rich and in the fashion!--let the poor man suffer as he may.
+Corn, i' faith!--there be plenty of corn grown in the land, God wot; but
+'tis main too dear for the poor man; the rack-rents for him, and a
+murrain on him; the corn for the forestallers and the merchants and
+gentlemen, that send it out of the country; and back come the silks and
+civets for proud madam and her painted crew!"
+
+"God have mercy on us, man!" Judith's father exclaimed, and he drove him
+aside, and got out into the sunlight. At the same moment he caught sight
+of Judith herself.
+
+"Come hither, wench, come hither!" he called to her.
+
+She was nothing loath. She had merely been taking some scraps to the
+Don; and seeing Matthew in possession there, she had not even stayed to
+look into the summer-house. But when her father came out and called to
+her, she went quickly toward him; and her eyes were bright enough, on
+this bright morning.
+
+"What would you, father?"
+
+For answer he plucked off her cap and threw it aside, and took hold of
+her by a bunch of her now loosened and short sun-brown curls.
+
+"Father!" she protested (but with no great anger). "There be twenty
+minutes' work undone!"
+
+"Where bought you those roses?" said he, sternly. "Answer me, wench!"
+
+"I bought no roses, father!"
+
+"The paint? Is't not painted? Where got you such a face, madam?"
+
+"Father, you have undone my hair; and the parson is coming to dinner."
+
+"Nay, I'll be sworn 'tis as honest a face as good Mother Nature ever
+made. This goodman Matthew hath belied you!"
+
+"What said he of me?" she asked, with a flash of anger in her eyes.
+
+Her father put his hand on her neck, and led her away.
+
+"Nay, nay, come thy ways, lass; thou shalt pick me a handful of
+raspberries. And as for thine hair, let that be as God made it; 'tis
+even better so; and yet, methinks"--here he stopped, and passed his hand
+lightly once or twice over her head, so that any half-imprisoned curls
+were set free--"methinks," said he, regarding the pretty hair with
+considerable favor, "if you would as lief have some ornament for it, I
+saw that in London that would answer right well. 'Twas a net-work kind
+of cap; but the netting so fine you could scarce see it; and at each
+point a bead of gold. Now, Madame Vanity, what say you to that? Would
+you let your hair grow free as it is now, and let the sunlight play with
+it, were I to bring thee a fairy cap all besprinkled with gold?"
+
+"I will wear it any way you wish, father, and right gladly," said she,
+"and I will have no cap at all if it please you."
+
+"Nay, but you shall have the gossamer cap, wench; I will not forget it
+when next I go to London."
+
+"I would you had never to go to London again," said she, rather timidly.
+
+He regarded her for a second with a scrutinizing look, and there was an
+odd sort of smile on his face.
+
+"Why," said he, "I was but this minute writing about a man that had to
+use divers arts and devices for the attainment of a certain end--yea,
+and devices that all the world would not approve of, perchance; and that
+was ever promising to himself that when the end was gained he would put
+aside these spells and tricks, and be content to live as other men live,
+in a quiet and ordinary fashion. Wouldst have me live ever in Stratford,
+good lass?"
+
+"The life of the house goes out when you go away from us," said she,
+simply.
+
+"Well, Stratford is no wilderness," said he, cheerfully; "and I have no
+bitter feud with mankind that I would live apart from them. Didst ever
+think, wench," he added, more absently, "how sad a man must have been
+ere he could speak so:
+
+    'Happy were he could finish forth his fate
+      In some unhaunted desert, most obscure
+    From all societies, from love and hate
+      Of worldly folk; then might he sleep secure;
+    Then wake again, and ever give God praise,
+      Content with hips and haws and brambleberry;
+    In contemplation spending all his days,
+      And change of holy thoughts to make him merry;
+    Where, when he dies, his tomb may be a bush,
+    Where harmless robin dwells with gentle thrush.'"
+
+"Is it that you are writing now, father?"
+
+"Nay, indeed," said he, slowly, and a cloud came over his face. "That
+was written by one that was my good friend in by-gone days; by one that
+was betrayed and done to death by lying tongues, and had but sorry favor
+shown him in the end by those he had served."
+
+He turned away. She thought she heard him say, "My noble Essex," but she
+was mutely following him. And then he said:
+
+"Come, lass; come pick me the berries."
+
+He kept walking up and down, by himself, while her nimble fingers were
+busy with the bushes; and when she had collected a sufficiency of the
+fruit, and brought it to him, she found that he appeared to be in no
+hurry this morning, but was now grown cheerful again, and rather
+inclined to talk to her. And she was far from telling him that her
+proper place at this moment was within-doors, to see that the maids were
+getting things forward; and if she bestowed a thought of any kind on the
+good parson, it was to the effect that both he and the dinner would have
+to wait. Her father had hold of her by the arm. He was talking to her of
+all kinds of things, as they slowly walked up and down the path, but of
+his friends in Stratford mostly, and their various ways of living; and
+this she conceived to have some reference to his project of withdrawing
+altogether from London, and settling down for good among them. Indeed,
+so friendly and communicative was he on this clear morning--in truth,
+they were talking like brother and sister--that when at last he went
+into the summer-house, she made bold to follow; and when he chanced to
+look at some sheets lying on the table, she said:
+
+"Father, what is the story of the man with the devices?"
+
+For an instant he did not understand what she meant; then he laughed.
+
+"Nay, pay you no heed to such things, child."
+
+"And why should not I, father, seeing that they bring you so great
+honor?"
+
+"Honor, said you?" but then he seemed to check himself. This was not
+Julius Shawe, to whom he could speak freely enough about the conditions
+of an actor's life in London. "Well, then, the story is of a banished
+duke, a man of great wisdom and skill, and he is living on a desert
+island with his daughter--a right fair maiden she is, too, and she has
+no other companion in the world but himself."
+
+"But he is kind to her and good?" she said, quickly.
+
+"Truly."
+
+"What other companion would she have, then? Is she not content--ay, and
+right well pleased withal?"
+
+"Methinks the story would lag with but these," her father said, with a
+smile. "Would you not have her furnished with a lover--a young prince
+and a handsome--one that would play chess with her, and walk with her
+while her father was busy?"
+
+"But how on a desert island? How should she find such a one?" Judith
+said, with her eyes all intent.
+
+"There, you see, is where the magic comes in. What if her father have at
+his command a sprite, a goblin, that can work all wonders--that can
+dazzle people in the dark, and control the storm, and whistle the young
+prince to the very feet of his mistress?"
+
+Judith sighed, and glanced at the sheets lying on the table.
+
+"Alas, good father, why did you aid me in my folly, and suffer me to
+grow up so ignorant?"
+
+"Folly, fond wench!" said he, and he caught her by the shoulders and
+pushed her out of the summer-house. "Thank God you have naught to do
+with any such stuff. There, go you and seek out Prudence, and get you
+into the fields, and give those pink roses in your cheeks an airing.
+Is't not a rare morning? And you would blear your eyes with books, silly
+wench? Get you gone--into the meadows with you--and you may gather me a
+nosegay if your fingers would have work."
+
+"I must go in-doors, father; good Master Blaise is coming to dinner,"
+said she; "but I will bring you the nosegay in the afternoon, so please
+you. So fare you well," she added; and she glanced at him, "and pray
+you, sir, be kind to the young prince."
+
+He laughed and turned away; and she hurried quickly into the house. In
+truth, all through that day she had plenty to occupy her attention; but
+whether it was the maids that were asking her questions, or her mother
+seeking her help, or good Master Walter paying authoritative court to
+her, her eyes were entirely distraught. For they saw before them a
+strange island, with magic surrounding it, and two young lovers, and a
+grave and elderly man regarding them; and she grew to wonder how much
+more of that story was shut up in the summer-house, and to lament her
+misfortune in that she could not go boldly to her father and ask him to
+be allowed to read it. She felt quite certain that could she but sit
+down within there and peruse these sheets for herself, he would not say
+her nay; and from that conclusion to the next--that on the first chances
+she would endeavor to borrow the sheets and have them read to her--was
+but an obvious step, and one that she had frequently taken before.
+Moreover, on this occasion the chance came to her sooner than she could
+have expected. Toward dusk in the evening her father went out, saying
+that he was going along to see how the Harts were doing. Matthew
+gardener was gone home; the parson had left hours before; and her mother
+was in the brew-house, and out of hearing. Finally, to crown her good
+fortune, she discovered that the key had been left in the door of the
+summer-house; and so the next minute found her inside on her knees.
+
+It was a difficult task. There was scarcely any light, for she dare not
+leave the door open; and the mark that she put on the sheets, to know
+which she had carried to Prudence, was minute. And yet the sheets seemed
+to have been tossed into this receptacle in fairly regular order; and
+when at length, and after much straining of her eyes, she had got down
+to the marked ones, she was rejoiced to find that there remained above
+these a large bulk of unperused matter, and the question was as to how
+much it would be prudent to carry off. Further, she had to discover
+where there was some kind of division, so that the story should not
+abruptly break off; and she had acquired some experience in this
+direction. In the end, the portion of the play that she resolved upon
+taking with her was modest and small; there would be the less likelihood
+of detection; and it was just possible that she would have no
+opportunity of returning the sheets that night.
+
+And then she quickly got in-doors, and put on her hood and muffler, and
+slipped out into the dusk. She found Prudence alone in the lower room,
+sitting sewing, the candles on the table being already lit; and some
+distance off, curled up and fast asleep on the floor, lay the little
+spaniel-gentle.
+
+"Dear heart," said Judith, brightly, as she glanced at the little dog,
+"you have shown good sense after all; I feared me you would fall away
+from my wise counsel."
+
+"My brother was well inclined to the little creature," Prudence said,
+with some embarrassment.
+
+"And you had a right merry evening, I'll be bound," Judith continued,
+blithely. "And was there singing?--nay, he can sing well when he is in
+the mood--none better. Did he give you
+
+    'There is a garden in her face
+    Where roses and white lilies grow,'
+
+for Julius is more light-hearted in such matters than you are, dear
+mouse. And was there any trencher business--and wine? I warrant me
+Julius would not have his guest sit dry-throated. 'Twas a merry evening,
+in good sooth, sweetheart?"
+
+"_They_ talked much together," Prudence said, with her eyes cast down.
+
+"They talked? Mercy on us, were you not civil to him? Did you not thank
+him prettily for the little spaniel?"
+
+"In a measure I think 'twas Julius took the little creature from him,"
+Prudence said, bashfully.
+
+"Beshrew me now, but you know better!--'twas given to you, you know
+right well. A spaniel-gentle for your brother! As soon would he think of
+a farthingale and a petticoat! And what did he say? Had he aught special
+to say to you, dear mouse?"
+
+"He would have me look at an ancient book he had, with strange devices
+on the leaves," Prudence said. "Truly 'twas strange and wonderful, the
+ornamentation of it in gold and colors, though I doubt me 'twas the work
+of monks and priests. He would have me take it from him," she added,
+with a faint blush.
+
+"And you would not, silly one?" Judith exclaimed, angrily.
+
+"Would you have me place such Popish emblems alongside such a book as
+that that Dr. Hall gave me? Dear Judith, 'twould be a pollution and a
+sin!"
+
+"But you gave him thanks for the offer, then?"
+
+"Of a surety; 'twas meant in friendship."
+
+"Well, well; right glad am I to see the little beast lying there; and
+methinks your gentleness hath cast a spell o'er it already, sweetheart,
+or 'twould not rest so soundly. And now, dear mouse, I have come to tax
+your patience once more: see, here is part of the new play; and we must
+go to your chamber, dear Prue, lest some one come in and discover us."
+
+Prudence laughed in her quiet fashion. "I think 'tis you that casteth
+spells, Judith, else I should not be aiding thee in this perilous
+matter."
+
+But she took one of the candles in her hand nevertheless, and led the
+way up-stairs; and then, when they had carefully bolted the door, Judith
+placed the roll of sheets on the table, and Prudence sat down to arrange
+and decipher them.
+
+"But this time," Judith said, "have I less weight on my conscience; for
+my father hath already told me part of the story, and why should not I
+know the rest? Nay, but it promises well, I do assure thee, sweetheart.
+'Tis a rare beginning: the desert island, and the sprite that can work
+wonders, and the poor banished duke and his daughter. Ay, and there
+comes a handsome young prince, too; marry, you shall hear of marvels!
+For the sprite is one that can work magic at the bidding of the duke,
+and be seen like a fire in the dark, and can lead a storm whither he
+lists----"
+
+"'Tis with a storm that it begins," Prudence said, for now she had
+arranged the sheets.
+
+And instantly Judith was all attention. It is true, she seemed to care
+little for the first scene and the squabbles between the sailors and the
+gentlemen; she was anxious to get to the enchanted island; and when at
+length Prudence introduced Prospero and Miranda, Judith listened as if a
+new world were being slowly opened before her. And yet not altogether
+with silence, for sometimes she would utter a few words of quick assent,
+or even explanation; but always so as not to interfere with the
+gentle-voiced reader. Thus it would go:
+
+"Then Prospero says to her--
+
+                        'Be collected:
+    No more amazement: tell your piteous heart
+    There's no harm done.
+
+      _Miranda._    Oh, woe the day!
+
+      _Prospero._                No harm.
+    I have done nothing but in care of thee,
+    Of thee, my dear one, thee, my daughter, who
+    Art ignorant of what thou art, naught knowing
+    Of whence I am, nor that I am more better
+    Than Prospero, master of a full poor cell,
+    And thy no greater father.
+
+      _Miranda._            More to know
+    Did never meddle with my thoughts.'"
+
+"A right dutiful daughter!" Judith would exclaim--but as apart. "A rare
+good wench, I warrant; and what a gentle father he is withal!"
+
+And then, when the banished duke had come to the end of his story, and
+when he had caused slumber to fall upon his daughter's eyes, and was
+about to summon Ariel, Judith interposed to give the patient reader a
+rest.
+
+"And what say you, Prudence?" said she, eagerly. "Is't not a beautiful
+story? Is she not a sweet and obedient maiden, and he a right noble and
+gentle father? Ah, there, now, they may talk about their masques and
+pageants of the court, and gods and goddesses dressed up to saw the air
+with long speeches: see you what my father can tell you in a few words,
+so that you can scarcely wait, but you must on to hear the rest. And do
+I hurry you, good Prue? Will you to it again? For now the spirit is
+summoned that is to work the magic."
+
+"Indeed, 'tis no heavy labor, Judith," her friend said, with a smile.
+"And now here is your Ariel:
+
+    'All hail! great master! grave sir, hail! I come
+    To answer thy best pleasure; be't to fly,
+    To swim, to dive into the fire, to ride
+    On the curled clouds; to thy strong bidding task
+    Ariel and all his quality!'
+
+Then says Prospero:
+
+                                'Hast thou, spirit,
+    Performed to point the tempest that I bade thee?
+
+      _Ariel._        To every article.
+    I boarded the King's ship; now on the beak,
+    Now in the waist, the deck, in every cabin,
+    I flamed amazement; sometimes I'd divide,
+    And burn in many places; on the topmast,
+    The yards and bowsprit, would I flame distinctly,
+    Then meet and join. Jove's lightnings, the precursors
+    O' the dreadful thunder-claps, more momentary
+    And sight-outrunning were not....
+
+      _Prospero._         My brave spirit!
+    Who was so firm, so constant, that this coil
+    Would not infect his reason?
+
+      _Ariel._                   Not a soul
+    But felt a fever of the mad, and played
+    Some tricks of desperation. All but mariners
+    Plunged in the foaming brine and quit the vessel,
+    Then all afire with me: the King's son Ferdinand----'"
+
+"The prince, sweetheart!--the prince that is to be brought ashore."
+
+"Doubtless, Judith,
+
+                         'The King's son Ferdinand,
+    With hair up-staring--then like reeds, not hair--
+    Was the first man that leaped: cried, "Hell is empty,
+    And all the devils are here."
+
+      _Prospero._         Why, that's my spirit!
+    But was not this nigh shore?
+
+      _Ariel._ Close by, my master.
+
+      _Prospero._ But are they, Ariel, safe?
+
+      _Ariel._                         Not a hair perished,
+    On their sustaining garments not a blemish,
+    But fresher than before; and, as thou badst me,
+    The King's son have I landed by himself;
+    Whom I left cooling of the air with sighs
+    In an odd angle of the isle, and sitting,
+    His arms in this sad knot.'"
+
+"And hath he not done well, that clever imp!" Judith cried. "Nay, but my
+father shall reward him--that he shall--'twas bravely done and well. And
+now to bring him to the maiden that hath never seen a sweetheart--that
+comes next, good Prue? I marvel now what she will say?"
+
+"'Tis not yet, Judith," her friend said, and she continued the reading,
+while Judith sat and regarded the dusky shadows beyond the flame of the
+candle as if wonder-land were shining there. Then they arrived at
+Ariel's song, "Come unto these yellow sands," and all the hushed air
+around seemed filled with music; but it was distant, somehow, so that it
+did not interfere with Prudence's gentle voice.
+
+"Then says Prospero to her:
+
+    'The fringed curtains of thine eye advance,
+    And say what thou seest yond.
+
+      _Miranda._             What is't? a spirit?
+    Lord, how it looks about! Believe me, sir,
+    It carries a brave form. But 'tis a spirit.
+
+      _Prospero._ No, wench; it eats and sleeps, and hath such senses
+    As we have, such. This gallant which thou seest
+    Was in the wreck; and but he's something stained
+    With grief, that's beauty's canker, thou might'st call him
+    A goodly person. He hath lost his fellows,
+    And strays about to find them.
+
+      _Miranda._                I might call him
+    A thing divine, for nothing natural
+    I ever saw so noble.'"
+
+"And what says he? What thinks he of her?" Judith said, eagerly.
+
+"Nay, first the father says--to himself, as it were
+
+                          'It goes on, I see,
+    As my soul prompts it. Spirit, fine spirit! I'll free thee
+    Within two days, for this.'
+
+And then the Prince says:
+
+                             'Most sure, the goddess
+    On whom these airs attend! Vouchsafe, my prayer
+    May know, if you remain upon this island;
+    And that you will some good instruction give,
+    How I may bear me here; my prime request,
+    Which I do last pronounce, is, O you wonder!
+    If you be maid or no?
+
+      _Miranda._        No wonder, sir,
+    But certainly a maid.
+
+      _Ferdinand._     My language! heavens!
+    I am the best of them that speak this speech,
+    Were I but where 'tis spoken.'"
+
+"But would he take her away?" said Judith, quickly (but to herself, as
+it were). "Nay, never so! They must remain on the island--the two happy
+lovers--with Ariel to wait on them: surely my father will so make it?"
+
+Then, as it appeared, came trouble to check the too swift anticipations
+of the Prince, though Judith guessed that the father of Miranda was but
+feigning in his wrath; and when Prudence finally came to the end of such
+sheets as had been brought her, and looked up, Judith's eyes were full
+of confidence and pride--not only because she was sure that the story
+would end happily, but also because she would have her chosen gossip say
+something about what she had read.
+
+"Well?" said she.
+
+"'Tis a marvel," Prudence said, with a kind of sigh, "that shapes of the
+air can so take hold of us."
+
+Judith smiled; there was something in her manner that Prudence did not
+understand.
+
+"And Master Jonson, good Prue--that they call Ben Jonson--what of him?"
+
+"I know not what you mean, Judith."
+
+"Sure you know they make so much of him at the court, and of his long
+speeches about Greece and Rome and the like; and when one comes into the
+country with news of what is going forward, by my life you'd think that
+Master Jonson were the only writer in the land! What say you, good
+Prue: could worthy Master Jonson invent you a scene like that?"
+
+"In truth I know not, Judith; I never read aught of his writing."
+
+Judith took over the sheets and carefully rolled them up.
+
+"Why," said she, "'twas my father brought him forward, and had his first
+play taken in at the theatre!"
+
+"But your father and he are great friends, Judith, as I am told; why
+should you speak against him?"
+
+"I speak against him?" said Judith, as she rose, and there was an air of
+calm indifference on her face. "In truth, I have naught to say against
+the good man. 'Tis well that the court ladies are pleased with
+Demogorgons and such idle stuff, and 'tis passing well that he knows the
+trade. Now give ye good-night and sweet dreams, sweet mouse; and good
+thanks, too, for the reading."
+
+But at the door below--Prudence having followed her with the candle--she
+turned, and said, in a whisper:
+
+"Now tell me true, good cousin: think you my father hath ever done
+better than this magic island, and the sweet Miranda, and the rest?"
+
+"You know I am no judge of such matters, Judith," her friend answered.
+
+"But, dear heart, were you not bewitched by it? Were you not taken away
+thither? Saw you not those strange things before your very eyes?"
+
+"In good sooth, then, Judith," said the other, with a smile, "for the
+time being I knew not that I was in Stratford town, nor in our own
+country of England either."
+
+Judith laughed lightly and quickly, and with a kind of pride too. And
+when she got home to her own room, and once more regarded the roll of
+sheets, before bestowing them away in a secret place, there was a fine
+bravery of triumph in her eyes. "Ben Jonson!" she said, but no longer
+with any anger, rather with a sovereign contempt. And then she locked up
+the treasure in her small cupboard of boxes, and went down-stairs again
+to seek out her mother, her heart now quite recovered from its envy, and
+beating warm and equally in its disposition toward all mankind, and her
+mind full of a perfect and complacent confidence. "Ben Jonson!" she
+said.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+BY THE RIVER.
+
+
+The next morning she was unusually demure, and yet merry withal. In her
+own chamber, as she chose out a petticoat of pale blue taffeta, and laid
+on the bed her girdle of buff-colored leather, and proceeded to array
+herself in these and other braveries, it was to the usual accompaniment
+of thoughtless and quite inconsequent ballad-singing. At one moment it
+was "Green-sleeves was all my joy," and again "Fair, fair, and twice so
+fair," or perhaps--
+
+    "An ambling nag, and a-down, a-down,
+    We have borne her away to Dargison."
+
+But when she came to take forth from the cupboard of boxes the portion
+of the play she had locked up there the night before, and when she
+carefully placed that in a satchel of dark blue velvet that she had
+attached to the girdle, she was silent; and when she went down-stairs
+and encountered her mother, there was a kind of anxious innocence on her
+face. The good parson (she explained) had remained so late on the
+previous afternoon, and there were so many things about the house she
+had to attend to, that she had been unable to get out into the fields,
+as her father had bade her, to bring him home some wild flowers.
+Besides, as every one knew, large dogs got weak in the hind-legs if they
+were kept chained up too continuously; and it was absolutely necessary
+she should take Don Roderigo out for a run with her through the meadows,
+if her father would permit.
+
+"There be plenty of flowers in the garden, surely," her mother said, who
+was busy with some leather hangings, and wanted help.
+
+"But he would liefer have some of the little wildlings, good mother,"
+said Judith. "That I know right well; for he is pleased to see them
+lying on the table before him; and sometimes, too, he puts the names of
+them in his writing."
+
+"How know you that?" was the immediate and sharp question.
+
+"As I have heard, good mother," Judith said, with calm equanimity.
+
+And then she went to the small mirror to see that her gray velvet cap
+and starched ruff were all right.
+
+"What can your father want with wild flowers if he is to remain the
+whole day at Warwick!" her mother said.
+
+"Is my father gone to Warwick?" she asked, quickly.
+
+"If he be not already set forth."
+
+She glanced at the window; there was neither horse nor serving-men
+waiting there. And then she hastily went out and through the back yard
+into the garden; and there, sure enough was her father, ready booted for
+the road, and giving a few parting directions to his bailiff.
+
+"Well, wench," he said, when he had finished with the man, "what would
+you?"
+
+She had taken from her purse all the money she could find there.
+
+"Good father," said she, "will you do this errand for me at Warwick?"
+
+"More vanities?" said he. "I wonder you have no commissioner to despatch
+to Spain and Flanders. What is't, then?--a muff of satin--a gimmal
+ring----"
+
+"No, no, not so, father; I would have you buy for me a clasp-knife--as
+good a one as the money will get; and the cutler must engrave on the
+blade, or on the handle, I care not which, a message--an inscription, as
+it were; 'tis but three words--_For Judith's Sweetheart_. Could you
+remember that, good father? Is't too much of a trouble?"
+
+"How now?" said he. "For whom do you wish me to bring you such a token?"
+
+"Nay, sir," said she, demurely, "would you have me name names? The gift
+of a sweetheart is a secret thing."
+
+"You are a mad wench," said he (though doubtless he guessed for whom the
+knife was intended), and he called to Matthew gardener to go round and
+see if Master Shawe were not yet ready. "But now I bethink me, child, I
+have a message for thee. Good Master Walter spoke to me yesternight
+about what much concerns him--and you."
+
+Instantly all her gay self-confidence vanished; she became confused,
+anxious, timid; and she regarded him as if she feared what his look or
+manner might convey.
+
+"Yes, sir," she said, in rather a low voice.
+
+"Well, you know what the good man wishes," her father said, "and he
+spoke fairly, and reasoneth well. Your mother, too, would be right well
+pleased."
+
+"And you, sir?" she said, rather faintly.
+
+"I?" said he. "Nay, 'tis scarce a matter that I can say aught in. 'Tis
+for yourself to decide, wench; but were you inclined to favor the young
+parson, I should be well pleased enough--indeed 'tis so--a good man and
+honest, as I take him to be, of fair attainment, and I know of none that
+bear him ill-will, or have aught to say against him. Nay, if your heart
+be set that way, wench, I see no harm; you are getting on in years to be
+still in the unmarried state; and, as he himself says, there would be
+security in seeing you settled in a home of your own, and your future no
+longer open and undecided. Nay, nay, I see no harm. He reasons well."
+
+"But, father, know you why he would have me become his wife?" Judith
+said, with a wild feeling overcoming her that she was drowning and must
+needs throw out her hands for help. "'Tis for no matter of affection
+that I can make out--or that he might not as well choose any other in
+the town; but 'tis that I should help him in his work, and--and labor in
+the vineyard, as he said. In truth I am all unfit for such a task--there
+be many another far better fitted than I; my mother must know that right
+well. There is little that I would not do to please her; but surely we
+might all of us have just as much of the good man's company without this
+further bond. But what say you, father? What is your wish?" she added,
+humbly. "Perchance I could bring my mind to it if all were anxious that
+it should be so."
+
+"Why, I have told thee, wench, thou must choose for thyself. 'Twould
+please your mother right well, as I say; and as for the duties of a
+parson's wife--nay, nay, they are none so difficult. Have no fears on
+that score, good lass; I dare be sworn you are as honest and well-minded
+as most, though perchance you make less profession of it." (The
+gratitude that sprang to her eyes, and shone there, in spite of her
+downcast face!) "Nor must you think the good parson has but that end in
+view; 'tis not in keeping with his calling that he should talk the
+language of romance. And there is more for you to think of. Even if
+Master Blaise be no vehement lover, as some of the young rattlepates
+might be, that is but a temporary thing; 'tis the long years of life
+that weigh for the most; and all through these you would be in an
+honorable station, well thought of, and respected. Nay, there be many, I
+can tell thee, lass, that might look askance now at the player's
+daughter, who would be right glad to welcome the parson's wife."
+
+"What say you, father?" said she--and she was so startled that the blood
+forsook her lips for a moment. "That--that there be those--who scorn the
+player's daughter--and would favor the parson's wife?" And then she
+instantly added: "I pray you, sir, did not you say that I was to decide
+for myself?"
+
+"Truly, child, truly," said he, somewhat wondering at her manner, for
+her face had grown quite pale.
+
+"Then I have decided, father."
+
+"And how? What answer will you have for Master Walter?"
+
+She spoke slowly now, and with a distinctness that was almost harsh.
+
+"This, so please you, sir--that the player's daughter shall not, and
+shall never, become the parson's wife, God helping her!"
+
+"Why, how now? what a coil is this!" he exclaimed. "Good lass, 'twas not
+the parson that said aught of the kind. Lay not that to his charge, in
+fair honesty."
+
+"I have decided," she said proudly and coldly. "Father, the horses are
+brought round--I can hear them. You will not forget the knife, and the
+message on the blade?"
+
+He looked at her, and laughed, but in a kindly way; and he took her by
+the shoulder.
+
+"Nay, now, wench, thou shalt not throw over the good man for a matter
+that was none of his bringing forward. And why should you wish to have
+less than the respect of all your neighbors, all and sundry, whatever be
+their views? In good sooth I meant to speak for the parson, and not to
+harm him; and when I have more time I must undo the ill that I have done
+him. So soften your heart, you proud one, and be thankful for the honor
+he would do you; and think over it; and be civil and grateful."
+
+"Nay, I will be civil enough to the good minister," said she, with a
+return to her ordinary placid humor, "if he speak no more of making me
+his wife."
+
+"He will win you yet, for as stubborn as you are," her father said, with
+a smile. "He hath a rare gift of reason: do not say nay too soon, wench,
+lest you have to recall your words. Fare you well, lass, fare you well."
+
+"And forget not the knife, good father. '_With Judith's Love_,' or '_For
+Judith's Sweetheart_,' or what you will." And then she added, daringly:
+"'Tis for the young prince Mamillius, if you must know, good sir."
+
+He was just going away; but this caused him to stop for a second; and he
+glanced at her with a curious kind of suspicion. But her eyes had become
+quite inscrutable. Whatever of dark mischief was within them was not to
+be made out but by further questioning, and for that he had now no time.
+So she was left alone, mistress of the field, and rather inclined to
+laugh at her own temerity; until it occurred to her that now she could
+go leisurely forth for her stroll along the banks of the Avon, taking
+the great dog with her.
+
+Indeed, her anger was always short-lived. Or perhaps it was the feeling
+that this danger was got rid of--that the decision was taken, and the
+parson finally and altogether left behind her--that now raised her
+spirits. At all events, as she went along the thoroughfare, and
+cheerfully greeted those that met her, the neighbors said 'twas little
+wonder that Master William Shakespeare's second daughter put off the
+choosing of a mate for herself, for that she seemed to grow younger and
+more winsome every day. And she knew all the children by name, and had a
+word for them--scolding or merry, as the case might be--when that she
+passed them by; and what with the clear sunlight of the morning, and the
+fresher atmosphere as she got out of the town, it seemed to herself as
+if all the air were filled with music.
+
+    "Then sigh not so, but let them go,
+    And be you blithe and bonny,"
+
+she said or sung to herself; and she had not a trace of ill-will in her
+mind against the parson (although she did not fail to recollect that she
+was a player's daughter); and she was admonishing the Don to take good
+care of her, for that phantom conspirators and such like evil creatures
+might be about. And so she got down to the river-side; but she did not
+cross; she kept along by the path that followed the windings of the
+stream, between the wide meadows and the luxurious vegetation that
+overhung the current.
+
+This English-looking landscape was at its fairest on this fair morning,
+for some heavy rain in the night had washed the atmosphere clear;
+everything seemed sharp and luminous; and the rows of trees along the
+summits of the distant and low-lying hills were almost black against the
+white and blue sky. Nearer her all the foliage of the wide-branching
+elms was stirring and rustling before a soft westerly breeze; the
+flooded river was of a tawny brown; while its banks were a wilderness of
+wild flowers between the stems of the stunted willows--straggling
+rose-bushes of white and red, tall masses of goose-grass all powdered
+over with cream-white blossom, a patch of fragrant meadow-sweet here and
+there, or an occasional blood-red poppy burning among the dark, dull
+greens. And as for companions? Well, she caught a glimpse of a brood of
+ducks sidling along by the reeds, and tried to follow them, but the
+bushes shut them out from her sight. A mare and her foal, standing under
+the cool shadow of the trees, gazed blankly at her as she passed.
+Further off there were some shorn sheep in the meadows; but she could
+see no shepherd. The harsh note of the corn-crake sounded somewhere in
+the long grass; and the bees were busy; and now and again a blue-backed
+swallow would swoop by her and over the stream; while all around there
+was a smell of clover sweetening the westerly wind. At this moment, she
+convinced herself, she bore no ill-will at all against the good parson:
+only that she had it in her mind that she would be well content to
+remain a player's daughter. Her condition, she imagined, was one that
+she did not desire to have bettered. Why, the air that touched her cheek
+was like velvet; and there could be nothing in the world fairer than the
+pink and white roses bestarring the bushes there; and the very pulse of
+her blood seemed to beat to an unheard and rhythmical and subtle tune.
+What was it her father had said? "I dare be sworn you are as honest and
+well-minded as most, though perchance you make less profession of it."
+She laughed to herself, with a kind of pride. And she was so well
+content that she wished she had little Willie Hart here, that she might
+put her hand on his shoulder and pet him, and convey to him some little
+of that satisfaction that reigned within her own bosom. No matter; he
+should have the clasp-knife--"_With Judith's Love_;" and right proud he
+would be of that, she made sure. And so she went idly on her way,
+sometimes with
+
+    "Fair, fair, and twice so fair,
+    And fair as any may be,"
+
+coming uncalled for into her head; and always with an eye to the various
+wild flowers, to see what kind of a nosegay she would be able to gather
+on her homeward walk.
+
+But by and by her glances began to go further afield. Master Leofric
+Hope, in his brief references to his own habits and condition at the
+farm, had incidentally remarked that of all his walks abroad he
+preferred the following of the path by the river-side; for there he was
+most secure from observation. Nay, he said that sometimes, after
+continued solitude, a longing possessed him to see a town--to see a
+populated place filled with a fair number of his fellow-creatures--and
+that he would come within sight of Stratford itself and have a look at
+the church, and the church spire, and the thin blue smoke rising over
+the houses. That, he said, was safer for him than coming over such an
+exposed thoroughfare as Bardon Hill; and then again, when he was of a
+mind to read--for this time he had brought one or two books with him--he
+could find many a sheltered nook by the side of the stream, where even a
+passer-by would not suspect his presence. Nor could Judith, on this
+fresh, warm, breezy morning, conceal from herself the true object of her
+coming forth. If she had tried to deceive herself, the contents of the
+blue velvet satchel would have borne crushing testimony against her. In
+truth she was now looking with some eagerness to find whether, on such a
+pleasant morning, it was possible that he could have remained
+within-doors, and with the very distinct belief that sooner or later she
+would encounter him.
+
+Nor was she mistaken, though the manner of the meeting was unexpected.
+The mastiff happened to have gone on a yard or two in front of her, and
+she was paying but little attention to the beast, when all of a sudden
+it stopped, became rigid, and uttered a low growl. She sprang forward
+and seized it by the collar. At the same instant she caught sight of
+some one down by the water's edge, where, but for this occurrence, he
+would doubtless have escaped observation. It was Leofric Hope, without a
+doubt; for now he was clambering up through the bushes, and she saw that
+he had a small book in his hand.
+
+"My good fortune pursues me, fair Mistress Judith," said he (but with a
+watchful eye on the dog), "that I should so soon again have an
+opportunity of meeting with you. But perchance your protector is
+jealous? He likes not strangers?"
+
+"A lamb, sir--a very lamb!" Judith said, and she patted the dog and
+coaxed him, and got him into a more friendly--or at least neutral and
+watchful--frame of mind.
+
+"I marvel not you have come forth on such a morning," said he, regarding
+the fresh color in her face. "'Tis a rare morning; and 'tis a rare
+chance for one that is a prisoner, as it were, that his dungeon is not
+four walls, but the wide spaces of Warwickshire. Will you go further?
+May I attend you?"
+
+"Nay, sir," said she, "I but came forth to look at the country, and see
+what blossoms I could carry back to my father; I will go as far as the
+stile there, and rest a few minutes, and return."
+
+"'Tis like your kindness, sweet lady, to vouchsafe me a moment's
+conversation; a book is but a dull companion," said he, as they walked
+along to the stile that formed part of a boundary hedge. And when they
+reached it she seated herself on the wooden bar with much content, and
+the mastiff lay down, stretching out his paws, while the young gentleman
+stood idly--but not carelessly--by. He seemed more than ever anxious to
+interest his fair neighbor, and so to beguile her into remaining.
+
+"A dull companion," he repeated, "it is. One would rather hear the sound
+of one's voice occasionally. When I came along here this morning I
+should have been right glad even to have had a she shepherd say 'Good
+Morrow' to me----"
+
+"A what, good sir?" she asked.
+
+He laughed.
+
+"Nay, 'tis a book the wits in London have much merriment over just
+now--a guide-book for the use of foreigners coming to this country--and
+there be plenty of them at present, in the train of the ambassadors.
+Marry, the good man's English is none of the best. '_For to ask the
+Way_' is a chapter of the book; and the one traveller saith to the
+other, '_Ask of that she shepherd_'--in truth the phrase hath been
+caught up by the town. But the traveller is of a pleasant and courteous
+turn; when that he would go to bed, he saith to the chambermaid: 'Draw
+the curtains, and pin them with a pin. My she friend, kiss me once, and
+I shall sleep the better. I thank you, fair maiden.' Well, their English
+may be none of the best, but they have a royal way with them, some of
+those foreigners that come to our court. When the Constable of Castile
+was at the great banquet at Whitehall--doubtless you heard of it, sweet
+Mistress Judith?--he rose and drank the health of the Queen from a cup
+of agate of extraordinary value, all set with diamonds and rubies, and
+when the King had drank from the same cup the Constable called a
+servant, and desired that the cup should be placed on his Majesty's
+buffet, to remain there. Was't not a royal gift? And so likewise he
+drank the health of the King from a beautiful dragon-shaped cup of
+crystal all garnished with gold; but he drank from the cover only, for
+the Queen, standing up, drank the pledge from the cup itself; and then
+he would have that in turn transferred to her buffet, as he had given
+the other one to the King."
+
+"My father," said she, with much complacent good-nature--for she had got
+into the way of talking to this young gentleman with a marvellous
+absence of restraint or country shyness, "hath a tankard of great age
+and value, and on the silver top of it is a tribute engraved from many
+of his friends--truly I would that you could come and see it, good
+sir--and--and--my father, too, he would make you welcome, I doubt not.
+And what book is it," she continued, with a smile, "that you have for
+companion, seeing that there be no she shepherd for you to converse
+withal?"
+
+"'Tis but a dull affair," said he, scarce looking at it, for Judith's
+eyes were more attractive reading. "And yet if the book itself be dull,
+there is that within its boards that is less so. Perchance you have not
+heard of one Master Browne, a young Devonshire gentleman, that hath but
+late come to London, and that only for a space, as I reckon?"
+
+"No, sir," she said hesitatingly.
+
+"The young man hath made some stir with his poems," he continued,
+"though there be none of them in the booksellers' hands as yet. And as
+it hath been my good fortune to see one or two of them--marry, I am no
+judge, but I would call them excellent, and of much modesty and grace--I
+took occasion to pencil down a few of the lines inside the cover of this
+little book. May I read them to you Mistress Judith?"
+
+"If it please you, good sir."
+
+He opened the book, and she saw that there were some lines pencilled on
+the gray binding; but they must have been familiar to him, for he scarce
+took his eyes from Judith's face as he repeated them.
+
+"They are a description," said he, "of one that must have been fair
+indeed:
+
+    'Her cheeks, the wonder of what eye beheld,
+      Begot betwixt a lily and a rose,
+    In gentle rising plains divinely swelled,
+      Where all the graces and the loves repose,
+    Nature in this piece all her works excelled,
+      Yet showed herself imperfect in the close,
+    For she forgot (when she so fair did raise her)
+    To give the world a wit might duly praise her.
+
+    'When that she spoke, as at a voice from heaven,
+      On her sweet words all ears and hearts attended;
+    When that she sung, they thought the planets seven
+      By her sweet voice might well their tunes have mended;
+    When she did sigh, all were of joy bereaven;
+      And when she smiled, heaven had them all befriended:
+    If that her voice, sighs, smiles, so many thrilled,
+    Oh, had she kissed, how many had she killed!'"
+
+"'Tis a description of a lady of the court?" Judith asked timidly.
+
+"No, by heavens," he said, with warmth; "the bonniest of our English
+roses are they that grow in the country air!" and his glance of
+admiration was so open and undisguised, and the application of his words
+so obvious, that her eyes fell, and in spite of herself the color
+mounted to her cheeks. In her embarrassment she sought safety in the
+blue velvet satchel. She had contemplated some other way of introducing
+this latest writing of her father's; but now that had all fled from her
+brain. She knew that the town gentlemen were given to flattery; but then
+she was not accustomed to it. And she could not but swiftly surmise that
+he had written down these lines with the especial object of addressing
+them to her when he should have the chance.
+
+"Good sir," said she, endeavoring to hide this brief embarrassment by
+assuming a merry air, "a fair exchange, they say, is no robbery.
+Methinks you will find something here that will outweigh good Master
+Browne's verses--in bulk, if not in merit."
+
+He gazed in astonishment at the parcel of sheets she handed to him, and
+he but glanced at the first page when he exclaimed.
+
+"Why, I have heard naught of this before."
+
+"Nay, sir," said she, with a calm smile, "the infant is but young--but a
+few weeks, as I take it; it hath had but little chance of making a noise
+in the world as yet. Will you say what you think of it?"
+
+But now he was busy reading. Then by and by she recollected something of
+the manner in which she had meant to introduce the play.
+
+"You see, sir, my father hath many affairs on his hands; 'tis not all
+his time he can give to such things. And yet I have heard that they be
+well spoken of in London--if not by the wits, perchance, or by the court
+ladies, at least by the common people and the 'prentices. We in these
+parts have but little skill of learning; but--but methinks 'tis a
+pretty story--is it not, good sir?--and perchance as interesting as a
+speech from a goddess among the clouds?"
+
+"In truth it is a rare invention," said he, but absently, for his whole
+and rapt attention was fixed on the sheets.
+
+She, seeing him so absorbed, did not interfere further. She sat still
+and content--perhaps with a certain sedate triumph in her eyes. She
+listened to the rustling of the elms overhead, and watched the white
+clouds slowly crossing the blue, and the tawny-hued river lazily and
+noiselessly stealing by below the bushes. The corn-crake was silent
+now--there was not even that interruption; and when the bell in the
+church tower began to toll, it was so soft and faint and distant that
+she thought it most likely he would not even hear it. And at what point
+was he now? At the story of how the sweet Miranda came to grow up in
+exile? Or listening to Ariel's song? Or watching the prince approach
+this new wonder of the magic island? Her eyes were full of triumph. "Ben
+Jonson!" she had said.
+
+But suddenly he closed the sheets together.
+
+"It were unmannerly so to keep you waiting," said he.
+
+"Nay, heed not that, good sir," she said instantly. "I pray you go on
+with the reading. How like you it? 'Tis a pretty story, methinks; but my
+father hath been so busy of late--what with acres, and tithes, and
+sheep, and malt and the like--that perchance he hath not given all his
+mind to it."
+
+"It is not for one such as I, fair Mistress Judith," said he, with much
+modesty, "to play the critic when it is your father's writing that comes
+forward. Beshrew me, there be plenty of that trade in London, and
+chiefly the feeble folk that he hath driven from our stage. No, sweet
+lady; rather consider me one of those that crowd to see each new piece
+of his, and are right thankful for aught he pleaseth to give us."
+
+"Is that so?" said she; and she regarded him with much favor, which he
+was not slow to perceive.
+
+"Why," said he, boldly, "what needs your father to heed if some
+worshipful Master Scoloker be of opinion that the play of the Prince
+Hamlet belongeth to the vulgar sort, and that the prince was but
+moon-sick; or that some one like Master Greene--God rest his soul,
+wherever it be!--should call him an upstart crow, and a Johannes
+factotum, and the like? 'Tis what the people of England think that is of
+import; and right sure am I what they would say--that there is no
+greater writer than your father now living in the land."
+
+"Ah, think you so?" she said, quickly, and her face grew radiant, as it
+were, and her eyes were filled with gratitude.
+
+"This Master Greene," he continued, "was ever jibing at the players, as
+I have heard, and bidding them be more humble, for that their labor was
+but mechanical, and them attracting notice through wearing borrowed
+plumes. Nay, he would have it that your father was no more than
+that--poor man, he lived but a sorry life, and 'twere ill done to
+cherish anger against him; but I remember to have seen the apology that
+he that published the book made thereafter to your father--in good truth
+it was fitting and right that it should be printed and given to the
+world; and though I forget the terms of it, 'twas in fair praise of
+Master William Shakespeare's gentle demeanor, and his uprightness of
+conduct, and the grace of his wit."
+
+"Could you get that for me, good sir?" said she, eagerly. "Is't possible
+that I could get it?"
+
+And then she stopped in some embarrassment, for she remembered that it
+was not becoming she should ask this stranger for a gift. "Nay, sir,
+'twould be of little use to me, that have no skill of reading."
+
+"But I pray you, sweet Mistress Judith, to permit me to bring you the
+book; 'twill be something, at least, for you to keep and show to your
+friends----"
+
+"If I might show it to Prudence Shawe, I could return it to you, good
+sir," said she. And then she added, "Not that she--no, nor any one in
+Stratford town--would need any such testimony to my father's qualities,
+that are known to all."
+
+"At least they seem to have won him the love and loyalty of his
+daughter," said he, gallantly; "and they know most about a man who live
+nearest him. Nay, but I will beg you to accept the book from me when I
+can with safety get to London again; 'twill be a charge I am not likely
+to forget. And in return, fair Mistress Judith, I would take of you
+another favor and a greater."
+
+"In what manner, gentle sir?"
+
+"I have but glanced over this writing, for fear of detaining you, and
+but half know the value of it," said he. "I pray you let me have it with
+me to my lodging for an hour or two, that I may do it justice. When one
+hath such a chance come to him, 'tis not to be lightly treated, and I
+would give time and quiet to the making out the beauties of your
+father's latest work."
+
+She was at first somewhat startled by this proposal, and almost
+involuntarily was for putting forth her hand to receive the sheets again
+into safe-keeping; but then she asked herself what harm there could be
+in acceding to his request. She was eagerly anxious that he should
+understand how her father--even amidst those multifarious occupations
+that were entailed on him by his prominent position in the town--could,
+when he chose, sit down and write a tale far exceeding in beauty and
+interest any of the mummeries that the court people seemed to talk
+about. Why should not he have a few hours' time to study this fragment
+withal? Her father had gone to Warwick for the day. Nay, more, she had
+taken so small a portion of what had been cast aside that she knew the
+absence of it would not be noticed, however long it might be kept. And
+then this young gentleman, who was so civil and courteous, and who spoke
+so well of her father, was alone, and to be pitied for that he had so
+few means of beguiling the tedium of his hiding.
+
+"In the afternoon," said he, seeing that she hesitated, "I could with
+safety leave it at your grandmother's cottage, and then, perchance, you
+might send some one for it. Nay, believe me, sweet Mistress Judith, I
+know the value of that I ask; but I would fain do justice to such a
+treasure."
+
+"You would not fail me, sir, in leaving it at the cottage?" said she.
+
+"You do me wrong, Mistress Judith, to doubt--in good sooth you do. If
+you can find a trusty messenger----"
+
+"Nay, but I will come for it myself, good sir, and explain to my
+grandmother the nature of the thing, lest she suspect me of meddling
+with darker plots. Let it be so, then, good sir, for now I must get me
+back to the town. I pray you forget not to leave the package; and
+so--farewell!"
+
+"But my thanks to you, dear lady----"
+
+"Nay, sir," said she, with a bright look of her eyes "bethink you you
+have not yet fairly made out the matter. Tarry till you have seen
+whether these sheets be worth the trouble--whether they remind you in
+aught of the work of your friend Master Jonson--and then your thanks
+will be welcome. Give ye good-day, gentle sir."
+
+There was no thought in her mind that she had done anything imprudent
+in trusting him with this portion of the play for the matter of an hour
+or two; it was but a small equivalent, she recollected, for his promise
+to bring her from London the retractation or apology of one of those who
+had railed at her father, or abetted in that, and found himself
+constrained by his conscience to make amends. And now it occurred to her
+that it would look ill if, having come out to gather some wild flowers
+for the little table in the summer-house, she returned with empty hands;
+so, as she proceeded to walk leisurely along the winding path leading
+back to the town, she kept picking here and there such blossoms as came
+within her reach. If the nosegay promised to be somewhat large and
+straggling, at least it would be sweet-scented, and she felt pretty sure
+that her father would be well content with it. At first she was silent,
+however; her wonted singing was abandoned; perchance she was trying to
+recall something of the lines that Master Leofric Hope had repeated to
+her with so marked an emphasis.
+
+"And what said he of our English roses?" she asked herself, with some
+faint color coming into her face at the mere thought of it.
+
+But then she forcibly dismissed these recollections, feeling that that
+was due to her own modesty, and busied herself with her blossoms and
+sprays; and presently, as she set out in good earnest for the town, she
+strove to convince herself that there was nothing more serious in her
+brain than the tune of "Green-sleeves:"
+
+    "Green-sleeves, now farewell, adieu;
+      God I pray to prosper thee;
+    For I am still thy lover true--
+      Come once again and love me!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+WILD WORDS.
+
+
+Her light-heartedness did not last long. In the wide clear landscape a
+human figure suddenly appeared, and the briefest turn of her head showed
+her that Tom Quiney was rapidly coming toward her across the fields. For
+a second her heart stood still. Had he been riding home from Ludington?
+Or from Bidford? Was it possible that he had come over Bardon Hill, and
+from that height espied the two down by the river? She could not even
+tell whether that was possible, or what he had done with his horse, or
+why he had not interfered sooner, if he was bent on interfering. But she
+had an alarmed impression that this rapid approach of his boded trouble,
+and she had not long to wait before that fear was confirmed.
+
+"Judith, who is that man?" he demanded, with a fury that was but half
+held in.
+
+She turned and faced him.
+
+"I knew not," she said, coldly and slowly, "that we were on a speaking
+platform."
+
+"'Tis no time to bandy words," said he; and his face was pale, for he
+was evidently striving to control the passion with which his whole
+figure seemed to quiver from head to heel. "Who is that man? I ask. Who
+is he, that you come here to seek him, and alone?"
+
+"I know not by what right you put such questions to me," she said; but
+she was somewhat frightened.
+
+"By what right? And you have no regard, then, for your good name?"
+
+There was a flash in her eyes. She had been afraid; she was no longer
+afraid.
+
+"My good name?" she repeated. "I thank God 'tis in none of your
+keeping!"
+
+In his madness he caught her by the wrist.
+
+"You shall tell me----"
+
+"Unhand me, sir!" she exclaimed; and she threw off his grasp, while her
+cheeks burned with humiliation.
+
+"Nay, I quarrel not with women," said he. "I crave your pardon. But, by
+God, I will get to know that man's name and purpose here if I rive it
+from his body!"
+
+So he strode off in the direction that Leofric Hope had taken; and for a
+moment she stood quite terror-stricken and helpless, scarcely daring to
+think of what might happen. A murder on this fair morning? This young
+fellow, that was quite beside himself in his passion of jealous anger,
+was famed throughout the length and breadth of Warwickshire for his
+wrestling prowess. And the other--would he brook high words? These
+things flashed across her mind in one bewildering instant; and in her
+alarm she forgot all about her pride. She called to him,
+
+"I pray you--stay!"
+
+He turned and regarded her.
+
+"Stay," said she, with her face afire. "I--I will tell you what I know
+of him--if you will have it so."
+
+He approached her with seeming reluctance, and with anger and suspicion
+in his lowering look. He was silent, too.
+
+"Indeed, there is no harm," said she (and still with her face showing
+her mortification that she was thus forced to defend herself). "'Tis a
+young gentleman that is in some trouble--his lodging near Bidford is
+also a hiding, as it were--and--and I know but little of him beyond his
+name, and that he is familiar with many of my father's friends in
+London."
+
+"And how comes it that you seek him out here alone?" said he. "That is a
+becoming and maidenly thing!"
+
+"I promised you I would tell you what I know of the young gentleman,"
+said she, with scornful lips. "I did not promise to stand still and
+suffer your insolence."
+
+"Insolence!" he exclaimed, as if her audacity bewildered him.
+
+"How know you that I sought him out?" she said, indignantly. "May not
+one walk forth of a summer morning without being followed by suspicious
+eyes--I warrant me, eyes that are only too glad to suspect! To think
+evil is an easy thing, it seems, with many; I wonder, sir, you are not
+ashamed."
+
+"You brave it out well," said he, sullenly; but it was evident that her
+courage had impressed him, if it still left him angered and suspicious.
+
+And then he asked:
+
+"How comes it that none of your friends or your family know aught of
+this stranger?"
+
+"I marvel you should speak of my family," she retorted. "I had thought
+you were inclined to remain in ignorance of them of late. But had you
+asked of Prudence Shawe she might have told you something of this young
+gentleman; or had you thought fit to call in at my grandmother's
+cottage, you might perchance have found him seated there, and a welcome
+guest at her board. Marry, 'tis easier far to keep aloof and to think
+evil, as one may see."
+
+And then she added:
+
+"Well, sir, are you satisfied? May I go home without farther threats?"
+
+"I threatened you not, Judith," said he, rather more humbly. "I would
+have my threats kept for those that would harm you."
+
+"I know of none such," she said, distinctly. "And as for this young
+gentleman--that is in misfortune--such as might happen to any one--and
+not only in hiding, but having intrusted his secret to one or two of us
+that pity him and see no harm in him--I say it were a cruel and unmanly
+thing to spy out his concealment, or to spread the rumor of his being in
+the neighborhood."
+
+"Nay, you need not fear that of me, Judith," said he. "Man to man is my
+way, when there is occasion. But can you marvel if I would have you for
+your own sake avoid any farther meetings with this stranger? If he be in
+hiding, let him remain there, in God's name; I for one will set no
+beagles to hunt him out. But as for you, I would have you meddle with no
+such dangerous traps."
+
+"Good sir," said she, "I have my conduct in my own keeping, and can
+answer to those that have the guardianship of me."
+
+He did not reply to this rebuke. He said:
+
+"May I walk back to the town with you, Judith?"
+
+"You forget," she said, coldly, "that if we were seen together the
+gossips might say I had come out hither to seek you, and alone."
+
+But he paid no heed to this taunt.
+
+"I care not," said he, with an affectation of indifference, "what the
+gossips in Stratford have to talk over. Stratford and I are soon to
+part."
+
+"What say you?" said she, quickly--and they were walking on together
+now, the Don leisurely following at their heels.
+
+"Nay, 'tis nothing," said he, carelessly; "there are wider lands beyond
+the seas, where a man can fight for his own and hold it."
+
+"And you?" she said. "You have it in your mind to leave the country?"
+
+"Marry, that have I!" said he, gayly. "My good friend Daniel Hutt hath
+gotten together a rare regiment, and I doubt not I shall be one of the
+captains of them ere many years be over."
+
+Her eyes were downcast, and he could not see what impression this piece
+of news had made upon her--if, indeed, he cared to look. They walked for
+some time in silence.
+
+"It is no light matter," said she at length, and in rather a low voice,
+"to leave one's native land."
+
+"As for that," said he, "the land will soon be not worth the living in.
+Why, in former times, men spoke of the merry world of England. A merry
+world? I trow the canting rogues of preachers have left but little
+merriment in it; and now they would seek to have all in their power, and
+to flood the land with their whining and psalm-singing, till we shall
+have no England left us, but only a vast conventicle. Think you that
+your father hath any sympathy with these? I tell you no; I take it he is
+an Englishman, and not a conventicle-man. 'Tis no longer the England of
+our forefathers when men may neither hawk nor hunt, and women are doomed
+to perdition for worshipping the false idol starch, and the very
+children be called in from their games of a Sunday afternoon.
+God-a-mercy, I have had enough of Brother Patience-in-suffering, and his
+dominion of grace!"
+
+This seemed to Judith a strange reason for his going away, for he had
+never professed any strong bias one way or the other in these religious
+dissensions; his chief concern, like that of most of the young men in
+Stratford, lying rather in the direction of butt-shooting, or wrestling,
+or having a romp with some of the wenches to the tune of "Packington's
+Pound."
+
+"Nay, as I hear," said he, "there be some of them in such discontent
+with the King and the Parliament that they even talk of transplanting
+themselves beyond seas, like those that went to Holland: 'twere a goodly
+riddance if the whole gang of the sour-faced hypocrites went, and left
+to us our own England. And a fair beginning for the new country across
+the Atlantic--half of them these Puritanical rogues, with their fastings
+and preachments; and the other half the constable's brats and broken men
+that such as Hutt are drifting out: a right good beginning, if they but
+keep from seizing each other by the throat in the end! No matter: we
+should have our England purged of the double scum!"
+
+"But," said Judith, timidly, "methought you said you were going out with
+these same desperate men?"
+
+"I can take my life in my hand as well as another," said he gloomily.
+And then he added: "They be none so desperate, after all. Broken men
+there may be amongst them, and many against whom fortune would seem to
+have a spite; perchance their affairs may mend in the new country."
+
+"But your affairs are prosperous," Judith said--though she never once
+regarded him. "Why should you link yourself with such men as these?"
+
+"One must forth to see the world," said he; and he went on to speak in
+a gay and reckless fashion of the life that lay before him, and of its
+possible adventures and hazards and prizes. "And what," said he, "if one
+were to have good fortune in that far country, and become rich in land,
+and have good store of corn and fields of tobacco; what if one were to
+come back in twenty years' time to this same town of Stratford, and set
+up for the trade of gentleman?"
+
+"Twenty years?" said she, rather breathlessly. "'Tis a long time; you
+will find changes."
+
+"None that would matter much, methinks," said he, indifferently.
+
+"There be those that will be sorry for your going away," she ventured to
+say--and she forced herself to think only of Prudence Shawe.
+
+"Not one that will care a cracked three-farthings!" was the answer.
+
+"You do ill to say so--indeed you do!" said she, with just a touch of
+warmth in her tone. "You have many friends; you serve them ill to say
+they would not heed your going."
+
+"Friends?" said he. "Yes, they will miss me at the shovel-board, or when
+there is one short at the catches."
+
+"There be others than those," said she with some little hesitation.
+
+"Who, then?" said he.
+
+"You should know yourself," she answered. "Think you that Prudence, for
+one, will be careless as to your leaving the country?"
+
+"Prudence?" said he, and he darted a quick glance at her. "Nay, I
+confess me wrong, then; for there is one that hath a gentle heart, and
+is full of kindness."
+
+"Right well I know that--for who should know better than I?" said
+Judith. "As true a heart as any in Christendom, and a prize for him that
+wins it, I warrant you. If it be not won already," she added, quickly.
+"As to that, I know not."
+
+They were now nearing the town--they could hear the dull sound of the
+mill, and before them was the church spire among the trees, and beyond
+that the gray and red huddled mass of houses, barns, and orchards.
+
+"And when think you of going?" she said, after a while.
+
+"I know not, and I care not," said he, absently. "When I spoke of my
+acquaintances being indifferent as to what might befall me, I did them
+wrong, for in truth there be none of them as indifferent as I am
+myself."
+
+"'Tis not a hopeful mood," said she, "to begin the making of one's
+fortunes in a new country withal. I pray you, what ails this town of
+Stratford, that you are not content?"
+
+"It boots not to say, since I am leaving it," he answered. "Perchance in
+times to come, when I am able to return to it, I shall be better
+content. And you?"
+
+"And I?" she repeated, with some surprise.
+
+"Nay, you will be content enough," said he, somewhat bitterly. "Mother
+Church will have a care of you. You will be in the fold by then. The
+faithful shepherd will have a charge over you, to keep you from
+communication with the children of anger and the devil, that rage
+without like lions seeking to destroy."
+
+"I know not what you mean," said she, with a hot face.
+
+"Right well you know," said he, coolly; but there was an angry
+resentment running through his affected disdain as he went on: "There be
+those that protest, and go forth from the Church. And there be those
+that protest, and remain within, eating the fat things, and well content
+with the milk and the honey, and their stores of corn and oil. Marry,
+you will be well provided for--the riches of the next world laid up in
+waiting for you, and a goodly share of the things of this world to
+beguile the time withal. Nay, I marvel not; 'tis the wisdom of the
+serpent along with the innocence of the dove. What matters the surplice,
+the cross in baptism, and the other relics of popery, if conformity will
+keep the larder full? Better that than starvation in Holland, or seeking
+a home beyond the Atlantic, where, belike, the children of the devil
+might prove overrude companions. I marvel not, I; 'tis a foolish bird
+that forsakes a warm nest."
+
+And now she well knew against whom his bitter speech was levelled; and
+some recollection of the slight he had put upon her in the church-yard
+came into her mind, with the memory that it had never been atoned for.
+And she was astounded that he had the audacity to walk with her now and
+here, talking as if he were the injured one. The sudden qualm that had
+filled her heart when he spoke of leaving the country was put aside; the
+kindly reference to Prudence was forgotten; she only knew that this
+sarcasm of his was very much out of place, and that this was far from
+being the tone in which he had any right to address her.
+
+"I know not," said she, stiffly, "what quarrel you may have with this
+or that section of the Church; but it concerns me not. I pray you attack
+those who are better able to defend themselves than I am, or care to be.
+Methinks your studies in that line have come somewhat late."
+
+"'Tis no greater marvel," said he, "than that you should have joined
+yourself to the assembly of the saints; it was not always so with you."
+
+"I?" she said; but her cheeks were burning; for well she knew that he
+referred to his having seen her with the parson on that Sunday morning,
+and she was far too proud to defend herself. "Heaven help me now, but I
+thought I was mistress of my own actions!"
+
+"In truth you are, Mistress Judith," said he, humbly (and this was the
+first time that he had ever addressed her so, and it startled her, for
+it seemed to suggest a final separation between them--something as wide
+and irrevocable as that twenty years of absence beyond the seas). And
+then he said, "I crave your pardon if I have said aught to offend you;
+and would take my leave."
+
+"God be wi' you," said she, civilly; and then he left, striking across
+the meadows toward the Bidford road, and, as she guessed, probably going
+to seek his horse from whomsoever he had left it with.
+
+And as she went on, and into the town, she was wondering what Prudence
+had said to him that should so suddenly drive him to think of quitting
+the country. All had seemed going well. As for Master Leofric Hope, his
+secret was safe; this late companion of hers seemed to have forgotten
+him altogether in his anger against the good parson. And then she grew
+to think of the far land across the ocean, that she had heard vaguely of
+from time to time; to think how twenty years could be spent there: and
+what Stratford would be like when that long space was over.
+
+"Twenty years," she said to herself, with a kind of sigh. "There are
+many things will be settled, ere that time be passed, for good or ill."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+A CONJECTURE.
+
+
+When she got back to New Place she found the house in considerable
+commotion. It appeared that the famous divine, Master Elihu Izod, had
+just come into the town, being on his way toward Leicestershire, and
+that he had been brought by the gentleman whose guest he was to pay a
+visit to Judith's mother. Judith had remarked ere now that the preachers
+and other godly persons who thus honored the New Place generally made
+their appearance a trifling time before the hour of dinner; and now, as
+she reached the house, she was not surprised to find that Prudence had
+been called in to entertain the two visitors--who were at present in the
+garden--while within doors her mother and the maids were hastily making
+such preparations as were possible. To this latter work she quickly lent
+a helping hand; and in due course of time the board was spread with a
+copious and substantial repast, not forgetting an ample supply of wine
+and ale for those that were that way inclined. Then the two gentlemen
+were called in, Prudence was easily persuaded to stay, and, after a
+lengthened grace, the good preacher fell to, seasoning his food with
+much pious conversation.
+
+At such times Judith had abundant opportunities for reverie, and for a
+general review of the situation of her own affairs. In fact, on this
+occasion she seemed in a manner to be debarred from participation in
+these informal services at the very outset. Master Izod, who was a tall,
+thin, dark, melancholy-visaged man--unlike his companion, Godfrey
+Buller, of the Leas, near to Hinckley, who, on the contrary, was a
+stout, yeoman-like person, whose small gray absent eyes remained
+motionless and vacant in the great breadth of his rubicund face--had
+taken for his text, as it were, a list he had found somewhere or other
+of those characters that were entitled to command the admiration and
+respect of all good people. These were: a young saint; an old martyr; a
+religious soldier; a conscionable statesman; a great man courteous; a
+learned man humble; a silent woman; a merry companion without vanity; a
+friend not changed with honor; a sick man cheerful; a soul departing
+with comfort and assurance. And as Judith did not make bold to claim to
+be any one of these--nor, indeed, to have any such merits or excellences
+as would extort the approval of the membership of the saints--she
+gradually fell away from listening; and her mind was busy with other
+things; and her imagination, which was vivid enough, intent upon other
+scenes. One thing that had struck her the moment she had returned was
+that Prudence seemed in an unusually cheerful mood. Of course the
+arrival of two visitors was an event in that quiet life of theirs; and
+no doubt Prudence was glad to be appointed to entertain the
+strangers--one of them, moreover, being of such great fame. But so
+pleased was she, and so cheerful in her manner, that Judith was
+straightway convinced there had been no quarrel between her and Tom
+Quiney. Nay, when was there time for that? He could scarcely have seen
+her that morning; while the night before there had certainly been no
+mention of his projected migration to America, else Prudence would have
+said as much. What, then, had so suddenly driven him to the conclusion
+that England was no longer a land fit to live in? And why had he paid
+Prudence such marked attention--why had he presented her with the
+spaniel-gentle and offered her the emblazoned missal--one evening, only
+to resolve the next morning that he must needs leave the country? Nay,
+why had he so unexpectedly broken the scornful silence with which he had
+recently treated herself? He had given her to understand that, as far as
+he was concerned, she did not exist. He seemed determined to ignore her
+presence. And yet she could not but remember that, if this contemptuous
+silence on his part was broken by the amazement of his seeing her in the
+company of a stranger, his suspicions in that direction were very
+speedily disarmed. A few words and they fled. It was his far more deadly
+jealousy of the parson that remained; and was like to remain, for she
+certainly would not stoop to explain that the meeting in the church-yard
+was quite accidental. But why should he trouble his head about either
+her or the parson? Had he not betaken himself elsewhere--and that with
+her right good-will? Nay, on his own confession he had discovered how
+kind and gentle Prudence was: there was a fit mate for him--one to
+temper the wildness and hot-headedness of his youth. Judith had never
+seen the sea, and therefore had never seen moonlight on the sea; but
+the nearest to that she could go, in thinking of what Prudence's nature
+was like, in its restful and sweet and serious beauty, was the moonlight
+she had seen on the river Avon in the calm of a summer's night, the
+water unbroken by a ripple, and not a whisper among the reeds. Could he
+not perceive that too, and understand?
+
+As for herself, she knew that she could at any moment cut the knot of
+any complications that might arise by allowing Master Walter to talk her
+over into marrying him. Her father had assured her that the clear-headed
+and energetic young parson was quite equal to that. Well, it was about
+time she should abandon the frivolities and coquetries of her youth; and
+her yielding would please many good people, especially her mother and
+sister, and obtain for herself a secure and established position, with
+an end to all these quarrels and jealousies and uncertainties. Moreover,
+there would be safety there. For, if the truth must be told, she was
+becoming vaguely and uncomfortably conscious that her relations with
+this young gentleman who had come secretly into the neighborhood were no
+longer what they had been at first. Their friendship had ripened
+rapidly; for he was an audacious personage, with plenty of
+self-assurance; and with all his professions of modesty and deference,
+he seemed to know very well that he could make his society agreeable.
+Then those lines he had repeated: why, her face grew warm now as she
+thought of them. She could not remember them exactly, but she remembered
+their purport; and she remembered, too, the emphasis with which he had
+declared that the bonniest of our English roses were those that grew in
+the country air. Now a young man cut off from his fellows as he was
+might well be grateful for some little solace of companionship, or for
+this or the other little bit of courtesy; but he need not (she
+considered) show his gratitude just in that way. Doubtless his flattery
+might mean little; the town gentlemen, she understood, talked in that
+strain; and perhaps it was only by an accident that the verses were
+there in the book; but still she had the uneasy feeling that there was
+something in his manner and speech that, if encouraged, or suffered to
+continue without check, might lead to embarrassment. That is to say, if
+she continued to see him; and there was no need for that. She could cut
+short this acquaintance the moment she chose. But on the one hand she
+did not wish to appear uncivil; and on the other she was anxious that
+he should see the whole of this play that her father had written--thrown
+off, as it were, amid the various cares and duties that occupied his
+time. If Master Leofric Hope talked of Ben Jonson when he came into the
+country, she would have him furnished with something to say of her
+father when he returned to town.
+
+These were idle and wandering thoughts; and in one respect they were not
+quite honest. In reality she was using them to cloak and hide, or to
+drive from her mind altogether, a suspicion that had suddenly occurred
+to her that morning, and that had set her brain afire in a wild way. It
+was not only the tune of "Green-sleeves" that was in her head as she set
+off to walk home, though she was trying to force herself to believe
+that. The fact is this: when Master Leofric Hope made the pretty speech
+about the country roses, he accompanied it, as has been said, by a
+glance of only too outspoken admiration; and there was something in this
+look--apart from the mere flattery of it--that puzzled her. She was
+confused, doubtless; but in her confusion it occurred to her that she
+had met that regard somewhere before. She had no time to pursue this
+fancy further; for in order to cover her embarrassment she had betaken
+herself to the sheets in her satchel; and thereafter she was so anxious
+that he should think well of the play that all her attention was fixed
+on that. But after leaving him, and having had a minute or two to think
+over what had happened, she recalled that look, and wondered why there
+should be something strange in it. And then a startling fancy flashed
+across her mind--the wizard! Was not that the same look--of the same
+black eyes--that she had encountered up at the corner of the field above
+the Weir Brake?--a glance of wondering admiration, as it were? And if
+these two were one and the same man? Of course that train, being lit,
+ran rapidly enough: there were all kinds of parallels--in the elaborate
+courtesy, in the suave voice, in the bold and eloquent eyes. And she had
+no magical theory to account for the transformation--it did not even
+occur to her that the wizard could have changed himself into a young
+man--there was no dismay or panic in that direction; she instantly took
+it for granted that it was the young man who had been personating the
+wizard. And why?--to what end, if this bewildering possibility were to
+be regarded for an instant? The sole object of the wizard's coming was
+to point out to her her future husband. And if this young man were
+himself the wizard? A trick to entrap her?
+
+Ariel himself could not have flashed from place to place more swiftly
+than this wild conjecture; but the next moment she had collected
+herself. Her common-sense triumphed. She bethought her of the young man
+she had just left--of his respectful manners--of the letter he had
+brought for her father--of the circumstances of his hiding. It was not
+possible that he had come into the neighborhood for the deliberate
+purpose of making a jest of her. Did he look like one that would play
+such a trick; that would name himself as her future husband; that would
+cozen her into meeting him? She felt ashamed of herself for harboring
+such a thought for a single instant. Her wits had gone wool-gathering!
+Or was it that Prudence's fears had so far got hold of her brain that
+she could not regard the young man but as something other than an
+ordinary mortal? In fair justice, she would dismiss this absurd surmise
+from her mind forthwith; and so she proceeded with her gathering of the
+flowers; and when she did set forth for home, she had very nearly
+convinced herself that there was nothing in her head but the tune of
+"Green-sleeves." Nay, she was almost inclined to be angry with Prudence
+for teaching her to be so suspicious.
+
+Nevertheless, during this protracted dinner, while good Master Izod was
+enlarging upon the catalogue of persons worthy of honor and emulation,
+Judith was attacked once more by the whisperings of the demon. For
+awhile she fought against these, and would not admit to herself that any
+further doubt remained in her mind; but when at last, she found herself,
+despite herself, going back and back to that possibility, she took heart
+of grace and boldly faced it. What if it were true? Supposing him to
+have adopted the disguise, and passed himself off as a wizard, and
+directed her to the spot where she should meet her future husband--what
+then? What ought she to do? How ought she to regard such conduct? As an
+idle frolic of youth? Or the device of one tired of the loneliness of
+living at the farm, and determined at all hazards to secure
+companionship? Or a darker snare still--with what ultimate aims she
+could not divine? Or again (for she was quite frank), if this were
+merely some one who had seen her from afar, at church, or fair, or
+market, and considered she was a good-looking maid, and wished to have
+further acquaintance, and could think of no other method than this
+audacious prank? She had heard of lovers' stratagems in plenty; she knew
+of one or two of such that had been resorted to in this same quiet town
+of Stratford. And supposing that this last was the case, ought she to be
+indignant? Should she resent his boldness in hazarding such a stroke to
+win her? And then, when it suddenly occurred to her that, in discussing
+this possibility, she was calmly assuming that Master Leofric Hope was
+in love with her--he never having said a word in that direction, and
+being in a manner almost a stranger to her--she told herself that no
+audacity on his part could be greater than this on hers; and that the
+best thing she could do would be to get rid once and forever of such
+unmaidenly conjectures. No; she would go back to her original position.
+The facts of the case were simple enough. He would have brought no
+letter to her father had he been bent on any such fantastic enterprise.
+Was it likely he would suffer the thraldom of that farm-house, and live
+away from his friends and companions, for the mere chance of a few
+minutes' occasional talk with a Stratford wench? As for the similarity
+between his look and that of the wizard, the explanation lay no doubt in
+her own fancy, which had been excited by Prudence's superstitious fears.
+And if in his courtesy he had applied to herself the lines written by
+the young Devonshire poet--well, that was but a piece of civility and
+kindness, for which she ought to be more than usually grateful, seeing
+that she had not experienced too much of that species of treatment of
+late from one or two of her would-be suitors.
+
+She was awakened from these dreams by the conversation suddenly ceasing;
+and in its place she heard the more solemn tones of the thanksgiving
+offered up by Master Izod:
+
+     "The God of glory and peace, who hath created, redeemed, and
+     presently fed us, be blessed forever and ever. So be it. The God of
+     all power, who hath called from death that great pastor of the
+     sheep, our Lord Jesus, comfort and defend the flock which he hath
+     redeemed by the blood of the eternal testament; increase the number
+     of true preachers; repress the rage of obstinate tyrants; mitigate
+     and lighten the hearts of the ignorant; relieve the pains of such
+     as be afflicted, but specially of those that suffer for the
+     testimony of thy truth; and finally, confound Satan by the power of
+     our Lord Jesus Christ. Amen."
+
+And then, as the travellers were continuing their journey forthwith,
+they proposed to leave; and Master Buller expressed his sorrow that
+Judith's father had not been at home to have made the friendship of a
+man so famous as Master Izod; and the good parson, in his turn, as they
+departed, solemnly blessed the house and all that dwelt therein, whether
+present or absent. As soon as they were gone, Judith besought her mother
+for the key of the summer-house, for she wished to lay on her father's
+table the wild flowers she had brought; and having obtained it, she
+carried Prudence with her into the garden, and there they found
+themselves alone, for goodman Matthew had gone home for his dinner.
+
+"Dear mouse," said she, quickly, "what is it hath happened to Tom
+Quiney?"
+
+"I know not, Judith," the other said, in some surprise.
+
+"It is in his mind to leave the country."
+
+"I knew not that."
+
+"I dare be sworn you did not, sweetheart," said she, "else surely you
+would have told me. But why? What drives him to such a thing? His
+business prospers well, as I hear them say; and yet must he forsake it
+for the company of those desperate men that are going away to fight the
+Indians beyond seas. Nothing will content him. England is no longer
+England; Stratford is no longer Stratford. Mercy on us, what is the
+meaning of it all?"
+
+"In truth I know not, Judith."
+
+Then Judith regarded her.
+
+"Good cousin, I fear me you gave him but a cold welcome yesternight."
+
+"I welcomed him as I would welcome any of my brother's friends," said
+Prudence, calmly and without embarrassment.
+
+"But you do not understand," Judith said, with a touch of impatience.
+"Bless thy heart! young men are such strange creatures; and must have
+all to suit their humors; and are off and away in their peevish fits if
+you do not entertain them, and cringe, and say your worship to every
+sirrah of them! Oh, they be mighty men of valor in their own esteem; and
+they must have us poor handmaidens do them honor; and if all be not done
+to serve, 'tis boot and spur and off to the wars with them, and many a
+fine tale thereafter about the noble ladies that were kind to them
+abroad. Marry! they can crow loud enough; 'tis the poor hens that durst
+never utter a word; and all must give way before his worship! What,
+then? What did you do? Was not the claret to his liking? Did not your
+brother offer him a pipe of Trinidado?"
+
+"Indeed, Judith, it cannot be through aught that happened last night, if
+he be speaking of leaving the country," Prudence said. "I thought he was
+well content, and right friendly in his manner."
+
+"But you do not take my meaning," Judith said. "Dear heart, bear me no
+ill-will; but I would have you a little more free with your favors. You
+are too serious, sweet mouse. Could you not pluck up a little of the
+spirit that the pretty Rosalind showed--do you remember?--when she was
+teasing Orlando in the forest? In truth these men are fond of a varying
+mood; when they play with a kitten they like to know it has claws. And
+again, if you be too civil with them, they presume, and would become the
+master all at once; and then must everything be done to suit their
+lordships' fantasies, or else 'tis up and away with them, as this one
+goes."
+
+"I pray you, Judith," her friend said, and now in great embarrassment,
+"forbear to speak of such things: in truth, my heart is not set that
+way. Right well I know that if he be leaving the country, 'tis through
+no discontent with me, nor that he would heed in any way how I received
+him. Nay, 'tis far otherwise; it is no secret whom he would choose for
+wife. If you are sorry to hear of his going away from his home, you know
+that a word from you would detain him."
+
+"Good mouse, the folly of such thoughts!" Judith exclaimed. "Why, when
+he will not even give me a 'Good-day to you, wench'!"
+
+"You best know what reasons he had for his silence, Judith; I know not."
+
+"Reasons?" said she, with some quick color coming to her face. "We will
+let that alone, good gossip. I meddle not with any man's reasons, if he
+choose to be uncivil to me; God help us, the world is wide enough for
+all!"
+
+"Did you not anger him, Judith, that he is going away from his home and
+his friends?"
+
+"Anger him? Perchance his own suspicions have angered him," was the
+answer; and then she said, in a gentler tone: "But in truth, sweetheart,
+I hope he will change his mind. Twenty years--for so he speaks--is a
+long space to be away from one's native land; there would be many
+changes ere he came back. Twenty years, he said."
+
+Judith rather timidly looked at her companion, but indeed there was
+neither surprise nor dismay depicted on the pale and gentle face. Her
+eyes were absent, it is true, but they did not seem to crave for
+sympathy.
+
+"'Tis strange," said she. "He said naught of such a scheme last night,
+though he and Julius spoke of this very matter of the men who were
+preparing to cross the seas. I know not what can have moved him to such
+a purpose."
+
+"Does he imagine, think you," said Judith, "that we shall all be here
+awaiting him at the end of twenty years, and as we are now? Or is he so
+sure of his own life? They say there is great peril in the new lands
+they have taken possession of beyond sea, and that there will be many a
+bloody fight ere they can reap the fruit of their labors in peace. Nay,
+I will confess to thee, sweet mouse, I like not his going. Old friends
+are old friends, even if they have wayward humors; and fain would I have
+him remain with us here in Stratford--ay, and settled here, moreover,
+with a sweet Puritan wife by his side, that at present must keep
+everything hidden. Well no matter," she continued, lightly. "I seek no
+secrets--except those that be in the oaken box within here."
+
+She unlocked the door of the summer-house, and entered, and put the
+flowers on the table. "Tell me, Prue," said she, "may we venture to take
+some more of the play, or must I wait till I have put back the other
+sheets?"
+
+"You have not put them back?"
+
+"In truth, no," said Judith, carelessly. "I lent them to the young
+gentleman, Leofric Hope."
+
+"Judith!" her friend exclaimed, with frightened eyes.
+
+"What then?"
+
+"To one you know nothing of? You have parted with these sheets--that are
+so valuable?"
+
+"Nay, nay, good mouse," said she; "you know the sheets are cast away as
+useless. And I but lent them to him for an hour or two to lighten the
+tedium of his solitude. Nor was that all, good Prue, if I must tell thee
+the truth; I would fain have him know that my father can do something
+worth speaking of as well as his friend Ben Jonson, and perchance even
+better; what think you?"
+
+"You have seen him again, then--this morning?"
+
+"Even so," Judith answered, calmly.
+
+"Judith, why would you run into such danger?" her friend said, in
+obvious distress. "In truth I know not what 'twill come to. And now
+there is this farther bond in this secret commerce--think you that all
+this can remain unknown? Your meeting with him must come to some one's
+knowledge--indeed it must, sweetheart."
+
+"Nay, but this time you have hit the mark," complacently. "If you would
+assure yourself, good Prue, that the young gentleman is no grisly ghost
+or phantom, methinks you could not do better than ask Tom Quiney, who
+saw him this very morning--and saw us speaking together, as I guess."
+
+"He saw you!" Prudence exclaimed. "And what said he?"
+
+"He talked large and wild for a space," said Judith, coolly, "but soon I
+persuaded him there was no great harm in the stranger gentleman. In
+sooth his mind was so full of his own affairs--and so bitter against all
+preachers, ministers, and pastors--and he would have it that England was
+no longer fit to live in--marry, he told me so many things in so few
+minutes that I have half forgotten them!"
+
+And then it suddenly occurred to her that this fantasy that had entered
+her mind in the morning, and that had haunted her during Master Elihu
+Izod's discourse, would be an excellent thing with which to frighten
+Prudence. 'Twas but a chimera, she assured herself; but there was enough
+substance in it for that. And so, when she had carefully arranged the
+flowers on the table, and cast another longing look at the oaken chest,
+she locked the door of the summer-house, and put her arm within the arm
+of her friend, and led her away for a walk in the garden.
+
+"Prudence," said she, seriously, "I would have you give me counsel. Some
+one hath asked me what a young maiden should do in certain circumstances
+that I will put before you; but how can I tell, how can I judge of
+anything, when my head is in a whirligig of confusion with parsons'
+arguments, and people leaving the country, and I know not what else? But
+you, good mouse--your mind is ever calm and equable--you can speak sweet
+words in Israel--you are as Daniel that was so excellent a judge even in
+his youth----"
+
+"Judith!" the other protested; but indeed Judith's eyes were perfectly
+grave and apparently sincere.
+
+"Well, then, sweetheart, listen: let us say that a young man has seen a
+young maiden that is not known to him but by name--perchance at church
+it may have been, or as she was walking home to her own door. And there
+may be reasons why he should not go boldly to her father's house,
+though he would fain do so; his fancy being taken with her in a small
+measure, and he of a gentle disposition, and ready to esteem her higher
+than she deserved. And again it might be that he wished for private
+speech with her--to judge of her manners and her inclinations--before
+coming publicly forward to pay court to her: but alack, I cannot tell
+the story as my father would; 'tis the veriest skeleton of a story, and
+I fear me you will scarce understand. But let us say that the young man
+is bold and ingenious, and bethinks him of a stratagem whereby to make
+acquaintance with the damsel. He writes to her as a wizard that has
+important news to tell her; and begs her to go forth and meet him; and
+that on a certain morning he will be awaiting her at such and such a
+place. Now this maiden that I am telling you of has no great faith in
+wizards, but being curious to see the juggling, she goes forth to meet
+him as he asks----"
+
+"Judith, I pray you speak plain; what is't you mean?" Prudence
+exclaimed; for she had begun to suspect.
+
+"You must listen, good mouse, before you can give judgment," said
+Judith, calmly; and she proceeded: "Now you must understand that it was
+the young gentleman himself whom she met, though she knew it not; for he
+had dressed himself up as an ancient wizard, and he had a solemn manner,
+and Latin speech, and what not. Then says the wizard to her, 'I can show
+you the man that is to be your lover and sweetheart and husband; that
+will win you and wear you in the time coming; and if you would see him,
+go to such and such a cross-road, and he will appear.' Do you perceive,
+now, sweet mouse, that it was a safe prophecy, seeing that he had
+appointed himself to be the very one who should meet her?"
+
+Prudence had gradually slipped her arm away from that of her friend, and
+now stood still, regarding her breathlessly, while Judith, with eyes
+quite placid and inscrutable, continued her story:
+
+"'Twas a noteworthy stratagem, and successful withal; for the maiden
+goes to the cross-road, and there she meets the young gentleman--now in
+his proper costume. But she has no great faith in magic; she regards him
+not as a ghost summoned by the wizard; she would rather see in this
+meeting an ordinary accident; and the young man being most courteous and
+modest and civil-spoken, they become friends. Do you follow the story?
+You see, good mouse, there is much in his condition to demand sympathy
+and kindness--he being in hiding, and cut off from his friends; and she,
+not being too industrious, and fond rather of walking in the meadows and
+the like, meets him now here, now there, but with no other thought than
+friendliness. I pray you, bear that in mind, sweetheart; for though I
+esteem her not highly, yet would I do her justice: there was no thought
+in her mind but friendliness, and a wish to be civil to one that seemed
+grateful for any such communion. And then one morning something
+happens--beshrew me if I can tell thee how it happened, and that is the
+truth--but something happens--an idea jumps into her head--she suspects
+that this young gentleman is no other than the same who was the wizard,
+and that she has been entrapped by him, and that he, having played the
+wizard, would now fain play the lover----"
+
+"Judith, is't possible! is't possible!"
+
+"Hold, cousin, hold; your time is not yet. I grant you 'tis a bold
+conjecture, and some would say not quite seemly and becoming to a
+maiden, seeing that he had never spoken any word to her of the kind; but
+there it was in her head--the suspicion that this young gentleman had
+tricked her, for his own amusement, or perchance to secure her company.
+Now, sweet judge in Israel, for your judgment! And on two points, please
+you. First supposing this conjecture to be false, how is she to atone to
+the young gentleman? And how is she to punish herself? And how is she to
+be anything but uneasy should she chance to see him again? Nay, more,
+how is she to get this evil suspicion banished from her mind, seeing
+that she dare not go to him and confess, and beg him for the assurance
+that he had never heard of the wizard? Then the second point: supposing
+the conjecture to be true, ought she to be very indignant? How should
+she demean herself? Should she go to him and reproach him with his
+treachery? She would never forgive it, dear mouse, would she, even as a
+lover's stratagem?"
+
+"Judith, I cannot understand you; I cannot understand how you can even
+regard such a possibility, and remain content and smiling----"
+
+"Then I ought to be indignant? Good cousin, I but asked for your
+advice," Judith said. "I must be angry; I must fret and fume, and use
+hot language, and play the tragedy part? In good sooth, when I think
+on't, 'twas a piece of boldness to put himself forward as my future
+husband--it was indeed--though twas cunningly contrived. Marry, but I
+understand now why my goodman wizard would take no money from me; 'twas
+myself that he would have in payment of his skill; and 'gracious lady'
+and 'sweet lady,' these were the lures to lead me on; and his shepherd's
+dial placed on the ground! Then off go beard and cloak, and a couple of
+days thereafter he is a gay young gallant; and 'sweet lady' it is
+again--or 'fair lady,' was't?--'know you one Master Shakespeare in the
+town?' And such modesty, and such downcast eyes, and an appeal for one
+in misfortune. Heaven save us, was it not well done? Modesty! By my
+life, a rare modest gentleman! He comes down to Stratford, armed with
+his London speech and his London manners, and he looks around. Which
+one, then? which of all the maidens will his lordship choose for wife?
+'Oh!' saith he, 'there is Judith Shakespeare; she will do as well as
+another; perchance better, for New Place is the fairest house in the
+town, and doubtless she will have a goodly marriage portion. So now how
+to secure her? how to charm her away from any clownish sweetheart she
+may chance to have? Easily done, i' faith! A country wench is sure to
+believe in magic; 'tis but raising my own ghost out of the ground, and a
+summons to her, and I have her sure and safe, to win and to wear, for
+better or worse!'" She looked at Prudence. "Heaven's blessings on us
+all, good Prue, was there ever poor maiden played such a scurril trick?"
+
+"Then your eyes are opened, Judith?" said Prudence, eagerly; "you will
+have naught more to do with such a desperate villain?"
+
+Again Judith regarded her, and laughed.
+
+"I but told a story to frighten thee, good heart," said she. "A
+desperate villain? Yes, truly; but 'tis I am a desperate villain to let
+such rascal suspicions possess me for an instant. Nay, good mouse, think
+of it! Is't possible that one would dare so much for so poor a prize?
+That the young gentleman hath some self-assurance, I know; and he can
+quickly make friends; but do you think, if any such dark design had been
+his, he would have entered my grandmother's cottage, and ate and drank
+there, and promised to renew his visit? Sweet judge in Israel, your
+decision on the other point, I pray you! What penance must I do for
+letting such cruel thoughts stray into my brain? How shall I purge them
+away? To whom must I confess? Nay, methinks I must go to the young
+gentleman himself, and say: 'Good sir, I have a friend and gossip that
+is named Prudence Shawe, who hath a strange belief in phantom-men and
+conspirators. I pray you pardon me that through her my brain is somewhat
+distraught; and that I had half a mind to accuse you of a plot for
+stealing me away--me, who have generally this stout mastiff with me. I
+speech you, sir, steal me not--nay, forgive me that I ever dreamed of
+your having any such purpose. 'Tis our rude country manners, good sir,
+that teach a maid to believe a man may not speak to her without intent
+to marry her. I pray you pardon me--my heart is kneeling to you, could
+you but see--and give me such assurance that you meditated no such thing
+as will bring me back my scattered senses.' Were not that well done?
+Shall that be my penance, good mouse?"
+
+"Dear Judith, tell me true," her friend said, almost piteously, "do you
+suspect him of having played the wizard to cheat you and entrap you?"
+
+"Good cousin," said she, in her frankest manner, "I confess: I did
+suspect--for an instant. I know not what put it into my head. But sure I
+am I have done him wrong--marry, 'twere no such deadly sin even had he
+been guilty of such a trick; but I believe it not--nay, he is too civil
+and gentle for a jest of the kind. When I see him again I must make him
+amends for my evil thinking: do not I owe him as much, good gossip?"
+
+This was all she could say at present, for Matthew gardener here made
+his appearance, and that was the signal for their withdrawing into the
+house. But that afternoon, as Judith bethought her that Master Leofric
+Hope would be coming to her grandmother's cottage with the manuscript he
+had promised to return, she became more and more anxious to see him
+again. Somehow she thought she could more effectually drive away this
+disquieting surmise if she could but look at him, and regard his manner,
+and hear him speak. As it turned out, however, it was not until somewhat
+late on in the evening that she found time to seek out little Willie
+Hart, and propose to him that he should walk with her as far as
+Shottery.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+A DAUGHTER OF ENGLAND.
+
+
+"Sweetheart Willie," she said--and her hand lay lightly on his shoulder,
+as they were walking through the meadows in the quiet of this warm
+golden evening--"what mean you to be when you grow up?"
+
+He thought for a second or two, and then he rather timidly regarded her.
+
+"What would you have me to be, Cousin Judith?" he said.
+
+"Why, then," said she, "methinks I would have you be part student and
+part soldier, were it possible, like the gallant Sir Philip Sidney, that
+Queen Elizabeth said was the jewel of her reign. And yet you know,
+sweetheart, that we cannot all of us be of such great estate. There be
+those who live at the court, and have wealth and lands, and expeditions
+given them to fit out, so that they gain fame; that is not the lot of
+every one, and I know not whether it may be yours--though for brave men
+there is ever a chance. But this I know I would have you ready to do,
+whether you be in high position or in low, and that is to fight for
+England, if needs be, and defend her, and cherish her. Why," she said,
+"what would you think, now, of one brought up by a gentle mother, one
+that owes his birth and training to this good mother, and because there
+is something amiss in the house, and because everything is not to his
+mind, he ups and says he must go away and forsake her? Call you that the
+thought of a loyal son and one that is grateful? I call it the thought
+of a peevish, froward, fractious child. Because, forsooth, this thing or
+the other is not to his worship's liking, or all the company not such as
+he would desire, or others of the family having different opinions--as
+surely, in God's name, they have a right to have--why, he must needs
+forsake the mother that bore him, and be off and away to other
+countries! Sweetheart Willie, that shall never be your mind, I charge
+you. No, you shall remain faithful to your mother England, that is a
+dear mother and a good mother, and hath done well by her sons and
+daughters for many a hundred years; and you shall be proud of her, and
+ready to fight for her, ay, and to give your life for the love of her,
+if ever the need should be!"
+
+He was a small lad, but he was sensitive and proud-spirited; and he
+loved dearly this Cousin Judith who had made this appeal to him; so that
+for a second the blood seemed to forsake his face.
+
+"I am too young as yet to do aught, Cousin Judith," said he, in rather a
+low voice, for his breath seemed to catch; "but--but when I am become a
+man I know that there will be one that will sooner die than see any
+Spaniard or Frenchman seize the country."
+
+"Bravely said, sweetheart, by my life!" she exclaimed (and her approval
+was very sweet to his ears). "That is the spirit that women's hearts
+love to hear of, I can tell thee." And she stooped and kissed him in
+reward. "Hold to that faith. Be not ashamed of your loyalty to your
+mother England! Ashamed? Heaven's mercy! where is there such another
+country to be proud of? And where is there another mother that hath bred
+such a race of sons? Why, times without number have I heard my father
+say that neither Greece, nor Rome, nor Carthage, nor any of them, were
+such a race of men as these in this small island, nor had done such
+great things, nor earned so great a fame, in all parts of the world and
+beyond the seas. And mark you this, too: 'tis the men who are fiercest
+to fight with men that are the gentlest to women; they make no slaves of
+their women; they make companions of them; and in honoring them they
+honor themselves, as I reckon. Why, now, could I but remember what my
+father hath written about England, 'twould stir your heart, I know; that
+it would; for you are one of the true stuff, I'll be sworn; and you will
+grow up to do your duty by your gracious mother England--not to run away
+from her in peevish discontent!"
+
+She cast about for some time, her memory, that she could not replenish
+by any book-reading, being a large and somewhat miscellaneous
+store-house.
+
+"'Twas after this fashion," said she, "if I remember aright:
+
+    'This royal throne of kings, this sceptred isle,
+    This earth of majesty, this seat of Mars,
+    This fortress, built by Nature for herself
+    Against infestion and the hand of war;
+    This happy breed of men, this little world,
+    This precious stone set in the silver sea,
+    Which serves it in the office of a wall,
+    Or as a moat defensive to a house,
+    Against the envy of less happier lands--
+    This blessed plot, this earth, this realm, this England!'
+
+Mark you that, sweetheart?--is't not a land worth fighting for? Ay, and
+she hath had sons that could fight for her; and she hath them yet, I
+dare be sworn, if the need were to arise. And this is what you shall
+say, Cousin Willie, when you are a man and grown:
+
+    'Come the three corners of the world in arms,
+    And we shall shock them. Naught shall make us rue,
+    If England to itself do rest but true!'"
+
+These quotations were but for the instruction of this small cousin of
+hers, and yet her own face was proud.
+
+"Shall I be a soldier, then, Cousin Judith?" the boy said. "I am willing
+enough. I would be what you would wish me to be; and if I went to the
+wars, you would never have need to be ashamed of me."
+
+"That know I right well, sweetheart," said she, and she patted him on
+the head. "But 'tis not every one's duty to follow that calling. You
+must wait and judge for yourself. But whatever chances life may bring
+you, this must you ever remain, if you would have my love, sweetheart,
+and that I hope you shall have always--you must remain a good and loyal
+son to your mother England, one not easily discontented with small
+discomforts, and sent forth in a peevish fit. Where is there a fairer
+country? Marry, I know of none. Look around--is't not a fair enough
+country?"
+
+And fair indeed on this quiet evening was that wide stretch of
+Warwickshire, with its hedges and green meadows, and low-lying wooded
+hills bathed in the warm sunset light. But it was the presence of Judith
+that made it all magical and mystical to him. Whatever she regarded with
+her clear-shining and wondrous eyes was beautiful enough for him--while
+her hand lay on his shoulder or touched his hair. He was a willing
+pupil. He drank in those lessons in patriotism: what was it he would not
+do for his cousin Judith? What was it he would not believe if it were
+she who told him, in that strange voice of hers, that thrilled him, and
+was like music to him, whether she spoke to him in this proud,
+admonitory way, or was in a teasing mood, or was gentle and affectionate
+toward him? Yes, this Warwickshire landscape was fair enough, under the
+calm sunset sky; but he knew not what made it all so mystical and
+wonderful, and made the far golden clouds seem as the very gateways to
+heaven.
+
+"Or is there one with a prouder story?" she continued. "Or a land of
+greater freedom? Why, look at me, now. Here am I, a woman, easily
+frightened, helpless if there were danger, not able to fight any one.
+Why, you yourself, Cousin Willie, if you were to draw a dagger on me, I
+declare to thee I would run and shriek and hide. Well, look at me as I
+stand here: all the might and majesty of England cannot harm me; I am
+free to go or to stay. What needs one more? None durst put a hand on me.
+My mind is as free as my footsteps. I may go this way or that as I
+choose; and no one may command me to believe this, that, or the other.
+What more? And this security--think you it had not to be fought
+for?--think you it was not worth the fighting for? Or think you we
+should forget to give good thanks to the men that faced the Spaniards,
+and drove them by sea and shore, and kept our England to ourselves? Or
+think you we should forget our good Queen Bess, that I warrant me had as
+much spirit as they, and was as much a man as any of them?"
+
+She laughed.
+
+"Perchance you never heard, sweetheart, of the answer that she made to
+the Spanish ambassador?"
+
+"No, Judith," said he, but something in her manner told him that there
+had been no cowardice in that answer.
+
+"Well," she said, "I will tell thee the story of what happened at
+Deptford. And now I bethink me, this must you do, cousin Willie, when
+you are grown to be a man; and whether you be soldier or sailor, or
+merchant, or student, 'tis most like that some day or other you will be
+in London; and then must you not fail to go straightway to Deptford to
+see the famous ship of Sir Francis Drake lying there. I tell thee, 'twas
+a goodly thought to place it there; that was like our brave Queen Bess;
+she would have the youth of the country regard with honor the ship that
+had been all round the world, and chased the Spaniards from every sea.
+Nay, so bad is my memory that I cannot recall the name of the
+vessel--perchance 'twas the Judith--at least I have heard that he had
+one of that name; but there it lies, to signal the glory of England and
+the routing of Spain."
+
+"The Judith?" said he, with wondering eyes. "Did he name the ship after
+you, cousin?"
+
+"Bless the lad! All that I'm going to tell thee happened ere I was
+born."
+
+"No matter," said he, stoutly: "the first thing I will ask to see, if
+ever I get to London is that very ship."
+
+"Well, then, the story," she continued, shaping the thing in her mind
+(for being entirely destitute of book learning, historical incidents
+were apt to assume a dramatic form in her imagination, and also to lose
+literal accuracy of outline). "You must know the Spaniards were sore
+vexed because of the doings of Francis Drake in all parts of the world,
+for he had plundered and harried them and burned their ships and their
+towns, and made the very name of England a terror to them. 'Tis no
+marvel if they wished to get hold of him; and they declared him to be no
+better than a pirate; and they would have the Queen--that is, our last
+Queen--deliver him over to them that they might do with him what they
+willed. Marry, 'twas a bold demand to made of England! And the Queen,
+how does she take it, think you?--how is she moved to act in such a
+pass? Why, she goes down to Deptford, to this very ship that I told thee
+of--she and all her nobles and ladies, for they would see the famous
+ship. Then they had dinner on board, as I have heard the story; and the
+Queen's Majesty asked many particulars of his voyages from Master Drake,
+and received from him certain jewels as a gift, and was right proud to
+wear them. Then says she aloud to them all: 'My lords, is this the man
+the Spaniards would have me give over to them?' Right well she knew he
+was the man; but that was her way, and she would call the attention of
+all of them. 'Your Majesty,' they said, ''tis no other.' Then she swore
+a great oath that the Queen of England knew how to make answer to such a
+demand. 'Come hither, Master Drake,' says she, in a terrible voice.
+'Kneel!' Then he knelt on his knee before her. 'My lord,' says she to
+one of the noblemen standing by, 'your sword!' And then, when she had
+the sword in her hand, she says, in a loud voice, 'My lords, this is the
+man that Spain would have us give up to her; and this is the answer of
+England: Arise, Sir Francis!'--and with that she taps him on the
+shoulder--which is the way of making a knight, Cousin Willie; and I pray
+you may be brave and valiant, and come to the same dignity, so that all
+of us here in Stratford shall say, 'There, now, is one that knew how to
+serve faithfully his fair mother England!' But that was not all, you
+must know, that happened with regard to Sir Francis Drake. For the
+Spanish ambassador was wroth with the Queen; ay, and went the length
+even of speaking with threats. ''Twill come to the cannon,' says he.
+'What?' says she, turning upon him. 'Your Majesty,' says he, 'I fear me
+this matter will come to the cannon.' And guess you her answer?--nay,
+they say she spoke quite calmly, and regarded him from head to foot, and
+that if there were anger in her heart there was none in her voice.
+'Little man, little man,' says she, 'if I hear any more such words from
+thee, by God I will clap thee straight into a dungeon!'"
+
+Judith laughed, in a proud kind of way.
+
+"That was the answer that England gave," said she, "and that she is like
+to give again, if the Don or any other of them would seek to lord it
+over her."
+
+Three-fourths of these details were of her own invention, or rather--for
+it is scarcely fair to say that--they had unconsciously grown up in her
+mind from the small seed of the true story. But little Willie Hart had
+no distrust of any legend that his cousin Judith might relate to him.
+Whatever Judith said was true, and also luminous in a strange kind of
+fashion; something beautiful and full of color, to be thought over and
+pondered over. And now as they walked along toward the village, idly and
+lazily enough--for she had no other errand than to fetch back the
+manuscript that would be lying at the cottage--his eyes were wistful.
+His fancies were far away. What was it, then, that he was to do for
+England--that Judith should approve in the after-years? And for how long
+should he be away--in the Spanish Main, perchance, of which he had heard
+many stories, or fighting in the lowlands of Holland, or whatever he was
+called to do--and what was there at the end? Well, the end that he
+foresaw and desired--the reward of all his toil--was nothing more nor
+less than this: that he should be sitting once again in a pew in
+Stratford church, on a quiet Sunday morning, with Judith beside him as
+of old, they listening to the singing together. He did not think of his
+being grown up, or that she would be other than she was now. His mind
+could form no other or fairer consummation than that--that would be for
+him the final good--to come back to Stratford town to find Judith as she
+had ever been to him, gentle, and kind, and soft-handed, and ready with
+a smile from her beautiful and lustrous eyes.
+
+"Yes, sweetheart Willie," said she, as they were nearing the cottages,
+"look at the quiet that reigns all around, and no priests of the
+Inquisition to come dragging my poor old grandmother from her knitting.
+What has she to do but look after the garden, and scold the maid, and
+fetch milk for the cat? And all this peace of the land that we enjoy we
+may have to fight for again; and then, if the King's Majesty calls
+either for men or for money, you shall have no word but obedience. Heard
+you never of the Scotch knight, Sir Patrick Spens?--that the Scotch King
+would send away to Norroway at an evil time of the year? Did he grumble?
+Did he say his men were ill content to start at such a time? Nay, as I
+have heard, when he read the King's letter the tears welled in his eyes;
+but I'll be sworn that was for the companions he was taking with him to
+face the cruel sea.
+
+    'The King's daughter from Norroway,
+        'Tis we must fetch her home,'
+
+he says; and then they up with their sails, and set out from the land
+that they never were to see more. What of that? They were brave men;
+they did what was demanded of them; though the black seas of the north
+were too strong for them in the end. 'Twas a sad tale, in good sooth:
+
+    'O lang, lang may the ladies sit,
+      Wi' the fans into their hand,
+    Before they see Sir Patrick Spens
+      Come sailing to the strand!
+
+    'And lang, lang may the maidens sit,
+      Wi' their gold combs in their hair,
+    All waiting for their ain dear loves,
+      For them they'll see nae mair.
+
+    'Half owre, half owre to Aberdour,
+      'Tis fifty fathoms deep,
+    And there lies good Sir Patrick Spens
+      Wi' the Scots lords at his feet.'
+
+But what then? I tell thee, sweetheart, any maiden that would be worth
+the winning would a hundred times liefer wail for a lover that had died
+bravely than welcome him back safe and sound as a coward. You shall be
+no coward, I warrant me, when you are grown up to be a man; and above
+all, as I say, shall you be gentle and forgiving with your mother
+England, even if your own condition be not all you wish; and none the
+less for that shall you be willing to fight for her should she be in
+trouble. Nay, I'll answer for thee, lad: I know thee well."
+
+"But, Judith," said he, "who are they you speak of, that are
+discontented, and would go away and leave the country?"
+
+Well, it is probable she might have found some embarrassment in
+answering this question (if she had been pressed to name names) but that
+what she now beheld deprived her of the power of answering altogether.
+She had come over from the town with no other thought than to pay a
+brief visit to her grandmother, and fetch back the portion of the play,
+and she had not the slightest expectation of encountering Master Leofric
+Hope. But there unmistakably he was, though he did not see her, for he
+was standing at the gate of her grandmother's cottage, and talking to
+the old dame, who was on the other side. There was no pretence of
+concealment. Here he was in the public path, idly chatting, his hand
+resting on the gate. And as Judith had her cousin Willie with her, her
+first thought was to hurry away in any direction in order to escape an
+interview; but directly she saw that this was impossible, for her
+grandmother had descried her, if Leofric Hope had not. The consequence
+was that, as she went forward to the unavoidable meeting, she was not
+only surprised and a trifle confused and anxious, but also somewhat and
+vaguely resentful; for she had been intending, before seeing him again,
+to frame in her mind certain tests which might remove or confirm one or
+two suspicions that had caused her disquietude. And now--and unfairly,
+as she thought--she found herself compelled to meet him without any such
+legitimate safeguard of preparation. She had no time to reflect that it
+was none of his fault. Why had not he left the play earlier? she asked
+herself. Why had not he departed at once? Why, with all his professions
+of secrecy, should he be standing in the open highway, carelessly
+talking? And what was she to say to little Willie Hart that would
+prevent his carrying back the tale to the school and the town? When she
+went forward, it was with considerable reluctance; and she had a dim,
+hurt sense of having been imposed upon, or somehow or another injured.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+VARYING MOODS.
+
+
+But the strange thing was that the moment he turned and saw her--and the
+moment she met the quick look of friendliness and frank admiration that
+came into his face and his eloquent dark eyes--all her misgivings,
+surmises, suspicions, and half-meditated safeguards instantly vanished.
+She herself could not have explained it; she only knew that, face to
+face with him, she had no longer any doubt as to his honesty; and
+consequently that vague sense of injury vanished also. She had been
+taken unawares, but she did not mind. Everything, indeed, connected with
+this young man was of a startling, unusual character; and she was
+becoming familiar with that, and less resentful at being surprised.
+
+"Ah, fair Mistress Judith," said he, "you come opportunely: I would
+thank you from the heart for the gracious company I have enjoyed this
+afternoon through your good-will; in truth, I was loath to part with
+such sweet friends, and perchance detained them longer than I should."
+
+"I scarce understand you, sir," said she, somewhat bewildered.
+
+"Not the visions that haunt a certain magic island?" said he.
+
+Her face lit up.
+
+"Well, sir?" she asked, with a kind of pride; but at this point her
+grandmother interposed, and insisted--somewhat to Judith's
+surprise--that they should come in and sit down, if not in the house, at
+least in the garden. He seemed willing enough; for without a word he
+opened the gate to let Judith pass; and then she told him who her cousin
+was; and in this manner they went up to the little arbor by the hedge.
+
+"Well, good sir, and how liked you the company?" said she, cheerfully,
+when she had got within and sat down.
+
+Her grandmother had ostensibly taken to her knitting; but she managed
+all the same to keep a sharp eye on the young man; for she was curious,
+and wanted to know something further of the parcel that he had left with
+her. It was not merely hospitality or a freak of courtesy that had
+caused her to give him this sudden invitation. Her granddaughter Judith
+was a self-willed wench and mischievous; she would keep an eye on her
+too; she would learn more of this commerce between her and the young
+gentleman who had apparently dropped, as it were, from the skies. As for
+little Willie Hart, he remained outside, regarding the stranger with no
+great good-will; but perhaps more with wonder than with anger, for he
+marvelled to hear Judith talk familiarly with this person, of whom he
+had never heard a word, as though she had known him for years.
+
+"'Tis not for one such as I," said Master Leofric Hope, modestly--and
+with such a friendly regard toward Judith that she turned away her eyes
+and kept looking at this and that in the garden--"to speak of the
+beauties of the work; I can but tell you of the delight I have myself
+experienced. And yet how can I even do that? How can I make you
+understand that--or my gratitude either, sweet Mistress Judith--unless
+you know something of the solitude of the life I am compelled to lead?
+You would have yourself to live at Bassfield Farm; and watch the
+monotony of the days there; and be scarcely able to pass the time: then
+would you know the delight of being introduced to this fair region that
+your father hath invented, and being permitted to hear those creatures
+of his imagination speak to each other. Nay, but 'tis beautiful! I am no
+critical judge; but I swear 'twill charm the town."
+
+"You think so, sir?" said she, eagerly, and for an instant she withdrew
+her eyes from the contemplation of the flowers. But immediately she
+altered her tone to one of calm indifference. "My father hath many
+affairs to engage him, you must understand, good sir; perchance, now,
+this play is not such as he would have written had he leisure, and--and
+had he been commanded by the court, and the like. Perchance 'tis too
+much of the human kind for such purposes?"
+
+"I catch not your meaning, sweet lady," said he.
+
+"I was thinking," said she, calmly, "of the masques you told us of--at
+Theobald's and elsewhere--that Master Benjamin Jonson has written, and
+that they all seem to prize so highly: perchance these were of a finer
+stuff than my father hath time to think of, being occupied, as it were,
+with so many cares. 'Tis a rude life, having regard to horses, and
+lands, and malt, and the rest; and--and the court ladies--they would
+rather have the gods and goddesses marching in procession, would they
+not? My father's writing is too much of the common kind, is it not, good
+sir?--'tis more for the 'prentices, one might say, and such as these?"
+
+He glanced at her. He was not sure of her.
+
+"The King, sweet lady," said he, "is himself learned, and would have the
+court familiar with the ancient tongues; and for such pageants 'tis no
+wonder they employ Master Jonson, that is a great scholar. But surely
+you place not such things--that are but as toys--by the side of your
+father's plays, that all marvel at, and applaud, and that have driven
+away all others from our stage?"
+
+"Say you so?" she answered, with the same indifferent demeanor. "Nay, I
+thought that Master Scoloker--was that his worship's name?--deemed them
+to be of the vulgar sort. But perchance he was one of the learned ones.
+The King, they say, is often minded to speak in the Latin. What means he
+by that, good sir, think you? Hath he not yet had time to learn our
+English speech?"
+
+"Wench, what would you?" her grandmother interposed, sharply. "Nay, good
+sir, heed her not; her tongue be an unruly member, and maketh sport of
+her, as I think; but the wench meaneth no harm."
+
+"The King is proud of his learning, no doubt," said he; and he would
+probably have gone on to deprecate any comparison between the court
+masques and her father's plays but that she saw here her opportunity,
+and interrupted him.
+
+"I know it," she said, "for the letter that the King sent to my father
+is writ in the Latin."
+
+"Nay, is it so?" said he.
+
+She affected not to observe his surprise.
+
+"'Twas all the same to my father," she continued, calmly, "whether the
+letter was in one tongue or the other. He hath one book now--how is it
+called?--'tis a marvellous heap of old stories--the Jests----"
+
+"Not the _Gesta Romanorum_?" he said.
+
+"The same, as I think. Well, he hath one copy that is in English, and of
+our own time, as I am told; but he hath also another and a very ancient
+copy, that is in the Latin tongue; and this it is--the Latin one, good
+sir--that my father is fondest of; and many a piece of merriment he will
+get out of it, when Julius Shawe is in the house of an evening."
+
+"But the _Gesta_ are not jests, good Mistress Judith," said he, looking
+somewhat puzzled.
+
+"I know not; I but hear them laughing," said she, placidly. "And as for
+the book itself, all I know of it is the outside; but that is right
+strange and ancient, and beautiful withal: the back of it white leather
+stamped with curious devices; and the sides of parchment printed in
+letters of red and black; and the silver clasps of it with each a boar's
+head. I have heard say that that is the crest of the Scotch knight that
+gave the volume to my father when they were all at Aberdeen; 'twas when
+they made Laurence Fletcher a burgess; and the knight said to my
+father, 'Good sir, the honor to your comrade is a general one, but I
+would have you take this book in particular, in the way of thanks and
+remembrance for your wit and pleasant company'--that, or something like
+that, said he; and my father is right proud of the book, that is very
+ancient and precious; and often he will read out of it--though it be in
+the Latin tongue. Oh, I assure you, sir," she added, with a calm and
+proud air, "'tis quite the same thing to him. If the King choose to
+write to him in that tongue, well and good. Marry, now I think of it, I
+make no doubt that Julius Shawe would lend me the letter, did you care
+to see it."
+
+He looked up quickly and eagerly.
+
+"Goes your goodness so far, sweet Mistress Judith? Would you do me such
+a favor and honor?"
+
+"Nay, young sir," the grandmother said, looking up from her knitting,
+"tempt not the wench; she be too ready to do mad things out of her own
+mind. And you, grandchild, see you meddle not in your father's affairs."
+
+"Why, grandam," Judith cried, "'tis the common property of Stratford
+town. Any one that goeth into Julius Shawe's house may see it. And why
+Julius Shawe's friends only? Beshrew me, there are others who have as
+good a title to that letter--little as my father valueth it."
+
+"Nay, I will forego the favor," said he at once, "though I owe you none
+the less thanks, dear lady, for the intention of your kindness. In
+truth, I know not how to make you sensible of what I already owe you;
+for, having made acquaintance with those fair creations, how can one but
+long to hear of what further befell them? My prayer would rather go in
+that direction--if I might make so bold."
+
+He regarded her now with a timid look. Well, she had not undertaken that
+he should see the whole of the play, nor had she ever hinted to him of
+any such possibility; but it had been in her mind, and for the life of
+her she could not see any harm in this brief loan of it. Harm? Had not
+even this brief portion of it caused him to think of her father's
+creations as if they were of a far more marvellous nature than the
+trumpery court performances that had engrossed his talk when first she
+met him?
+
+"There might be some difficulty, good sir," said she, "but methinks I
+could obtain for you the further portions, if my good grandmother here
+would receive them and hand them to you when occasion served."
+
+"What's that, wench?" her grandmother said, instantly.
+
+"'Tis but a book, good grandam, that I would lend Master Hope to lighten
+the dulness of his life at the farm withal: you cannot have any
+objection, grandmother?"
+
+"'Tis a new trade to find thee in, wench," said her grandmother. "I'd 'a
+thought thou wert more like to have secret commerce in laces and silks."
+
+"I am no pedler, good madam," said he, with a smile; "else could I find
+no pleasanter way of passing the time than in showing to you and your
+fair granddaughter my store of braveries. Nay, this that I would beg of
+you is but to keep the book until I have the chance to call for it; and
+that is a kindness you have already shown in taking charge of the little
+package I left for Mistress Judith here."
+
+"Well, well, well," said the old dame, "if 'tis anything belonging to
+her father, see you bring it back, and let not the wench get into
+trouble."
+
+"I think you may trust me so far, good madam," said he, with such
+simplicity of courtesy and sincerity that even the old grandmother was
+satisfied.
+
+In truth she had been regarding the two of them with some sharpness
+during these few minutes to see if she could detect anything in their
+manner that might awaken suspicion. There was nothing. No doubt the
+young gentleman regarded Judith with an undisguised wish to be friendly
+with her, and say pretty things; but was that to be wondered at? 'Twas
+not all the lads in Stratford that would be so modest in showing their
+admiration for a winsome lass. And this book-lending commerce was but
+natural in the circumstances. She would have been well content to hear
+that his affairs permitted him to leave the neighborhood, and that would
+happen in good time; meanwhile there could be no great harm in being
+civil to so well-behaved a young gentleman. So now, as she had satisfied
+herself that the leaving of the package meant nothing dark or dangerous,
+she rose and hobbled away in search of the little maid, to see that some
+ale were brought out for the refreshment of her visitor.
+
+"Sweetheart Willie," Judith called, "what have you there? Come hither!"
+
+Her small cousin had got hold of the cat, and was vainly endeavoring to
+teach it to jump over his clasped hands. He took it up in his arms, and
+brought it with him to the arbor, though he did not look in the
+direction of the strange gentleman.
+
+"We shall be setting forth for home directly," said she. "Wilt thou not
+sit down and rest thee?"
+
+"'Tis no such distance, cousin," said he.
+
+He seemed unwilling to come in; he kept stroking the cat, with his head
+averted. So she went out to him, and put her arm round his neck.
+
+"This, sir," said she, "is my most constant companion, next to Prudence
+Shawe; I know not to what part of all this neighborhood we have not
+wandered together. And such eyes he hath for the birds' nests; when I
+can see naught but a cloud of leaves he will say, why, 'tis so and so,
+or so and so; and up the tree like a squirrel, and down again with one
+of the eggs, or perchance a small naked birdling, to show me. But we
+always put them back, sweetheart, do we not?--we leave no bereft
+families, or sorrowing mother bird to find an empty nest. We do as we
+would be done by; and 'tis no harm to them that we should look at the
+pretty blue eggs, or take out one of the small chicks with its downy
+feathers and its gaping bill. And for the fishing, too--there be none
+cleverer at setting a line, as I hear, or more patient in watching; but
+I like not that pastime, good Cousin Willie, for or soon or late you are
+certain to fall through the bushes into the river, as happened to Dickie
+Page last week, and there may not be some one there to haul you out, as
+they hauled out him."
+
+"And how fares he at the school?" said the young gentleman in the arbor.
+
+"Oh, excellent well, as I am told," said she, "although I be no judge of
+lessons myself. Marry, I hear good news of his behavior; and if there be
+a bloody nose now and again, why, a boy that's attacked must hold his
+own, and give as good as he gets--'twere a marvel else--and 'tis no use
+making furious over it, for who knows how the quarrel began? Nay, I will
+give my cousin a character for being as gentle as any, and as
+reasonable; and if he fought with Master Crutchley's boy, and hit him
+full sore, I fear, between the eyes--well, having heard something of the
+matter, I make no doubt it served young Crutchley right, and that elder
+people should have a care in condemning when they cannot know the
+beginning of the quarrel. Well, now I bethink me, sweetheart, tell me
+how it began, for that I never heard. How began the quarrel?"
+
+"Nay, 'twas nothing," he said, shamefacedly.
+
+"Nothing? Nay, that I will not believe. I should not wonder now if it
+were about some little wench. What? Nay, I'll swear it now! 'Twas about
+the little wench that has come to live at the Vicarage--what's her
+name?--Minnie, or Winnie?"
+
+"'Twas not, then, Judith," said he. "If you must know, I will tell you;
+I had liefer say naught about it. But 'twas not the first time he had
+said so--before all of them--that my uncle was no better than an idle
+player, that ought to be put in the stocks and whipped."
+
+"Why, now," said she, "to think that the poor lad's nose should be set
+a-bleeding for nothing more than that!"
+
+"It had been said more than once, Cousin Judith; 'twas time it should
+end," said he, simply.
+
+At this moment Master Leofric Hope called to him.
+
+"Come hither, my lad," said he. "I would hear how you get on at school."
+
+The small lad turned and regarded him, but did not budge. His demeanor
+was entirely changed. With Judith he was invariably gentle, submissive,
+abashed: now, as he looked at the stranger, he seemed to resent the
+summons.
+
+"Come hither, my lad."
+
+"Thank you, no, sir," he said; "I would as lief be here."
+
+"Sweetheart, be these your manners?" Judith said.
+
+But the young gentleman only laughed good-naturedly.
+
+"Didst thou find any such speeches in the _Sententiae Pueriles_?" said
+he. "They were not there when I was at school."
+
+"When go we back to Stratford, Judith?" said the boy.
+
+"Presently, presently," said she (with some vague impression that she
+could not well leave until her grandmother's guest showed signs of going
+also). "See, here is my grandam coming with various things for us; and I
+warrant me you shall find some gingerbread amongst them."
+
+The old dame and the little maid now came along, bringing with them ale
+and jugs and spiced bread and what not, which were forthwith put on the
+small table; and though Judith did not care to partake of these, and was
+rather wishful to set out homeward again, still, in common courtesy, she
+was compelled to enter the arbor and sit down. Moreover, Master Hope
+seemed in no hurry to go. It was a pleasant evening, the heat of the day
+being over; the skies were clear, fair, and lambent with the declining
+golden light: why should one hasten away from this quiet bower, in the
+sweet serenity and silence, with the perfume of roses all around, and
+scarce a breath of air to stir the leaves? He but played with this
+slight refection; nevertheless, it was a kind of excuse for the starting
+of fresh talk; and his talk was interesting and animated. Then he had
+discovered a sure and easy way of pleasing Judith, and instantly gaining
+her attention. When he spoke of the doings in London, her father was no
+longer left out of these: nay, on the contrary, he became a central
+figure; and she learned more now of the Globe and Blackfriars theatres
+than ever she had heard in her life before. Nor did she fail to lead him
+on with questions. Which of her father's friends were most constant
+attendants at the theatre? Doubtless they had chairs set for them on the
+stage? Was there any one that her father singled out for especial favor?
+When they went to the tavern in the evening, what place had her father
+at the board? Did any of the young lords go with them? How late sat
+they? Did her father outshine them all with his wit and merriment, or
+did he sit quiet and amused?--for sometimes it was the one and sometimes
+the other with him here in Stratford. Did they in London know that he
+had such a goodly house, and rich lands, and horses? And was there good
+cooking at the tavern--Portugal dishes and the like? Or perchance (she
+asked, with an inquiring look from the beautiful, clear eyes) it was
+rather poor? And the napery, now: it was not always of the cleanest? And
+instead of neat-handed maids, rude serving-men, tapsters, drawers, and
+so forth? And the ale--she could be sworn 'twas no better than the
+Warwickshire ale; no, nor was the claret likely to be better than that
+brought into the country for the gentlefolk by such noted vintners as
+Quiney. Her father's lodging--that he said was well enough, as he said
+everything was well enough, for she had never known him utter a word of
+discontent with anything that happened to him--perchance 'twas none of
+the cleanliest? for she had heard that the London housewives were mostly
+slovens, and would close you doors and windows against the air, so that
+a countryman going to that town was like to be sickened. And her
+father--did he ever speak of his family when he was in London? Did they
+know he had belongings? Nay, she was certain he must have talked to his
+friends and familiars of little Bess Hall, for how could he help that?
+
+"You forget, sweet Mistress Judith," said he, in his pleasant way, "that
+I have not the honor of your father's friendship, nor of his
+acquaintance even, and what I have told you is all of hearsay, save with
+regard to the theatre, where I have seen him often. And that is the
+general consent: that this one may have more learning, and that one more
+sharpness of retort, but that in these encounters he hath a grace and a
+brilliancy far outvying them all, and, moreover, with such a gentleness
+as earns him the general good-will. Such is the report of him; I would
+it had been in my power to speak from my own experience."
+
+"But that time will come, good sir," said she, "and soon, I trust."
+
+"In the mean while," said he, "bethink you what a favor it is that I
+should be permitted to come into communion with those fair creations of
+his fancy; and I would remind you once more of your promise, sweet
+Mistress Judith; and would beseech your good grandmother to take charge
+of anything you may leave for me. Nay, 'twill be for no longer than an
+hour or two that I would detain it; but that brief time I would have
+free from distractions, so that the mind may dwell on the picture. Do I
+make too bold, sweet lady? Or does your friendship go so far?"
+
+"In truth, sir," she answered, readily, "if I can I will bring you the
+rest of the play--but perchance in portions, as the occasion serves;
+'twere no great harm should you carry away with you some memory of the
+Duke and his fair daughter on the island."
+
+"The time will pass slowly until I hear more of them," said he.
+
+"And meanwhile, good grandmother," said she, "if you will tell me where
+I may find the little package, methinks I must be going."
+
+At this he rose.
+
+"I beseech your pardon if I have detained you, sweet lady," said he,
+with much courtesy.
+
+"Nay, sir, I am indebted to you for welcome news," she answered, "and I
+would I had longer opportunity of hearing. And what said you--that he
+outshone them all?--that it was the general consent?"
+
+"Can you doubt it?" he said, gallantly.
+
+"Nay, sir, we of his own household--and his friends in Stratford--we
+know and see what my father is: so well esteemed, in truth, as Julius
+Shawe saith, that there is not a man in Warwickshire would cheat him in
+the selling of a horse, which they are not slow to do, as I hear, with
+others. But I knew not he had won so wide and general a report in
+London, where they might know him not so well as we."
+
+"Let me assure you of that, dear lady," he said, "and also that I will
+not forget to bring or send you the printed tribute to his good
+qualities that I spoke of, when that I may with safety go to London.
+'Tis but a trifle; but it may interest his family; marry, I wonder he
+hath not himself spoken of it to you."
+
+"He speak of it!" said she, regarding him with some surprise, as if he
+ought to have known better. "We scarce know aught of what happeneth to
+him in London. When he comes home to Warwickshire it would seem as if he
+had forgotten London and all its affairs, and left them behind for
+good."
+
+"Left them behind for good, say you, wench?" the old dame grumbled,
+mostly to herself, as she preceded them down the path. "I would your
+father had so much sense. What hath he to gain more among the players
+and dicers and tavern brawlers and that idle crew? Let him bide at home,
+among respectable folk. Hath he not enough of gear gathered round him,
+eh? It be high time he slipped loose from those mummers that play to
+please the cut-purses and their trulls in London. Hath he not enough of
+gear?"
+
+"What say you, grandmother? You would have my father come away from
+London and live always in Warwickshire? Well, now, that is nearer than
+you think, or my guesses are wrong."
+
+But her grandmother had gone into the cottage; and presently she
+returned with the little package. Then there was a general leave-taking
+at the gate; and Leofric Hope, after many expressions of his thanks and
+good-will, set out on his own way, Judith and her cousin taking the path
+through the meadows.
+
+For some time they walked in silence; then, as soon as the stranger was
+out of ear-shot, the lad looked up and said,
+
+"Who is that, Judith?"
+
+"Why," said she, lightly, "I scarcely know myself; but that he is in
+misfortune and hiding, and that he knoweth certain of my father's
+friends, and that he seems pleased to have a few words with one or other
+of us to cheer his solitude. You would not begrudge so much, sweetheart?
+Nay, there is more than that I would have you do: his safety depends on
+there being no talk about him in the town; and I know you can keep a
+secret, Cousin Willie; so you must not say a word to any one--whether at
+school, or at home, or at New Place--of your having seen him. You will
+do as much for my sake, sweetheart?"
+
+"Yes; but why for your sake, cousin?" said the boy, looking up. "Why
+should you concern yourself?"
+
+"Nay, call it for anybody's sake, then," said she. "But I would not have
+him betrayed by any one that I had aught to do with--and least of all by
+you, sweetheart, that I expect to show nothing but fair and manly parts.
+Nay, I trust you. You will not blab."
+
+And then, as they walked on, it occurred to her that this young
+gentleman's secret--if he wished it kept--was becoming somewhat widely
+extended in his neighborhood. In her own small circle how many already
+knew of his presence?--her grandmother, Prudence Shawe, herself, Tom
+Quiney, and now this little Willie Hart. And she could not but remember
+that not much more than half an hour ago she had seen him at the garden
+gate, carelessly chatting, and apparently not heeding in the least what
+passers-by might observe him. But that was always the way: when she left
+him, when she was with her own thoughts, curious surmises would cross
+her mind; whereas, when she met him, these were at once discarded. And
+so she took to arguing with herself as to why she should be so given to
+do this young man injustice in his absence, when every time she
+encountered him face to face she was more than ever convinced of his
+honesty. Fascination? Well, she liked to hear of London town and the
+goings on there; and this evening she had been particularly interested
+in hearing about the Globe Theatre, and the spectators, and the tavern
+to which her father and his friends repaired for their supper; but
+surely that would not blind her if she had any reason to think that the
+young man was other than he represented? And then, again, this evening
+he had been markedly deferential. There was nothing in his manner of
+that somewhat too open gallantry he had displayed in the morning when he
+made his speech about the English roses. Had she not wronged him, then,
+in imagining even for a moment that he had played a trick upon her in
+order to make her acquaintance? It is true, she had forgotten to make
+special remark of his eyes, as to whether they were like those of the
+wizard; for indeed the suspicion had gone clean out of her mind. But now
+she tried to recall them; and she could not fairly say to herself that
+there was a resemblance. Nay, the wizard was a solemn person, who seemed
+to rebuke her light-heartedness; he spoke gravely and slow; whereas this
+young man, as any one could see, had a touch of merriment in his eye
+that was ready to declare itself on further acquaintance, only that his
+deference kept him subdued, while his talk was light and animated and
+rapid. No, she would absolve him from this suspicion; and soon, indeed,
+as she guessed, he would absolve himself by removing from the
+neighborhood, and probably she would hear no more of him, unless,
+perchance, he should remember to send her that piece of print concerning
+her father.
+
+And then her thoughts went far afield. She had heard much of London that
+evening; and London, in her mind, was chiefly associated with her
+father's plays, or such as she knew of them; and these again were
+represented to her by a succession of figures, whose words she thought
+of, whose faces she saw, when, as now, her fancies were distant. And she
+was more silent than usual as they went on their way across the meadows,
+and scarce addressed a word to her companion; insomuch that at last he
+looked up into her face, and said,
+
+"Judith, why are you so sad this evening?"
+
+"Sad, sweetheart? Surely no," she answered; and she put her hand on his
+head. "What makes thee think so?"
+
+"Did Dame Hathaway speak harshly to you?" said he. "Methought I heard
+her say something. Another time I will bid her hold her peace."
+
+"Nay, nay, not so," said she; and as they were now come to a stile, she
+paused there, and drew the boy toward her.
+
+Not that she was tired; but the evening was so quiet and still, and the
+whole world seemed falling into a gentle repose. There was not a sound
+near them; the earth was hushed as it, sank to sleep; far away they
+could hear the voices of children going home with their parents, or the
+distant barking of a dog. It was late, and yet the skies seemed full of
+light, and all the objects around them were strangely distinct and
+vivid. Behind them, the northwestern heavens were of a pale luminous
+gold; overhead and in front of them, the great vault was of a beautiful
+lilac-gray, deepening to blue in the sombre east; and into this lambent
+twilight the great black elms rose in heavy masses. The wide meadows
+still caught some of the dying radiance; and there was a touch of it on
+the westward-looking gables of one or two cottages; and then through
+this softened glow there came a small keen ray of lemon yellow--a light
+in one of the far-off windows that burned there like a star. So hushed
+this night was, and so calm and beautiful, that a kind of wistfulness
+fell over her mind--scarcely sadness, as the boy had imagined--but a
+dull longing for sympathy, and some vague wonder as to what her life
+might be in the years to come.
+
+"Why, sweetheart," said she, absently, and her hand lay affectionately
+on his shoulder, "as we came along here this evening we were speaking of
+all that was to happen to you in after-life; and do you never think you
+would like to have the picture unrolled now, and see for yourself, and
+have assurance? Does not the mystery make you impatient, or restless, or
+sad--so that you would fain have the years go by quick, and get to the
+end? Nay, I trow not; the day and the hour are sufficient for thee; and
+'tis better so. Keep as thou art, sweetheart, and pay no heed to what
+may hereafter happen to thee."
+
+"What is't that troubles you, Judith?" said he, with an instinctive
+sympathy, for there was more in her voice than in her words.
+
+"Why, I know not myself," said she, slowly, and with her eyes fixed
+vacantly on the darkening landscape. "Nothing, as I reckon. 'Tis but
+beating one's wings against the invisible to seek to know even
+to-morrow. And in the further years some will have gone away from
+Stratford, and some to far countries, and some will be married, and some
+grown old; but to all the end will be the same; and I dare say now that,
+hundreds of years hence, other people will be coming to Stratford, and
+they will go into the church-yard there, and walk about and look at the
+names--that is, of you and me and all the rest of us--and they will say,
+'Poor things, they vexed themselves about very small matters while they
+were alive, but they are all at peace at last.'"
+
+"But what is it that troubles you, Judith?" said he; for this was an
+unusual mood with her, who generally was so thoughtless and merry and
+high-hearted.
+
+"Why, nothing, sweetheart, nothing," said she, seeming to rouse herself.
+"'Tis the quiet of the night that is so strange, and the darkness
+coming. Or will there be moonlight? In truth, there must be, and getting
+near to the full, as I reckon. A night for Jessica! Heard you ever of
+her sweetheart?"
+
+"No, Judith."
+
+"Well, she was a fair maiden that lived long ago, somewhere in Italy, as
+I think. And she ran away with her lover, and was married to him, and
+was very happy; and all that is now known of her is connected with music
+and moonlight and an evening such as this. Is not that a fair life to
+lead after death: to be in all men's thoughts always as a happy bride,
+on such a still night as this is now? And would you know how her lover
+spoke to her?--this is what he says:
+
+    'How sweet the moonlight sleeps upon this bank!
+    Here will we sit, and let the sounds of music
+    Creep to our ears; soft stillness and the night
+    Become the touches of sweet harmony.
+    Sit, Jessica: Look, how the floor of heaven
+    Is thick inlaid with patines of bright gold;
+    There's not the smallest orb which thou behold'st
+    But in his motion like an angel sings,
+    Still quiring to the young-eyed cherubims:
+    Such harmony is in immortal souls;
+    But, whilst this muddy vesture of decay
+    Doth grossly close it in, we cannot hear it.--
+    Come, ho, and wake Diana with a hymn;
+    With sweetest touches pierce your mistress' ear,
+    And draw her home with music.'
+
+Is not that a gentle speech? And so shall you speak to your bride,
+sweetheart, in the years to come, when you have wooed her and won her.
+And then you will tell her that if she loves you not--ay, and if she
+loves you not dearly and well--then is she not like one that you knew
+long ago, and that was your cousin, and her name was Judith Shakespeare.
+Come, sweetheart," said she, and she rose from the stile and took his
+hand in hers. "Shall I draw thee home? But not with sweet music, for I
+have not Susan's voice. I would I had, for thy sake."
+
+"You have the prettiest voice in the whole world, Cousin Judith," said
+he.
+
+And so they walked on and into the town, in silence mostly. The world
+had grown more solemn now: here and there in the lilac-gray deeps
+overhead a small silver point began to appear. And sure he was that
+whatever might happen to him in the years to come, no sweetheart or any
+other would ever crush out from his affection or from his memory this
+sweet cousin of his; for him she would always be the one woman, strange
+and mystical and kind; there never would be any touch like the touch of
+her hand, so gentle was it as it rested on his hair; and there never
+would be anything more wonderful and gracious to look forward to than
+the old and familiar sitting in the church pew by Judith's side, with
+the breathless fascination of knowing that she was so near, and the
+thrill of hearing her join (rather timidly, for she was not proud of her
+voice) in the singing of the choir.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+A DISCOVERY.
+
+
+"That be so as I tell ye, zur," said Matthew gardener, as he slowly
+sharpened a long knife on the hone that he held in his hand; "it all
+cometh of the pampering of queasy stomachs nowadays that cannot hold
+honest food. There be no such folk now as there wur in former days, when
+men wur hardy, and long-lived, and healthy; and why, zur?--why, but that
+they wur content wi' plain dishes of pulse or herbs, and for the most
+worshipful no more than a dish of broth and a piece of good wholesome
+beef withal. But nowadays, Lord! Lord!--dish after dish, with each his
+several sauce; and this from Portugal and that from France, so that
+gluttony shall have its swing, and never a penny be kept for the poor.
+Nay, I tell ye, zur, rich and poor alike wur stronger and healthier when
+there wur no such waste in the land; when a man would wear his frieze
+coat and hosen of the color of the sheep that bore them; and have his
+shirt of honest hemp or flax, and could sleep well with his head on a
+block of wood and a sheep-skin thrown o'er it. But nowadays must he have
+his shirt of fine lawn and needle-work; ay, and his soft pillow to lie
+on, so that his lily-white body shall come to no scratching; nor will he
+drink any longer small drink, no, nor water, but heavy ales and rich
+wines; and all goeth to the belly, and naught to his poorer neighbor.
+And what cometh of this but tender stomachs, and riot, and waste?--and
+lucky if Bocardo be not at the end of it all."
+
+As it chanced on this fine morning, Judith's father had strolled along
+to look at some trained apple-trees at the further end of the garden,
+and finding goodman Matthew there, and having a mind for idleness, had
+sat down on a bench to hear what news of the condition of the land
+Matthew might have to lay before him.
+
+"Nay, but, good Matthew," said he, "if these luxuries work such
+mischief, 'tis the better surely that the poor have none of them. They,
+at least, cannot have their stomachs ruined with sauces and condiments."
+
+"Lord bless ye, zur," said the ancient, with a wise smile, "'tis not in
+one way, but in all ways, that the mischief is done; for the poorest,
+seeing such waste and gluttony everywhere abroad, have no continence of
+their means, but will spend their last penny on any foolishness. Lord!
+Lord! they be such poor simple creatures! they that have scarce a rag to
+their backs will crowd at the mops and fairs, and spend their money--on
+what? Why, you must ha' witnessed it, zur--the poor fools!--emptying
+their pouches to see a woman walking on a rope, or a tumbler joining his
+hands to his heels, or a hen with two heads. The poor simple
+creatures!--and yet I warrant me they be none so poor but that the
+rascal doctor can make his money out o' them: 'tis a foine way o' making
+a fortune that, going vagrom about the country with his draughts and
+pills--not honest medicines that a body might make out o' wholesome
+herbs, but nauseous stinking stuff that robs a man of his breath in the
+very swallowing of it. And the almanac-makers, too--marry, that, now, is
+another thriving trade!--the searching of stars, and the prophesying of
+dry or wet weather! Weather? what know they of the weather, the
+town-bred rogues, that lie and cheat to get at the poor country folks'
+money? God 'a mercy, a whip to their shoulders would teach them more o'
+the weather than ever they are like to get out of the stars! And yet the
+poor fools o' countrymen--that scarce know a B from a battle-door--will
+sit o' nights puzzling their brains o'er the signs o' the heavens; and
+no matter what any man with eyes can see for himself--ay, and fifty
+times surer, as I take it--they will prophesy you a dry month or a wet
+month, because the almanac saith so; and they will swear to you that
+Taurus--that is a lion--and the virgin scales have come together,
+therefore there must be a blight on the pear-trees! Heard you ever the
+like, zur?--that a man in Lunnon, knowing as much about husbandry and
+farm-work as a cat knows about quoit-throwing, is to tell me the weather
+down here in Warwickshire? God help us, they be poor weak creatures that
+think so; I'd liefer look at the cover of a penny ballad, if I wanted to
+know when there was to be frost o' nights."
+
+At this juncture the old man grinned, as if some secret joke were
+tickling his fancy.
+
+"Why, zur," said he, looking up from the hone, "would you believe this,
+zur--they be such fools that a rogue will sell them a barren cow for a
+milch cow if he but put a strange calf to her. 'Tis done, zur--'tis
+done, I assure ye."
+
+"In truth, a scurvy trick!" Judith's father said. He was idly drawing
+figures on the ground with a bit of stick he had got hold of. Perhaps he
+was not listening attentively; but at all events he encouraged Matthew
+to talk. "But surely with years comes wisdom. The most foolish are not
+caught twice with such a trick."
+
+"What of that, zur?" answered Matthew. "There be plenty of other fools
+in the land to make the trade of roguery thrive. 'Tis true that a man
+may learn by his own experience; but what if he hath a son that be
+growing up a bigger fool than himself? And that's where 'tis nowadays,
+zur; there be no waiting and prudence; but every saucy boy must match on
+to his maid, and marry her ere they have a roof to put over their heads.
+'Tis a fine beginning, surely! No waiting, no prudence--as the rich are
+wasteful and careless, so are the poor heedless of the morrow; and the
+boy and the wench they must have their cottage at the lane end, run up
+of elder poles, and forthwith begin the begetting of beggars to swarm
+over the land. A rare beginning! Body o' me, do they think they can live
+on nettles and grass, like Nebuchadnezzar?"
+
+And so the old man continued to rail and grumble and bemoan, sometimes
+with a saturnine grin of satisfaction at his own wit coming over his
+face; and Judith's father did not seek to controvert; he listened, and
+drew figures on the ground, and merely put in a word now and again. It
+was a pleasant morning--fresh, and clear, and sunny; and this town of
+Stratford was a quiet place at that hour, with the children all at
+school. Sometimes Judith's father laughed; but he did not argue; and
+goodman Matthew, having it all his own way, was more than ever convinced
+not only that he was the one wise man among a generation of fools, but
+also that he was the only representative and upholder of the Spartan
+virtues that had characterized his forefathers. It is true that on more
+than one occasion he had been found somewhat overcome with ale; but
+this, when he had recovered from his temporary confusion, he declared
+was entirely due to the rascal brewers of those degenerate days--and
+especially of Warwickshire--who put all manner of abominations into
+their huff-cap, so that an honest Worcestershire stomach might easily be
+caught napping, and take no shame.
+
+And meanwhile what had been happening in another part of the garden? As
+it chanced, Judith had been sent by her mother to carry to the
+summer-house a cup of wine and some thin cakes; and in doing so she of
+course saw that both her father and goodman Matthew were at the further
+end of the garden, and apparently settled there for the time being. The
+opportunity was too good to be lost. She swiftly went back to the house,
+secured the portion of the play that was secreted there, and as quickly
+coming out again, exchanged it for an equal number of new sheets. It was
+all the work of a couple of minutes; and in another second she was in
+her own room, ready to put the precious prize into her little cupboard
+of boxes. And yet she could not forbear turning over the sheets, and
+examining them curiously, and she was saying to herself: "You cruel
+writing, to have such secrets, and refuse to give them up! If it were
+pictures, now, I could make out something with a guess; but all these
+little marks, so much alike, what can one make of them?--all alike--with
+here and there a curling, as if my father had been amusing himself--and
+all so plain and even, too, with never a blot: marry, I marvel he should
+make the other copy, unless with the intent to alter as he writes. And
+those words with the big letters at the beginning--these be the people's
+names--Ferdinand, and sweet Miranda, and the Duke, and the ill beast
+that would harm them all. Why, in Heaven's mercy, was I so fractious? I
+might even now be learning all the story--here by myself--the only one
+in the land: I might all by myself know the story that will set the
+London folk agog in the coming winter. And what a prize were this, now,
+for Master Ben Jonson! Could one but go to him and say, 'Good sir, here
+be something better than your masques and mummeries, your Greeks and
+clouds and long speeches: put your name to it, good sir--nay, my father
+hath abundant store of such matter, and we in Warwickshire are no
+niggards--put your name to it, good sir, and you will get the court
+ladies to say you have risen a step on the ladder, else have they but a
+strange judgment!' What would the goodman do? Beshrew me, Prudence never
+told me the name of the play! But let us call it _The Magic Island_.
+_The Magic Island, by Master Benjamin Jonson._ What would the wits say?"
+
+But here she heard some noise on the stairs; so she quickly hid away
+the treasure in the little drawer, and locked it up safe there until she
+should have the chance of asking Prudence to read it to her.
+
+That did not happen until nearly nightfall; for Prudence had been away
+all day helping to put the house straight of a poor woman that was ill
+and in bed. Moreover, she had been sewing a good deal at the children's
+clothes and her eyes looked tired--or perhaps it was the wan light that
+yet lingered in the sky that gave her that expression, the candles not
+yet being lit. Judith regarded her, and took her hand tenderly, and made
+her sit down.
+
+"Sweet mouse," said she, "you are wearing yourself out in the service of
+others; and if you take such little heed of yourself, you will yourself
+fall ill. And now must I demand of you further labor. Or will it be a
+refreshment for you after the fatigues of the day? See, I have brought
+them all with me--the sprite Ariel, and the sweet prince, and Miranda;
+but in good sooth I will gladly wait for another time if you are
+tired----"
+
+"Nay, not so, Judith," she answered. "There is nothing I could like
+better--but for one thing."
+
+"What, then?"
+
+"Mean you to show this also to the young gentleman that is at Bidford?"
+
+"And wherefore not, good Prue? He hath seen so much of the story, 'twere
+a pity he should not have the rest. And what a small kindness--the loan
+but for an hour or two; and I need not even see him, for I have but to
+leave it at my grandmother's cottage. And if you heard what he says of
+it--and how grateful he is: marry, it all lies in this, sweet Prue, that
+you have not seen him, else would you be willing enough to do him so
+small a favor."
+
+By this time Prudence had lit the candles; and presently they made their
+way up-stairs to her own room.
+
+"And surely," said Judith, as her gentle gossip was arranging the
+manuscript, "the story will all end well, and merrily for the sweet
+maiden, seeing how powerful her father is? Will he not compel all things
+to her happiness--he that can raise storms, and that has messengers to
+fly round the world for him?"
+
+"And yet he spoke but harshly to the young man when last we saw them,"
+Prudence said. "Why, what's this?"
+
+She had run her eye down the first page; and now she began reading:
+
+      "'_Enter_ FERDINAND _bearing a log_.
+
+      _Ferdinand._ There be some sports are painful, and their labor
+    Delight in them sets off. This my mean task
+    Would be as heavy to me as odious, but
+    The mistress which I serve quickens what's dead,
+    And makes my labors pleasures. Oh, she is
+    Ten times more gentle than her father's crabbed;
+    And he's composed of harshness. I must remove
+    Some thousands of these logs and pile them up,
+    Upon a sore injunction. My sweet mistress
+    Weeps when she sees me work; and says such baseness
+    Had never like executor.'"
+
+Judith's face had gradually fallen.
+
+"Why, 'tis cruel," said she; "and 'tis cruel of my father to put such
+pain on the sweet prince, that is so gentle, and so unfortunate withal."
+
+But Prudence continued the reading:
+
+      "'_Enter_ MIRANDA.
+
+      _Miranda._            Alas, now, pray you,
+    Work not so hard: I would the lightning had
+    Burnt up those logs, that you are enjoined to pile!
+    Pray, set it down and rest you; when this burns,
+    'Twill weep for having wearied you. My father
+    Is hard at study; pray, now, rest yourself;
+    He's safe for these three hours.
+
+      _Ferdinand._                 O most dear mistress,
+    The sun will set before I shall discharge
+    What I must strive to do.
+
+      _Miranda._                If you'll sit down,
+    I'll bear your logs the while: pray give me that--
+    I'll carry it to the pile.'"
+
+At this point Judith's eyes grew proud and grateful (as though Miranda
+had done some brave thing), but she did not speak.
+
+      "'_Ferdinand._          No, precious creature:
+    I had rather crack my sinews, break my back,
+    Than you should such dishonor undergo,
+    While I sit lazy by.
+
+      _Miranda._          You look wearily.
+
+      _Ferdinand._ No, noble mistress; 'tis fresh morning with me,
+    When you are by at night. I do beseech you
+    (Chiefly that I may set it in my prayers),
+    What is your name?
+
+      _Miranda._    Miranda.--O my father,
+    I have broke your hest to say so!
+
+      _Ferdinand._               Admired Miranda!
+    Indeed, the top of admiration; worth
+    What's dearest to the world! Full many a lady
+    I have eyed with best regard; and many a time
+    The harmony of their tongues hath into bondage
+    Brought my too diligent ear; for several virtues
+    Have I liked several women; never any
+      With so full soul but some defect in her
+    Did quarrel with the noblest grace she owed,
+    And put it to the foil. But you, O you,
+    So perfect and so peerless, are created
+    Of every creature's best!
+
+      _Miranda._        I do not know
+    One of my sex: no woman's face remember,
+    Save, from my glass, mine own; nor have I seen
+    More that I may call men than you, good friend,
+    And my dear father; how features are abroad,
+    I am skill-less of; but, by my modesty
+    (The jewel in my dower), I would not wish
+    Any companion in the world but you;
+    Nor can imagination form a shape,
+    Besides yourself, to like of: But I prattle
+    Something too wildly, and my father's precepts
+    I therein do forget.'"
+
+"Nay, is she not fair and modest!" Judith exclaimed--but apart; and, as
+the reading proceeded, she began to think of how Master Leofric Hope
+would regard this maiden. Would he not judge her to be right gentle, and
+timid, and yet womanly withal, and frank in her confiding? And
+he--supposing that he were the young prince--what would he think of such
+a one? Was it too submissive that she should offer to carry the logs?
+Ought she to so openly confess that she would fain have him to be her
+companion? And then, as Judith was thus considering, this was what she
+heard, in Prudence's gentle voice:
+
+      "'_Miranda._                    Do you love me?
+
+      _Ferdinand._ O heaven, O earth, bear witness to this sound,
+    And crown what I profess with kind event,
+    If I speak true; if hollowly, invert
+    What best is boded me, to mischief! I,
+    Beyond all limit of what else i' the world,
+    Do love, prize, honor you.
+
+      _Miranda._         I am a fool
+    To weep at what I am glad of.
+
+      _Ferdinand._                    Wherefore weep you?
+
+      _Miranda._ At mine unworthiness, that dare not offer
+    What I desire to give; and much less take
+    What I shall die to want: But this is trifling;
+    And all the more it seeks to hide itself,
+    The bigger bulk it shows. Hence, bashful cunning!
+    And prompt me, plain and holy innocence!
+    I am your wife, if you will marry me;
+    If not, I'll die your maid; to be your fellow
+    You may deny me; but I'll be your servant,
+    Whether you will or no.
+
+      _Ferdinand._       My mistress, dearest;
+    And I thus humble ever.
+
+      _Miranda._         My husband, then?
+
+      _Ferdinand._ Ay, with a heart as willing
+    As bondage e'er of freedom; here's my hand.
+
+      _Miranda._ And mine, with my heart in't; and now farewell,
+    Till half an hour hence.
+
+      _Ferdinand._ A thousand thousand!'"
+
+She clapped her hands and laughed, in delight and triumph.
+
+"Why, sure her father will relent," she cried.
+
+"But, Judith, Judith, stay," Prudence said, quickly, and with scarce
+less gladness. "'Tis so set down; for this is what her father says:
+
+          'So glad of this as they I cannot be,
+    Who are surprised withal; but by rejoicing
+    At nothing can be more.'
+
+Nay, I take it he will soon explain to us why he was so harsh with the
+young prince--perchance to try his constancy?"
+
+Well, after that the reading went on as far as the sheets that Judith
+had brought; but ever her mind was returning to the scene between the
+two lovers, and speculating as to how Leofric Hope would look upon it.
+She had no resentment against Ben Jonson now; her heart was full of
+assurance and triumph, and was therefore generous. Her only vexation was
+that the night must intervene before there could be a chance of the
+young London gentleman calling at the cottage; and she looked forward to
+the possibility of seeing him some time or other with the determination
+to be more demure than ever. She would not expect him to praise this
+play. Perchance 'twas good enough for simple Warwickshire folk; but the
+London wits might consider it of the vulgar kind? And she laughed to
+herself at thinking how awkward his protests would be if she ventured to
+hint anything in that direction.
+
+Prudence put the sheets carefully together again.
+
+"Judith, Judith," she said, with a quiet smile, "you lead me far
+astray. I ought to find such things wicked and horrible to the ear; but
+perchance 'tis because I know your father, and see him from day to day,
+that I find them innocent enough. They seem to rest the mind when one is
+sorrowful."
+
+"Beware of them, good Prue; they are the devil himself come in the guise
+of an angel to snatch thee away. Nay, but, sweetheart, why should you be
+sorrowful?"
+
+"There is Martha Hodgson," said she, simply, "and her children, nigh to
+starving; and I cannot ask Julius for more----"
+
+Judith's purse was out in an instant.
+
+"Why," said she, "my father did not use half of what I gave him for the
+knife he bought at Warwick--marry, I guess he paid for it mostly
+himself; but what there is here you shall have."
+
+And she emptied the contents on to the table, and pushed them over to
+her friend.
+
+"You do not grudge it, Judith?" said Prudence. "Nay, I will not ask thee
+that. Nor can I refuse it either, for the children are in sore want. But
+why should you not give it to them yourself, Judith?"
+
+"Why?" said Judith, regarding the gentle face with kindly eyes. "Shall I
+tell thee why, sweetheart? 'Tis but this: that if I were in need, and
+help to be given me, I would value it thrice as much if it came from
+your hand. There is a way of doing such things, and you have it; that is
+all."
+
+"I hear Julius is come in," Prudence said, as she took up the two
+candles. "Will you go in and speak with him?"
+
+There was some strange hesitation in her manner, and she did not go to
+the door. She glanced at Judith somewhat timidly. Then she set the
+candles down again.
+
+"Judith," said she, "your pity is quick, and you are generous and kind;
+I would you could find it in your heart to extend your kindness."
+
+"How now, good cousin?" Judith said, in amazement. "What's this?"
+
+Prudence glanced at her again, somewhat uneasily, and obviously in great
+embarrassment.
+
+"You will not take it ill, dear Judith?"
+
+"By my life, I will not! Not from you, dear heart, whatever it be. But
+what is the dreadful secret?"
+
+"Tom Quiney has spoken to me," she said, diffidently.
+
+Judith eagerly caught both her hands.
+
+"And you! What said you? 'Tis all settled, then!" she exclaimed, almost
+breathlessly.
+
+"It is as I imagined, Judith," said Prudence, calmly--and she withdrew
+her hands, with a touch of maidenly pride, perhaps, from what she could
+not but imagine to be a kind of felicitation. "He hath no fault to find
+with the country. If he goes away to those lands beyond seas, 'tis
+merely because you will say no word to hold him back."
+
+"I!" said Judith, impatiently; and then she checked herself. "But you,
+sweetheart, what said he to you?"
+
+Prudence's cheeks flushed red.
+
+"He would have me intercede for him," she said, timidly.
+
+"Intercede? with whom?"
+
+"Why, you know, Judith; with whom but yourself? Nay, but be
+patient--have some kindness. The young man opened his heart to me; and I
+know he is in trouble. 'Twas last night as we were coming home from the
+lecture; and he would have me wait till he left a message at his door,
+so that thus we fell behind; and then he told me why it was that
+Stratford had grown distasteful to him, and not to be borne, and why he
+was going away. How could I help saying that that would grieve
+you?--sure I am you cannot but be sorry to think of the young man
+banishing himself from his own people. And he said that I was your
+nearest friend; and would I speak for him? And I answered that I was all
+unused to such matters, but that if any pleading of mine would influence
+you I would right gladly do him that service; and so I would, dear
+Judith; for how can you bear to think of the youth going away with these
+godless men, and perchance never to return to his own land, when a word
+from you would restrain him?"
+
+Judith took both her hands again, and looked with a kindly smile into
+the timid, pleading eyes.
+
+"And 'tis you, sweet mouse, that come to me with such a prayer? Was
+there ever so kind a heart? But that is you ever and always--never a
+thought for yourself, everything for others. And so he had the cruelty
+to ask you--you--to bring this message?"
+
+"Judith," said the other, with the color coming into her face again,
+"you force me to speak against my will. Nay, how can I hide from myself,
+dear friend, that you have plans and wishes--perchance suspicions--with
+regard to me? And if what I guess be true--if that is your
+meaning--indeed 'tis all built on a wrong foundation: believe me,
+Judith, it is so. I would have you assured of it, sweetheart. You know
+that I like not speaking of such matters; 'tis not seemly and becoming
+to a maiden; and fain would I have my mind occupied with far other
+things; but, Judith, this time I must speak plain; and I would have you
+put away from you all such intentions and surmises--dear heart, you do
+me wrong!"
+
+"In good sooth, am I all mistaken?" Judith said, glancing keenly at her.
+
+"Do you doubt my word, Judith?" said she.
+
+"And yet," her friend said, as if to herself, and musingly, "there were
+several occasions: there was the fortune-teller at Hampton Lucy that
+coupled you, and Quiney seemed right merry withal; and then again, when
+he would have us play kiss-in-the-ring on the evening after Mary
+Sadler's marriage, and I forbade it chiefly for your sake, sweet mouse,
+then methought you seemed none overpleased with my interference----"
+
+But here she happened to look at Prudence, and she could not fail to see
+that the whole subject was infinitely distressing to her. There was a
+proud, hurt expression on the gentle face, and a red spot burning in
+each cheek. So Judith took hold of her and kissed her.
+
+"Once and forever, dearest heart," said she, "I banish all such
+thoughts. And I will make no more plans for thee, nor suspect thee, but
+let thee go in thine own way, in the paths of charity and goodness. But
+I mean not to give up thy friendship, sweet Prue; if I cannot walk in
+the same path, at least I may stretch a hand over to thee; and if I but
+keep so near so true a saint, marry, I shall not go so far wrong."
+
+She took up one of the candles.
+
+"Shall we go down and see Julius?" said she.
+
+"But Tom Quiney, Judith--what shall I say?" Prudence asked, anxiously.
+
+"Why, say nothing, sweetheart," was the immediate answer. "'Twas a shame
+to burden you with such a task. When he chooses he can at any moment
+have speech of me, if his worship be not too proud or too suspicious. In
+Stratford we can all of us speak the English tongue, I hope."
+
+"But, Judith," said the other, slowly and wistfully, "twenty years is a
+long space for one to be away from his native land."
+
+"Marry is it, sweet mouse," Judith answered, as she opened the door and
+proceeded to go down the narrow wooden steps. "'Tis a long space indeed,
+and at the end of it many a thing that seemeth of great import and
+consequence now will be no better than an old tale, idle and half
+forgotten."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+PORTENTS.
+
+
+It was somewhat hard on little Bess Hall that her aunt Judith was
+determined she should grow up as fearless as she herself was, and had,
+indeed, charged herself with this branch of her niece's education. The
+child, it is true, was not more timid than others of her age, and could
+face with fair equanimity beggars, school-boys, cows, geese, and other
+dangerous creatures; while as for ghosts, goblins, and similar nocturnal
+terrors, Judith had settled all that side of the question by informing
+the maids of both families, in the plainest language, that any one of
+them found even mentioning such things to this niece of hers would be
+instantaneously and without ceremony shot forth from the house. But
+beyond and above all this Judith expected too much, and would flout and
+scold when Bess Hall declined to perform the impossible, and would
+threaten to go away and get a small boy out of the school to become her
+playmate in future. At this moment, for example, she was standing at the
+foot of the staircase in Dr. Hall's house. She had come round to carry
+off her niece for the day, and she had dressed her up like a small
+queen, and now she would have her descend the wide and handsome
+staircase in noble state and unaided. Bess Hall, who had no ambition to
+play the part of a queen, but had, on the other hand, a wholesome and
+instinctive fear of breaking her neck, now stood on the landing,
+helpless amid all her finery, and looking down at her aunt in a
+beseeching sort of way.
+
+"I shall tumble down, Aunt Judith; I know I shall," said she, and budge
+she would not.
+
+"Tumble down, little stupid! Why, what should make you tumble down? Are
+you going forever to be a baby? Any baby can crawl down-stairs by
+holding on to the balusters."
+
+"I know I shall tumble down, Aunt Judith--and then I shall cry."
+
+But even this threat was of no avail.
+
+"Come along, little goose; 'tis easy enough when you try it. Do you
+think I have dressed you up as a grown woman to see you crawl like a
+baby? A fine woman--you! Come along, I say!"
+
+But this lesson, happily for the half-frightened pupil, was abruptly
+brought to an end. Judith was standing with her face to the staircase,
+and her back to the central hall and the outer door, so that she could
+not see any one entering, and indeed the first intimation she had of the
+approach of a stranger was a voice behind her:
+
+"Be gentle with the child, Judith."
+
+And then she knew that she was caught. For some little time back she had
+very cleverly managed to evade the good parson, or at least to secure
+the safety of company when she saw him approach. But this time she was
+as helpless as little Bess herself. Dr. Hall was away from home;
+Judith's sister was ill of a cold, and in bed; there was no one in the
+house, besides the servants, but herself. The only thing she could do
+was to go up to the landing, swing her niece on to her shoulder, and say
+to Master Walter that they were going round to New Place, for that Susan
+was ill in bed, and unable to look after the child.
+
+"I will walk with you as far," said he, calmly, and, indeed, as if it
+were rather an act of condescension on his part.
+
+She set out with no good-will. She expected that he would argue, and she
+had an uncomfortable suspicion that he would get the best of it. And if
+she had once or twice rather wildly thought that in order to get rid of
+all perplexities, and in order to please all the people around her, she
+would in the end allow Master Walter Blaise to win her over into
+becoming his wife, still she felt that the time was not yet. She would
+have the choosing of it for herself. And why should she be driven into a
+corner prematurely? Why be made to confess that her brain could not save
+her? She wanted peace. She wanted to play with Bess Hall, or to walk
+through the meadows with Willie Hart, teaching him what to think of
+England. She did not want to be confronted with clear, cold eyes, and
+arguments like steel, and the awful prospect of having to labor in the
+vineyard through the long, long, gray, and distant years. She grew to
+think it was scarcely fair of her father to hand her over. He at least
+might have been on her side. But he seemed as willing as any that she
+should go away among the saints, and forsake forever (as it seemed to
+her) the beautiful, free and clear-colored life that she had been well
+content to live.
+
+And then, all of a sudden, it flashed upon her mind that she was a
+player's daughter, and a kind of flame went to her face.
+
+"I pray you, good Master Blaise," said she, with a lofty and gracious
+courtesy, "bethink you, ere you give us your company through the town."
+
+"What mean you, Judith?" said he, in some amazement.
+
+"Do you forget, then, that I am the daughter of a player?--and this his
+granddaughter?" said she.
+
+"In truth, I know not what you mean, Judith," he exclaimed.
+
+"Why," said she, "may not the good people who are the saints of the
+earth wonder to see you consort with such as we?--or, rather, with one
+such as I, who am impenitent, and take no shame that my father is a
+player--nay, God's my witness, I am wicked enough to be proud of it, and
+I care not who knows it, and they that hope to have me change my
+thoughts on that matter will have no lack of waiting."
+
+Well, it was a fair challenge; and he answered it frankly, and with such
+a reasonableness and charity of speech that, despite herself, she could
+not but admit that she was pleased, and also, perhaps, just a little bit
+grateful. He would not set up to be any man's judge, he said; nor was he
+a Pharisee; the Master that he served was no respecter of persons--He
+had welcomed all when He was upon the earth--and it behooved His
+followers to beware of pride and the setting up of distinctions; if
+there was any house in the town that earned the respect of all, it was
+New Place; he could only speak of her father as he found him, here, in
+his own family, among his own friends--and what that was all men knew;
+and so forth. He spoke well, and modestly; and Judith was so pleased to
+hear what he said of her father that she forgot to ask whether all this
+was quite consistent with his usual denunciations of plays and players;
+his dire prophecy as to the fate of those who were not of the saints,
+and his sharp dividing and shutting off of these. He did not persecute
+her at all. There was no argument. What he was mostly anxious about was
+that she should not tire herself with carrying Bess Hall on her
+shoulder.
+
+"Nay, good sir," said she, quite pleasantly, "'tis a trick my father
+taught me; and the child is but a feather-weight."
+
+He looked at her--so handsome and buxom, and full of life and courage;
+her eyes lustrous, the rose-leaf tint of health in her cheeks; and
+always at the corner of her mouth what could only be called a
+disposition to smile, as if the world suited her fairly well, and that
+she was ready at any moment to laugh her thanks.
+
+"There be many, Judith," said he, "who might envy you your health and
+good spirits."
+
+"When I lose them, 'twill be time enough to lament them," said she,
+complacently.
+
+"The hour that is passing seems all in all to you; and who can wonder at
+it?" he continued. "Pray Heaven your carelessness of the morrow have
+reason in it! But all are not so minded. There be strange tidings in the
+land."
+
+"Indeed, sir; and to what end?" said she.
+
+"I know not whether these rumors have reached your house," he said, "but
+never at any time I have read of have men's minds been so
+disturbed--with a restlessness and apprehension of something being about
+to happen. And what marvel! The strange things that have been seen and
+heard of throughout the world of late--meteors, and earthquakes, and
+visions of armies fighting in the heavens. Even so was Armageddon to be
+foreshadowed. Nay, I will be honest with you, Judith, and say that it is
+not clear to my own mind that the great day of the Lord is at hand; but
+many think so; and one man's reading of the Book of Revelation is but a
+small matter to set against so wide a belief. Heard you not of the
+vision that came to the young girl at Chipping Camden last Monday?"
+
+"Indeed, no, good sir."
+
+"I marvel that Prudence has not heard of it, for all men are speaking of
+it. 'Twas in this way, as I hear. The maiden is one of rare piety and
+grace, given to fasting, and nightly vigils, and searching of the heart.
+'Twas on the night of Sunday last--or perchance toward Monday
+morning--that she was awakened out of her sleep by finding her room full
+of light; and looking out of the window she beheld in the darkness a
+figure of resplendent radiance--shining like the sun, as she said; only
+clear white, and shedding rays around; and the figure approached the
+window, and regarded her; and she dropped on her knees in wonder and
+fear, and bowed her head and worshipped. And as she did so, she heard a
+voice say to her: 'Watch and pray: Behold, I come quickly.' And she
+durst not raise her head, as she says, being overcome with fear and joy.
+But the light slowly faded from the room; and when at last she rose she
+saw something afar off in the sky, that was now grown dark again. And
+ever since she has been trembling with the excitement of it, and will
+take no food; but from time to time she cries in a loud voice, 'Lord
+Jesus, come quickly! Lord Jesus, come quickly!' Many have gone to see
+her, as I hear, and from all parts of the country; but she heeds them
+not; she is intent with her prayers; and her eyes, the people say, look
+as if they had been dazzled with a great light, and are dazed and
+strange. Nay, 'tis but one of many things that are murmured abroad at
+present; for there have been signs in the heavens seen in sundry places,
+and visions, and men's minds grow anxious."
+
+"And what think you yourself, good sir? You are one that should know."
+
+"I?" said he. "Nay, I am far too humble a worker to take upon myself the
+saying ay or no at such a time; I can but watch and pray and wait. But
+is it not strange to think that we here at this moment, walking along
+this street in Stratford, might within some measurable space--say, a
+year, or half a dozen years or so--that we might be walking by the pure
+river of water that John saw flowing from the throne of God and of the
+Lamb? Do you not remember how the early Christians, with such a
+possibility before their eyes, drew nearer to each other, as it were,
+and rejoiced together, parting with all their possessions, and living in
+common, so that the poorest were even as the rich? 'Twas no terror that
+overtook them, but a happiness; and they drew themselves apart from the
+world, and lived in their own community, praying with each other, and
+aiding each other. 'All that believed,' the Bible tells us, 'were in one
+place, and had all things common. And they sold their possessions and
+goods, and parted them to all men, as every one had need. And they
+continued daily in the Temple, and, breaking bread at home, did eat
+their meat together with gladness and singleness of heart, praising God,
+and had favor with all the people; and the Lord added to the Church from
+day to day such as should be saved.' Such a state of spiritual
+brotherhood and exaltation may come among us once more; methinks I see
+the symptoms of its approach even now. Blessed are they who will be in
+that communion with a pure soul and a humble mind, for the Lord will be
+with them as their guide, though the waters should arise and overflow,
+or fire consume the earth."
+
+"Yes, but, good sir," said she, "when the early Christians you speak of
+thought the world was near to an end they were mistaken. And these, now,
+of our day----"
+
+"Whatever is prophesied must come to pass," said he, "or soon or late,
+though it is possible for our poor human judgment to err as to the time.
+But surely we ought to be prepared; and what preparation, think you, is
+sufficient for so great and awful a change? Joy there may be in the
+trivial things of this world--in the vanities of the hour, that pass
+away and are forgotten; but what are these things to those whose heart
+is set on the New Jerusalem--the shining city? The voice that John heard
+proclaimed no lie: 'twas the voice of the Lord of heaven and earth--a
+promise to them that wait and watch for his coming. 'And God shall wipe
+away all tears from their eyes; and there shall be no more death,
+neither sorrow, neither crying, neither shall there be any more pain,
+for the first things are passed.... And there shall be no more curse,
+but the throne of God and of the Lamb shall be in it, and his servants
+shall serve him. And they shall see his face, and his name shall be in
+their foreheads. And there shall be no night there; and they need no
+candle, neither light of the sun, for the Lord God giveth them light,
+and they shall reign for evermore.'"
+
+She sighed.
+
+"'Tis too wonderful a thing for poor sinful creatures to expect," she
+said.
+
+But by this time they were at the house, and he could not say anything
+further to her; indeed, when he proposed that she should come into the
+sitting-room, and that he would read to her a description of the glories
+of the New Jerusalem, out of the Book of Revelation, she excused herself
+by saying that she must carry Bess Hall to see her father. So he went in
+and sat down, waiting for Judith's mother to be sent for; while aunt and
+niece went out and through the back yard to the garden.
+
+"Bess," said Judith, on the way, "heardst thou aught of a white figure?"
+
+"No, Judith," said the child, who had been engaged all the way in
+examining the prettinesses of her aunt's velvet cap, and ruff, and what
+not.
+
+"That is well," said she.
+
+When she got into the garden, she could see that good man Matthew eyed
+their approach with little favor--for Bess Hall, when her grandfather
+had charge of her, was allowed to tear flowers, and walk over beds, or
+do anything she chose; but Judith did not mind that much. On the other
+hand, she would not go deliberately and disturb her father. She would
+give him his choice--to come forth or not as he pleased. And so, quite
+noiselessly, and at a little distance off, she passed the summer-house.
+There was no sign. Accordingly, she went on idly to the further end of
+the garden, and would doubtless have remained there (rather than return
+within-doors) amusing the child somehow, but that the next minute her
+father appeared.
+
+"Come hither, Bess! Come hither, wench!" he called.
+
+Nay, he came to meet them; and as he lifted the child down from Judith's
+shoulder, something--perhaps it was the touch of the sunlight on the
+soft brown of her short curls--seemed to attract his notice.
+
+"Why, wench," said he to Judith, "methinks your hair grows prettier
+every day. And yet you keep it overshort--yes, 'tis overshort--would you
+have them think you a boy?"
+
+"I would I were a man," said she, glancing at him rather timidly.
+
+"How, then? What, now?"
+
+"For then," said she, "might I help you in your work, so please you,
+sir."
+
+He laughed, and said:
+
+"My work? What know you of that, wench?"
+
+The blood rushed to her face.
+
+"Nay, sir, I but meant the work of the fields--in going about with the
+bailiff and the like. The maids say you were abroad at five this
+morning."
+
+"Well, is't not the pleasantest time of the day in this hot weather?" he
+said--and he seemed amused by her interference.
+
+"But why should you give yourself so many cares, good father?" she made
+bold to say (for she had been meditating the saying of it for many a day
+back). "You that have great fame, and land, and wealth. We would fain
+see you rest a little more, father; and 'tis all the harder to us that
+we can give you no help, being but women-folk."
+
+There was something in the tone of her voice--or perhaps in her
+eyes--that conveyed more than her words. He put his hand on her head.
+
+"You are a good lass," said he. "And listen. You can do something for me
+that is of far more value to me than any help in any kind of work: nay,
+I tell thee 'tis of greater value to me than all of my work; and 'tis
+this: keep you a merry heart, wench--let me see your face right merry
+and cheerful as you go about--that is what you can do for me; I would
+have you ever as you are now, as bright and glad as a summer day."
+
+"'Tis an easy task, sir, so long as you are content to be pleased with
+me," she managed to answer; and then little Bess Hall--who could not
+understand why she should have been so long left unnoticed--began to
+scramble up his knees, and was at last transferred to his arms.
+
+Judith's heart was beating somewhat quickly--with a kind of pride and
+gladness that was very near bringing tears to her eyes; but, of course,
+that was out of the question, seeing that he had enjoined her to be
+cheerful. And so she forced herself to say, with an odd kind of smile,
+
+"I pray you, sir, may I remain with you for a space--if Bess and I
+trouble you not?"
+
+"Surely," said he, regarding her; "but what is it, then?"
+
+"Why," said she, pulling herself together, "good Master Blaise is
+within-doors, and his last belief is enough to frighten a poor
+maiden--let alone this small child. He says the world is nigh unto its
+end."
+
+"Nay, I have heard of some such talk being abroad," said he, "among the
+country folk. But why should that frighten thee? Even were it true, we
+can make it nor better nor worse."
+
+"Only this, father," said she, and she looked at him with the large,
+clear-shining gray eyes no longer near to tears, but rather suggesting
+some dark mystery of humor, "that if the end of the world be so nigh at
+hand, 'twould be an idle thing for the good parson to think of taking
+him a wife."
+
+"I ask for no secrets, wench," her father said, as he sat little Bess
+Hall on the branch of an apple-tree.
+
+"Nay, sir, he but said that as many were of opinion that something
+dreadful was about to happen, we should all of us draw nearer together.
+That is well, and to be understanded; but if the world be about to end
+for all of us surely 'twere a strange thing that any of us should think
+of taking husband or wife."
+
+"I'll meddle not," her father said. "Go thine own ways. I have heard
+thou hast led more than one honest lad in Stratford a madcap dance. Take
+heed; take heed--as thy grandmother saith--lest thou outwear their
+patience."
+
+And then something--she could scarce tell what--came into her head: some
+wild wish that he would remain always there at Stratford: would she not
+right willingly discard all further thoughts of lovers or sweethearts if
+only he would speak to her sometimes as he had just been speaking; and
+approve of her hair; and perchance let her become somewhat more of a
+companion to him? But she durst not venture to say so much. She only
+said, very modestly and timidly,
+
+"I am content to be as I am, sir, if you are content that I should bide
+with you."
+
+"Content?" said he, with a laugh that had no unkindness in it. "Content
+that thou shouldst bide with us? Keep that pretty face of thine merry
+and glad, good lass--and have no fear."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+A LETTER.
+
+
+When she should get back from Master Leofric Hope the last portion of
+the yet unnamed play, there remained (as she considered) but one thing
+more--to show him the letter written by the King to her father, so that
+when the skies should clear over the young gentleman's head, and he be
+permitted to return among his friends and acquaintances, he might have
+something else occasionally to talk of than Ben Jonson and his masques
+and his favor at court. Nor had she any difficulty in procuring the
+letter; for Prudence was distinctly of opinion that by right it belonged
+to Judith, who had coveted it from the beginning. However, Judith only
+now wanted the loan of it for a day or two, until, in her wanderings,
+she might encounter Master Hope.
+
+That opportunity soon arrived; for whether it was that the young
+gentleman kept a sharp lookout for her, or whether she was able to make
+a shrewd guess as to his probable whereabouts at certain hours of the
+day, she had scarcely ever failed to meet him when she went over to
+Shottery for the successive instalments of the play that he had left for
+her there. On this occasion she had found the last of these awaiting her
+at the cottage; and when she had put it into her velvet satchel, and
+bade good-by to her grandmother, she set out for home with a pretty
+clear foreknowledge that sooner or later the young gentleman would
+appear. Was it not his duty?--to say what he thought of all this romance
+that he had been allowed to see; and to thank her; and say farewell? For
+she had a vague impression that she had done as much as could reasonably
+be expected of her in the way of cheering the solitude of one in
+misfortune: and she had gathered, moreover, that he was likely soon to
+leave the neighborhood. But she would not have him go without seeing the
+King's letter.
+
+Well, when he stepped forth from behind some trees, she was not
+surprised; and even the Don had grown accustomed to these sudden
+appearances.
+
+"Give ye good-day, sweet lady," said he.
+
+"And to you, sir," she said. "I thank you for your care in leaving me
+these pages; I would not have had any harm come to them, even though my
+father will in time throw them away."
+
+"And my thanks to you, sweet Mistress Judith," said he--"how can I
+express them?"--and therewith he entered upon such a eulogy of the story
+he had just been reading as she was not likely to hear from any
+Stratford-born acquaintance. Indeed, he spoke well, and with obvious
+sincerity; and although she had intended to receive these praises with
+indifference (as though the play were but a trifle that her father had
+thrown off easily amid the pressure of other labors), she did not quite
+succeed. There was a kind of triumph in her eyes; her face was glad and
+proud; when he quoted a bit of one of Ariel's songs, she laughed
+lightly.
+
+"He is a clever musician, that merry imp, is he not?" said she.
+
+"I would I had such a magic-working spirit to serve me," said he,
+looking at her. "One could shape one's own course then. 'Under the
+blossom that hangs on the bough,' would be my motto; there would be no
+going back to London or any other town. And what think you: might he
+not find out for me some sweet Miranda?--not that I am worthy of such a
+prize, or could do aught to deserve her, except in my duty and humble
+service to her. The Miranda, I think, could be found," he said, glancing
+timidly at her; "nay, I swear I know myself where to find just such a
+beautiful and gentle maiden; but where is the Ariel that would charm her
+heart and incline her to pity and kindness?"
+
+"Here, sir," said she, quickly, "is the letter I said I would bring you,
+that the King wrote to my father."
+
+He did not look at the blue velvet satchel; he looked at her--perhaps to
+see whether he had gone too far. But she did not show any signs of
+confusion or resentment; at all events she pretended not to be
+conscious; and, for one thing, her eyes were lowered, for the satchel
+seemed for a second or so difficult to open. Then she brought forth the
+letter.
+
+"Perchance you can tell me the English of it, good sir?" said she. "'Tis
+some time since Master Blaise read it for us, and I would hear it
+again."
+
+"Nay, I fear my Latin will scarce go so far," said he--"'tis but little
+practice in it I have had since my school-days; but I will try to make
+out the sense of it."
+
+She carefully opened the large folded sheet of paper, and handed it to
+him. This was what he found before him:
+
+     "JACOBUS D. G. Rex Anglorum et Scotorum poetae nostro fideli et bene
+     dilecto GULIELMO SHAKESPEARE, S. P. D.
+
+     "Cum nuper apud Londinium commorati comoediam tuam nobis inductam
+     spectassemus, de manu viri probi Eugenii Collins fabulae libro
+     accepto, operam dedimus ut eam diligenter perlegeremus.
+     Subtilissima illa quidem, multisque ingenii luminibus et artis,
+     multis etiam animi oblectamentis, excogitata, nimis tamen
+     accommodata ad cacchinationem movendam vulgi imperiti, politioris
+     humanitatis expertis. Quod vero ad opera tua futura attinet,
+     amicissime te admonemus ut multa commentatione et meditatione
+     exemplaria verses antistitum illorum artis comoedicae, Menandri
+     scilicet Atheniensis et Plauti et Terentii Romani, qui minus vulgi
+     plausum captabant quam vitiis tanquam flagellis castigandis
+     studebant. Qui optimi erant arte et summa honestate et utilitate,
+     qualem te etiam esse volumus; virtutum artium et exercitationum
+     doctores, atque illustrium illorum a Deo ad populum regendum
+     praepositorum adminicula. Quibus fac ne te minorem praestes; neque
+     tibi nec familiaribus tuis unquam deerimus quin, quum fiat occasio,
+     munere regali fungamur. Te interea Deus opt. max. feliciter
+     sospitet.
+
+     "Datum ex regia nostra apud Greenwich X. Kal. Jun."
+
+He began his translation easily:
+
+     "'To our trusty and well-beloved poet, William Shakespeare: Health
+     and greeting.'" But then he began to stammer. "'When formerly--when
+     recently--tarrying in London--thy comedy--thy comedy'--nay, fair
+     Mistress Judith, I beseech your pardon; I am grown more rusty than
+     I thought, and would not destroy your patience. Perchance, now, you
+     would extend your favor once more, and let me have the letter home
+     with me, so that I might spell it out in school-boy fashion?"
+
+She hesitated; but only for a second.
+
+"Nay, good sir, I dare not. These sheets of the play were thrown aside,
+and so far of little account; but this--if aught were to come amiss to
+this letter, how should I regard myself? If my father value it but
+slightly, there be others who think more of it; and--and they have
+intrusted it to me; I would not have it go out of my own keeping, so
+please you, and pardon me."
+
+It was clear that she did not like to refuse this favor to so courteous
+and grateful a young gentleman. However, her face instantly brightened.
+
+"But I am in no hurry, good sir," said she. "Why should you not sit you
+on the stile there, and take time to master the letter, while I gather
+some wild flowers for my father? In truth, I am in no hurry; and I would
+fain have you know what the King wrote."
+
+"I would I were a school-boy again for five minutes," said he, with a
+laugh; but he went obediently to the stile, and sat down, and proceeded
+to pore over the contents of the letter.
+
+And then she wandered off by herself (so as to leave him quite
+undisturbed), and began to gather here and there a wild rose from the
+hedge, or a piece of meadow-sweet from the bank beneath, or a bit of
+yarrow from among the grass. It was a still, clear, quiet day, with some
+rainy clouds in the sky; and beyond these, near to the horizon, broad
+silver shafts of sunlight striking down on the woods and the distant
+hills. It looked as if a kind of mid-day sleep had fallen over the
+earth; there was scarce a sound; the birds were silent; and there was
+not even enough wind to make a stirring through the wide fields of wheat
+or in the elms. The nosegay grew apace, though she went about her work
+idly--kneeling here and stretching a hand there; and always she kept
+away from him, and would not even look in his direction; for she was
+determined that he should have ample leisure to make out the sense of
+the letter, of which she had but a vague recollection, only that she
+knew it was complimentary.
+
+Even when he rose and came toward her she pretended not to notice. She
+would show him she was in no hurry. She was plucking the heads of red
+clover, and sucking them to get at the honey; or she was adding a
+buttercup or two to her nosegay; or she was carelessly humming to
+herself:
+
+    "O stay and hear; your true love's coming,
+    That can sing both high and low."
+
+"Well, now, Mistress Judith," said he, with an air of apology, "methinks
+I have got at the meaning of it, however imperfectly; and your father
+might well be proud of such a commendation from so high a source--the
+King, as every one knows, being a learned man, and skilled in the arts.
+And I have not heard that he has written to any other of the poets of
+our day----"
+
+"No, sir?" said she, quickly. "Not to Master Jonson?"
+
+"Not that I am aware of, sweet lady," said he, "though he hath sometimes
+messages to send, as you may suppose, by one coming from the court. And
+I marvel not that your father should put store by this letter that
+speaks well of his work----"
+
+"Your pardon, good sir, but 'tis not so," said Judith, calmly.
+"Doubtless if the King commend my father's writing, that showeth that
+his Majesty is skilled and learned, as you say; and my father was no
+doubt pleased enough--as who would not be?--by such a mark of honor; but
+as for setting great value on it, I assure you he did not; nay, he gave
+it to Julius Shawe. And will you read it, good sir?--I remember me there
+was something in it about the ancients."
+
+"'Tis but a rough guess that I can make," said he, regarding the paper.
+"But it seems that the King had received at the hands of one Eugene
+Collins the book of a comedy of your father's that had been presented
+before his Majesty when he was recently in London. And very diligently,
+he says, he has read through the same; and finds it right subtly
+conceived, with many beauties and delights, and such ornaments as are to
+be approved by an ingenious mind. It is true his Majesty hints that
+there may be parts of the play more calculated than might be to move the
+laughter of the vulgar; but you would not have a critic have nothing but
+praise?--and the King's praise is high indeed. And then he goes on to
+say that as regards your father's future work, he would in the most
+friendly manner admonish him to study the great masters of the comic
+art; that is, Menander the Athenian, and the Romans Plautus and
+Terentius, who--who--what says the King?--less studied to capture the
+applause of the vulgar than to lash the vices of the day as with whips.
+And these he highly commends as being of great service to the state; and
+would have your father be the like: teachers of virtue, and also props
+and aids to those whom God hath placed to rule over the people. He would
+have your father be among these public benefactors; and then he adds
+that, when occasion serves, he will not fail to extend his royal favor
+to your father and his associates; and so commends him to the protection
+of God. Nay, 'tis a right friendly letter; there is none in the land
+that would not be proud of it; 'tis not every day nor with every one
+that King James would take such trouble and play the part of tutor."
+
+He handed her the letter, and she proceeded to fold it up carefully
+again and put it in her satchel. She said nothing, but she hoped that
+these phrases of commendation would remain fixed in his mind when that
+he was returned to London.
+
+And then there was a moment of embarrassment--or at least of constraint.
+He had never been so near the town with her before (for his praise of
+her father's comedy, as they walked together, had taken some time), and
+there before them were the orchards and mud walls, and, further off, the
+spire of the church among the trees. She did not like to bid him go, and
+he seemed loath to say farewell, he probably having some dim notion
+that, now he had seen the end of the play and also this letter, there
+might be some difficulty in finding an excuse for another meeting.
+
+"When do you return to London?" said she, for the sake of saying
+something. "Or may you return? I hope, good sir, your prospects are
+showing brighter; it must be hard for one of your years to pass the time
+in idleness."
+
+"The time that I have spent in these parts," said he, "has been far more
+pleasant and joyful to me than I could have imagined--you may easily
+guess why, dear Mistress Judith. And now, when there is some prospect of
+my being able to go, I like it not; so many sweet hours have been passed
+here, the very fields and meadows around have acquired a charm----"
+
+"Nay, but, good sir," said she, a little breathlessly, "at your time of
+life you would not waste the days in idleness."
+
+"In truth it has been a gracious idleness!" he exclaimed.
+
+"At your time of life," she repeated, quickly, "why, to be shut up in a
+farm----"
+
+"The Prince Ferdinand," said he, "though I would not compare myself with
+him, found the time pass pleasantly and sweetly enough, as I reckon,
+though he was shut up in a cave. But then there was the fair Miranda to
+be his companion. There is no Ariel to work such a charm for me, else do
+you think I could ever bring myself to leave so enchanting a
+neighborhood?"
+
+"Good sir," said she (in some anxiety to get away), "I may not ask the
+reason of your being in hiding, though I wish you well, and would fain
+hear there was no further occasion for it. And I trust there may be none
+when next you come to Warwickshire, and that those of our household who
+have a better right to speak for it than I, will have the chance of
+entertaining you. And now I would bid you farewell."
+
+"No, dear Judith!" he exclaimed, with a kind of entreaty in his voice.
+"Not altogether? Why, look at the day!--would you have me say farewell
+to you on such a day of gloom and cloud? Surely you will let me take
+away a brighter picture of you, and Warwickshire, and our brief meetings
+in these quiet spots--if go I must. In truth I know not what may happen
+to me; I would speak plainer; but I am no free agent; I can but beg of
+you to judge me charitably, if ever you hear aught of me----"
+
+And here he stopped abruptly and paused, considering, and obviously
+irresolute and perplexed.
+
+"Why," said he at length, and almost to himself--"why should I go away
+at all? I will carry logs--if needs be--or anything. Why should I go?"
+
+She knew instantly what he meant; and knew, also, that it was high time
+for her to escape from so perilous a situation.
+
+"I pray you pardon me, good sir; but I must go. Come, Don."
+
+"But one more meeting, sweet Mistress Judith," he pleaded, "on a fairer
+day than this--you will grant as much?"
+
+"I may not promise," said she; "but indeed I leave with you my good
+wishes; and so, farewell!"
+
+"God shield you, dearest lady," said he, bowing low; "you leave with me
+also a memory of your kindness that will remain in my heart."
+
+Well, there was no doubt that she felt very much relieved when she had
+left him and was nearing the town; and yet she had a kind of pity for
+him too, as she thought of his going away by himself to that lonely
+farm: one so gentle, and so grateful for company, being shut up there on
+this gloomy day. Whereas she was going back to a cheerful house;
+Prudence was coming round to spend the afternoon with them, and help to
+mark the new napery; and then in the evening the whole of them, her
+father included, were going to sup at Dr. Hall's, who had purchased a
+dishful of ancient coins in one of his peregrinations, and would have
+them come and examine them. Perhaps, after all, that reference to
+Miranda was not meant to apply to her. It was but natural he should
+speak of Miranda, having just finished the play. And carrying logs: he
+could not mean carrying logs for her father; that would be a foolish
+jest. No, no; he would remain at the farm and spend the time as best he
+could; and then, when this cloud blew over, he would return to London,
+and carry with him (as she hoped) some discreet rumor of the new work of
+her father's that he had praised so highly, and perchance some mention
+of the compliments paid by the King; and if, in course of time, the
+young gentleman should make his way back to Stratford again, and come to
+see them at New Place, and if his pleasant manner and courtesy proved to
+be quite irresistible, so that she had to allow the wizard's prophecy to
+come true in spite of herself, why, then, it was the hand of fate, and
+none of her doing, and she would have to accept her destiny with as good
+a grace as might be.
+
+As she was going into the town she met Tom Quincy. He was on the other
+side of the roadway, and after one swift glance at her, he lowered his
+eyes, and would have passed on without speaking. And then it suddenly
+occurred to her that she would put her pride in her pocket. She knew
+quite well that her maidenly dignity had been wounded by his suspicions,
+and that she ought to let him go his own way if he chose. But, on the
+other hand (and this she did not know), there was in her nature an odd
+element of what might be called boyish generosity--of frankness and
+common-sense and good comradeship. And these two had been very stanch
+comrades in former days, each being in a curious manner the protector of
+the other; for while she many a time came to his aid--being a trifle
+older than he, and always ready with her quick feminine wit and
+ingenuity when they were both of them likely to get into trouble--he, on
+his side, was her shield and bold champion by reason of his superior
+stature and his strength, and his terrible courage in face of bulls or
+barking dogs and the like. For the moment she only thought of him as her
+old companion; and she was a good-natured kind of creature, and frank
+and boyish in her ways, and so she stepped across the road, though there
+was some mud about.
+
+"Why can't we be friends?" said she.
+
+"You have enough of other friends," said he.
+
+It was a rebuff; but still--she would keep down her girlish pride.
+
+"I hope you are not going away from the country?" said she.
+
+He did not meet her look; his eyes were fixed on the ground.
+
+"What is there to keep me in it?" was his answer.
+
+"Why, what is there to keep any of us in it?" she said. "Heaven's mercy,
+if we were all to run away when we found something or another not quite
+to our liking, what a fine thing that would be! Nay, I hope there is no
+truth in it," she continued, looking at him, and not without some
+memories of their escapades together when they were boy and girl.
+"'Twould grieve many--indeed it would. I pray you think better of it. If
+for no other, for my sake; we used to be better friends."
+
+There were two figures now approaching.
+
+"Oh, here come Widow Clemms and her daughter," she said; "a rare couple.
+'Twill be meat and drink to them to carry back a story. No matter. Now,
+fare you well; but pray think better of it; there be many that would
+grieve if you went away."
+
+He stole a look at her as she passed on: perhaps there was a trifle more
+than usual of color in her radiant and sunny face, because of the
+approach of the two women. It was a lingering kind of look that he sent
+after her; and then he, too, turned and went on his way--cursing the
+parson.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+A VISITOR.
+
+
+Master Leofric Hope, on leaving Judith, returned to the farm, but not to
+the solitude that had awakened her commiseration. When he entered his
+room, which was at the back of the house, and facing the southern
+horizon (that alone showed some streaks of sunlight on this gloomy day),
+he found a stranger there--and a stranger who had evidently some notion
+of making himself comfortable, for he had opened the window, and was now
+sitting on the sill, and had just begun to smoke his pipe. His hat, his
+sword, and sword-belt he had flung on the table.
+
+For a second the proper owner of the apartment knew not who this new
+tenant might be--he being dark against the light; but the next second he
+had recognized him, and that with no good grace.
+
+"What the devil brings you here?" said he, sulkily.
+
+"A hearty welcome, truly!" the other said, with much complacency. "After
+all my vexation in finding thee out! A goodly welcome for an old friend!
+But no matter, Jack--come, hast naught to offer one to drink? I have
+ridden from Banbury this morning; and the plague take me if I had not
+enough trouble ere I found the hare in her form. But 'tis snug--'tis
+snug. The place likes me; though I thought by now you might have
+company, and entered with care. Come, man, be more friendly! Will you
+not ask me to sit? Must I call the landlady--or the farmer's
+wife--myself, and beg for a cup of something on so hot a day? Where be
+your manners, Gentleman Jack?"
+
+"What the devil brings you into Warwickshire?" the other repeated, as he
+threw his hat on the table, and dropped into a chair, and stretched out
+his legs, without a further look at his companion.
+
+"Nay, 'tis what the devil keeps thee here--that is the graver
+question--though I know the answer right well. Come, Jack, be
+reasonable! 'Tis for thy good I have sought thee out. What, man, would
+you ruin us both?--for I tell thee, the end is pressing and near."
+
+Seeing that his unwilling host would not even turn his eyes toward him,
+he got down from the window-sill, and came along to the table, and took
+a chair. He was a short, stout young man, of puffy face and red hair,
+good-natured in look, but with a curious glaze in his light blue-gray
+eyes that told of the tavern and himself being pretty close companions.
+His dress had some show of ornament about it, though it was rather
+travel-stained and shabby; he wore jewelled rings in his ears; and the
+handkerchief which he somewhat ostentatiously displayed, if the linen
+might have been whiter, was elaborately embroidered with thread of
+Coventry blue. For the rest, he spoke pleasantly and good-humoredly, and
+was obviously determined not to take offence at his anything but hearty
+reception.
+
+"Hoy-day," said he, with a laugh, "what a bother I had with the good
+dame here, that would scarce let me come in! For how knew I what name
+you might be dancing your latest galliard in?--not plain Jack Orridge,
+I'll be bound!--what is't, your worship?--or your lordship,
+perchance?--nay, but a lord would look best in the eyes of a daughter of
+Will Shakespeare, that loveth to have trumpets and drums going, and
+dukes and princes stalking across his boards. But 'fore Heaven, now,
+Jack," said he, interrupting himself, and sending an appealing look
+round the room, "have you naught to drink in the house? Came you ever to
+my lodging and found such scurvy entertainment?"
+
+The reluctant host left the apartment for a second or two, and presently
+returned, followed by the farmer's wife, who placed on the table a jug
+of small beer, and some bread and cheese. The bread and cheese did not
+find much favor with the new-comer, but he drank a large horn of the
+beer, and took to his pipe again.
+
+"Come, Jack, be friendly," said he; "'tis for thine own good I have
+sought thee out."
+
+"I would you would mind your own business," the other said, with a
+sullen frown remaining on his face.
+
+"Mine and yours are one, as I take it, good coz," his companion said,
+coolly; and then he added in a more friendly way: "Come, come, man, you
+know we must sink or swim together. And sinking it will be, if you give
+not up this madcap chase. Nay, you carry the jest too far, _mon ami_.
+'Twas a right merry tale at the beginning--the sham wizard, and your
+coquetting with Will Shakespeare's daughter to while away the time;
+'twas a prank would make them roar at the Cranes in the Vintry; and
+right well done, I doubt not--for, in truth, if you were not such a
+gallant gentleman, you might win to a place in the theatres as well as
+any of them; but to come back here again--to hide yourself away
+again--and when I tell you they will no longer forbear, but will clap
+thee into jail if they have not their uttermost penny--why, 'tis pure
+moonshine madness to risk so much for a jest!"
+
+"I tell thee 'tis no jest at all!" the other said, angrily. "In Heaven's
+name, what brought you here?"
+
+"Am I to have no care of myself, then, that am your surety, and have
+their threats from hour to hour?"
+
+He laughed in a stupid kind of way, and filled out some more beer and
+drank it off thirstily.
+
+"We had a merry night, last night, at Banbury," said he. "I must pluck a
+hair of the same wolf to-day. And what say you? No jest? Nay, you look
+sour enough to be virtuous, by my life, or to get into a pulpit and
+preach a sermon against fayles and tick-tack, as wiles of the devil. No
+jest? Have you been overthrown at last--by a country wench? Must you
+take to the plough, and grow turnips? Why, I should as soon expect to
+see Gentleman Jack consort with the Finsbury archers, or go a-ducking to
+Islington ponds! Our Gentleman Jack a farmer! The price of wheat,
+goodman Dickon?--how fatten your pigs?--will the fine weather last,
+think you? Have done with this foolery, man! If all comes to the worst,
+'twere better we should take to the road, you and I, and snip a purse
+when chance might serve."
+
+"You?" said his companion, with only half-concealed contempt. "The first
+click of a pistol would find you behind a hedge."
+
+"Why, old lad," said the other (who did not seem to have heard that
+remark, during his pouring out of another hornful of beer), "I know you
+better than you know yourself. This time, you say, 'tis serious--ay, but
+how many times before hast thou said the same? And ever the wench is the
+fairest of her kind, and a queen? For how long?--a fortnight!--perchance
+three weeks. Oh, the wonder of her! And 'tis all a love-worship; and
+the praising of her hands and ankles; and Tom Morley's ditty about a
+lover and his lass,
+
+    'That through the green corn fields did pass
+                In the pretty spring-time,
+                        Ring-a-ding-ding!'
+
+Ay, for a fortnight; and then Gentleman Jack discovers that some wench
+of the Bankside hath brighter eyes and freer favors than the country
+beauty, and you hear no more of him until he has ne'er a penny left, and
+comes begging his friends to be surety for him, or to write to his
+grandam at Oxford, saying how virtuous a youth he is, and in how sad a
+plight. Good Lord, that were an end!--should you have to go back to the
+old dame at last, and become tapster--no more acting of your lordship
+and worship--what ho, there! thou lazy knave, a flask of Rhenish, and
+put speed into thy rascal heels!"
+
+The cloud on his companion's face had been darkening.
+
+"Peace, drunken fool!" he muttered--but between his teeth, for he did
+not seem to wish to anger this stranger.
+
+"Come, come, man," the other said, jovially, "unwitch thee! unwitch
+thee! Fetch back thy senses. What?--wouldst thou become a jest and
+byword for every tavern table between the Temple and the Tower? Nay, I
+cannot believe it of thee, Jack. Serious? Ay, as you have been twenty
+times before. Lord, what a foot and ankle!--and she the queen o' the
+world--the rose and crown and queen o' the world--and the sighing o'
+moonlight nights--
+
+    'Mignonne, tant je vous aime,
+    Mais vous ne m'aimez pas'--
+
+and we are all to be virtuous and live cleanly for the rest of our
+lives; but the next time you see Gentleman Jack, lo, you, now!--'tis at
+the Bear-house; his pockets lined with angels wrung from old Ely of
+Queenhithe; and as for his company--Lord! Lord! And as it hath been
+before, so 'twill be again, as said Solomon the wise man; only that this
+time--mark you now, Jack--this time it were well if you came to your
+senses at once; for I tell thee that Ely and the rest of them have lost
+all patience, and they know this much of thy Stratford doings, that if
+they cannot exactly name thy whereabout, they can come within a
+stone's-cast of thee. And if I come to warn thee--as is the office of a
+true friend and an old companion--why shouldst thou sit there with a
+sulky face, man? Did I ever treat thee so in Fetter Lane?"
+
+While he had been talking, a savory odor had begun to steal into the
+apartment, and presently the farmer's wife appeared, and proceeded to
+spread the cloth for dinner. Her lodger had given no orders; but she had
+taken his return as sufficient signal, and naturally she assumed that
+his friend would dine with him. Accordingly, in due course, there was
+placed on the board a smoking dish of cow-heel and bacon, with abundance
+of ale and other garnishings; and as this fare seemed more tempting to
+the new-comer than the bread and cheese, he needed no pressing to draw
+his chair to the table. It was not a sumptuous feast; but it had a
+beneficial effect on both of them--sobering the one, and rendering the
+other somewhat more placable. Master Leofric Hope--as he had styled
+himself--was still in a measure taciturn; but his guest--whose name, it
+appeared, was Francis Lloyd--had ceased his uncomfortable banter; and
+indeed all his talk now was of the charms and wealth of a certain widow
+who lived in a house near to Gray's Inn, on the road to Hampstead. He
+had been asked to dine with the widow; and he gave a magniloquent
+description of the state she kept--of her serving-men, and her
+furniture, and her plate, and the manner in which she entertained her
+friends.
+
+"And why was I," said he--"why was poor Frank Lloyd--that could scarce
+get the wherewithal to pay for a rose for his ear--why was he picked out
+for so great a favor? Why, but that he was known to be a friend of
+handsome Jack Orridge. 'Where be your friend Master Orridge, now?' she
+says, for she hath sometimes a country trick in her speech, hath the
+good lady. 'Business, madam--affairs of great import,' I say to her,
+'keep him still in the country.' Would I tell her the wolves were
+waiting to rend you should you be heard of anywhere within London city?
+'Handsome Jack, they call him, is't not so?' says she. Would I tell her
+thou wert called 'Gentleman Jack?' as if thou hadst but slim right to
+the title. Then says she to one of the servants, 'Fill the gentleman's
+cup.' Lord, Jack, what a sherris that was!--'twas meat and drink; a
+thing to put marrow in your bones--cool and clear it was, and rich
+withal--cool on the tongue and warm in the stomach. 'Fore Heaven, Jack,
+if thou hast not ever a cup of that wine ready for me when I visit thee,
+I will say thou hast no more gratitude than a toad. And then says she
+to all the company (raising her glass the while), 'Absent friends;' but
+she nods and smiles to me, as one would say: 'We know whom we mean; we
+know.' Lord, that sherris, Jack! I have the taste of it in my mouth now;
+I dream o' nights there is a jug of it by me."
+
+"Dreaming or waking, there is little else in thy head," said the other;
+"nor in thy stomach, either."
+
+"Is it a bargain, Jack?" he said, looking up from his plate and
+regarding his companion with a fixed look.
+
+"A bargain?"
+
+"I tell thee 'tis the only thing will save us now." This Frank Lloyd
+said with more seriousness than he had hitherto shown. "Heavens, man,
+you must cease this idling; I tell thee they are not in the frame for
+further delay. 'Tis the Widow Becket or the King's highway, one or
+t'other, if you would remain a free man; and as for the highway, why,
+'tis an uncertain trade, and I know that Gentleman Jack is no lover of
+broken heads. What else would you? Live on in a hole like this? Nay, but
+they would not suffer you. I tell you they are ready to hunt you out at
+this present moment. Go beyond seas? Ay, and forsake the merry nights at
+the Cranes and the Silver Hind? When thy old grandam is driven out of
+all patience, and will not even forth with a couple of shillings to buy
+you wine and radish for your breakfast, 'tis a bad case. Wouldst go down
+to Oxford and become tapster?--Gentleman Jack, that all of them think
+hath fine fat acres in the west country, and a line of ancestors
+reaching back to Noah the sailor or Adam gardener. Come, man, unwitch
+thee! Collect thy senses. If this sorry jest of thine be growing
+serious--and I confess I had some thought of it, when you would draw on
+Harry Condell for the mere naming of the wench's name--then, o' Heaven's
+name, come away and get thee out of such foolery! I tell thee thou art
+getting near an end, o' one way or another; and wouldst thou have me
+broken too, that have ever helped thee, and shared my last penny with
+thee?"
+
+"Broken?" said his friend, with a laugh. "If there be any in the country
+more broken than you and I are at this moment, Frank, I wish them luck
+of their fortunes. But still there is somewhat for you. You have not
+pawned those jewels in your ears yet. And your horse--you rode hither,
+said you not?--well, I trust it is a goodly beast, for it may have to
+save thee from starvation ere long."
+
+"Nay, ask me not how I came by the creature," said he, "but 'tis not
+mine, I assure ye."
+
+"Whose, then?"
+
+Master Frank Lloyd shrugged his shoulders.
+
+"If you cannot guess my errand," said he, "you cannot guess who equipped
+me."
+
+"Nay," said his friend, who was now in a much better humor, "read me no
+riddles, Frank. I would fain know who knew thee so little as to lend
+thee a horse and see thee ride forth with it. Who was't, Frank?"
+
+His companion looked up and regarded him.
+
+"The Widow Becket," he answered, coolly.
+
+"What?" said the other, laughing. "Art thou so far in the good dame's
+graces, and yet would have me go to London and marry her?"
+
+"'Tis no laughing matter, Master Jack, as you may find out ere long,"
+the other said. "The good lady lent me the horse, 'tis true; else how
+could I have come all the way into Warwickshire?--ay, and lent me an
+angel or two to appease the villain landlords. I tell thee she is as
+bountiful as the day. Lord, what a house!--I'll take my oath that Master
+Butler hath a good fat capon and a bottle of claret each evening for his
+supper--if he have not, his face belieth him. And think you she would be
+niggard with Handsome Jack? Nay, but a gentleman must have his friends;
+ay, and his suppers at the tavern, when the play is over; and store of
+pieces in his purse to make you good company. Why, man, thy fame would
+spread through the Blackfriars, I warrant you: where is the hostess that
+would not simper and ogle and court'sy to Gentleman Jack, when that he
+came among them, slapping the purse in his pouch?"
+
+"'Tis a fair picture," his friend said. "Thy wits have been sharpened by
+thy long ride, Frank. And think you the buxom widow would consent, were
+one to make bold and ask her? Nay, nay; 'tis thy dire need hath driven
+thee to this excess of fancy."
+
+For answer Master Lloyd proceeded to bring forth a small box, which he
+opened, and took therefrom a finger ring. It was a man's ring, of
+massive setting; the stone of a deep blood-red, and graven with an
+intaglio of a Roman bust. He pushed it across the table.
+
+"The horse was lent," said he, darkly. "That--if it please you--you may
+keep and wear."
+
+"What mean you?" Leofric Hope said, in some surprise.
+
+"'I name no thing, and I mean no thing,'" said he, quoting a phrase
+from a popular ballad. "If you understand not, 'tis a pity. I may not
+speak more plainly. But bethink you that poor Frank Lloyd was not likely
+to have the means of purchasing thee such a pretty toy, much as he would
+like to please his old friend. Nay, canst thou not see, Jack? 'Tis a
+message, man! More I may not say. Take it and wear it, good lad; and
+come back boldly to London; and we will face the harpies, and live as
+free men, ere a fortnight be over. What?--must I speak? Nay, an' you
+understand not, I will tell no more."
+
+He understood well enough; and he sat for a second or two moodily
+regarding the ring; but he did not take it up. Then he rose from the
+table, and began to walk up and down the room.
+
+"Frank," said he, "couldst thou but see this wench----"
+
+"Nay, nay, spare me the catalogue," his friend answered, quickly. "I
+heard thee declare that Ben Jonson had no words to say how fair she was:
+would you better his description and overmaster him? And fair or not
+fair, 'tis all the same with thee; any petticoat can bewitch thee out of
+thy senses: Black Almaine or New Almaine may be the tune, but 'tis ever
+the same dance; and such a heaving of sighs and despair!--
+
+    'Thy gown was of the grassy green,
+      Thy sleeves of satin hanging by;
+    Which made thee be our harvest queen--
+      And yet thou wouldst not love me.'
+
+'Tis a pleasant pastime, friend Jack; but there comes an end. I know not
+which be the worse, wenches or usurers, for landing a poor lad in jail;
+but both together, Jack--and that is thy case--they are not like to let
+thee escape. 'Tis not to every one in such a plight there cometh a
+talisman like that pretty toy there: beshrew me, what a thing it is in
+this world to have a goodly presence!"
+
+He now rose from the table and went to the door, and called aloud for
+some one to bring him a light. When that was brought, and his pipe set
+going, he sat him down on the bench by the empty fire-place, for the
+seat seemed comfortable, and there he smoked with much content, while
+his friend continued to pace up and down the apartment, meditating over
+his own situation, and seemingly not over well pleased with the survey.
+
+Presently something in one of the pigeon-holes over the fire-place
+attracted the attention of the visitor; and having nothing better to do
+(for he would leave his friend time to ponder over what he had said), he
+rose and pulled forth a little bundle of sheets of paper that opened in
+his hand as he sat down again.
+
+"What's this, Jack?" said he. "Hast become playwright? Surely all of
+this preachment is not in praise of the fair damsel's eyebrows?"
+
+His friend turned round, saw what he had got hold of, and laughed.
+
+"That, now," said he, "were something to puzzle the wits with, were one
+free to go to London. I had some such jest in mind; but perchance 'twas
+more of idleness that made me copy out the play."
+
+"'Tis not yours, then? Whose?" said Master Frank Lloyd, looking over the
+pages with some curiosity.
+
+"Whose? Why, 'tis by one Will Shakespeare, that you may have heard of.
+Would it not puzzle them, Frank? Were it not a good jest, now, to lay it
+before some learned critic and ask his worship's opinion? Or to read it
+at the Silver Hind as of thy writing? Would not Dame Margery weep with
+joy? Out upon the Mermaid!--have we not poets of our own?"
+
+He had drawn near, and was looking down at the sheets that his friend
+was examining.
+
+"I tell thee this, Jack," the latter said, in his cool way, "there is
+more than a jest to be got out of a play by Will Shakespeare. Would not
+the booksellers give us the price of a couple of nags for it if we were
+pressed so far?"
+
+"Mind thine own business, fool!" was the angry rejoinder; and ere he
+knew what had happened his hands were empty.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+And at that same moment, away over there in Stratford town, Judith was
+in the garden, trying to teach little Bess Hall to dance, and merrily
+laughing the while. And when the dancing lesson was over she would try a
+singing lesson; and now the child was on Judith's shoulder, and had hold
+of her bonny sun-brown curls.
+
+"Well done, Bess; well done! Now again--
+
+    'The hunt is up--the hunt is up--
+    Awake, my lady dear!
+    O a morn in spring is the sweetest thing
+    Cometh in all the year!'
+
+Well done indeed! Will not my father praise thee, lass; and what more
+wouldst thou have for all thy pains?"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV.
+
+AN APPEAL.
+
+
+Great changes were in store. To begin with, there were rumors of her
+father being about to return to London. Then Dr. Hall was summoned away
+into Worcestershire by a great lady living there, who was continually
+fancying herself at the brink of death, and manifesting on such
+occasions a terror not at all in consonance with her professed assurance
+that she was going to a happier sphere. As it was possible that Dr. Hall
+would seize this opportunity to pay several other professional visits in
+the neighboring county, it was proposed that Susan and her daughter
+should come for a while to New Place, and that Judith should at the same
+time go and stay with her grandmother at Shottery, to cheer the old dame
+somewhat. And so it happened, on this July morning, that Judith's mother
+having gone round to see her elder daughter about all these
+arrangements, Judith found herself not only alone in the house, but, as
+rarely chanced, with nothing to do.
+
+She tried to extract some music from her sister's lute, but that was a
+failure; she tried half a dozen other things; and then it occurred to
+her--for the morning was fine and clear, and she was fond of the meadows
+and of open air and sunlight--that she would walk round to the grammar
+school and beg for a half-holiday for Willie Hart. He, as well as Bess
+Hall, was under her tuition; and there were things she could teach him
+of quite as much value (as she considered) as anything to be learned at
+a desk. At the same time, before going to meet the staring eyes of all
+those boys, she thought she might as well repair to her own room and
+smarten up her attire--even to the extent, perhaps, of putting on her
+gray beaver hat with the row of brass beads.
+
+That was not at all necessary. Nothing of the kind was needful to make
+Judith Shakespeare attractive and fascinating and wonderful to that
+crowd of lads. The fact was, the whole school of them were more or less
+secretly in love with her; and this, so far from procuring Willie Hart
+such bumps and thrashings that he might have received from a solitary
+rival, gained for him; on the contrary, a mysterious favor and
+good-will that showed itself in a hundred subtle ways. For he was in a
+measure the dispenser of Judith's patronage. When he was walking along
+the street with her he would tell her the name of this one or that of
+his companions (in case she had forgotten), and she would stop and speak
+to him kindly, and hope he was getting on well with his tasks. Also the
+other lads, on the strength of Willie Hart's intermediation, would now
+make bold to say, with great politeness, "Give ye good-morrow, Mistress
+Judith," when they met her, and sometimes she would pause for a moment
+and chat with one of them, and make some inquiries of him as to whether
+her cousin did not occasionally need a little help in his lessons from
+the bigger boys. Then there was a kind of fury of assistance instantly
+promised; and the youth would again remember his good manners, and bid
+her formally farewell, and go on his way, with his heart and his cheeks
+alike afire, and his brain gone a-dancing. Even that dread being, the
+head-master, had no frown for her when she went boldly up to his desk,
+in the very middle of the day's duties, to demand some favor. Nay, he
+would rather detain her with a little pleasant conversation, and would
+at times become almost facetious (at sight of which the spirits of the
+whole school rose into a seventh heaven of equanimity). And always she
+got what she wanted; and generally, before leaving, she would give one
+glance down the rows of oaken benches, singling out her friends here and
+there, and, alas! not thinking at all of the deadly wounds she was thus
+dealing with those lustrous and shining eyes.
+
+Well, on this morning she had no difficulty in rescuing her cousin from
+the dull captivity of the school-room; and hand in hand they went along
+and down to the river-side and to the meadows there. But seemingly she
+had no wish to get much farther from the town; for the truth was that
+she lacked assurance as yet that Master Leofric Hope had left that
+neighborhood; and she was distinctly of a mind to avoid all further
+communications with him until, if ever, he should be able to come
+forward openly and declare himself to the small world in which she
+lived. Accordingly she did not lead Willie Hart far along the river-side
+path; they rather kept to seeking about the banks and hedge-rows for
+wild flowers--the pink and white bells of the bind-weed she was mostly
+after, and these did not abound there--until at last they came to a
+stile; and there she sat down, and would have her cousin sit beside her,
+so that she should give him some further schooling as to all that he
+was to do and think and be in the coming years. She had far other things
+than Lilly's Grammar to teach him. The Sententiae Pueriles contained no
+instruction as to how, for example, a modest and well-conducted youth
+should approach his love-maiden to discover whether her heart was well
+inclined toward him. And although her timid-eyed pupil seemed to take
+but little interest in the fair creature that was thus being provided
+for him in the future, and was far more anxious to know how he was to
+win Judith's approval, either now or then, still he listened contentedly
+enough, for Judith's voice was soft and musical. Nay, he put that
+imaginary person out of his mind altogether. It was Judith, and Judith
+alone, whom he saw in these forecasts. Would he have any other supplant
+her in his dreams and visions of what was to be? This world around
+him--the smooth-flowing Avon, the wooded banks, the wide white skies,
+the meadows and fields and low-lying hills: was not she the very spirit
+and central life and light of all these? Without her, what would these
+be?--dead things; the mystery and wonder gone out of them; a world in
+darkness. But he could not think of that; the world he looked forward to
+was filled with light, for Judith was there, the touch of her hand as
+gentle as ever, her eyes still as kind.
+
+"So must you be accomplished at all points, sweetheart," she was
+continuing, "that you shame her not in any company, whatever the kind of
+it may be. If they be grave, and speak of the affairs of the realm, then
+must you know how the country is governed, as becomes a man (though,
+being a woman, alack! I cannot help you there), and you must have
+opinions about what is best for England, and be ready to uphold them,
+too. Then, if the company be of a gayer kind, again you shall not shame
+her, but take part in all the merriment; and if there be dancing, you
+shall not go to the door, and hang about like a booby; you must know the
+new dances, every one; for would you have your sweetheart dance with
+others, and you standing by? That were a spite, I take it, for both of
+you!--nay, would not the wench be angry to be so used? Let me see,
+now--what is the name of it?--the one that is danced to the tune of 'The
+Merchant's Daughter went over the Field?'--have I shown you that,
+sweetheart?"
+
+"I know not, Cousin Judith," said he.
+
+"Come, then," said she, blithely; and she took him by the hand and
+placed him opposite her in the meadow. "Look you, now, the four at the
+top cross hands--so (you must imagine the other two, sweetheart); and
+all go round once--so; and then they change hands, and go back the other
+way--so; and then each takes his own partner, and away they go round the
+circle, and back to their place. Is it not simple, cousin? Come, now,
+let us try properly."
+
+And so they began again; and for music she lightly hummed a verse of a
+song that was commonly sung to the same tune:
+
+    Maid, will you love me, yes or no?
+    Tell me the truth, and let me go.
+
+"The other hand, Willie--quick!"
+
+    It can be no less than a sinful deed
+        (Trust me truly)
+    To linger a lover that looks to speed
+        (In due time duly).
+
+"Why, is it not simple!" she said, laughing. "But now, instead of
+crossing hands, I think it far the prettier way that they should hold
+their hands up together--so: shall we try it, sweetheart?"
+
+And then she had to sing another verse of the ballad:
+
+    Consider, sweet, what sighs and sobs
+    Do nip my heart with cruel throbs,
+    And all, my dear, for the love of you
+        (Trust me truly);
+    But I hope that you will some mercy show
+        (In due time duly).
+
+"And then," she continued, when they had finished that laughing
+rehearsal, "should the fiddles begin to squeal and screech--which is as
+much as to say, 'Now, all of you, kiss your partners!'--then shall you
+not bounce forward and seize the wench by the neck, as if you were a
+ploughboy besotted with ale, and have her hate thee for destroying her
+head-gear and her hair. No, you shall come forward in this manner, as if
+to do her great courtesy, and you shall take her hand and bend one
+knee--and make partly a jest of it, but not altogether a jest--and then
+you shall kiss her hand, and rise and retire. Think you the maiden will
+not be proud that you have shown her so much honor and respect in
+public?--ay, and when she and you are thereafter together, by
+yourselves, I doubt not but that she may be willing to make up to you
+for your forbearance and courteous treatment of her. Marry, with that I
+have naught to do; 'tis as the heart of the wench may happen to be
+inclined; though you may trust me she will be well content that you show
+her other than ale-house manners; and if 'tis but a matter of a kiss
+that you forego, because you would pay her courtesy in public, why,
+then, as I say, she may make that up to thee, or she is no woman else. I
+wonder, now, what the Bonnybel will be like--or tall, or dark, or
+fair----"
+
+"I wish never to see her, Judith," said he, simply.
+
+However, there was to be no further discussion of this matter, nor yet
+greensward rehearsals of dancing; for they now descried coming to them
+the little maid who waited on Judith's grandmother. She seemed in a
+hurry, and had a basket over her arm.
+
+"How now, little Cicely?" Judith said, as she drew near.
+
+"I have sought you everywhere, so please you, Mistress Judith," the
+little maid said, breathlessly, "for I was coming in to the town--on
+some errands--and--and I met the stranger gentleman that came once or
+twice to the house--and--and he would have me carry a message to
+you----"
+
+"Prithee, good lass," said Judith, instantly, and with much composure,
+"go thy way back home. I wish for no message."
+
+"He seemed in sore distress," the little maid said, diffidently.
+
+"How, then? Did a gentleman of his tall inches seek help from such a
+mite as thou?"
+
+"He would fain see you, sweet mistress, and but for a moment," the girl
+answered, being evidently desirous of getting the burden of the message
+off her mind. "He bid me say he would be in the lane going to Bidford,
+or thereabout, for the next hour or two, and would crave a word with
+you--out of charity, the gentleman said, or something of the like--and
+that it might be the last chance of seeing you ere he goes, and that I
+was to give his message to you very secretly."
+
+Well, she scarcely knew what to do. At their last interview he had
+pleaded for another opportunity of saying farewell to her, and she had
+not definitely refused; but, on the other hand, she would much rather
+have seen nothing further of him in these present circumstances. His
+half-reckless references to Prince Ferdinand undergoing any kind of
+hardship for the sake of winning the fair Miranda were of a dangerous
+cast. She did not wish to meet him on that ground at all, even to have
+her suspicions removed. But if he were really in distress? And this his
+last day in the neighborhood? It seemed a small matter to grant.
+
+"What say you, Cousin Willie?" said she, good-naturedly. "Shall we go
+and see what the gentleman would have of us? I cannot, unless with thee
+as my shield and champion."
+
+"If you wish it, Cousin Judith," said he: what would he not do that she
+wished?
+
+"And Cicely--shall we all go?"
+
+"Nay, so please you, Mistress Judith," the girl said; "I have to go back
+for my errands. I have been running everywhere to seek you."
+
+"Then, Willie, come along," said she, lightly. "We must get across the
+fields to the Evesham road."
+
+And so the apple-cheeked little maiden trudged back to the town with her
+basket, while Judith and her companion went on their way across the
+meadows. There was a kind of good-humored indifference in her consent,
+though she felt anxious that the interview should be as brief as
+possible. She had had more time of late to think over all the events
+that had recently happened--startling events enough in so quiet and even
+a life; and occasionally she bethought her of the wizard, and of the odd
+coincidence of her meeting this young gentleman at the very spot that
+had been named. She had tried to laugh aside certain recurrent doubts
+and surmises, and was only partially successful. And she had a vivid
+recollection of the relief she had experienced when their last interview
+came to an end.
+
+"You must gather me some flowers, sweetheart," said she, "while I am
+speaking to this gentleman; perchance he may have something to say of
+his own private affairs."
+
+"I will go on to your grandmother's garden," said he, "if you wish it,
+Cousin Judith, and get you the flowers there."
+
+"Indeed, no," she answered, patting him on the shoulder. "Would you
+leave me without my champion? Nay, but if you stand aside a little, that
+the gentleman may speak in confidence, if that be his pleasure, surely
+that will be enough."
+
+They had scarcely entered the lane when he made his appearance, and the
+moment she set eyes on him she saw that something had happened. His face
+seemed haggard and anxious--nay, his very manner was changed; where was
+the elaborate courtesy with which he had been wont to approach her?
+
+"Judith," said he, hurriedly, "I must risk all now. I must speak plain.
+I--I scarce hoped you would give me the chance."
+
+But she was in no alarm.
+
+"Now, sweetheart," said she, calmly, to the little lad, "you may get me
+the flowers; and if you find any more of the bind-weed bells and the St.
+John's wort, so much the better."
+
+Then she turned to Master Leofric Hope.
+
+"I trust you have had no ill news," said she, but in a kind way.
+
+"Indeed, I have. Well, I know not which way to take it," he said, in a
+sort of desperate fashion. "It might be good news. But I am hard
+pressed; 'twill be sink or swim with me presently. Well, there is one
+way of safety opened to me: 'tis for you to say whether I shall take it
+or not."
+
+"I, sir?" she said; and she was so startled that she almost recoiled a
+step.
+
+"Nay, but first I must make a confession," said he, quickly, "whatever
+comes of it. Think of me what you will, I will tell you the truth. Shall
+I beg for your forgiveness beforehand?"
+
+He was regarding her earnestly and anxiously, and there was nothing but
+kindness and a dim expression of concern in his honest, frank face and
+in the beautiful eyes.
+
+"No, I will not," he said. "Doubtless you will be angry, and with just
+cause; and you will go away. Well, this is the truth. The devils of
+usurers were after me; I had some friends not far from here; I escaped
+to them; and they sought out this hiding for me. Then I had heard of
+you--you will not forgive me, but this is the truth--I had heard of your
+beauty; and Satan himself put it into my head that I must see you. I
+thought it would be a pastime, to while away this cursed hiding, if I
+could get to know you without discovering myself. I sent you a message.
+I was myself the wizard. Heaven is my witness that when I saw you at the
+corner of the field up there, and heard you speak, and looked on your
+gracious and gentle ways, remorse went to my heart; but how could I
+forego seeking to see you again? It was a stupid jest. It was begun in
+thoughtlessness; but now the truth is before you: I was myself the
+wizard; and--and my name is not Leofric Hope, but John Orridge--a
+worthless poor devil that is ashamed to stand before you."
+
+Well, the color had mounted to her face: for she saw clearly the
+invidious position that this confession had placed her in; but she was
+far less startled than he had expected. She had already regarded this
+trick as a possible thing, and she had also fully considered what she
+ought to do in such circumstances. Now, when the circumstances were
+actually laid before her, she made no display of wounded pride, or of
+indignant anger, or anything of the kind.
+
+"I pray you," said she, with a perfect and simple dignity, "pass from
+that. I had no such firm belief in the wizard's prophecies. I took you
+as you represented yourself to be, a stranger, met by chance, one who
+was known to my father's friends, and who was in misfortune; and if I
+have done aught beyond what I should have done in such a pass, I trust
+you will put it down to our country manners, that are perchance less
+guarded than those of the town."
+
+For an instant--there was not the slightest doubt of it--actual tears
+stood in the young man's eyes.
+
+"By heavens," he exclaimed, "I think you must be the noblest creature
+God ever made! You do not drive me away in scorn; you have no
+reproaches? And I--to be standing here--telling you such a tale----"
+
+"I pray you, sir, pass from that," said she. "What of your own fortune?
+You are quitting the neighborhood?"
+
+"But how can you believe me in anything, since you know how I have
+deceived you?" said he, as if he could not understand how she should
+make no sign of her displeasure.
+
+"'Twas but a jest, as you say," she answered, good-naturedly, but still
+with a trifle of reserve. "And no harm has come of it. I would leave it
+aside, good sir."
+
+"Harm?" said he, regarding her with a kind of anxious timidity. "That
+may or may not be, sweet lady, as time will show. If I dared but speak
+to you--well, bethink you of my meeting you here from day to day, in
+these quiet retreats, and seeing such a sweetness and beauty and
+womanliness as I have never met in the world before--such a wonder of
+gentleness and kindness----"
+
+"I would ask you to spare me these compliments," said she, simply. "I
+thought 'twas some serious matter you had in hand."
+
+"Serious enough i' faith!" he said, in an altered tone, as if she had
+recalled him to a sense of the position in which he stood. "But there is
+the one way out of it, after all. I can sell my life away for money to
+pacify those fiends; nay, besides that, I should live in abundance,
+doubtless, and be esteemed a most fortunate gentleman, and one to be
+envied. A gilded prison-house and slavery; but what would the fools
+think of that if they saw me with a good fat purse at the tavern?"
+
+Again he regarded her.
+
+"There is another way yet, however, if I must needs trouble you, dear
+Mistress Judith, with my poor affairs. What if I were to break with that
+accursed London altogether, and go off and fight my way in another
+country, as many a better man hath done? ay, and there be still one or
+two left who would help me to escape if they saw me on the way to
+reform, as they would call it. And what would I not do in that way--ay,
+or in any way--if I could hope for a certain prize to be won at the end
+of it all?"
+
+"And that, good sir?"
+
+"That," said he, watching her face--"the reward that would be enough and
+more than enough for all I might suffer would be just this--to find
+Judith Shakespeare coming to meet me in this very lane."
+
+"Oh, no, sir," was her immediate and incoherent exclamation; and then
+she promptly pulled herself together, and said, with some touch of
+pride: "Indeed, good sir, you talk wildly. I scarce understand how you
+can be in such grave trouble."
+
+"Then," said he, and he was rather pale, and spoke slowly, "it would be
+no manner of use for any poor Ferdinand of these our own days to go
+bearing logs or suffering any hardships that might arise? There would be
+no Miranda waiting for him, after all?"
+
+She colored deeply; she could not affect to misunderstand the repeated
+allusion; and all she had in her mind now was to leave him and get away
+from him, and yet without unkindness or anger.
+
+"Good sir," said she, with such equanimity as she could muster, "if that
+be your meaning--if that be why you wished to see me again--and no mere
+continuance of an idle jest, plain speech will best serve our turn. I
+trust no graver matters occupy your mind; as for this, you must put
+that away. It was with no thought of any such thing that I--that I met
+you once or twice, and--and lent you such reading as might pass the time
+for you. And perchance I was too free in that, and in my craving to hear
+of my father and his friends in London, and the rest. But what you say
+now, if I understand you aright--well, I had no thought of any such
+thing. Indeed, good sir, if I have done wrong in listening to you about
+my father's friends, 'twas in the hope that soon or late you would
+continue the tale in my father's house. But now--what you say--bids me
+to leave you--and yet in no anger--for in truth I wish you well."
+
+She gave him her hand, and he held it for a moment.
+
+"Is this your last word, Judith?" said he.
+
+"Yes, yes, indeed," she answered, rather breathlessly and earnestly. "I
+may not see you again. I pray Heaven your troubles may soon be over; and
+perchance you may meet my father in London, and become one of his
+friends; then might I hear of your better fortunes. 'Twould be welcome
+news, believe me. And now fare you well."
+
+He stooped to touch her hand with his lips; but he said not a word; and
+she turned away without raising her eyes. He stood there motionless and
+silent, watching her and the little boy as they walked along the lane
+toward the village--regarding them in an absent kind of way, and yet
+with no great expression of sadness or hopelessness in his face. Then he
+turned and made for the highway to Bidford; and he was saying to himself
+as he went along:
+
+"Well, there goes one chance in life, for good or ill. And what if I had
+been more persistent? What if she had consented, or even half consented,
+or said that in the future I might come back with some small modicum of
+hope? Nay: the devil only knows where I should get logs to carry for the
+winning of so fair a reward. Frank Lloyd is right. My case is too
+desperate. So fare you well, sweet maiden; keep you to your quiet
+meadows and your wooded lanes: and the clown that will marry you will
+give you a happier life than ever you could have had with Jack Orridge
+and his broken fortunes."
+
+Indeed, he seemed in no downcast mood. As he walked along the highway he
+was absently watching the people in the distant fields, or idly
+whistling the tune of "Calen o Custure me." But by and by, as he drew
+near the farm, his face assumed a more sombre look; and when, coming
+still nearer, he saw Frank Lloyd calmly standing at the door of the
+stables, smoking his pipe, there was a sullen frown on his forehead that
+did not promise well for the cheerfulness of that journey to London
+which Master Lloyd had sworn he would not undertake until his friend was
+ready to accompany him.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+TO LONDON TOWN.
+
+
+But that was not the departure for London which was soon to bring Judith
+a great heaviness of heart, and cause many a bitter fit of crying when
+that she was lying awake o' nights. She would rather have let all her
+lovers go, and welcome, a hundred times over. But, as the days passed,
+it became more and more evident, from certain preparations, that her
+father was about to leave Stratford for the south, and finally the very
+moment was fixed. Judith strove to keep a merry face (for so she had
+been bid), but again and again she was on the point of going to him and
+falling on her knees and begging him to remain with them. She knew that
+he would laugh at her; but did he quite know what going away from them
+meant? And the use of it? Had they not abundance? Still, she was afraid
+of being chid for meddling in matters beyond her; and so she went about
+her duties with as much cheerfulness as she could assume; though, when
+in secret conclave with Prudence, and talking of this, and what the
+house would be like when he was gone, quiet tears would steal down her
+face in the dusk.
+
+To suit the convenience of one or two neighbors, who were also going to
+London, the day of departure had been postponed; but at last the fatal
+morning arrived. Judith, from an early hour, was on the watch, trying to
+get some opportunity of saying good-by to her father by herself (and not
+before all the strangers who would soon be gathering together), but
+always she was defeated, for he was busy in-doors with many things, and
+every one was lending a helping hand. Moreover, she was in an excited
+and trembling state; and more than once she had to steal away to her
+chamber and bathe her eyes with water lest that they should tell any
+tale when he regarded her. But the climax of her misfortunes was this.
+When the hour for leaving was drawing nigh she heard him go out and into
+the garden, doubtless with the intention of locking up the cupboard in
+the summer-house; and so she presently and swiftly stole out after him,
+thinking that now would be her chance. Alas! the instant she had passed
+through the back-court door she saw that Matthew gardener had
+forestalled her; and not only that, but he had brought a visitor with
+him--the master constable, Grandfather Jeremy, whom she knew well. Anger
+filled her heart; but there was no time to stand on her dignity. She
+would not retire from the field. She walked forward boldly, and stood by
+her father's side, as much as to say: "Well, this is my place. What do
+you want? Why this intrusion at such a time?"
+
+Grandfather Jeremy was a little, thin, round-shouldered ancient, with
+long, straggling gray hair, and small, shrewd, ferret-like eyes that
+kept nervously glancing from Judith's father to goodman Matthew, who had
+obviously introduced him on this occasion. Indeed, the saturnine visage
+of the gardener was overspread with a complacent grin, as though he were
+saying, "Look you there, zur, there be a rare vool." Judith's father, on
+the other hand, showed no impatience over this interruption; he kept
+waiting for the old man to recover his power of speech.
+
+"Well, now, master constable, what would you?" he said gently.
+
+"Why can't 'ee tell his worship, Jeremy?" Matthew gardener said, in his
+superior and facetious fashion, "Passion o' me, man, thy tongue will wag
+fast enough at Mother Tooley's ale-house."
+
+"It wur a contrevarsie, so please your worship," the ancient constable
+said, but with a kind of vacant stare, as if he were half lost in
+looking back into his memory.
+
+"Ay, and with whom?" said Judith's father, to help him along.
+
+"With my poor old woman, so please your worship. She be a poor, mean
+creature in your honor's eyes, I make no doubt; but she hath wisdom, she
+hath, and a strength in contrevarsie past most. Lord, Lord, why be I
+standing here now--and holding your worship--and your worship's time and
+necessities--but that she saith, 'Jeremy, put thy better leg avore;'
+'speak out,' saith she; ''twur as good for thee as a half-ox in a pie,
+or a score of angels in thy pouch.' 'Speak out,' she saith, 'and be not
+afraid, Jeremy.'"
+
+"But, master constable," said Judith's father, "if your good dame be
+such a Mary Ambree in argument, she should have furnished you with fewer
+words and more matter. What would you?"
+
+"Nay, zur, I be as bold as most," said the constable, pulling up his
+courage, and also elevating his head somewhat with an air of authority.
+"I can raise hue and cry in the hundred, that can I; and if the watch
+bring me a rogue, he shall lie by the heels, or I am no true man. But
+Lord, zur, have pity on a poor man that be put forward to speak for a
+disputation. When they wur talking of it at furst, your worship--this
+one and the other, and all of them to once--and would have me go forward
+to speak for them, 'Zure,' says I, 'I would as lief go to a bride-ale
+with my legs swaddled in wisps as go avore Mahster Shaksper without a
+power o' voine words.' But Joan, she saith, 'Jeremy, fear no man,
+howsoever great, for there be but the one Lord over us all; perzent
+thyself like a true countryman and an honest officer; take thy courage
+with thee,' saith she; 'and remember thou speakest vor thy friends as
+well as vor thyself. 'Tis a right good worshipful gentleman,' she saith,
+meaning yourself, sweet Mahster Shaksper; 'and will a not give us a
+share?'"
+
+"In Heaven's name, man," said Judith's father, laughing, "what would
+you? Had Joan no clearer message to give you?"
+
+"I but speak her words, so please your worship," said the ancient
+constable, with the air of one desperately trying to recall a lesson
+that had been taught him. "And all of them--they wur zaying as how she
+hath a power o' wisdom--and, 'Jeremy,' she saith, 'be not overbold with
+the worthy gentleman; 'tis but a share; and he be a right worthy and
+civil gentleman; speak him fair, Jeremy,' she saith, 'and put thy better
+leg avore, and acquit thee as a man. Nay, be bold,' she saith, 'and
+think of thy vriends, that be waiting without for an answer. Think of
+them, Jeremy,' she saith, 'if thy speech fail thee. 'Tis but a share;
+'tis but a share; and he a right worshipful and civil gentleman.'"
+
+Judith's father glanced at the sun-dial on the gable of the barn.
+
+"My good friend," said he, "I hear that your wife Joan is ailing; 'tis
+through no lack of breath, I warrant me. An you come not to the point
+forthwith, I must be gone. What would you? Or what would your good dame
+have of me?--for there we shall get to it more quickly."
+
+"So please you, zur," said Matthew, with his complacent grin, "the
+matter be like this, now: this worthy master constable and his comrades
+of the watch, they wur laying their heads together like; and they have
+heard say that you have written of them, and taken of their wisdom the
+couple o' nights they wur brought in to supper; and they see as how you
+have grown rich, so please you, zur, with such writing----"
+
+"A vast o' money--a vast o' money and lands," the other murmured.
+
+"And now, zur, they would make bold to ask for their share, for the help
+that they have given you. Nay, zur," continued Matthew gardener, who was
+proud of the ease with which he could put into words the inarticulate
+desires of this good constable, "be not angry with worthy Jeremy; he but
+speaketh for the others, and for his wife Joan too, that be as full of
+courage as any of them, and would have come to your worship but that she
+be sore troubled with an ague. Lord, zur, I know not how much the worthy
+gentlemen want. Perchance good Jeremy would be content wi' the barn and
+the store of malt in the malt-house----"
+
+At this the small deep eyes of the ancient began to twinkle nervously;
+and he glanced in an anxious way from one to the other.
+
+"And the watch, now," continued Matthew grinning, and regarding the old
+constable; "why, zur, they be poor men; 'twould go well with them to
+divide amongst them the store of good wine in the cellar, and perchance
+also the leather hangings that be so much talked of in the town. But
+hark you, good Jeremy, remember this, now--that whoever hath the garden
+and orchard fall to his lot must pay me my wages, else 'tis no bargain."
+
+For the first time in her life Judith saw her father in a passion of
+anger. His color did not change; but there was a strange look about his
+mouth, and his eyes blazed.
+
+"Thou cursed fool," he said to the gardener, "'tis thou hast led these
+poor men into this folly." And then he turned to the bewildered
+constable, and took him by the arm. "Come, good friend," said he, in a
+kindly way, "come into the house and I will explain these matters to
+thee. Thou hast been mislead by that impudent knave--by my life, I will
+settle that score with him ere long; and in truth the aid that you and
+your comrades have given me is chiefly that we have passed a pleasant
+evening or two together, and been merry or wise as occasion offered. And
+I would have you spend such another to-night among yourselves, leaving
+the charges at the ale-house to me; and for the present, if I may not
+divide my store of wine among you, 'tis no reason why you and I should
+not have a parting cup ere I put hand to bridle----"
+
+That was all that Judith heard; and then she turned to the ancient wise
+man and said, coolly,
+
+"Were I in thy place, good Matthew, I would get me out of this garden,
+and out of Stratford town too, ere my father come back." And Matthew was
+too frightened to answer her.
+
+The outcome of all this, however, was that Judith's father did not
+return to the garden; and when she went into the house she found that he
+had taken such time to explain to Jeremy constable how small a share in
+his writings had been contributed by these good people that certain of
+the members of the expedition bound for London had already arrived.
+Indeed, their horses and attendants were at the door; and all and
+everything was in such a state of confusion and uproar that Judith saw
+clearly she had no chance of saying a quiet good-by to her father all by
+herself. But was she to be again balked by goodman Matthew? She thought
+not. She slipped away by the back door and disappeared.
+
+There was quite a little crowd gathered to see the cavalcade move off.
+Dr. Hall was not there, but Tom Quiney was--bringing with him as a
+parting gift for Judith's father a handsome riding-whip; and the worthy
+parson Blaise had also appeared, though there was no opportunity for his
+professional services amid so much bustle. And then there were
+hand-shakings and kissings and farewells; and Judith's father was just
+about to put his foot in the stirrup, when Susanna called out:
+
+"But where is Judith? Is she not coming to say good-by to my father?"
+
+Then there were calls for Judith, here, there, and everywhere, but no
+answer; and her mother was angry that the girl should detain all this
+assemblage. But her father, not having mounted, went rapidly through the
+house, and just opened the door leading into the garden. The briefest
+glance showed him that the mastiff was gone. Then he hurried back.
+
+"'Tis all well, good mother," said he, as he got into the saddle. "I
+shall see the wench ere I go far. I know her tricks."
+
+So the company moved away from the house, and through the streets, and
+down to Clopton's bridge. Once over the bridge, they struck to the
+right, taking the Oxford road by Shipston and Enstone; and ere they had
+gone far along the highway, Judith's father, who seemed less to join in
+the general hilarity and high spirits of the setting out than to be
+keeping a watch around, perceived something in the distance--at a corner
+where there was a high bank behind some trees--that caused him to laugh
+slightly, and to himself. When they were coming near this corner the
+figure that had been on the sky-line had disappeared; but down by the
+road-side was Judith herself, looking very tremulous and ashamed as all
+these people came along, and the great Don standing by her. Her father,
+who had some knowledge of her ways, bade them all ride on, and then he
+turned his horse, and sprang down from the saddle.
+
+"Well, wench," said he, and he took her by the shoulders, "what brings
+you here?"
+
+In answer, she could only burst into tears, and hide her face in his
+breast.
+
+"Why, lass," said he, "what is a journey to London? And have you not
+enough left to comfort you? Have you not sweethearts a plenty?"
+
+But she could not speak; she only sobbed and sobbed.
+
+"Come, come, lass, I must be going," said he, stroking the soft brown
+hair. "Cheer up. Wouldst thou spoil the prettiest eyes in Warwickshire?
+Nay, an thou have not a right merry and beaming face when I come again,
+I will call thee no daughter of mine."
+
+Then she raised her head--for still she could not speak--and he kissed
+her.
+
+"Heaven's blessings on thee, good wench! I think 'tis the last time I
+shall ever have the courage to leave thee. Fare you well, sweetheart;
+keep your eyes bright and your face happy--to draw me home again."
+
+Then she kissed him on each cheek, and he got into the saddle and rode
+on. She climbed up to the top of the bank, and watched him and his
+companions while they were still in sight, and then she turned to go
+slowly homeward.
+
+And it seemed to her, when she came in view of Stratford, and looked
+down on the wide meadows and the placid river and the silent
+homesteads, that a sort of winter had already fallen over the land. That
+long summer had been very beautiful to her--full of sunlight and color
+and the scent of flowers; but now a kind of winter was come, and a
+sadness and loneliness; and the days and days that would follow each
+other seemed to have no longer any life in them.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII.
+
+EVIL TIDINGS.
+
+
+But a far sharper winter than any she had thought of was now about to
+come upon her, and this was how it befell:
+
+After the departure of her father, good Master Walter Blaise became more
+and more the guide and counsellor of these women-folk; and indeed New
+Place was now given over to meetings for prayer and worship, and was
+also become the head-quarters in the town for the entertainment of
+travelling preachers, and for the institution of all kinds of pious and
+charitable undertakings. There was little else for the occupants of it
+to do: the head of the house was in London; Judith was at Shottery with
+her grandmother; Susanna was relieved from much of her own domestic
+cares by the absence of her husband in Worcestershire; and the bailiff
+looked after all matters pertaining to the farm. Indeed, so constant
+were these informal services and ministerings to pious travellers that
+Julius Shawe (though not himself much given in that direction, and
+perhaps mostly to please his sister) felt bound to interfere and offer
+to open his house on occasion, or pay part of the charges incurred
+through this kindly hospitality. Nay, he went privately to Master Blaise
+and threw out some vague hints as to the doubtful propriety of allowing
+a wife, in the absence of her husband, to be so ready with her charity.
+Now Master Blaise was an honest and straightforward man, and he met this
+charge boldly and openly. He begged of Master Shawe to come to New Place
+that very afternoon, when two or three of the neighbors were to assemble
+to hear him lecture; and both Prudence and her brother went. But before
+the lecture, the parson observed that he had had a case of conscience
+put before him--as to the giving of alms and charity, by whom, for whom
+and on whose authority--which he would not himself decide. The whole
+matter, he observed, had been pronounced upon in the holiday lectures of
+that famous divine Master William Perkins, who was now gone to his
+eternal reward; these lectures having recently been given to the world
+by the aid of one Thomas Pickering, of Emmanuel College, Cambridge. And
+very soon it appeared, as the young parson read from the little
+parchment-covered book, that the passages he quoted had been carefully
+chosen and were singularly pertinent. For after a discourse on the duty
+of almsgiving, as enjoined by Scripture (and it was pointed out that
+Christ himself had lived on alms--"not by begging, as the Papists
+affirm, but by the voluntary ministration and contribution of some to
+whom he preached"), Master Blaise read on, with an occasional glance at
+Julius Shawe: "'It may be asked whether the wife may give alms without
+the consent of her husband, considering that she is in subjection to
+another, and therefore all that she hath is another's, and not her own.
+Answer. The wife may give alms of some things, but with these cautions:
+as, first, she may give of those goods that she hath excepted from
+marriage. Secondly, she may give of those things which are common to
+them both, provided it be with the husband's consent, at least general
+and implicit. Thirdly, she may not give without or against the consent
+of her husband. And the reason is, because both the law of nature and
+the word of God command her obedience to her husband in all things. If
+it be alleged that Joanna, the wife of Chuza, Herod's steward, with
+others, did minister to Christ of their goods (Luke viii., 3), I answer:
+It is to be presumed that it was not done without all consent. Again, if
+it be said that Abigail brought a present to David for the relief of him
+and his young men, whereof she made not Nabal, her husband, acquainted
+(1 Sam. xxv., 19), I answer, it is true, but mark the reason. Nabal was
+generally of a churlish and unmerciful disposition, whereupon he was
+altogether unwilling to yield relief to any, in how great necessity
+soever; whence it was that he railed on the young men that came to him,
+and drove them away, ver. 14. Again, he was a foolish man, and given to
+drunkenness, so as he was not fit to govern his house or to dispense his
+alms. Besides, that Abigail was a woman of great wisdom in all her
+actions, and that which she now did was to save Nabal's and her own
+life--yea, the lives of his whole family; for the case was desperate,
+and all that they had were in present hazard. The example, therefore,
+is no warrant for any woman to give alms, unless it be in the like
+case.'" And then he summed up in a few words, saying, in effect, that as
+regards the question which had been put before him, it was for the wife
+to say whether she had her husband's general and implied consent to her
+pious expenditure, and to rule her accordingly.
+
+This completely and forever shut Julius Shawe's mouth. For he knew, and
+they all knew, that Judith's father was well content that any preachers
+or divines coming to the house should be generously received; while he
+on his part claimed a like privilege in the entertainment of any vagrant
+person or persons (especially if they were making a shift to live by
+their wits) whom he might chance to meet. Strict economy in all other
+things was the rule of the household; in the matter of hospitality the
+limits were wide. And if Judith's mother half guessed, and if Susanna
+Hall shrewdly perceived, why this topic had been introduced, and why
+Julius Shawe had been asked to attend the lecture, the subject was one
+that brought no sting to their conscience. If the whole question rested
+on the general and implied consent of the husband, Judith's mother had
+naught to tax herself with.
+
+After that there was no further remonstrance (of however gentle and
+underhand a kind) on the part of Julius Shawe; and more and more did
+Parson Blaise become the guide, instructor, and mainstay of the
+household. They were women-folk, some of them timid, all of them pious,
+and they experienced a sense of comfort and safety in submitting to his
+spiritual domination. As for his disinterestedness, there could be no
+doubt of that; for now Judith was away at Shottery, and he could no
+longer pay court to her in that authoritative fashion of his. It seemed
+as if he were quite content to be with these others, bringing them the
+news of the day, especially as regarded the religious dissensions that
+were everywhere abroad, arranging for the welcoming of this or that
+faithful teacher on his way through the country, getting up meetings for
+prayer and profitable discourse in the afternoon, or sitting quietly
+with them in the evening while they went on with their tasks of
+dress-making or embroidery.
+
+And so it came about that Master Walter was in the house one
+morning--they were seated at dinner, indeed, and Prudence was also of
+the company--when a letter was brought in and handed to Judith's
+mother. It was an unusual thing; and all saw by the look of it that it
+was from London; and all were eager for the news, the good parson as
+well as any. There was not a word said as Judith's mother, with fingers
+that trembled a little from mere anticipation, opened the large sheet,
+and began to read to herself across the closely written lines. And then,
+as they waited, anxious for the last bit of tidings about the King or
+the Parliament or what not, they could not fail to observe a look of
+alarm come into the reader's face.
+
+"Oh, Susan," she said, in a way that startled them, "what is this?"
+
+She read on, breathless and stunned, her face grown quite pale now; and
+at last she stretched out her shaking hand with the letter in it.
+
+"Susan, Susan, take it. I cannot understand it. I cannot read more. Oh,
+Susan, what has the girl done?"
+
+And she turned aside her chair, and began to cry stealthily; she was not
+a strong-nerved woman, and she had gathered but a vague impression that
+something terrible and irrevocable had occurred.
+
+Susan was alarmed, no doubt; but she had plenty of self-command. She
+took the letter, and proceeded as swiftly as she could to get at the
+contents of it. Then she looked up in a frightened way at the parson, as
+if to judge in her own mind as to how far he should be trusted in this
+matter. And then she turned to the letter again--in a kind of despair.
+
+"Mother," said she at last, "I understand no more than yourself what
+should be done. To think that all this should have been going on, and we
+knowing naught of it! But you see what my father wants; that is the
+first thing. Who is to go to Judith?"
+
+At the mere mention of Judith's name a flash of dismay went to
+Prudence's heart. She knew that something must have happened; she at
+once bethought her of Judith's interviews with the person in hiding; and
+she was conscious of her own guilty connivance and secrecy; so that the
+blood rushed to her face, and she sat there dreading to know what was
+coming.
+
+"Mother," Susan said again, and rather breathlessly, "do you not think,
+in such a pass, we might beg Master Blaise to give us of his advice? The
+Doctor being from home, who else is there?"
+
+"Nay, if I can be of any service to you or yours, good Mistress Hall, I
+pray you have no scruple in commanding me," said the parson--with his
+clear and keen gray eyes calmly waiting for information.
+
+Judith's mother was understood to give her consent; and then Susan
+(after a moment's painful hesitation) took up the letter.
+
+"Indeed, good sir," said she, with an embarrassment that she rarely
+showed, "you will see there is reason for our perplexity, and--and I
+pray you be not too prompt to think ill of my sister. Perchance there
+may be explanations, or the story wrongly reported. In good truth, sir,
+my father writes in no such passion of anger as another might in such a
+pass, though 'tis but natural he should be sorely troubled and vexed."
+
+Again she hesitated, being somewhat unnerved and bewildered by what she
+had just been reading. She was trying to recall things, to measure
+possibilities, to overcome her amazement, all at once. And then she knew
+that the parson was coolly regarding her, and she strove to collect her
+wits.
+
+"This, good sir, is the manner of it," said she, in as calm a way as she
+could assume, "that my father and his associates have but recently made
+a discovery that concerns them much, and is even a disaster to them;
+'tis no less than that a copy of my father's last written play--the very
+one, indeed, that he finished ere leaving Stratford--hath lately been
+sold, they scarce know by whom as yet, to a certain bookseller in
+London, and that the bookseller is either about to print it and sell it,
+or threatens to do so. They all of them, my father says, are grievously
+annoyed by this, for that the publishing of the play will satisfy many
+who will read it at home instead of coming to the theatre, and that thus
+the interests of himself and his associates will suffer gravely. I am
+sorry, good sir, to trouble you with such matters," she added, with a
+glance of apology, "but they come more near home to us than you might
+think."
+
+"I have offered to you my service in all things--that befit my office,"
+said Master Walter, but with a certain reserve, as if he did not quite
+like the course that matters were taking.
+
+"And then," continued Susan, glancing at the writing before her, "my
+father says that they were much perplexed (having no right at law to
+stop such a publication), and made inquiries as to how any such copy
+could have found its way into the bookseller's hands; whereupon he
+discovered that which hath grieved him far more than the trouble about
+the play. Prudence, you are her nearest gossip; it cannot be true!" she
+exclaimed; and she turned to the young maiden, whose face was no longer
+pale and thoughtful, but rose-colored with shame and alarm. "For he says
+'tis a story that is now everywhere abroad in London--and a laugh and a
+jest at the taverns--how that one Jack Orridge came down to
+Warwickshire, and made believe to be a wizard, and cozened
+Judith--Judith, Prudence, our Judith!--heard ye ever the like?--into a
+secret love affair; and that she gave him a copy of the play as one of
+her favors----"
+
+"Truly, now, that is false on the face of it," said Master Blaise,
+appositely. "That is a tale told by some one who knows not that Judith
+hath no skill of writing."
+
+"Oh, 'tis too bewildering!" Susan said, as she turned again to the
+letter in a kind of despair. "But to have such a story going about
+London--about Judith--about my sister Judith--how can you wonder that my
+father should write in haste and in anger? That she should meet this
+young man day after day at a farm-house near to Bidford, and in secret,
+and listen to his stories of the court, believing him to be a worthy
+gentleman in misfortune! A worthy gentleman truly!--to come and make
+sport of a poor country maiden, and teach her to deceive her father and
+all of us, not one of us knowing--not one----"
+
+"Susan! Susan!" Prudence cried, in an agony of grief, "'tis not as you
+think. 'Tis not as it is written there. I will confess the truth. I
+myself knew of the young man being in the neighborhood, and how he came
+to be acquainted with Judith. And she never was at any farm-house to
+meet him, that I know well, but--but he was alone, and in trouble, he
+said, and she was sorry for him, and durst not speak to any one but me.
+Nay, if there be aught wrong, 'twas none of her doing, that I know: as
+to the copy of the play, I am ignorant; but 'twas none of her doing.
+Susan, you think too harshly--indeed you do."
+
+"Sweetheart, I think not harshly," said the other, in a bewildered way.
+"I but tell the story as I find it."
+
+"'Tis not true, then. On her part, at least, there was no whit of any
+secret love affair, as I know right well," said Prudence, with a
+vehemence near to tears.
+
+"I but tell thee the story as my father heard it. Poor wench, whatever
+wrong she may have done, I have no word against her," Judith's sister
+said.
+
+"I pray you continue," interposed Master Blaise, with his eyes calmly
+fixed on the letter; he had scarcely uttered a word.
+
+"Oh, my father goes on to say that this Orridge--this person
+representing himself as familiar with the court, and the great nobles,
+and the like--is none other than the illegitimate son of an Oxfordshire
+gentleman who became over well acquainted with the daughter of an
+innkeeper in Oxford town; that the father meant to bring up the lad, and
+did give him some smattering of education, but died; that ever since he
+hath been dependent on his grandmother, a widow, who still keeps the
+inn; and that he hath lived his life in London in any sort of company he
+could impose upon by reason of his fine manners. These particulars, my
+father says, he hath had from Ben Jonson, that seems to know something
+of the young man, and maintains that he is not so much vicious or
+ill-disposed as reckless and idle, and that he is as likely as not to
+end his days with a noose round his neck. This, saith my father, is all
+that he can learn, and he would have us question Judith as to the truth
+of the story, and as to how the copy of the play was made, and whether
+'twas this same Orridge that carried it to London. And all this he would
+have inquired into at once, for his associates and himself are in great
+straits because of this matter, and have urgent need to know as much as
+can be known. Then there is this further writing toward the end--'I
+cannot explain all to thee at this time; but 'tis so that we have no
+remedy against the rascal publisher. Even if they do not register at the
+Stationers' Company, they but offend the Company; and the only
+punishment that might at the best befall them would be his Grace of
+Canterbury so far misliking the play as to cause it to be burnt--a
+punishment that would fall heavier on us, I take it, than on them; and
+that is in no case to be anticipated.'"
+
+"I cannot understand these matters, good sir," Judith's mother said
+drying her eyes. "'Tis my poor wench that I think of. I know she meant
+no harm--whatever comes of it. And she is so gentle and so
+proud-spirited that a word of rebuke from her father will drive her out
+of her reason. That she should have fallen into such trouble, poor
+wench! poor wench!--and you, Prudence, that was ever her intimate, and
+seeing her in such a coil--that you should not have told us of it!"
+
+Prudence sat silent under this reproach: she knew not how to defend
+herself. Perhaps she did not care, for all her thoughts were about
+Judith.
+
+"Saw you ever the young man?" Susan said, scarcely concealing her
+curiosity.
+
+"Nay, not I," was Prudence's answer. "But your grandmother hath seen
+him, and that several times."
+
+"My grandmother!" she exclaimed.
+
+"For he used to call at the cottage," said Prudence, "and pass an hour
+or two--being in hiding, as he said, and glad to have a little company.
+And he greatly pleased the old dame, as I have heard, because of his
+gracious courtesy and good breeding; and when they believed him to be in
+sad trouble, and pitied him, who would be the first to speak and
+denounce a stranger so helpless? Nay, I know that I have erred. Had I
+had more courage I should have come to you, Susan, and begged you to
+draw Judith away from any further communication with the young man; but
+I--I know not how it came about; she hath such a winning and
+overpersuading way, and is herself so fearless."
+
+"A handsome youth, perchance?" said Susan, who seemed to wish to know
+more about this escapade of her sister's.
+
+"Right handsome, as I have heard; and of great courtesy and gentle
+manners," Prudence answered. "But well I know what it was that led
+Judith to hold communication with him after she would fain have had that
+broken off." And then Prudence, with such detail as was within her
+knowledge, explained how Judith had come to think that the young
+stranger talked overmuch of Ben Jonson, and was anxious to show that her
+father could write as well as he (or better, as she considered). And
+then came the story of the lending of the sheets of the play, and
+Prudence had to confess how that she had been Judith's accomplice on
+many a former occasion in purloining and studying the treasures laid by
+in the summer-house. She told all that she knew openly and simply and
+frankly; and if she was in distress, it was with no thought of herself;
+it was in thinking of her dear friend and companion away over there at
+Shottery, who was all in ignorance of what was about to befall her.
+
+Then the three women, being somewhat recovered from their dismay, but
+still helpless and bewildered, and not knowing what to do, turned to
+the parson. He had sat calm and collected, silent for the most part, and
+reading in between the lines of the story his own interpretation.
+Perhaps, also, he had been considering other possibilities--as to the
+chances that such an occasion offered for gathering back to the fold an
+errant lamb.
+
+"What your father wants done, that is the first thing, sweetheart,"
+Judith's mother said, in a tremulous and dazed kind of fashion. "As to
+the poor wench, we will see about her afterward. And not a harsh word
+will I send her; she will have punishment enough to bear--poor lass!
+poor lass! So heedless and so headstrong she hath been always, but
+always the quickest to suffer if a word were spoken to her; and now if
+this story be put about, how will she hold up her head--she that was so
+proud? But what your father wants done, Susan, that is the first
+thing--that is the first thing. See what you can do to answer the letter
+as he wishes: you are quicker to understand such things than I."
+
+And then the parson spoke, in his clear, incisive, and authoritative
+way:
+
+"Good madam, 'tis little I know of these matters in London; but if you
+would have Judith questioned--and that might be somewhat painful to any
+one of her relatives--I will go and see her for you, if you think fit.
+If she have been the victim of knavish designs, 'twill be easy for her
+to acquit herself; carelessness, perchance, may be the only charge to be
+brought against her. And as I gather from Prudence that the sheets of
+manuscript lent to the young man were in his possession for a certain
+time, I make no doubt that the copy--if it came from this neighborhood
+at all--was made by himself on those occasions, and that she had no hand
+in the mischief, save in overtrusting a stranger. Doubtless your
+husband, good madam, is desirous of having clear and accurate statements
+on these and other points; whereas, if you, or Mistress Hall, or even
+Prudence there, were to go and see Judith, natural affection and
+sympathy might blunt the edge of your inquiries. You would be so anxious
+to excuse (and who would not, in your place?) that the very information
+asked for by your husband would be lost sight of. Therefore I am willing
+to do as you think fitting. I may not say that my office lends any
+special sanction to such a duty, for this is but a worldly matter; but
+friendship hath its obligations: and if I can be of service to you,
+good Mistress Shakespeare, 'tis far from repaying what I owe of godly
+society and companionship to you and yours. These be rather affairs for
+men to deal with than for women, who know less of the ways of the world;
+and I take it that Judith, when she is made aware of her father's
+wishes, will have no hesitation in meeting me with frankness and
+sincerity."
+
+It was this faculty of his of speaking clearly and well and to the point
+that in a large measure gave him such an ascendency over those women; he
+seemed always to see a straight path before him; to have confidence in
+himself, and a courage to lead the way.
+
+"Good sir, if you would have so much kindness," Judith's mother said.
+"Truly, you offer us help and guidance in a dire necessity. And if you
+will tell her what it is her father wishes to know, be sure that will be
+enough; the wench will answer you, have no fear, good sir."
+
+Then Susan said, when he was about to go:
+
+"Worthy sir, you need not say to her all that you have heard concerning
+the young man. I would liefer know what she herself thought of him; and
+how they came together; and how he grew to be on such friendly terms
+with her. For hitherto she hath been so sparing of her favor; though
+many have wished her to change her name for theirs; but always the wench
+hath kept roving eyes. Handsome was he, Prudence? And of gentle manners,
+said you? Nay, I warrant me 'twas something far from the common that led
+Judith such a dance."
+
+But Prudence, when he was leaving, stole out after him; and when he was
+at the door, she put her hand on his arm. He turned, and saw that the
+tears were running down her face.
+
+"Be kind to Judith," she said--not heeding that he saw her tears, and
+still clinging to his arm; "be kind to Judith, from my heart I beg it of
+you--I pray you be kind and gentle with her, good Master Blaise; for
+indeed she is like an own sister to me."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII.
+
+RENEWALS.
+
+
+As yet she was all unconscious; and indeed the dulness following her
+father's departure was for her considerably lightened by this visit to
+her grandmother's cottage, where she found a hundred duties and
+occupations awaiting her. She was an expert needle-woman, and there were
+many arrears in that direction to be made up: she managed the cooking,
+and introduced one or two cunning dishes, to the wonder of the little
+Cicely; she even tried her hand at carpentering, where a shelf, or the
+frame of a casement, had got loose; and as a reward she was occasionally
+invited to assist her grandmother in the garden. The old dame herself
+grew wonderfully amiable and cheerful in the constant association with
+this bright young life; and she had a great store of ballads with which
+to beguile the tedium of sewing--though, in truth, these were for the
+most part of a monotonous and mournful character, generally reciting the
+woes of some poor maiden in Oxfordshire or Lincolnshire who had been
+deceived by a false lover, and yet was willing to forgive him even as
+she lay on her death-bed. As for Judith, she took to this quiet life
+quite naturally and happily; and if she chanced to have time for a
+stroll along the wooded lanes or through the meadows, she was now right
+glad that there was no longer any fear of her being confronted by Master
+Leofric Hope--or Jack Orridge, as he had called himself. Of course she
+thought of him often, and of his courteous manners, and his eloquent and
+yet modest eyes, and she hoped all was going well with him, and that she
+might perchance hear of him through her father. Nor could she forget
+(for she was but human) that the young man, when disguised as a wizard,
+had said that he had heard her named as the fairest maid in
+Warwickshire; and subsequently, in his natural character, that he had
+heard Ben Jonson speak well of her looks, and she hoped that if ever he
+recalled these brief interviews, he would consider that she had
+maintained a sufficiency of maidenly dignity, and had not betrayed the
+ignorance or awkwardness of a farm-bred wench. Nay, there were certain
+words of his that she put some store by--as coming from a stranger. For
+the rest, she was in no case likely to undervalue her appearance: her
+father had praised her hair, and that was enough.
+
+One morning she had gone down to the little front gate, for some
+mischievous boys had lifted it off its hinges, and she wanted to get it
+back again on the rusty iron spikes. But it had got jammed somehow, and
+would not move; and in her pulling, some splinter of the wood ran into
+her hand, causing not a little pain. Just at this moment--whether he had
+come round that way on the chance of catching a glimpse of her, it is
+hard to say--Tom Quiney came by; but on the other side of the road, and
+clearly with no intention of calling at the cottage.
+
+"Good-morrow, Judith," said he, in a kind of uncertain way, and would
+have gone on.
+
+Well, she was vexed and impatient with her fruitless efforts, and her
+hand smarted not a little; so she looked at him and said, half angrily,
+
+"I wish you would come and lift this gate."
+
+It was but a trifling task for the tall and straight-limbed young fellow
+who now strode across the highway. He jerked it up in a second, and then
+set it down again on the iron spikes, where it swung in its wonted way.
+
+"But your hand is bleeding, Judith!" he exclaimed.
+
+"'Tis nothing," she said. "It was a splinter. I have pulled it out."
+
+But he snatched her hand peremptorily, before she could draw it away,
+and held it firmly and examined it.
+
+"Why, there's a bit still there; I can see it."
+
+"I can get it out for myself," said she.
+
+"No, you cannot," he answered. "'Tis far easier for some one else. Stay
+here a second, and I will fetch out a needle."
+
+He went into the cottage, and presently reappeared, not only with a
+needle, but also a tin vessel holding water, and a bit of linen and a
+piece of thread. Then he took Judith's soft hand as gently as he could
+in his muscular fingers, and began to probe for the small fragment of
+wood, just visible there. He seemed a long time about it; perhaps he was
+afraid of giving her pain.
+
+"Do I hurt you, Judith?" he said.
+
+"No," she answered, with some color of embarrassment in her face. "Be
+quick."
+
+"But I must be cautious," said he. "I would it were my own hand; I would
+make short work of it."
+
+"Let me try myself," said she, attempting to get away her hand from his
+grasp.
+
+But he would not allow that; and in due time he managed to get the
+splinter out. Then he dipped his fingers in the water and bathed the
+small wound in that way; and then he must needs wrap the piece of linen
+round her hand--very carefully, so that there should be no crease--and
+thereafter fasten the bandage with the bit of thread. He did not look
+like one who could perform a surgical operation with exceeding delicacy;
+but he was as gentle as he could be, and she thanked him--in an
+unwilling kind of way.
+
+Then all at once her face brightened.
+
+"Why," said she, "I hear that you gave my father a riding-whip on his
+going."
+
+"Did you not see it, Judith?" he said, with some disappointment. "I
+meant you to have seen it. The handle was of ivory, and of a rare
+carving."
+
+"I was not at the door when they went away--I met my father as they
+passed along the road," said she. "But I shall see it, doubtless, when
+he comes home again. And what said he? Was he pleased? He thanked you
+right heartily, did he not?"
+
+"Yes, truly; but 'twas a trifling matter."
+
+"My father thinks more of the intention than of the value of such a
+gift," said she--"as I would."
+
+It was an innocent and careless speech, but it seemed to suddenly
+inspire him with a kind of wild wish.
+
+"Ah," said he, regarding her, "if you, Judith, now, would but take some
+little gift from me--no matter what--that would be a day I should
+remember all my life."
+
+"Will you not come into the house?" said she, quickly. "My grandam will
+be right glad to see you."
+
+She would have led the way; but he hesitated.
+
+"Nay, I will not trouble your grandmother, Judith," said he. "I doubt
+not but that she hath had enough of visitors since you came to stay with
+her."
+
+"Since I came?" she said, good-naturedly--for she refused to accept the
+innuendo. "Why, let me consider, now. The day before yesterday my mother
+walked over to see how we did; and before that--I think the day before
+that--Mistress Wyse came in to tell us that they had taken a witch at
+Abbots Morton; and then yesterday Farmer Bowstead called to ask if his
+strayed horse had been seen anywhere about these lanes. There, now,
+three visitors since I have come to the cottage: 'tis not a multitude."
+
+"There hath been none other?" said he, looking at her with some
+surprise.
+
+"Not another foot hath crossed the threshold to my knowledge," said she,
+simply, and as if it were a matter of small concern.
+
+But this intelligence seemed to produce a very sudden and marked
+alteration in his manner. Not only would he accompany her into the
+house, but he immediately became most solicitous about her hand.
+
+"I pray you be careful, Judith," said he, almost as if he would again
+take hold of her wrist.
+
+"'Tis but a scratch," she said.
+
+"Nay, now, if there be but a touch of rust, it might work mischief,"
+said he, anxiously. "I pray you be careful; and I would bathe it
+frequently, and keep on the bandage until you are sure that all is well.
+Nay, I tell you this, Judith: there are more than you think of that
+would liefer lose a finger than that you should have the smallest hurt."
+
+And in-doors, moreover, he was most amiable and gentle and anxious to
+please, and bore some rather sharp sayings of the old dame with great
+good-nature; and whatever Judith said, or suggested, or approved of,
+that was right, once and for all. She wished to hear more of the
+riding-whip also. Where was the handle carved? Had her father expressed
+any desire for such ornamentation?
+
+"Truly 'twas but a small return for his kindness to us the other day,"
+said the young man, who was half bewildered with delight at finding
+Judith's eyes once more regarding him in the old frank and friendly
+fashion, and was desperately anxious that they should continue so to
+regard him (with no chilling shadow of the parson intervening). "For
+Cornelius Greene being minded to make one or two more catches," he
+continued--and still addressing those eyes that were at once so gentle
+and so clear and so kind--"he would have me go to your father and beg
+him to give us words for these, out of any books he might know of. Not
+that we thought of asking him to write the words himself--far from
+that--but to choose them for us; and right willingly he did so. In
+truth, I have them with me," he added, searching for and producing a
+paper with some written lines on it. "Shall I read them to you, Judith?"
+
+He did not notice the slight touch of indifference with which she
+assented; for when once she had heard that these compositions (whatever
+they might be) were not her father's writing, she was not anxious to
+become acquainted with them. But his concern, on the other hand, was to
+keep her interested and amused and friendly; and Cornelius Greene and
+his doings were at least something to talk about.
+
+"The first one we think of calling 'Fortune's Wheel,'" said he; "and
+thus it goes:
+
+    'Trust not too much, if prosperous times do smile,
+      Nor yet despair of rising, if thou fall:
+    The Fatal Lady mingleth one with th' other,
+      And lets not fortune stay, but round turns all.'
+
+And the other one--I know not how to call it yet--but Cornelius takes it
+to be the better of the two for his purpose; thus it is:
+
+    'Merrily sang the Ely monks
+      When rowed thereby Canute the King.
+    "Row near, my Knights, row near the land,
+      That we may hear the good monks sing."'
+
+See you now how well it will go, Judith--_Merrily sang--merrily
+sang--the Ely monks--the Ely monks--when rowed thereby_--CANUTE THE
+KING!" said he, in a manner suggesting the air. "'Twill go excellent
+well for four voices, and Cornelius is already begun. In truth, 'twill
+be something new at our merry-meetings----"
+
+"Ay, and what have you to say of your business, good Master Quiney?" the
+old dame interrupted, sharply. "Be you so busy with your tavern catches
+and your merry-makings that you have no thought of that?"
+
+"Indeed, I have enough regard for that, good Mistress Hathaway," said
+he, in perfect good-humor; "and it goes forward safely enough. But
+methinks you remind me that I have tarried here as long as I ought; so
+now I will get me back to the town."
+
+He half expected that Judith would go to the door with him; and when she
+had gone so far, he said,
+
+"Will you not come a brief way across the meadows, Judith?--'tis not
+well you should always be shut up in the cottage--you that are so fond
+of out-of-doors."
+
+He had no cause for believing that she was too much within-doors; but
+she did not stay to raise the question; she good-naturedly went down the
+little garden path with him, and across the road, and so into the
+fields. She had been busy at work all the morning; twenty minutes'
+idleness would do no harm.
+
+Then, when they were quite by themselves, he said seriously:
+
+"I pray you take heed, Judith, that you let not the blood flow too much
+to your hand, lest it inflame the wound, however slight you may deem it.
+See, now, if you would but hold it so, 'twould rest on mine, and be a
+relief to you."
+
+He did not ask her to take his arm, but merely that she should rest her
+hand on his; and this seemed easy to do, and natural (so long as he was
+not tired). But also it seemed very much like the time when they used to
+go through those very meadows as boy and girl together, the tips of
+their fingers intertwined: and so she spoke in a gentle and friendly
+kind of fashion to him.
+
+"And how is it with your business, in good sooth?" she asked. "I hope
+there be no more of these junketings, and dancings, and brawls."
+
+"Dear Judith," said he, "I know not who carries such tales of me to you.
+If you knew but the truth, I am never in a brawl of mine own making or
+seeking; but one must hold one's own, and the more that is done, the
+less are any likely to interfere. Nay," he continued, with a modest
+laugh, "I think I am safe for quiet now with any in Warwickshire; 'tis
+only a strange lad now and again that may come among us and seek cause
+of quarrel; and surely 'tis better to have it over and done with, and
+either he or we to know our place? I seek no fighting for the love of
+it; my life on that; but you would not have any stranger come into
+Stratford a-swaggering, and biting his thumb at us, and calling us
+rogues of fiddlers?"
+
+"Mercy on us, then," she cried, "are you champion for the town--or
+perchance for all of Warwickshire? A goodly life to look forward to! And
+what give they their watch-dog? Truly they must reward him that keeps
+such guard, and will do battle for them all?"
+
+"Nay, I am none such, Judith," said he; "I but take my chance like the
+others."
+
+He shifted her hand on his, that it might rest the more securely, and
+his touch was gentle.
+
+"And your merchandise--pray you, who is so kind as to look after that
+when you are engaged in those pastimes?" she asked.
+
+"I have no fault to find with my merchandise, Judith," said he. "That I
+look after myself. I would I had more inducement to attend to it, and to
+provide for the future. But it goes well; indeed it does."
+
+"And Daniel Hutt?"
+
+"He has left the country now."
+
+"And his vagabond crew--have they all made their fortunes?"
+
+"Why, Judith, they cannot have reached America yet," said he.
+
+"I am glad that you have not gone," she remarked, simply.
+
+"Well," he said, "why should I strive to push my fortunes there more
+than here? To what end? There be none that I could serve either way."
+
+And then it seemed to him that it was an ungracious speech; and he was
+anxious to stand well with her, seeing that she was disposed to be
+friendly.
+
+"Judith," he said, suddenly, "surely you will not remain over at
+Shottery to-morrow, with all the merriment of the fair going on in the
+town? Nay, but you must come over--I could fetch you, at any hour that
+you named, if it so pleased you. There is a famous juggler come into the
+town, as I hear, that can do the most rare and wonderful tricks, and
+hath a dog as cunning as himself; and you will hear the new ballads, to
+judge which you would have; and the peddlers would show you their
+stores. Now, in good sooth, Judith, may not I come for you? Why, all the
+others have someone to go about with them; and she will choose this or
+that posy or ribbon, and wear it for the jest of the day; but I have no
+one to walk through the crowd with me, and see the people, and hear the
+bargainings and the music. I pray you, Judith, let me come for you. It
+cannot be well for you always to live in such dulness as is over there
+at Shottery."
+
+"If I were to go to the fair with you," said she, and not unkindly,
+"methinks the people would stare, would they not? We have not been such
+intimate friends of late."
+
+"You asked me not to go to America, Judith," said he.
+
+"Well, yes," she admitted. "Truly I did so. Why should you go away with
+those desperate and broken men? Surely 'tis better you should stay among
+your own people."
+
+"I stayed because you bade me, Judith," said he.
+
+She flushed somewhat at this; but he was so eager not to embarrass or
+offend her that he instantly changed the subject.
+
+"May I, then, Judith? If you would come but for an hour!" he pleaded,
+for he clearly wanted to show to everybody that Judith was under his
+escort at the fair; and which of all the maidens (he asked himself)
+would compare beside her? "Why, there is not one of them but hath his
+companion, to buy for her some brooch, or pretty coif, or the like----"
+
+"Are they all so anxious to lighten their purses?" said she, laughing.
+"Nay, but truly I may not leave my grandmother, lest the good dame
+should think that I was wearying of my stay with her. Pray you, get some
+other to go to the fair with you--you have many friends, as I know, in
+the town----"
+
+"Oh, do you think 'tis the fair I care about?" said he, quickly. "Nay,
+now, Judith, I would as lief not go to the fair at all--or but for a few
+minutes--if you will let me bring you over some trinket in the
+afternoon. Nay, a hundred times would I rather not go--if you would
+grant me such a favor; 'tis the first I have asked of you for many a
+day."
+
+"Why," she said, with a smile, "you must all of you be prospering in
+Stratford, since you are all so eager to cast abroad your money. The
+peddlers will do a rare trade to-morrow, as I reckon."
+
+This was almost a tacit permission, and he was no such fool as to press
+her for more. Already his mind ran riot--he saw himself ransacking all
+the packs and stalls in the town.
+
+"And now," she said, as she had come within sight of the houses, "I will
+return now or the good dame will wonder."
+
+"But I will walk back with you, Judith," said he, promptly.
+
+She regarded him, with those pretty eyes of hers clearly laughing.
+
+"Methought you came away from the cottage," said she, "because of the
+claims of your business; and now you would walk all the way back again?"
+
+"Your hand, Judith," said he, shamefacedly, "you must not let it hang
+down by your side."
+
+"Nay, for such a dangerous wound," said she, with her eyes gravely
+regarding him, "I will take precautions; but cannot I hold it up
+myself--so--if need were?"
+
+He was so well satisfied with what he had gained that he would yield to
+her now as she wished. And yet he took her hand once more, gently and
+timidly, as if unwilling to give up his charge of it.
+
+"I hope it will not pain you, Judith," he said.
+
+"I trust it may not lead me to death's door," she answered, seriously;
+and if her eyes were laughing, it was with no unkindness.
+
+And then they said good-bye to each other, and she walked away back to
+Shottery, well content to have made friends with him again, and to have
+found him for the time being quit of his dark suspicions and jealousies
+of her; while as for him, he went on to the town in a sort of
+foreknowledge that all Stratford Fair would not have anything worthy to
+be offered to Judith; and wondering whether he could not elsewhere, and
+at once, and by any desperate effort, procure something fine and rare
+and beautiful enough to be placed in that poor wounded hand.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX.
+
+"THE ROSE IS FROM MY GARDEN GONE."
+
+
+Now when Parson Blaise set forth upon the mission that had been
+intrusted to him, there was not a trace of anger or indignation in his
+mind. He was not even moved by jealous wrath against the person with
+whom Judith had been holding these clandestine communications, nor had
+he any sense of having been himself injured by her conduct. For one
+thing, he knew enough of Judith's pride and self-reliance to be fairly
+well satisfied that she was not likely to have compromised herself in
+any serious way; and for another, his own choice of her, from among the
+Stratford maidens, as the one he wished to secure for helpmate, was the
+result not so much of any overmastering passion as of a cool and
+discriminating judgment. Nay, this very complication that had arisen,
+might he not use it to his own advantage? Might it not prove an argument
+more powerful than any he had hitherto tried? And so it was that he set
+out, not as one armed to punish, but with the most placable intentions;
+and the better to give the subject full consideration, he did not go
+straight across the meadows to the cottage, but went through the town,
+and away out the Alcester road, before turning round and making for
+Shottery.
+
+Nor did it occur to him that he was approaching this matter with any
+mean or selfish ends in view. Far from that. The man was quite honest.
+In winning Judith over to be his wife, by any means whatever, was he not
+adding one more to the number of the Lord's people? Was he not saving
+her from her own undisciplined and wayward impulses, and from all the
+mischief that might arise from these? What was for his good was for her
+good, and the good of the Church also. She had a winning way; she was
+friends with many who rather kept aloof from the more austere of their
+neighbors; she would be a useful go-between. Her cheerfulness, her good
+temper, nay, her comely presence and bright ways--all these would be
+profitably employed. Nor did he forget the probability of a handsome
+marriage-portion, and the added domestic comfort and serenity that that
+would bring himself. Even the marriage-portion (which he had no doubt
+would be a substantial one) might be regarded as coming into the Church
+in a way; and so all would work together for good.
+
+When he reached the cottage he found the old dame in the garden, busy
+with her flowers and vegetables, and was told that Judith had just gone
+within-doors. Indeed, she had but that minute come back from her stroll
+across the fields with Quiney, and had gone in to fetch a jug, so that
+she might have some fresh water from the well in the garden. He met her
+on the threshold.
+
+"I would say a few words with you, Judith--and in private," said he.
+
+She seemed surprised, but was in no ill-humor, so she said, "As you
+will, good sir," and led the way into the main apartment, where she
+remained standing.
+
+"I pray you be seated," said he.
+
+She was still more surprised; but she obeyed him, taking her seat under
+the window, so that her face was in shadow, while the light from the
+small panes fell full on him sitting opposite her.
+
+"Judith," said he, "I am come upon a serious errand, and yet would not
+alarm you unnecessarily. Nay, I think that when all is done, good may
+spring out of the present troubles----"
+
+"What is it?" she said quickly. "Is any one ill? my mother----"
+
+"No, Judith," he said; "'tis no trial of that kind you are called to
+face. The Lord hath been merciful to you and yours these several years;
+while others have borne the heavy hand of affliction and lost their
+dearest at untimeous seasons, you have been spared for many years now,
+all but such trials as come in the natural course: would I could see you
+as thankful as you ought to be to the Giver of all good. And yet I know
+not but that grief over such afflictions is easier to bear than grief
+over the consequences of our own wrong-doing; memory preserves this last
+the longer; sorrow is not so enduring, nor cuts so deep, as remorse. And
+then to think that others have been made to suffer through our
+evil-doing--that is an added sting; when those who have expected naught
+but filial obedience and duty--and the confidence that should exist
+between children and their parents----"
+
+But this phrase about filial obedience had struck her with a sudden
+fear.
+
+"I pray you, what is it, sir? What have I done?" she said, almost in a
+cry.
+
+Then he saw that he had gone too fast and too far.
+
+"Nay, Judith," he said, "be not over-alarmed. 'Tis perchance but
+carelessness, and a disposition to trust yourself in all circumstances
+to your own guidance that have to be laid to your charge. I hope it may
+be so; I hope matters may be no worse; 'tis for yourself to say. I come
+from your mother and sister, Judith," he continued, in measured tones.
+"I may tell you at once that they have learned of your having been in
+secret communication with a stranger who has been in these parts, and
+they would know the truth. I will not seek to judge you beforehand, nor
+point out to you what perils and mischances must ever befall you, so
+long as you are bent on going your own way, without government or
+counsel; that you must now perceive for yourself--and I trust the lesson
+will not be brought home to you too grievously."
+
+"Is that all?" Judith had said quickly to herself, and with much relief.
+
+"Good sir," she said to him, coolly, "I hope my good mother and Susan
+are in no bewilderment of terror. 'Tis true, indeed, that there was one
+in this neighborhood whom I met and spoke with on several occasions; if
+there was secrecy, 'twas because the poor young gentleman was in
+hiding; he dared not even present the letter that he brought commending
+him to my father. Nay, good Master Blaise, I pray you comfort my mother
+and sister, and assure them there was no harm thought of by the poor
+young man."
+
+"I know not that, Judith," said he, with his clear, observant eyes
+trying to read her face in the dusk. "But your mother and sister would
+fain know what manner of man he was, and what you know of him, and how
+he came to be here."
+
+Then the fancy flashed across her mind that this intervention of his was
+but the prompting of his own jealousy, and that he was acting as the
+spokesman of her mother and sister chiefly to get information for
+himself.
+
+"Why, sir," said she, lightly, "I think you might as well ask these
+questions of my grandmother, that knoweth about as much as I do
+concerning the young man, and was as sorry as I for his ill fortunes."
+
+"I pray you take not this matter so heedlessly, Judith," he said, with
+some coldness. "'Tis of greater moment than you think. No idle curiosity
+has brought me hither to-day; nay, it is with the authority of your
+family that I put these questions to you, and I am charged to ask you to
+answer them with all of such knowledge as you may have."
+
+"Well, well," said she, good-naturedly; "his name----"
+
+She was about to say that his name was Leofric Hope, but she checked
+herself, and some color rose to her face--though he could not see that.
+
+"His name, good sir, as I believe, is John Orridge," she continued, but
+with no embarrassment; indeed she did not think that she had anything
+very serious either to conceal or to confess; "and I fear me the young
+man is grievously in debt, or otherwise forced to keep away from those
+that would imprison him; and being come to Warwickshire he brought a
+letter to my father, but was afraid to present it. He hath been to the
+cottage here certain times, for my grandmother, as well as I, was
+pleased to hear of the doings in London; and right civil he was, and
+well-mannered; and 'twas news to us to hear about the theatres, and my
+father's way of living there. But why should my mother and Susan seek to
+know aught of him? Surely Prudence hath not betrayed the trust I put in
+her--for indeed the young man was anxious that his being in the
+neighborhood should not be known to any in Stratford. However, as he is
+now gone away, and that some weeks ago, 'tis of little moment, as I
+reckon; and if ever he cometh back here, I doubt not but that he will
+present himself at New Place, that they may judge of him as they please.
+That he can speak for himself, and to advantage and goodly showing, I
+know right well."
+
+"And that is all you can say of this man, Judith," said he, with some
+severity in his tone--"with this man that you have been thus familiar
+with?"
+
+"Marry is it!" she said, lightly. "But I have had guesses, no doubt; for
+first I thought him a gentleman of the Court, he being apparently
+acquainted with all the doings there; and then methought he was nearer
+to the theatres, from his knowledge of the players. But you would not
+have had me ask the young man as to his occupation and standing, good
+sir? 'Twould have been unseemly in a stranger, would it not? Could I
+dare venture on questions, he being all unknown to any of us?"
+
+And now a suspicion flashed upon him that she was merely befooling him,
+so he came at once and sharply to the point.
+
+"Judith," said he, endeavoring to pierce with his keen eyes the dusk
+that enshrouded her, "you have not told me all. How came he to have a
+play of your father's in his possession?"
+
+"Now," said she, with a quick anger, "that is ill done of Prudence! No
+one but Prudence knew; and for so harmless a secret--and that all over
+and gone, moreover--and the young man himself away, I know not
+where--nay, by my life! I had not thought that Prudence would serve me
+so. And to what end? Why, good sir, I myself lent the young man the
+sheets of my father's writing--they were the sheets that were thrown
+aside--and I got each and all of them safely back, and replaced them.
+Prudence knew what led me to lend him my father's play; and where was
+the harm of it? I thought not that she would go and make trouble out of
+so small a thing."
+
+By this time the good parson had come to see pretty clearly how matters
+stood--what with Prudence's explanations and Judith's present
+confessions; and he made no doubt that this stranger--whether from
+idleness, or for amusement, or with some more sinister purpose, he had
+no means of knowing--had copied the play when he had taken the sheets
+home with him to the farm; while as to the appearance in London of the
+copy so taken, it was sufficiently obvious that Judith was in complete
+ignorance, and could afford no information whatever. So that now the
+first part of his mission was accomplished. He asked her a few more
+questions, and easily discovered that she knew nothing whatever about
+the young man's position in life, or whether he had gone straight from
+the farm to London, or whether he was in London now. As to his being in
+possession, or having been in possession, of a copy of her father's
+play, it was abundantly evident that she had never dreamed of any such
+thing.
+
+And now he came to the more personal part of his mission, that was for
+him much more serious.
+
+"Judith," said he, "'tis not like you should know what sad and grievous
+consequences may spring from errors apparently small. How should you?
+You will take no heed or caution. The advice of those who would be
+nearest and dearest to you is of no account with you. You will go your
+own way--as if one of your years and experience could know the pitfalls
+that lie in a young maiden's path. The whole of life is but a jest to
+you--a tale without meaning--something to pass the hour withal. And
+think you that such blindness and wilfulness bring no penalty? Nay,
+sooner or later the hour strikes; you look back and see what you have
+done--and the offers of safe guidance that you have neglected or thrust
+aside."
+
+"I pray you, sir, what is it now?" she said, indifferently (and with a
+distinct wish that he would go away and release her, and let her get out
+into the light again). "Methought I had filled up the measure of my
+iniquities."
+
+"Thus it is--thus it will be always," said he, with a kind of
+hopelessness, "so long as you harden your heart and have no thought but
+for the vanities of the moment." And then he addressed her more
+pointedly. "But even now methinks I can tell you what will startle you
+out of your moral sloth, which is an offence in the eyes of the Lord, as
+it is a cause for pity and almost despair to all who know you. It was a
+light matter, you think, that you should hold this secret commerce with
+a stranger; careless of the respect due to your father's house; careless
+of the opinion and the anxious wishes of your friends; careless, even,
+of your good name----"
+
+"My good name?" said she, quickly and sharply. "I pray you, sir, have
+heed what you say."
+
+"Have heed to what I have to tell you, Judith," said he, sternly. "Ay,
+and take warning by it. Think you that I have pleasure in being the
+bearer of evil tidings?"
+
+"But what now, sir? What now? Heaven's mercy on us, let us get to the
+end of the dreadful deeds I have done!" she exclaimed, with some anger
+and impatience.
+
+"I would spare you, but may not," said he, calmly. "And, now, what if I
+were to tell you that this young man whom you encouraged into secret
+conversation--whose manners seemed to have had so much charm for
+you--was a rascal, thief, and villain? How would your pride bear it if I
+told you that he had cozened you with some foolish semblance of a
+wizard?"
+
+"Good sir, I know it," she retorted. "He himself told me as much."
+
+"Perchance. Perchance 'twas part of his courteous manners to tell you as
+much!" was the scornful rejoinder. "But he did not tell you all--he did
+not tell you that he had copied out every one of those sheets of your
+father's writing; that he was about to carry that stolen copy to London,
+like the knave and thief that he was; that he was to offer it for money
+to the booksellers. He did not tell you that soon your father and his
+associates in the theatre would be astounded by learning that a copy of
+the new play had been obtained, in some dark fashion, and sold; that it
+was out of their power to recover it; that their interests would be
+seriously affected by this vile conspiracy; or that they would by and by
+discover that this purloined play, which was like to cause them so much
+grievous loss and vexation of mind, had been obtained here--in this very
+neighborhood--and by the aid of no other than your father's daughter."
+
+"Who--told--you--this?" she asked in a strange, stunned way: her eyes
+were terror-stricken, her hands all trembling.
+
+"A good authority," said he--"your father. A letter is but now come from
+London."
+
+She uttered a low, shuddering cry; it was a moan almost.
+
+"See you now," said he (for he knew that all her bravery was struck
+down, and she entirely at his mercy), "what must ever come of your
+wilfulness and your scorn of those who would aid and guide you? Loving
+counsel and protection are offered you--the natural shield of a woman;
+but you must needs go your own way alone. And to what ends? Think you
+that this is all? Not so. For the woman who makes to herself her own
+rule of conduct must be prepared for calumnious tongues. And bethink
+you what your father must have thought of you--the only daughter of his
+household now--when he learned the story of this young man coming into
+Warwickshire, and befooling you with his wizard's tricks, and meeting
+you secretly, and cozening you of the sheets of your father's play.
+These deeds that are done in the dark soon reach to daylight; and can
+you wonder, when your father found your name abroad in London--the
+heroine of a common jest--a byword--that his vexation and anger should
+overmaster him? What marvel that he should forthwith send to Stratford,
+demanding to know what further could be learned of the matter--perchance
+fondly trusting, who knows, to find that rumor had lied? But there is no
+such hope for him--nor for you. What must your mother say in reply? What
+excuse can she offer? Or how make reparation to those associates of your
+father who suffer with him? And how get back your good name, that is
+being bandied about the town as the heroine of a foolish jest? Your
+father may regain possession of his property--I know not whether that be
+possible or no--but can he withdraw the name of his daughter from the
+ribald wit of the taverns? And I know which he valueth the more highly,
+if his own daughter know it not."
+
+He had struck hard; he knew not how hard.
+
+"My father wrote thus?" she said; and her head was bent, and her hands
+covering her face.
+
+"I read the letter no more than an hour ago," said he. "Your mother and
+sister would have me come over to see whether such a story could be
+true; but Prudence had already admitted as much----"
+
+"And my father is angered?" she said, in that low, strange voice.
+
+"Can you wonder at it?" he said.
+
+Again there came an almost inarticulate moan, like that of an animal
+stricken to death.
+
+As for him, he had now the opportunity of pouring forth the discourse to
+her that he had in a measure prepared as he came along the highway. He
+knew right well that she would be sorely wounded by this terrible
+disclosure; that the proud spirit would be in the dust; that she would
+be in a very bewilderment of grief. And he thought that now she might
+consent to gentle leading, and would trust herself to the only one
+(himself, to wit) capable of guiding her through her sorrows; and he had
+many texts and illustrations apposite. She heard not one word. She was
+as motionless as one dead; and the vision that rose before her burning
+brain was the face of her father as she had seen it for a moment in the
+garden, on the morning of his departure. That terrible swift look of
+anger toward old Matthew she had never forgotten--the sudden lowering of
+the brows, the flash in the eyes, the strange contraction of the mouth;
+and that was what she saw now--that was how he was regarding her--and
+that, she knew, would be the look that would meet her always and always
+as she lay and thought of him in the long, wakeful nights. She could not
+go to him. London was far away. She could not go to him and throw
+herself at his feet, and beg and pray with outstretched and trembling
+hands for but one word of pity. The good parson had struck hard.
+
+And yet in a kind of way he was trying to administer consolation--at all
+events, counsel. He was enlarging on the efficacy of prayer. And he said
+that if the Canaanitish woman of old had power to intercede for her
+daughter, and win succor for her, surely that would not be denied to
+such an one as Judith's mother, if she sought, for her daughter,
+strength and fortitude in trouble where alone these could be found.
+
+"The Canaanitish woman," said he, "had but the one saving grace, but
+that an all-powerful one, of faith; and even when the disciples would
+have her sent away, she followed worshipping, and saying 'Lord, help
+me.' And the Lord himself answered and said, 'It is not good to take the
+children's bread, and to cast it to whelps.' But she said, 'Truth, Lord;
+yet indeed the whelps eat of the crumbs which fall from their master's
+table.' Then our Lord answered, and said, 'O woman, great is thy faith;
+be it to thee as thou desirest.' And her daughter was made whole at that
+hour."
+
+Judith started up; she had not heard a single word.
+
+"I pray you, pardon me, good sir," she said, for she was in a
+half-frantic state of misery and despair; "my--my grandmother will speak
+with you--I--I pray you pardon me----"
+
+She got up into her own little chamber--she scarce knew how. She sat
+down on the bed. There were no tears in her eyes, but there was a
+terrible weight on her chest that seemed to stifle her; and she was
+breathless, and could not think aright, and her trembling hands were
+clinched. Sometimes she wildly thought she wanted Prudence to come to
+her; and then a kind of shudder possessed her--and a wish to go
+away--she cared not where--and be seen no more. That crushing weight
+increased, choking her; she could not rest; she rose, and went quickly
+down the stair, and through the garden into the road.
+
+"Judith, wench!" called her grandmother, who was talking to the parson.
+
+She took no heed. She went blindly on; and all these familiar things
+seemed so different now. How could the children laugh so? She got into
+the Bidford road; she did not turn her eyes toward any whom she met, to
+see whether she knew them or no--there was enough within her own brain
+for her to think of. She made her way to the summit of Bardon Hill, and
+there she looked over the wide landscape; but it was toward London that
+she looked, and with a strange and trembling fear. And then she seemed
+anxious to hide away from being seen, and went down by hedge-rows and
+field-paths, and at last she was by the river. She regarded it, flowing
+so stealthily by, in the sad and monotonous silence. Here was an easy
+means of slipping away from all this dread thing that seemed to surround
+her and overwhelm her--to glide away as noiselessly and peacefully as
+the river itself to any unknown shore, she cared not what. And then she
+sat down, still looking vaguely and absently at the water, and began to
+think of all that had happened to her on the banks of this stream; and
+she looked at these visionary pictures and at herself in them as if they
+were apart and separated from her, and she never to be like that again.
+Was it possible that she ever could have been so careless and so happy,
+with no weight at all resting on her heart, but singing out of mere
+thoughtlessness, and teaching Willie Hart the figures of dances, herself
+laughing the while? It seemed a long time ago now, and that he was cut
+off from her too, and all of them, and that there was to be no expiation
+for evermore for this that she had done.
+
+How long she sat there she knew not. Everything was a blank to her but
+this crushing consciousness that what had happened could never be
+recalled; that her father and she were forever separated now--and his
+face regarding her with the terrible look she had seen in the garden;
+that all the happy past was cut away from her, and she an outcast, and a
+byword, and a disgrace to all that knew her. And then she thought, in
+the very weariness of her misery, that if she could only walk away
+anywhere--anywhere alone, so that no one should meet her or question
+her--until she was broken and exhausted with fatigue, she would then go
+back to her own small room, and lie down on the bed, and try if sleep
+would procure some brief spell of forgetfulness, some relief from her
+aching head and far heavier heart. But when she rose she found that she
+was trembling from weakness, and a kind of shiver as of cold went
+through her, though the autumn day was warm enough. She walked slowly,
+and almost dragged herself, all the way home. Her hand shook so that she
+could scarce undo the latch of the gate. She heard her grandmother in
+the inner apartment, but she managed to creep noiselessly up-stairs into
+her own little chamber, and there she sank down on the bed, and lay in a
+kind of stupor, pressing her hands on her throbbing brow.
+
+It was some two hours afterward that her grandmother, who did not know
+that Judith had returned, was walking along the little passage, and was
+startled by hearing a low moaning above--a kind of dull cry of pain--so
+slight that she had to listen again ere she could be sure that it was
+not mere fancy. Instantly she went up the few wooden steps and opened
+the door. Judith was lying on the bed, with all her things on, just as
+she had seen her go forth. And then--perhaps the noise of the opening of
+the door had wakened her--she started up, and looked at her grandmother
+in a wild and dazed kind of way, as if she had just shaken off some
+terrible dream.
+
+"Oh, grandmother," she said, springing to her, and clinging to her like
+a child, "it is not true--it is not true--it cannot be true!"
+
+But then she fell to crying--crying as if her heart would break. The
+whole weight of her misery came back upon her, and the hopelessness of
+it, and her despair.
+
+"Why, good lass," said her grandmother, smoothing the sun-brown hair
+that was buried in her bosom, and trying to calm the violence of the
+girl's sobbing, "thou must not take on so. Thy father may be angered,
+'tis true, but there will come brighter days for thee. Nay, take not on
+so, good lass!"
+
+"Oh, grandmother, you cannot understand!" she said, and her whole form
+was shaken with sobs. "You cannot understand. Grandmother, grandmother,
+there was--there was but the one rose--in my garden--and that is gone
+now."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX.
+
+IN TIME OF NEED.
+
+
+Late that night, in the apartment below, Tom Quiney was seated by the
+big fireplace, staring moodily into the chips and logs that had been lit
+there, the evenings having grown somewhat chill now. There was a little
+parcel lying unopened and unheeded on the table. He had not had patience
+to wait for the fair of the morrow; he had ridden all the way to Warwick
+to purchase something worthy of Judith's acceptance, and he had come
+over to the cottage in high hopes of her being still in that kindly mood
+that reminded him of other days. Then came the good dame's story of what
+had befallen; and how that the parson had been over, bringing with him
+these terrible tidings; and how that since then Judith would not hear of
+any one being sent for, and would take no food, but was now lying there,
+alone in the dark, moaning to herself at times. And the good dame--as
+this tall young fellow sat there listening to her, with his fists
+clinched, and the look on his face ever growing darker--went on to
+express her fear that the parson had been over-hard with her grandchild;
+that probably he could not understand how her father had been the very
+idol of her life-long worship; that the one thing she was ever thinking
+of was how to win his approval--to be rewarded by even a nod of
+encouragement.
+
+"Nay, I liked not the manner of his speaking, when he wur come to me in
+the garden," the old dame continued. "I liked it not. He be sharp of
+tongue, the young pahrson, and there were too much to my mind of
+discipline, and chastening of proud spirits, and the like o' that. To my
+mind he have not years enough to be placed in such authority."
+
+"The Church is behind him," said this young fellow, almost to himself,
+and his eyes were burning darkly as he spoke. "I may not put hand on
+him. The Church is behind him. Marry, 'tis a goodly shelter for men that
+be of the woman kind."
+
+Then he looked up quickly, and his words were savage.--"What think you,
+good grandmother, were one to seize him by the neck and heel and break
+his back on the rail of Clopton's bridge? Were it not well done? By my
+life I think it were well done!"
+
+"Nay, nay, now," said she, quickly, for she was somewhat alarmed, seeing
+his face set hard with passion and his eyes afire. "I would have no
+brawling. There be plenty of harm done already. Perchance the good
+pahrson hath not spoken so harshly after all. In good sooth, now, none
+but her own people can understand how the wench hath ever looked up to
+her father--for a word or a nod commending her, as I say--and when she
+be told now that she hath wrought mischief, and caused herself to be
+talked about, and her father vexed, and all the rest of the tale, why
+'tis like to drive her out of her mind. And now this be all her
+cry--that she may see no one of her people any more, she would bide with
+me here; 'Grandmother, grandmother,' she saith, 'I will bide with you,
+if you will suffer me. I will show myself in Stratford no more; they
+shall have no shame through me.' Nay, but the wench be half out of her
+senses, as I think, and saith wild things--that she would go and sell
+herself to be a slave in the Indies, could she restore the money to her
+father or bring him back this that he hath lost. 'Tis a terrible plight
+for the poor wench; and always she saith, 'Grandmother, grandmother, let
+me bide with you; I will never go back to New Place; grandmother, I can
+work as well as any, and you will let me bide with you.' Poor lass--poor
+lass!"
+
+"But how came the parson to interfere?" Quiney said, hotly. "I'll be
+sworn Judith's father did not write to him. How came he to be preaching
+his discipline and chastisement? How came he to be intrusted with the
+task of abusing her and crushing the too proud spirit? By heavens, now,
+there may be occasion erelong to tame some one's proud spirit, but not
+the spirit of a defenceless young maid--marry, that is work fit only for
+parsons. Man to man is the better way--and it will come erelong."
+
+"Nay, softly, softly, good Master Quiney," said the old dame in her
+gentlest tones. "Would you mar all the good opinion that Judith hath of
+you? Why, to-day, now, just ere the parson came, I wur in the garden,
+putting things straight a bit, and as she came through she says to me,
+quite pleasant-like, I have just been across the fields, grandmother,
+with Master Quiney--or Tom Quiney, as she said, being friendly and
+pleasant-like--and I hear less now of his quarrelling and fighting among
+the young men; and his business goeth on well; and to-morrow,
+grandmother, he is going to buy me something at the fair."
+
+"Said she all that?" he asked, quickly, and with a flush of color
+rushing to his face.
+
+"Marry did she, and looked pleased; for 'tis a right friendly wench, and
+good-natured withal," the old dame said, glad to see that these words
+had for the moment scattered his wrath to the winds; and she went on for
+some little time talking to him in her garrulous easy fashion about
+Judith's frank and honest qualities, and her goodhearted ways, and the
+pretty daintinesses of her coaxing when she was so inclined. It was a
+story he was not loath to listen to, and yet it seemed so strange; they
+were talking of her almost as of one passed away--as if the girl lying
+there in that darkened room, instead of torturing her brain with
+incessant and lightning-like visions of all the harm she had caused in
+London, were now far removed from all such troubles, and hushed in the
+calm of death.
+
+He went to the table and opened the box, and took out the little present
+he had brought for Judith. It was a pair of lace cuffs, with a slender
+silver circle at the wrist, the lace going back from that in a
+succession of widening leaves. It was not only a pretty present, it was
+also (in proportion to his means) a costly one, as the old dame's sharp
+eyes instantly saw.
+
+"I think she would have been pleased with them," he said, absently. And
+then he said,
+
+"Good grandmother, it were of no use to lay them near her in the
+morning--on a chair or at the window--that perchance she might look at
+them?"
+
+"Nay, nay," the grandmother said, shaking her head, "'tis no child's
+trouble that hath befallen the poor wench, that she can be comforted
+with pretty trifles."
+
+"I meant not that," said he, flushing somewhat. "'Tis that I would have
+her know that--that there were friends thinking of her all the
+same--those that would rather have her gladdened and tended and made
+much of, than--than--chidden with any chastisement."
+
+This word chastisement seemed to recall his anger.
+
+"I say that Judith hath done no wrong at all," he said, as if he were
+confronting some one not there; "and that I will maintain; and let no
+man in my hearing say aught else. Why, now, the story as you tell it,
+good grandmother--'tis as plain as daylight--a child can see it--all
+that she did was done to magnify her father and his writing; and if the
+villain sold the play--or let it slip out of his hands--was that her
+doing? Doubtless it is a sore mischance; but I see not that Judith is to
+be blamed for it; and right well I know that if her father were to hear
+how she is smitten down with grief he would be the first to say, 'Good
+lass, there is no such harm done. A great harm would be your falling
+sick; get you up and out, seek your friends again, and be happy as you
+were before.' That is what he would say, I will take my oath of it; and
+if the parson and his chastisements were to come across him, by my life
+I would not seek to be in the parson's shoes!"
+
+"I must make another trial with the poor wench," said the good
+grandmother, rising, "that hath eaten nothing all the day. In truth her
+only crying is to be left alone now, and that hereafter I am to let her
+bide with me. It be a poor shelter, I think, for one used to live in a
+noble house; but there 'tis, so long as she wisheth it."
+
+"Nay, but this cannot be suffered to go on, good Mistress Hathaway,"
+said he, as he rose and got his cap; "for if Judith take no food, and
+will see no one, and be alone with her trouble, of a surety she will
+fall ill. Now to-morrow morning I will bring Prudence over. If any can
+comfort her, Prudence can; and that she will be right willing, I know.
+They have been as sisters."
+
+"That be well thought of, Master Quiney," said the grandmother, as she
+went to the door with him. "Take care o' the ditch the other side of the
+way; it be main dark o' nights now."
+
+"Good-night to you, good grandmother," said he, as he disappeared in the
+darkness.
+
+But it was neither back home nor yet to Stratford town that Tom Quiney
+thought of going all that long night. He felt a kind of constraint upon
+him (and yet a constraint that kept his heart warm with a secret
+satisfaction) that he should play the part of a watch-dog, as it
+were--as if Judith were sorely ill, or in danger, or in need of
+protection somehow; and he kept wandering about in the dark, never at
+any great radius from the cottage. His self-imposed task was the easier
+now that, as the black clouds overhead slowly moved before the soft
+westerly wind, gaps were opened, and here and there clusters of stars
+were visible, shedding a faint light down on the sombre roads and fields
+and hedges. Many strange fancies occurred to him during that long and
+silent night, as to what he could do, or would like to do, for Judith's
+sake. Breaking the parson's neck was the first and most natural, and
+the most easily accomplished; but fleeing the country, which he knew
+must follow, did not seem so desirable a thing. He wanted to do
+something--he knew not what. He wished he had been less of a companion
+with the young men, and less careful to show, with them, that Stratford
+town and the county of Warwick could hold their own against all comers.
+If he had been more considerate and gentle with Judith, perhaps she
+would not have sought the society of the parson. He knew he had not the
+art of winning her over, like the parson. He could not speak so
+plausibly. Nor had he the authority of the Church behind him. It was
+natural for women to think much of that, and to be glad of the shelter
+of authority. Parsons themselves (he considered) were a kind of half
+women, being in women's secrets, and entitled to speak to them in
+ghostly confidence. But if Judith, now, wanted some one to do something
+for her, no matter what, in his rough-and-ready way--well, he wondered
+what that could be that he would refuse. And so the dark hours went by.
+
+With the gray of the dawn he began to cast his eyes abroad, as if to see
+if any one were stirring, or approaching the cluster of cottages nestled
+down there among the trees. The daylight widened and spread up in the
+trembling east; the fields and the woods became clear; here and there a
+small tuft of blue smoke began to arise from a cottage chimney. And now
+he was on Bardon Hill, and could look abroad over the wide landscape
+lying between Shottery and Stratford town; and if any one--any one
+bringing lowering brows and further cruel speech to a poor maid already
+stricken down and defenceless--had been in sight, what then? Watchfully
+and slowly he went down from the hill, and back to the meadows lying
+between the hamlet and Stratford, there to interpose, as it were, and
+question all comers. And well it was, for the sake of peace and charity,
+that the good parson did not chance to be early abroad on this still
+morning; and well it was for the young man himself. There was no
+wise-eyed Athene to descend from the clouds and bid this wrathful
+Achilles calm his heart. He was only an English country youth, though
+sufficiently Greek-like in form; and he was hungry and gray-faced with
+his vigil of the night, and not in a placable mood. Nay, when a young
+man is possessed with the consciousness that he is the defender of some
+one behind him--some one who is weak and feminine and suffering--he is
+apt to prove a dangerous antagonist; and it was well for all concerned
+that he had no occasion to pick a quarrel on this morning in these quiet
+meadows. In truth he might have been more at rest had he known that the
+good parson was in no hurry to follow up his monitions of the previous
+day; he wished these to sink into her mind and take root there, so that
+thereafter might spring up such wholesome fruits as repentance and
+humility, and the desire of godly aid and counsel.
+
+By-and-by he slipped away home, plunged his head into cold water to
+banish the dreams of the night, and then, having swallowed a cup of milk
+to stay his hunger, he went along to Chapel Street, to see if he could
+have speech of Prudence. He found that not only were all of the
+household up and doing, but that Prudence herself was ready to go out,
+being bent on one of her charitable errands; and it needed but a word to
+alter the direction of her kindness: of course she would at once go to
+see Judith.
+
+"Truly I had fears of it," said she, as they went through the fields,
+the pale, calm face having grown more and more anxious as she listened
+to all that he had to tell her. "Her father was as the light of the
+world to her. With the others of us she hath ever been headstrong in a
+measure, and careless--and yet so lovable withal, and merry, that I for
+one could never withstand her--nay, I confess I tried not to withstand
+her, for never knew I of any wilfulness of hers springing from anything
+but good-nature and her kind and generous ways. But that she was ever
+ready to brave our opinions I know, and perchance make light of our
+anxieties, we not having her courage; and in all things she seemed to be
+a guide unto herself, and to walk sure and have no fear. In all things
+but one. Indeed 'tis true what her grandmother told you, and who should
+know better than I, who was always with her? The slightest wish of her
+father's--that was law to her. A word of commending from him, and she
+was happy for days. And think what this must be now--she that was so
+proud of his approval--that scarce thought of aught else. Nay, for
+myself I can see that they have told him all a wrong story in London,
+that know I well; and 'tis no wonder that he is vexed and angry; but
+Judith--poor Judith----"
+
+She could say no more just then; she turned aside her face somewhat.
+
+"Do you know what she said to her grandmother, Prudence, when she fell
+a crying? that there had been but the one rose in her garden, and that
+was gone now."
+
+"'Tis what Susan used to sing," said Prudence, with rather trembling
+lips. "'_The rose is from my garden gone_,' 'twas called. Ay, and hath
+she that on her mind now? Truly I wish that her mother and Susan had let
+me break this news to her; none know as well as I what it must be to
+her."
+
+And here Tom Quiney quickly asked her whether it was not clear to her
+that the parson had gone beyond his mission altogether--and that in a
+way that would have to be dealt with afterward, when all these things
+were amended? Prudence, with some faint color in her pale face, defended
+Master Blaise to the best of her power, and said she knew he could not
+have been unduly harsh; nay, had she not herself, just as he was setting
+forth, besought him to be kind and considerate with Judith? Hereupon
+Quiney rather brusquely asked what the good man could mean by phrases
+about discipline and chastenings and chastisements; to which Prudence
+answered gently that these were but separate words, and that she was
+sure Master Blaise had fulfilled what he undertook in a merciful spirit,
+which was his nature. After that there was a kind of silence between
+these two; perhaps Quiney considered that no good end could be served at
+present by stating his own ideas on that subject. The proper time would
+come, in due course.
+
+At length they reached the cottage. But here, to their amazement, and to
+the infinite distress of Prudence, when Judith's grandmother came down
+the wooden steps again, she shook her head, saying that the wench would
+see no one.
+
+"I thought as 'twould be so," she said.
+
+"But me, good grandmother! Me!" Prudence cried, with tears in her eyes.
+"Surely she will not refuse to see me!"
+
+"No one, she saith," was the answer. "Poor wench, her head do ache so
+bad. And when one would cheer her or comfort her a morsel, 'tis another
+fit of crying--that will wear her to skin and bone, if she do not pluck
+up better heart. She hath eaten naught this morning neither; 'tis for no
+wilfulness, poor lass, for she tried an hour ago; and now 'tis best as I
+think to leave her alone."
+
+"By your leave, good grandmother," said Prudence, with some firmness,
+"that will I not. If Judith be in such trouble, 'tis not likely that I
+should go away and leave her. It hath never been the custom between us
+two."
+
+"As you will, Prudence," the grandmother said. "Young hearts have their
+confidences among themselves. Perchance you may be able to rouse her."
+
+Prudence went up the stairs silently and opened the door. Judith was
+lying on the bed, her face turned away from the light, her hands clasped
+over her forehead.
+
+"Judith!"
+
+There was no answer.
+
+"Judith," said her friend, going near, "I am come to see you."
+
+There was a kind of sob--that was all.
+
+"Judith, is your head so bad? Can I do nothing for you?"
+
+She put over her hand--the soft and cool and gentle touch of which had
+comforted many a sick-bed--and she was startled to find that both
+Judith's hands and forehead were burning hot.
+
+"No, sweetheart," was the answer, in a low and broken voice, "you can do
+nothing for me now."
+
+"Nay, nay, Judith, take heart," Prudence said, and she gently removed
+the hot fingers from the burning forehead, and put her own cooler hand
+there, as if to dull the throbbing of the pain. "Sweetheart, be not so
+cast down! 'Twill be all put right in good time."
+
+"Never--never!" the girl said, without tears, but with an abject
+hopelessness of tone. "It can never be undone now. He said my name was
+become a mockery among my father's friends. For myself, I would not heed
+that--nay, they might say of me what they pleased--but that my father
+should hear of it--a mockery and scorn--and they think I cared so little
+for my father that I was ready to give away his papers to any one
+pretending to be a sweetheart and befooling me--and my father to know it
+all, and to hear such things said--no, that can never be undone now. I
+used to count the weeks and the days and the very hours when I knew he
+was coming back--that was the joy of my life to me--and now, if I were
+to know that he were coming near to Stratford I should fly and hide
+somewhere--anywhere--in the river as lief as not. Nay, I make no
+complaint. 'Tis my own doing, and it cannot be undone now."
+
+"Judith, Judith, you break my heart!" her friend cried. "Surely to all
+troubles there must come an end."
+
+"Yes, yes," was the answer, in a low voice, and almost as if she were
+speaking to herself. "That is right. There will come an end. I would it
+were here now."
+
+All Prudence's talking seemed to be of no avail. She reasoned and
+besought--oftentimes with tears in her eyes--but Judith remained quite
+listless and hopeless; she seemed to be in a stunned and dazed condition
+after the long sleeplessness of the night; and Prudence was afraid that
+further entreaties would only aggravate her headache.
+
+"I will go and get you something to eat now," said she. "Your
+grandmother says you have had nothing since yesterday."
+
+"Do not trouble; 'tis needless, sweetheart," Judith said; and then she
+added with a brief shiver, "but if you could fetch a thick cloak, dear
+Prudence, and throw it over me--surely the day is cold somewhat."
+
+A few minutes after (so swift and eager was everybody in the house)
+Judith was warmly wrapped up; and by the side of the bed, on a chair,
+was some food the good grandmother had been keeping ready, and also a
+flask of wine that Quiney had brought with him.
+
+"Look you, Judith," said Prudence, "here is some wine that Thomas Quiney
+hath brought for you--'tis of a rare quality, he saith--and you must
+take a little. Nay, you must and shall, sweetheart; and then perchance
+you may be able to eat."
+
+She sipped a little of the wine; it was but to show her gratitude and
+send him her thanks. She could not touch the food. She seemed mostly
+anxious for rest and quiet; and so Prudence noiselessly left her and
+stole down the stair again.
+
+Prudence was terribly perplexed and in a kind of despair almost.
+
+"I know not what to do," she said. "I would bring over her mother and
+Susan, but that she begs and prays me not to do that--nay, she cannot
+see them she says. And there is no reasoning with her. It cannot be
+undone now--that is her constant cry. What to do I cannot tell; for
+surely, if she remain so, and take no comfort, she will fall ill."
+
+"Ay, and if that be so who is to blame?" said Quiney, who was walking up
+and down in considerable agitation. "I say that letter should never have
+been put into the parson's hands. Was it meant to be conveyed to Judith?
+I warrant me it was not! Did her father say that he wished her chidden?
+did he ask any of you to bid the parson go to her with his upbraidings?
+would he himself have been so quick and eager to chasten her proud
+spirit? I tell you no. He is none of the parson kind. Vexed he might
+have been, but he would have taken no vengeance. What--on his own child?
+By heavens, I'll be sworn now that if he were here, at this minute, he
+would take the girl by the hand, and laugh at her for being so afraid of
+his anger--ay, I warrant me he would--and would bid her be of good
+cheer, and brighten her face, that was ever the brightest in
+Warwickshire, as I have heard him say. That would he--my life on it!"
+
+"Ah," said Prudence, wistfully, "if you could only persuade Judith of
+that!"
+
+"Persuade her?" said he. "Why, I would stake my life that is what her
+father would do?"
+
+"You could not persuade her," said Prudence, with a hopeless air. "No;
+she thinks it is all over now between her father and her. She is
+disgraced and put away from him. She hath done him such injury, she
+says, as even his enemies have never done. When he comes back again, she
+says, to Stratford, she will be here, and she knows that he will never
+come near this house; and that will be better for her, she says, for she
+could never again meet him face to face."
+
+Well, all that day Judith lay there in that solitary room, desiring only
+to be left alone; taking no food; the racking pains in her head
+returning from time to time; and now and again she shivered slightly, as
+if from cold. Tom Quiney kept coming and going to hear news of her, or
+to consult with Prudence as to how to rouse her from this hopelessness
+of grief; and as the day slowly passed, he grew more and more disturbed
+and anxious and restless. Could nothing be done? Could nothing be done?
+was his constant cry.
+
+He remained late that evening, and Prudence stayed all night at the
+cottage. In the morning he was over again early, and more distressed
+than ever to hear that the girl was wearing herself out with this agony
+of remorse--crying stealthily when that she thought no one was near, and
+hiding herself away from the light, and refusing to be comforted.
+
+But during the long and silent watches he had been taking counsel with
+himself.
+
+"Prudence," said he, regarding her with a curious look, "do you think
+now, if some assurance were come from her father himself--some actual
+message from him--a kindly message--some token that he was far indeed
+from casting her away from him--think you Judith would be glad to have
+that?"
+
+"'Twould be like giving her life back to her," said the girl, simply.
+"In truth I dread what may come of this; 'tis not in human nature to
+withstand such misery of mind. My poor Judith, that was ever so careless
+and merry!"
+
+He hesitated for a second or two, and then he said, looking at her, and
+speaking in a cautious kind of way.
+
+"Because, when next I have need to write to London, I might beg of some
+one--my brother Dick, perchance, that is now in Bucklersbury, and would
+have small trouble in doing such a service--I say I might beg of him to
+go and see Judith's father, and tell him the true story, and show him
+that she was not so much to blame. Nay, for my part I see not that she
+was to blame at all, but for over-kindness and confidence, and the wish
+to exalt her father. The mischief that hath been wrought is the doing of
+the scoundrel and villain on whose head I trust it may fall erelong;
+'twas none of hers. And if her father were to have all that now put
+fairly and straight before him, think you he would not be right sorry to
+hear that she had taken his anger so much to heart, and was lying almost
+as one dead at the very thought of it? I tell you, now, if all this be
+put before him, and if he send her no comfortable message--ay, and that
+forthwith, and gladly--I have far misread him. And as for her,
+Prudence--'twould be welcome, say you?"
+
+"'Twould be of the value of all the world to her," Prudence said, in her
+direct and earnest way.
+
+Well, he almost immediately thereafter left (seeing that he could be of
+no further help to these women-folk), and walked quickly back to
+Stratford, and to his house, which was also his place of business. He
+seemed to hurry through his affairs with speed; then he went up-stairs
+and looked out some clothing; he took down a pair of pistols and put
+some fresh powder in the pans, and made a few other preparations. Next
+he went round to the stable, and the stout little Galloway nag whinnied
+when she saw him at the door.
+
+"Well, Maggie, lass," said he, going into the stall, and patting her
+neck, and stroking down her knees, "what sayst thou? Wouldst like a
+jaunt that would carry thee many a mile away from Stratford town? Nay,
+but if you knew the errand, I warrant me you would be as eager as I!
+What, then--a bargain, lass! By my life, you shall have many a long
+day's rest in clover when this sharp work is done!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI
+
+A LOST ARCADIA.
+
+
+It was on this same morning that Judith made a desperate effort to rouse
+herself from the prostration into which she had fallen. All through that
+long darkness and despair she had been wearily and vainly asking herself
+whether she could do nothing to retrieve the evil she had wrought. Her
+good name might go--she cared little for that now--but was there no
+means of making up to her father the actual money he had lost? It was
+not forgiveness she thought of, but restitution. Forgiveness was not to
+be dreamed of; she saw before her always that angered face she had
+beheld in the garden, and her wish was to hide away from that, and be
+seen of it no more. Then there was another thing: if she were to be
+permitted to remain at the cottage, ought she not to show herself
+willing to take a share of the humblest domestic duties? Might not the
+good dame begin to regard her as but a useless encumbrance? If it were
+so that no work her ten fingers could accomplish would ever restore to
+her father what he had lost through her folly, at least it might win her
+grandmother's forbearance and patience. And so it was on the first
+occasion of her head ceasing to ache quite so badly she struggled to her
+feet (though she was so languid and listless and weak that she could
+scarcely stand), and put round her the heavy cloak that had been lying
+on the bed, and smoothed her hair somewhat, and went to the door. There
+she stood for a minute or two, listening, for she would not go down if
+there were any strangers about.
+
+The house seemed perfectly still. There was not a sound anywhere. Then,
+quite suddenly, she heard little Cicely begin to sing to herself--but in
+snatches, as if she were occupied with other matters--some well-known
+rhymes to an equally familiar tune--
+
+    "By the moon we sport and play;
+    With the night begins our day;
+    As we drink the dew doth fall,
+    Trip it, dainty urchins all!
+    Lightly as the little bee,
+    Two by two, and three by three,
+    And about go we, go we."
+
+--and she made no doubt that the little girl was alone in the kitchen.
+Accordingly, she went down. Cicely, who was seated near the window and
+busily engaged in plucking a fowl, uttered a slight cry when she
+entered, and started up.
+
+"Dear Mistress Judith," she said, "can I do aught for you? Will you sit
+down? Dear, dear, how ill you do look!"
+
+"I am not at all ill, little Cicely," said Judith, as cheerfully as she
+could, and she sat down. "Give me the fowl--I will do that for you, and
+you can go and help my grandmother in whatever she is at."
+
+"Nay, not so," said the little maid, definitely refusing. "Why should
+you?"
+
+"But I wish it," Judith said. "Do not vex me now--go and seek my
+grandmother, like a good little lass."
+
+The little maid was thus driven to go, but it was with another purpose.
+In about a couple of minutes she had returned, and preceding her was
+Judith's grandmother.
+
+"What! art come down, wench?" the old dame said, patting her kindly on
+the shoulder. "That be so far well--ay, ay, I like that now--that be
+better for thee than lying all alone. But what would you with the little
+maid's work, that you would take it out of her hands?"
+
+"Why, if I am idle, and do nothing, grandmother, you will be for turning
+me out of the house," the girl answered, looking up with a strange kind
+of smile.
+
+"Turn thee out of the house," said her grandmother, who had just caught
+a better glimpse of the wan and tired face. "Ay, that will I--and now.
+Come thy ways, wench; 'tis time for thee to be in the fresh air. Cicely,
+let be the fowl now. Put some more wood on the fire, and hang on the
+pot--there's a clever lass. And thou, grandchild, come thy ways with me
+into the garden, and I warrant me when thou comest back a cupful of
+barley-broth will do thee no harm."
+
+Judith obeyed, though she would fain have sat still. And then, when she
+reached the front door what a bewilderment of light and color met her
+eyes! She stood as one dazed for a second or two. The odors of the
+flowers and the shrubs were so strange, moreover--pungent and strange
+and full of memories. It seemed so long a time since she had seen this
+wonderful glowing world and breathed this keen air, that she paused on
+the stone flag to collect her senses as it were. And then a kind of
+faintness came over her, and perhaps she might have sank to the ground,
+but that she laid hold of her grandmother's arm.
+
+"Ay, ay, come thy ways and sit thee down, dearie," the old dame said,
+imagining that the girl was but begging for a little assistance in her
+walking. "I be main glad to see thee out again. I liked not that lying
+there alone--nay, I wur feared of it, and I bade Prudence send your
+mother and Susan to see you----"
+
+"No, no, good grandmother, no, no!" Judith pleaded, with all the effort
+that remained to her.
+
+"But yea, yea!" her grandmother said, sharply. "Foolish wench, that
+would hide away from them that can best aid thee! Ay, and knowest thou
+how the new disease, as they call it, shows itself at the beginning?
+Why, with a pinching of the face and sharp pains in the head. Wouldst
+thou have me let thee lie there, and perchance go from bad to worse, and
+not send for them--ay, and for Susan's husband, if need were? Nay, but
+let not that fright thee, good wench," she said, in a gentler way. "'Tis
+none so bad as I thought, else you would not be venturing down the
+stairs--nay, nay, there be no harm done as yet, I warrant me--'tis a
+breath of fresh air to sharpen thee into a hungry fit that will be the
+best doctor for thee. Here, sit thee down and rest now, and when the
+barley-broth be warm enough, Cicely shall bring thee out a dish of it.
+Nay, I see no harm done. Keep up thy heart, lass; thou wert ever a brave
+one--ay, what was there ever that could daunt thee? and not the boldest
+of the youths but was afraid of thy laugh and thy merry tongue. Heaven
+save us, that thou should take on so! And if you would sell yourself to
+work in slavery in the Indies, think you they would buy a poor, weak,
+trembling creature? Nay, nay, we will have to fetch back the roses to
+your cheeks ere you make for that bargain, I warrant me!"
+
+They were now seated in the little arbor. On entering Judith had cast
+her eyes round it in a strange and half-frightened fashion; and now, as
+she sat there, she was scarcely listening to the good-natured garrulity
+of the old dame, which was wholly meant to cheer her spirits.
+
+"Grandmother," said she, in a low voice, "think you 'twas really he that
+took away with him my father's play?"
+
+"I know not how else it could have been come by," said the grandmother,
+"but I pray you, child, heed not that for the present. What be done and
+gone cannot be helped--let it pass--there, there, now, what a lack of
+memory have I, that should have shown thee the pretty lace cuffs that
+Thomas Quiney left for thee--fit for a queen they be, to be sure--ay,
+and the fine lace of them, and the silver, too. He hath a free hand, he
+hath; 'tis a fair thing for any that will be in life-partnership with
+him; 'twill not away, marry 'twill not; 'twill bide in his nature--that
+will never out of the flesh that's bred in the bone, as they say; and I
+like to see a young man that be none of the miser kind, but ready forth
+with his money where 'tis to please them he hath a fancy for. A brave
+lad he is too, and one that will hold his own; and when I told him that
+you were pleased that his business went forward well, why, saith he, as
+quick as quick, 'Said she that?' and if my old eyes fail me not, I know
+of one that setteth greater share by your good word than you imagine,
+wench."
+
+She but half heard; she was recalling all that had happened in this very
+summer-house.
+
+"And think you, grandmother," said she, slowly, and with absent eyes,
+"that when he was sitting here with us, and telling us all about the
+Court doings, and about my father's friends in London, and when he was
+so grateful to us--or saying that he was so--for our receiving of him
+here, think you that all the time he was planning to steal my father's
+play, and to take it and sell it in London? Grandmother can you think it
+possible? Could any one be such a hypocrite? I know that he deceived me
+at the first, but 'twas only a jest, and he confessed it all, and
+professed his shame that he had so done. But, grandmother, think of
+him--think of how he used to speak--and ever so modest and gentle; is't
+possible that all the time he was playing the thief, and looking forward
+to the getting away to London to sell what he had stolen?"
+
+"For love's sake, sweetheart, heed that man no more! 'tis all done and
+gone--there can come no good of vexing thyself about it," her
+grandmother said. "Be he villain or not, 'twill be well for all of us
+that we never hear his name more. In good sooth I am as much to blame as
+thou thyself, child, for the encouraging him to come about, and
+listening to his gossip--beshrew me, that I should have meddled in such
+matters, and not bade him go about his business! But 'tis all past and
+gone now, as I say--there be no profit in vexing thyself----"
+
+"Past and gone, grandmother!" she exclaimed, and yet in a listless way.
+"Yes--but what remains? Good grandmother, perchance you did not hear all
+that the parson said. 'Tis past and gone, truly--and more than you
+think."
+
+The tone in which she uttered these words somewhat startled the good
+dame, who looked at her anxiously. And then she said,
+
+"Why, now, I warrant me the barley-broth will be hot enough by this
+time: I will go fetch thee a cupful, wench--'twill put warmth in thy
+veins, it will--ay, and cheer thy heart too."
+
+"Trouble not, good grandmother," she said. "I would as lief go back to
+my room now. The light hurts my eyes strangely."
+
+"Back to your room? that shall you not!" was the prompt answer, but not
+meant unkindly. "You shall wait here, wench, till I bring thee that will
+put some color in thy white face--ay, and some of Thomas Quiney's wine
+withal; and if the light hurt thee, sit farther back, then--of a truth
+'tis no wonder, after thou hast hid thyself like a dormouse for so
+long."
+
+And so she went away to the house. But she was scarcely gone when
+Judith--in this extreme silence that the rustling of a leaf would have
+disturbed--heard certain voices; and listening more intently she made
+sure that the new-comers must be Susan and her mother, whom Prudence had
+asked to walk over. Instantly she got up, though she had to steady
+herself for a moment by resting her hand on the table; and then, as
+quickly as she could, and as noiselessly, she stole along the path to
+the cottage, and entered, and made her way up to her own room. She
+fancied she had not been heard. She would rather be alone. If they had
+come to accuse her, what had she to answer? Why, nothing: they might say
+of her what they pleased now, it was all deserved; only, the one
+denunciation of her that she had listened to--the one she had heard from
+the parson--seemed like the ringing of her death-knell. Surely there
+was no need to repeat that? They could not wish to repeat it, did they
+but know all it meant to her.
+
+Then the door was quietly opened, and her sister appeared, bearing in
+one hand a small tray.
+
+"I have brought you some food, Judith, and a little wine, and you must
+try and take them, sweetheart," said she. "'Twas right good news to us
+that you had come down and gone into the garden for a space. In truth,
+making yourself ill will not mend matters; and Prudence was in great
+alarm."
+
+She put the tray on a chair, for there was no table in the room--but
+Judith, finding that her sister had not come to accuse her, but was in
+this gentle mood, said quickly and eagerly,
+
+"Oh, Susan, you can tell me all that I would so fain know! You must have
+heard, for my father speaks to you of all his affairs, and at your own
+wedding you must have heard when all these things were arranged. Tell
+me, Susan--I shall have a marriage-portion, shall I not?--and how much,
+think you? Perchance not so large as yours, for you are the elder, and
+Dr. Hall was ever a favorite with my father. But I shall have a
+marriage-portion, Susan, shall I not? nay, it may already be set aside
+for me."
+
+And then the elder sister did glance somewhat reproachfully at her.
+
+"I wonder you should be thinking of such things, Judith," said she.
+
+"Ah, but 'tis not as you imagine," the girl said, with the same pathetic
+eagerness. "Tis in this wise now: would my father take it in a measure
+to repay him for the ill that I have done? Would it make up the loss,
+Susan, or a part of it? Would he take it, think you? Ah, but if he would
+do that!"
+
+"Why, that were an easy way out of the trouble, assuredly!" her sister
+exclaimed. "To take the marriage-portion that is set aside for thee--and
+if I mistake not, 'tis all provided--ay, and the Rowington copyhold,
+which will fall to thee, if 'tis not thine already; truly, 'twere a wise
+thing to take these to make good this loss, and then, when you marry, to
+have to give you your marriage-portion all the same!"
+
+"Nay, nay, not so, Susan!" her sister cried, quickly. "What said you?
+The Rowington copyhold also? and perchance mine already? Susan, would it
+make good the loss? Would all taken together make good the loss? For,
+as Heaven is my witness, I will never marry--nor think of marrying--but
+rejoice all the days of my life if my father would but take these to
+satisfy him of the injury I have done him. Nay, but is't possible,
+Susan? Will he do that for me--as a kindness to me? I have no right to
+ask for such--but--but if only he knew--if only he knew!"
+
+The tears were running down her face; her hands were clasped in abject
+entreaty.
+
+"Sweetheart, you know not what you ask," her sister said, but gently.
+"When you marry, your marriage-portion will have to be in accordance
+with our position in the town--my father would not have it otherwise;
+were you to surrender that now, would he let one of his daughters go
+forth from his house as a beggar, think you? Or what would her husband
+say to be so treated? You might be willing to give up these, but my
+father could not, and your husband would not."
+
+"Susan, Susan, I wish for no marriage," she cried; "I will stay with my
+grandmother here; she is content that I should bide with her; and if my
+father will take these, 'twill be the joy of my life; I shall wish for
+no more; and New Place shall come to no harm by me; 'tis here that I am
+to bide. Think you he would take them, Susan--think you he would take
+them?" she pleaded; and in her excitement she got up, and tried to walk
+about a little, but with her hands still clasped. "If one were to send
+to London now--a message--or I would walk every foot of the way did I
+but think he would do this for me--oh, no! no! no! I durst not--I durst
+never see him more--he has cast me off--and--and I deserve no less!"
+
+Her sister went to her and took her by the hand.
+
+"Judith, you have been in sore trouble, and scarce know what you say,"
+she said, in that clear, calm way of hers. "But this is now what you
+must do. Sit down and take some of this food. As I hear, you have scarce
+tasted anything these two days. You have always been so wild and
+wayward; now must you listen to reason and suffer guidance."
+
+She made her sit down. The girl took a little of the broth, some of the
+spiced bread, and a little of the wine, but it was clear that she was
+forcing herself to it; her thoughts were elsewhere. And scarcely had she
+finished this make-believe of a repast when she turned to her sister and
+said, with a pathetic pleading in her voice,
+
+"And is it not possible, Susan? Surely I can do something! It is so
+dreadful to think of my father imagining that I have done him this
+injury, and gone on the same way, careless of what has happened. That
+terrifies me at night! Oh, if you but knew what it is in the darkness,
+in the long hours, and none to call to, and none to give you help; and
+to think that these are the thoughts he has of me; that it was all for a
+sweetheart I did it--that I gave away his writing to please a
+sweetheart--and that I care not for what has happened, but would do the
+like again to-morrow! It is so dreadful in the night."
+
+"I would comfort you if I could, Judith," said her sister, "but I fear
+me you must trust to wiser counsel than mine. In truth I know not
+whether all this can be undone, or how my father regards it at the
+moment; for at the time of the writing they were all uncertain. But
+surely now you would do well to be ruled by some one better able to
+guide you than any of us women-folk; Master Blaise hath been most kind
+and serviceable in this as in all other matters, and hath written to
+your father in answer to his letter, so that we have had trust and
+assurance in his direction. And you also--why should you not seek his
+aid and counsel?"
+
+At the mere mention of the parson's name Judith shivered instinctively,
+she scarce knew why.
+
+"Judith," her sister continued, regarding her watchfully, "to-morrow, as
+I understand, Master Blaise is coming over here to see you."
+
+"May not I be spared that? He hath already brought his message," the
+girl said, in a low voice.
+
+"Nay, he comes but in kindness--or more than kindness, if I guess
+aright. Bethink you, Judith," she said, "'tis not only the loss of the
+money--or great or small I know not--that hath distressed my father.
+There was more than that. Nay, do not think that I am come to reproach
+you; but will it not be ever thus so long as you will be ruled by none,
+but must always go your own way? There was more than merely concerned
+money affairs in my father's letter, as doubtless Master Blaise hath
+told you; and then, think of it, Judith, how 'twill be when the bruit of
+the story comes down to Stratford----"
+
+"I care not," was the perfectly calm answer. "That is for me to bear.
+Can Master Blaise tell me how I may restore to my father this that he
+hath lost? Then his visit might be more welcome, Susan."
+
+"Why will you harden your heart so?" the elder sister said, with some
+touch of entreaty in her tone. "Nay, think of it, Judith! Here is an
+answer to all. If you but listen to him, and favor him, you will have
+one always with you as a sure guide and counsellor; and who then may
+dare say a word against you?"
+
+"Then he comes to save my good name?" the girl said, with a curious
+change of manner. "Nay, I will give him no such tarnished prize!"
+
+And here it occurred to the elder sister, who was sufficiently shrewd
+and observant, that her intercession did not seem to be producing good
+results, and she considered it better that the parson should speak for
+himself. Indeed, she hoped she had done no mischief, for this that she
+now vaguely suggested had for long been the dream and desire of both her
+mother and herself; and at this moment, if ever, there was a chance of
+Judith's being obedient and compliant. Not only did she forthwith change
+the subject, but also she managed to conquer the intense longing that
+possessed her to learn something further about the young man who (as she
+imagined) had for a time captured Judith's fancies. She gave her sister
+what news there was in the town. She besought her to take care of
+herself, and to go out as much as possible, for that she was looking far
+from well. And, finally, when the girl confessed that she was fain to
+lie down for a space (having slept so little during these two nights),
+she put some things over her and quietly left, hoping that she might
+soon get to sleep.
+
+Judith did not rest long, however. The question whether the sacrifice of
+her marriage-portion might not do something toward retrieving the
+disaster she had caused was still harassing her mind; and then again
+there was the prospect of the parson coming on the morrow. By-and-by,
+when she was certain that her mother and sister were gone, she went
+down-stairs, and began to help in doing this or the other little thing
+about the house. Her grandmother was out-of-doors, and so did not know,
+to interfere, though the small maid-servant remonstrated as best she
+might. Luckily, however, nature was a more imperative monitress, and
+again and again the girl had to sit down from sheer physical weakness.
+
+But there came over a visitor in the afternoon who restored to her
+something of her old spirit. It was little Willie Hart, who, having
+timidly tapped at the open door without, came along the passage and
+entered the dusky chamber where she was.
+
+"Ah, sweetheart," said she (but with a kind of sudden sob in her
+throat), "have you come to see me?"
+
+"I heard that you were not well, cousin," said he, and he regarded her
+with troubled and anxious eyes as she stooped to kiss him.
+
+"Nay, I am well enough," said she, with as much cheerfulness as she
+could muster. "Fret not yourself about that. And what a studious scholar
+you are, Cousin Willie, to be sure, that must needs bring your book with
+you! Were I not so ignorant myself, I should hear you your tasks; but
+you would but laugh at me----"
+
+"'Tis no task-book, Judith," said he, diffidently. "'Twas Prudence who
+lent it to me." And then he hesitated, through shyness.
+
+"Why, you know, Judith," he said, "you have spoken to me many a time
+about Sir Philip Sidney; and I was asking this one and the other, at
+times, and Prudence said she would show me a book he had written that
+belongs to her brother. And then to-day, when I went to her, she bade me
+bring the book to you, and to read to you, for that you were not well
+and might be pleased to hear it, she not being able to come over till
+the morrow."
+
+"In truth, now, that was well thought of, and friendly," said she, and
+she put her hand in a kindly fashion on his shoulder. "And you have come
+all the way over to read to me! see you how good a thing it is to be
+wise and instructed. Well, then, we will go and sit by the door, that
+you may have more of light; and if my grandmother catch us at such
+idleness, you shall have to defend me--you shall have to defend me,
+sweetheart--for you are the man of us two, and I must be shielded."
+
+So they went to the door, and sat down on the step, the various-colored
+garden and the trees and the wide heavens all shining before them.
+
+"And what is the tale, Cousin Willie?" said she, quite pleasantly (for
+indeed she was glad to see the boy, and to chat with one who had no
+reproaches for her, who knew nothing against her, but was ever her true
+lover and slave). "Nay, if it be by Sir Philip Sidney, 'twill be of
+gallant and noble knights, assuredly."
+
+"I know not, Cousin Judith," said he; "I but looked at the beginning as
+I came through the fields. And this is how it goes."
+
+He opened the book and began to read--
+
+"'It was in the time that the Earth begins to put on her new apparel
+against the approach of her lover, and that the sun running a most even
+course becomes an indifferent arbiter between the night and the day,
+when the hopeless shepherd Strephon was come to the sands which lie
+against the island of Cythera, where, viewing the place with a heavy
+kind of delight, and sometimes casting his eyes to the isleward, he
+called his friendly rival the pastor Claius unto him, and, setting first
+down in his darkened countenance a doleful copy of what he would speak,
+"O my Claius," said he----'"
+
+Thus he went on; and as he read, her face grew more and more wistful. It
+was a far-off land that she heard of; and beautiful it was; it seemed to
+her that she had been dwelling in some such land, careless and all
+unknowing.
+
+"'The third day after,'" she vaguely heard him say, "'in the time that
+the morning did strew roses and violets in the heavenly floor against
+the coming of the sun, the nightingales, striving one with the other
+which could in most dainty variety recount their wrong-caused sorrow,
+made them put off their sleep, and rising from under a tree, which that
+night had been their pavilion, they went on their journey, which
+by-and-by welcomed Musidorus's eyes with delightful prospects. There
+were hills which garnished their proud heights with stately trees;
+humble valleys whose base estate seemed comforted with the refreshing of
+silver rivers; meadows enamelled with all sorts of eye-pleasing flowers;
+thickets which, being lined with most pleasant shade, were witnessed so
+to by the cheerful disposition of many well-tuned birds; each pasture
+stored with sheep, feeding with sober security, while the pretty lambs,
+with bleating oratory, craved the dams' comfort; here a shepherd's boy
+piping, as though he should never be old; there a young shepherdess
+knitting, and withal singing; and it seemed that her voice comforted her
+hands to work, and her hands kept time to her voice-music.'"
+
+Surely she had herself been living in some such land of pleasant
+delights, without a thought that ever it would end for her, but that
+each following day would be as full of mirth and laughter as its
+predecessor. She scarcely listened to the little lad now; she was
+looking back over the years, so rare and bright and full of light and
+color were they--and always a kind of music in them--and laughter at the
+sad eyes of lovers. She had never known how happy she had been. It was
+all distant now--the idle flower-gathering in the early spring-time; the
+afternoon walking in the meadows, she and Prudence together (with the
+young lads regarding them askance); the open casements on the moonlit
+nights, to hear the madrigal singing of the youths going home; or the
+fair and joyous mornings that she was allowed to ride away in the
+direction of Oxford, to meet her father and his companions coming in to
+Stratford town. And now, when next he should come--to all of them, and
+all of them welcoming him--even neighbors and half-strangers--and he
+laughing to them all, and getting off his horse, and calling for a cup
+of wine as he strode into the house, where should she be? Not with all
+of these--not laughing and listening to the merry stories of the
+journey--but away by herself, hiding herself, as it were, and thinking,
+alone.
+
+"Dear Judith, but why are you crying?" said the little lad, as he
+chanced to look up; and his face was of an instant and troubled anxiety.
+
+"Why, 'tis a fair land--oh, indeed, a fair land," said she, with an
+effort at regarding the book, and pretending to be wholly interested in
+it. "Nay, I would hear more of Musidorus, sweetheart, and of that pretty
+country. I pray you continue the reading--continue the reading,
+sweetheart Willie. Nay, I never heard of a fairer country I assure thee,
+in all the wide world!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXII.
+
+A RESOLVE.
+
+
+Then that night, as she lay awake in the dark, her incessant imaginings
+shaped themselves toward one end. This passion of grief she knew to be
+unavailing and fruitless. Something she would try to do, if but to give
+evidence of her contrition: for how could she bear that her father
+should think of her as one having done him this harm and still going on
+light-hearted and unconcerned? The parson was coming over on the morrow.
+And if she were to put away her maidenly pride (and other vague dreams
+that she had sometimes dreamed), and take it that her consent would
+re-establish her in the eyes of those who were now regarding her
+askance, and make her peace with her own household? And if the
+surrender of her marriage-portion and her interest in the Rowington
+copyhold (whatever it might be) were in a measure to mitigate her
+father's loss? It was the only thing she could think of. And if at times
+she looked forward with a kind of shudder (for in the night-time all
+prospects wear a darker hue) to her existence as the parson's wife,
+again there came to her the reflection that it was not for her to
+repine. Some sacrifice was due from her. And could she not be as
+resolute as the daughter of the Gileadite? Oftentimes she had heard the
+words read out in the still afternoon: "Now when Iphtah came to Mizpeh
+unto his house, behold his daughter came out to meet him with timbrels
+and dances: which was his only child; he had none other, son nor
+daughter. And when he saw her he rent his clothes, and said, Alas! my
+daughter, thou hast brought me low, and art of them that trouble me."
+The Jewish maiden had done no ill, and yet was brave to suffer. Why
+should she repine at any sacrifice demanded of her to atone for her own
+wrong-doing? What else was there? She hoped that Susan and her mother
+would be pleased now, and that her father and his friends in London
+would not have any serious loss to regret. There was but the one way,
+she said to herself again and again. She was almost anxious for the
+parson to come over, to see if he would approve.
+
+With the daylight her determination became still more clear, and also
+she saw more plainly the difficulties before her; for it could not be
+deemed a very seemly and maidenly thing that she, on being asked to
+become a bride (and she had no doubt that was his errand), should begin
+to speak of her marriage-portion. But would he understand? Would he help
+her over her embarrassment? Nay, she could not but reflect, here was an
+opportunity for his showing himself generous and large-minded. He had
+always professed, or at least intimated, that his wish to have her for
+wife was based mostly on his care for herself and his regard for the
+general good of the pious community to which he belonged. She was to be
+a helpmate for one laboring in the Lord's vineyard; she was to be of
+service in the church; she was to secure for herself a constant and
+loving direction and guidance. And now, if he wished to prove all
+this--if he wished to show himself so noble and disinterested as to win
+for himself her life-long gratitude--what if he were to take over all
+her marriage-portion, as that might be arranged, and forthwith and
+chivalrously hand it back again, so that her grievous fault should so
+far be condoned? If the girl had been in her usual condition of health
+and spirits, it is probable that she would have regarded this question
+with a trifle of scepticism (for she was about as shrewd in such matters
+as Susan herself); nay, it is just probable that she might have
+experienced a malicious joy in putting him to the proof. But she was in
+despair; her nerves were gone through continual wakefulness and mental
+torture; this was the only direction in which she saw light before her,
+and she regarded it, not with her ordinary faculty of judgment, but with
+a kind of pathetic hope.
+
+Master Blaise arrived in the course of the morning. His reception was
+not auspicious, for the old dame met him at the gate, and made more than
+a show of barring the way.
+
+"Indeed, good sir," said she, firmly, "the wench be far from well now,
+and I would have her left alone."
+
+He answered that his errand was of some importance, and that he must
+crave a few minutes' interview. Both her mother and sister, he said,
+were aware he was coming over to see her, and had made no objection.
+
+"No, no, perchance not," the grandmother said, though without budging an
+inch, "but she be under my care now, and I will have no harm befall
+her----"
+
+"Harm! good Mistress Hathaway?" said he.
+
+"Well, she be none so strong as she were--and--and perchance there hath
+been overmuch lecturing of the poor lass. Nay, I doubt not 'twas meant
+in kindness; but there hath been overmuch of it, as I reckon, and what I
+say is, if the wench have done amiss, let those that have the right to
+complain come to her. Nay, 'twas kindness, good sir; 'twas well meant, I
+doubt not; and 'tis your calling belike to give counsel and reproof; I
+say naught against that, but I am of a mind to have my grandchild left
+alone at present."
+
+"If you refuse me, good Mistress Hathaway," said he, quite courteously
+and calmly, "there is no more to be said. But I imagine that her mother
+and sister will be surprised. And as for the maiden herself--go you by
+her wishes?"
+
+"Nay, not I," was the bold answer. "I know better than all of them
+together. For to speak plainly with you, good Master Parson, your
+preaching must have been oversharp when last you were within here--and
+was like to have brought the wench to death's door thereafter; marry,
+she be none so far recovered as to risk any further of such treatment.
+Perchance you meant no harm; but she is proud and high-spirited, and by
+your leave, good sir, we will see her a little stronger and better set
+up ere she have any more of the discipline of the church bestowed on
+her."
+
+It was well that Judith appeared at this juncture, for the tone of the
+old dame's voice was growing more and more tart.
+
+"Grandmother," said she, "I would speak with Master Blaise."
+
+"Get thee within-doors at once, I tell thee, wench!" was the peremptory
+rejoinder.
+
+"No, good grandmother, so please you," Judith said, "I must speak with
+him. There is much of importance that I have to say to him. Good sir,
+will you step into the garden?"
+
+The old dame withdrew, sulky and grumbling, and evidently inclined to
+remain within ear-shot, lest she should deem it necessary to interfere.
+Judith preceded Master Blaise to the door of the cottage, and asked the
+little maid to bring out a couple of chairs. As she sat down he could
+not but observe how wan and worn her face was, and how listless she was
+in manner; but he made no comment on that; he only remarked that her
+grandmother seemed in no friendly mood this morning, and that only the
+fact that his mission was known to Susan and her mother had caused him
+to persist.
+
+It was clear that this untoward reception had disconcerted him somewhat;
+and it was some little time before he could recover that air of mild
+authority with which he was accustomed to convey his counsels. At first
+he confined himself to telling Judith what he had done on behalf of her
+mother and Susan, in obedience to their wishes; but by and by he came to
+herself and her own situation; and he hoped that this experience through
+which she had passed, though it might have caused her bitter distress
+for the time, would eventually make for good. If the past could not be
+recalled, at least the future might be made safe. Indeed one or two
+phrases he had used sounded as if they had done some previous service,
+perhaps he had consulted with Mistress Hall ere making this appeal--but
+in any case Judith was not listening so particularly as to think of
+that--she seemed to know beforehand what he had to say.
+
+To tell the truth, he was himself a little surprised at her tacit
+acquiescence. He had always had to argue with Judith, and many a time he
+had found that her subtle feminine wit was capable of extricating
+herself from what he considered a defenceless position. But now she sat
+almost silent. She seemed to agree to everything. There was not a trace
+left of the old audacious self-reliance, nor yet of those saucy
+rejoinders which were only veiled by her professed respect for his
+cloth--she was at his mercy.
+
+And so, growing bolder, he put in his own personal claim. He said little
+that he had not said or hinted on previous occasions; but now all the
+circumstances were changed; this heavy misfortune that had befallen her
+was but another and all too cogent reason why she should accept his
+offer of shelter and aid and counsel, seeing into what pitfalls her own
+unguided steps were like to lead her.
+
+"I speak the words of truth and soberness," said he, as he sat and
+calmly regarded her downcast face, "and make no appeal to the foolish
+fancies of a young and giddy-headed girl--for that you are no longer,
+Judith. The years are going by. There must come a time in life when the
+enjoyment of the passing moment is not all in all--when one must look to
+the future, and make provision for sickness and old age. Death strikes
+here and there; friends fall away. What a sad thing it were to find
+one's self alone, the dark clouds of life thickening over, and none by
+to help and cheer. Then your mother and sister, Judith----"
+
+"Yes, I know," she said, almost in despair--"I know 'twould please
+them."
+
+And then she reflected that this was scarcely the manner in which she
+should receive his offer, that was put before her so plainly and with so
+much calm sincerity.
+
+"I pray you, good sir," said she, in a kind of languid way, "forgive me
+if I answer you not as frankly as might be. I have been ill; my head
+aches now; perchance I have not followed all you said. But I understand
+it--I understand it--and in all you say there is naught but good
+intention."
+
+"Then it is yes, Judith?" he exclaimed; and for the first time there was
+a little brightness of ardor--almost of triumph--in this clearly
+conceived and argued wooing.
+
+"It would please my mother and sister," she repeated, slowly. "They are
+afraid of some story coming from London about--about--what is passed.
+This would be an answer, would it not?"
+
+"Why, yes!" he said, confidently, for he saw that she was yielding (and
+his own susceptibilities were not likely to be wounded in that
+direction). "Think you we should heed any tavern scurrility? I trow not!
+There would be the answer plain and clear--if you were my wife, Judith."
+
+"They would be pleased," again she said, and her eyes were absent. And
+then she added, "I pray you pardon me, good sir, if I speak of that
+which you may deem out of place, but--but if you knew--how I have been
+striving to think of some means of repairing the wrong I have done my
+father, you would not wonder that I should be anxious, and perchance
+indiscreet. You know of the loss I have caused him and his companions.
+How could I ever make that good with the work of my own hands? That is
+not possible; and yet when I think of how he hath toiled for all of
+us--late and early, as it were--why, good sir, I have myself been bold
+enough to chide him--or to wish that I were a man, to ride forth in the
+morning in his stead and look after the land; and then that his own
+daughter should be the means of taking from him what he hath earned so
+hardly--that I should never forget; 'twould be on my mind year after
+year, even if he were himself to try to forget it."
+
+She paused for a second; the mere effort of speaking seemed to fatigue
+her.
+
+"There is but the one means, as I can think, of showing him my humble
+sorrow for what hath been done--of making him some restitution. I know
+not what my marriage-portion may be--but 'twill be something--and Susan
+saith there is a part of the manor of Rowington, also, that would fall
+to me; now, see you, good Master Blaise, if I were to give these over to
+my father in part quittance of this injury--or if, belike--my--my--husband
+would do that--out of generosity and nobleness--would not my father be
+less aggrieved?"
+
+She had spoken rather quickly and breathlessly (to get over her
+embarrassment), and now she regarded him with a strange anxiety, for so
+much depended on his answer! Would he understand her motives? Would he
+pardon her bluntness? Would he join her in this scheme of restitution?
+
+He hesitated only for a moment.
+
+"Dear Judith," he said, with perfect equanimity, "such matters are
+solely within the province of men, and not at the disposition of women,
+who know less of the affairs of the world. Whatever arrangements your
+father may have made in respect of your marriage-portion--truly I have
+made no inquiry in that direction--he will have made with due regard to
+his own circumstances, and with regard to the family and to your future.
+Would he be willing to upset these in order to please a girlish fancy?
+Why, in all positions in life pecuniary losses must happen; and a man
+takes account of these; and is he likely to recover himself at the
+expense of his own daughter?"
+
+"Nay, but if she be willing! If she would give all that she hath, good
+sir!" she cried, quickly.
+
+"'Twould be but taking it from one pocket to put it in the other," said
+he, in his patient and forbearing way. "I say not, if a man were like to
+become bankrupt, that his family might not forego their expectations in
+order to save him; but your father is one in good position. Think you
+that the loss is so great to him? In truth it cannot be."
+
+The eagerness fell away from her face. She saw too clearly that he could
+not understand her at all. She did not reckon her father's loss in
+proportion to his wealth--in truth, she could not form the faintest
+notion of what that loss might be; all her thought was of her winning
+back (in some remote day, if that were still possible to her) to her
+father's forgiveness, and the regarding of his face as no longer in
+dread wrath against her.
+
+"Why," said he, seeing that she sat silent and distraught (for all the
+hope had gone out of her), "in every profession and station in life a
+man must have here or there a loss, as I say; but would he rob his
+family to make that good? Surely not. Of what avail might that be? 'Tis
+for them that he is working, 'tis not for himself; why should he take
+from them to build up a property which must in due course revert and
+become theirs? I pray you put such fancies out of your head, Judith.
+Women are not accustomed to deal with such matters; 'tis better to have
+them settled in the ordinary fashion. Were I you I would leave it in
+your father's hands."
+
+"And have him think of me as he is thinking now!" she said, in a kind of
+wild way. "Ah, good sir, you know not!--you know not! Every day that
+passes is but the deeper misery--for--for he will be hardened in the
+belief--'twill be fixed in his mind forever--that his own daughter did
+him this wrong, and went on lightly--not heeding--perchance to seek
+another sweetheart. This he is thinking now, and I--what can I
+do?--being so far away and none to help!"
+
+"In truth, dear Judith," said he, "you make too much of your share in
+what happened. 'Tis not to you your father should look for reparation of
+his loss, but to the scoundrel who carried the play to London. What
+punishment would it be for him--or what gain to your father--that your
+father should upset the arrangements he has made for the establishment
+and surety of his own family? Nay, I pray you put aside such a strange
+fancy, dear heart, and let such things take their natural course."
+
+"In no wise, in no wise!" she exclaimed, almost in despair. "In truth I
+cannot. 'Twould kill me were nothing to be done to appease my father's
+anger; and I thought that if he were to learn that you had sought me in
+marriage--and--and agreed that such restitution as I can make should be
+made forthwith--or afterward, as might be decided--but only that he
+should know now that I give up everything he had intended for me--then I
+should have great peace of mind."
+
+"Indeed, Judith," said he, somewhat coldly, "I could be no party to any
+such foolish freak--nay, not even in intention, whatever your father
+might say to it. The very neighbors would think I was bereft of my
+senses. And 'twould be an ill beginning of our life together--in which
+there must ever be authority and guidance, as well as dutiful
+obedience--if I were to yield to what every one must perceive to be an
+idle and fantastic wish. I pray you consult your own sober judgment; at
+present you are ailing, and perturbed; rest you awhile until these
+matters have calmed somewhat, and you will see them in their true
+light."
+
+"No, no," she said, hurriedly and absently--"no, no, good sir, you know
+not what you ask. Rest? Nay, one way or the other this must be done, and
+forthwith. I know not what he may have intended for me; but be it large
+or small, 'tis all that I have to give him--I can do no more than
+that--and then--then there may be some thoughts of rest."
+
+She spoke as if she were scarcely aware of the good parson's presence;
+and in truth, though he was not one to allow any wounded self-love to
+mar his interests, he could not conceal from himself that she was
+considering the proposal he had put before her mainly, if not wholly,
+with a view to the possible settlement of these troubles and the
+appeasing of her friends. Whether, in other circumstances, he might not
+have calmly overlooked this slight, needs not now be regarded; in the
+present circumstances--that is to say, after her announced determination
+to forego every penny of her marriage-portion--he did take notice of it,
+and with some sharpness of tone, as if he were truly offended.
+
+"Indeed you pay me no compliment, Judith," said he. "I come to offer you
+the shelter of an honest man's home, an honorable station as his wife, a
+life-long guidance and protection; and what is your answer?--that
+perchance you may make use of such an offer to please your friends and
+to pay back to your father what you foolishly think you owe him. If
+these be the only purposes you have in view--and you seem to think of
+none other--'twould be a sorry forecast for the future, as I take it. At
+the very beginning an act of madness! Nay, I could be no party to any
+such thing. If you refuse to be guided by me in great matters, how could
+I expect you to be guided in small?"
+
+These words, uttered in his clear and precise and definite manner, she
+but vaguely understood (for her head troubled her sorely, and she was
+tired, and anxious to be at rest) to be a withdrawal of his proposal.
+But that was enough; and perhaps she even experienced some slight sense
+of relief. As for his rebuking of her, she heeded not that.
+
+"As you will, sir, as you will," she said, listlessly, and she rose from
+her chair.
+
+And he rose too. Perhaps he was truly offended; perhaps he only appeared
+to be; but at all events he bade her farewell in a cold and formal
+manner, and as if it were he who had brought this interview to an end,
+and that for good.
+
+"What said he, wench, what said he?" her grandmother asked (who had been
+pretending all the time to be gathering peas, and now came forward).
+"Nay, I caught but little--a word here or there--and yet methinks 'tis a
+brave way of wooing they have nowadays that would question a maid about
+her marriage-portion! Heaven's mercy, did ever any hear the like? 'Twas
+not so when I was young--nay, a maid would have bade him go hang that
+brought her such a tale. Oh, the good parson! his thoughts be not all
+bent on heaven, I warrant me! Ay, and what said he? And what saidst
+thou, wench? Truly you be in no fit state to answer him; were you well
+enough, and in your usual spirits, the good man would have his
+answer--ay, as sharp as need be. But I will say no more; Master Quiney
+hath a vengeful spirit, and perchance he hath set me too much against
+the good man; but as for thyself, lass, there be little cause for
+talking further of thy offences, if 'tis thy marriage-portion the parson
+be after now!"
+
+"Good grandmother, give me your arm," Judith said, in a strange way. "My
+head is so strange and giddy. I know not what I have said to him--I
+scarce can recollect it--if I have offended, bid him forgive
+me--but--but I would have him remain away."
+
+"As I am a living woman," said the old dame (forgetting her resolve to
+speak smooth words), "he shall not come within the door, nor yet within
+that gate while you bide with me and would have him kept without! What
+then? More talk of chastenings? Marry now Thomas Quiney shall hear of
+this--that shall he--by my life he shall!"
+
+"No, no, no, good grandmother, pray you blame no one," the girl said,
+and she was trembling somewhat. "'Tis I that have done all the harm--to
+every one. But I know not what I said--I--I would fain lie down,
+grandmother, if you will give me your arm so far--'tis so strangely
+cold--I understand it not--and I forget what wast he said to me--but I
+trust I offended him not----"
+
+"Nay, but what is it, then, my deary?" the old woman said, taking both
+the girl's hands in hers. "What is it that you should fret about? Nay,
+fret not, fret not, good wench; the parson be well away, and there let
+him bide. And would you lie down?--well, come, then; but sure you shake
+as if 'twere winter. Come, lass! nay, fret not, we will keep the parson
+away, I warrant, if 'tis that vexes thee!"
+
+"No, grandmother, 'tis not so," the girl said, in a low voice. "'Twas
+down by the river, as I think--'twas chilly there--I have felt it ever
+since, from time to time--but 'twill pass away when I am laid down and
+become warm again."
+
+"Heaven grant it be no worse," the old dame said to herself, as she
+shrewdly regarded the girl; but of course her outward talk, as she took
+her within-doors, was ostensibly cheerful. "Come thy ways, then,
+sweeting, and we shall soon make thee warm enough. Ay, ay, and Prudence
+be coming over this afternoon, as I hear; and no doubt Thomas Quiney
+too; and thou must get thyself dressed prettily, and have supper with us
+all, though 'tis no treat to offer to a man of his own wine. Nay, I
+warrant me he will think naught of that so thou be there with a pleasant
+face for him; he will want nor wine nor aught else if he have but that,
+and a friendly word from thee, as I reckon; ay, and thou shalt put on
+the lace cuffs now, to do him fair service for his gift to thee--that
+shalt thou, and why not? I swear to thee, my brave lass, they be fit for
+a queen!"
+
+And she would comfort her and help her (just as if this granddaughter of
+hers, that always was so bright and gay and radiant, so self-willed and
+self-reliant, with nothing but laughter for the sad eyes of the stricken
+youths, was now but a weak and frightened child, that had to be guarded
+and coaxed and caressed), and would talk as if all her thinking was of
+that visit in the afternoon; but the only answer was----
+
+"Will you send for Prudence, grandmother? Oh, grandmother, my head aches
+so! I scarce know what I said."
+
+Swiftly and secretly the old dame sent across to the town; and not to
+Prudence only, but also (for she was grown anxious) to Mistress Hall, to
+say that if her husband were like to return soon to Stratford he might
+come over and see Judith, who was far from well. As for Prudence, a word
+was sufficient to bring her; she was there straightway.
+
+She found Judith very much as she had left her, but somewhat more
+restless and feverish perhaps, and then again hopelessly weak and
+languid, and always with those racking pains in the head. She said it
+was nothing--it would soon pass away; it was but a chill she had caught
+in sitting on the river-bank; would not Prudence now go back to her
+duties and her affairs in the house?
+
+"Judith," said her friend, leaning over her and speaking low, "I have
+that to tell thee will comfort thee, methinks."
+
+"Nay, I cannot listen to it now," was the answer--and it was a moan
+almost. "Dear mouse, do not trouble about me--but my head is so bad that
+I--that I care not now. And the parson is gone away, thinking that I
+have wronged him also--'tis ever the same now--oh, sweetheart, my head,
+my head!"
+
+"But listen, Judith," the other pleaded. "Nay, but you must know what
+your friends are ready to do for you--this surely will make thee well,
+sweetheart. Think of it now; do you know that Quiney is gone to see
+your father?"
+
+"To my father!" she repeated, and she tried to raise her head somewhat,
+so that her eyes might read her friend's face.
+
+"I am almost sure of it, dear heart," Prudence said, taking her hot hand
+in hers. "Nay, he would have naught said of it. None of his family know
+whither he is gone, and I but guess. But this is the manner of it, dear
+Judith--that he and I were talking, and sorely vexed he was that your
+father should be told a wrong story concerning you--ay, and sorry to see
+you so shaken, Judith, and distressed; and said he, 'What if I were to
+get a message to her from her father--that he was in no such mood of
+anger--and had not heard the story aright--and that he was well disposed
+to her, and grieved to hear she had taken it so much to heart--would not
+that comfort her?' he said. And I answered that assuredly it would, and
+even more perchance than he thought of; and I gathered from him that he
+would write to some one in London to go and see your father, and pray
+him to send you assurance of that kind. But now--nay, I am certain of
+it, dear Judith--I am certain that he himself is gone all the way to
+London to bring thee back that comfort; and will not that cheer thee
+now, sweetheart?"
+
+"He is doing all that for me?" the girl said, in a low voice, and
+absently.
+
+"Ah, but you must be well and cheerful, good mouse, to give him greeting
+when he comes back," said Prudence, striving to raise her spirits
+somewhat. "Have I not read to thee many a time how great kings were wont
+to reward the messengers that brought them good news?--a gold chain
+round their neck, or lands perchance. And will you have no word of
+welcome for him? Will you not meet him with a glad face? Why, think of
+it now--a journey to London--and the perils and troubles by the way--and
+all done to please thee. Nay, he would say naught of it to any one--lest
+they might wonder at his doing so much for thee, belike--but when he
+comes back 'twere a sorry thing that you should not give him a good and
+gracious welcome."
+
+Judith lay silent and thinking for a while, and then she said--but as if
+the mere effort to speak were too much for her--
+
+"Whatever happens, dear Prudence--nay, in truth I think I am very
+ill--tell him this--that he did me wrong--he thought I had gone to meet
+the parson that Sunday morning in the church-yard--'twas not so--tell
+him it was not so--'twas but a chance, dear heart--I could not help
+it----"
+
+"Judith, Judith," her friend said, "these be things for thine own
+telling. Nay, you shall say all that to himself, and you must speak him
+fair; ay, and give him good welcome and thanks that hath done so much
+for thee."
+
+Judith put her head down on the pillow again, languidly; but presently
+Prudence heard her laugh to herself, in a strange way.
+
+"Last night," she said--"'twas so wonderful, dear Prue--I thought I was
+going about in a strange country, looking for my little brother Hamnet,
+and I knew not whether he would have any remembrance of me. Should I
+have to tell him my name? I kept asking myself. And 'Judith, Judith,' I
+said to him, when I found him; but he scarce knew; I thought he had
+forgotten me, 'tis so long ago now; 'Judith, Judith,' I said; and he
+looked up, and he was so strangely like little Willie Hart that I
+wondered whether it was Hamnet or no----"
+
+But Prudence was alarmed by these wanderings, and did her best to hush
+them. And then, when at length the girl lay silent and still, Prudence
+stole down-stairs again and bade the grandmother go to Judith's room,
+for that she must at once hurry over to Stratford to speak with Susan
+Hall.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII.
+
+ARRIVALS.
+
+
+Some few mornings after that two travellers were standing in the
+spacious archway of the inn at Shipston, chatting to each other, and
+occasionally glancing toward the stable-yard, as if they were expecting
+their horses to be brought round.
+
+"The wench will thank thee for this service done her," the elder of the
+two said; and he regarded the younger man in a shrewd and not unkindly
+way.
+
+"Nay, I am none well pleased with the issue of it at all," the young man
+said, moodily.
+
+"What, then?" his companion said. "Can nothing be done and finished but
+with the breaking of heads? Must that ever crown the work? Mercy on
+us!--how many would you have slaughtered? now 'tis the parson that must
+be thrown into the Avon; again it is Gentleman Jack you would have us
+seek out for you; and then it is his friend, whose very name we know
+not, that you would pursue through the dens and stews of London town. A
+hopeful task, truly, for a Stratford youth! What know you of London,
+man? And to pursue one whose very name you have not--and all for the
+further breaking of heads, that never did any good anywhere in the
+world."
+
+"Your are right, sir," the younger man said, with some bitterness. "I
+can brag and bluster as well as any. But I see not that much comes of
+it. 'Tis easy to break the heads of scoundrels--in talk. Their bones are
+none the worse."
+
+"And better so," the other said, gravely. "I will have no blood shed.
+What, man, are you still fretting that I would not leave you behind in
+London?"
+
+"Nay, sir, altogether I like not the issue of it," he said, but
+respectfully enough. "I shall be told, I doubt not, that I might have
+minded my own business. They will blame me for bringing you all this way
+and hindering your affairs."
+
+"Heaven bless us," said the other, laughing, "may not a man come to see
+his own daughter without asking leave of the neighbors?"
+
+"'Tis as like as not that she herself will be the first to chide me,"
+the younger man answered. "A message to her was all I asked of you, sir.
+I dreamt not of hindering your affairs so."
+
+"Nay, nay," said Judith's father, good-naturedly. "I can make the
+occasion serve me well. Trouble not about that, friend Quiney. If we can
+cheer up the wench, and put her mind at rest--that will be a sufficient
+end of the journey; and we will have no broken heads withal, so please
+you. And if she herself should have put aside these idle fears, and
+become her usual self again, why, then, there is no harm done either. I
+mind me that some of them wondered that I should ride down to see my
+little Hamnet when he lay sick, for 'twas no serious illness that time,
+as it turned out; but what does that make for now? Now, I tell you, I am
+right glad I went to see the little lad; it cheered him to be made so
+much of, and such small services or kindnesses are pleasant things for
+ourselves to think of, when those who are dearest to us are no longer
+with us. So cease your fretting, friend Quiney, for the hindering of my
+affairs I take it that I am answerable to myself, and not to the good
+gossips of Stratford town. And if 'tis merely to say a kind word to the
+lass--if that is all that needs be done--well, there are many things
+that are of different value to different people; and the wench and I
+understand each other shrewdly well."
+
+The horses were now brought round; but ere they mounted, Judith's father
+said, again regarding the youth in that observant way,
+
+"Nay, I see how it is with you, good lad--you are anxious as to how
+Judith may take this service you have done her. Is't not so?"
+
+"Perchance she may be angry that I called you away, sir," he said.
+
+"Have no fear. 'Twas none of thy doing; 'twas but a whim of mine own.
+Nay, there be other and many reasons for my coming--that need not be
+explained to her. What, must I make apology to my own daughter? She is
+not the guardian of Stratford town. I am no rogue; she is no constable.
+May not I enter? Nay, nay, have no fear, friend Quiney; when that she
+comes to understand the heavy errand you undertook for her, she will
+give you her thanks, or I know nothing of her. Her thanks?--marry, yes!"
+
+He looked at the young man again.
+
+"But let there be no broken heads, good friend, I charge you," said he,
+as he put his foot in the stirrup. "If the parson have been over-zealous
+we will set all matters straight, without hurt or harm to any son of
+Adam."
+
+And now as they rode on together, the younger man's face seemed more
+confident and satisfied, and he was silent for the most part. Of course
+he would himself be the bearer of the news; it was but natural that he
+should claim as much. And as Judith's father intended to go first to New
+Place, Quiney intimated to him that he would rather not ride through the
+town; in fact, he wanted to get straightway (and unobserved, if
+possible) to Shottery, to see how matters were there.
+
+When he arrived at the little hamlet, Willie Hart was in the garden, and
+instantly came down to the gate to meet him. He asked no questions of
+the boy, but begged of him to hold the bridle of his horse for a few
+minutes; then he went into the house.
+
+Just within the threshold he met Judith's sister.
+
+"Ah," said he, quickly, and even joyously, "I have brought good news.
+Where is Judith? May I see her? I want to tell her that her father is
+come, and will be here to see her presently----"
+
+And then something in the scared face that was regarding him struck him
+with a sudden terror.
+
+"What is it?" he said, with his own face become about as pale as hers.
+
+"Judith is very ill," was the answer.
+
+"Yes, yes," he said eagerly, "and that she was when I left. But now that
+her father is come, 'twill be all different--'twill be all set right
+now. And you will tell her, then, if I may not? Nay, but may not I see
+her for a moment--but for a moment--to say how her father is come all
+the way to see her--ay, and hath a store of trinkets for her--and is
+come to comfort her into the assurance that all will go well? Why, will
+not such a message cheer her?"
+
+"Good Master Quiney," Susan said, with tears welling into her eyes, "if
+you were to see her she would not know you--she knows no one--she knows
+not that she is ill--but speaks of herself as some other----"
+
+"But her father!" he exclaimed, in dismay, "will she not know him? Will
+she not understand? Nay, surely 'tis not yet too late!"
+
+But here Doctor Hall appeared; and when he was told that Judith's father
+was come to the town, and would shortly be at the cottage, he merely
+said that perhaps his presence might soothe her somewhat, or even lead
+her delirious wanderings into a gentler channel, but that she would
+almost certainly be unable to recognize him. Nor was the fever yet at
+its height, he said, and they could do but little for her. They could
+but wait and hope. As for Quiney, he did not ask to be admitted to the
+room. He seemed stunned. He sat down in the kitchen, heeding no one, and
+vaguely wondering whether any lengthening of the stages of the journey
+would have brought them better in time. Nay, had he not wasted precious
+hours in London in vainly seeking to find himself face to face with Jack
+Orridge!
+
+Prudence chanced to come down-stairs. As he entered the kitchen he
+forgot to give her any greeting; he only said, quickly,
+
+"Think you she will not understand that her father is come to see her?
+Surely she must understand so much, Prudence! You will tell her, will
+you not? and ask her if she sees him standing before her?"
+
+"I know not--I am afraid," said Prudence, anxiously. "Perchance it may
+frighten her the more; forever she says that she sees him, and always
+with an angry face toward her; and she is for hiding herself away from
+him--and even talking of the river! Good lack, 'tis pitiful that she
+should be so struck down--and almost at death's door--and all we can do
+of so little avail."
+
+"Prudence," said he, starting to his feet, "there is her father just
+come; I hear him; now take him to her--and you will see--you will see. I
+may not go--a strange face might frighten her--but I know she will
+recognize him--and understand--and he will tell her to have no longer
+any fear of him----"
+
+Prudence hurried away to meet Judith's father, who was in the doorway,
+getting such information as was possible, from the doctor. And then they
+all of them (all but Quiney) stole gently up-stairs; and they stood at
+the door in absolute silence, while Judith's father went forward to the
+bed--so quietly that the girl did not seem to notice his approach.
+
+The grandmother was there, sitting by the bedside and speaking to her in
+a low voice.
+
+"Hush thee now, sweeting, hush thee now," she was saying, and she patted
+her hand. "Nay, I know 'twas ill done; 'tis quite right what thou
+sayest; they treated her not well; and the poor wench anxious to please
+them all. But have no fear for her--nay, trouble not thy head with
+thoughts of her--she be safe at home again, I trust. Hush thee, now,
+sweeting; 'twill go well with her, I doubt not; I swear to thee her
+father be no longer angry with the wench; 'twill all go well with her,
+and well. Have no fear."
+
+The girl looked at her steadily, and yet with a strange light in her
+eyes, as if she saw distant things before her, or was seeking to recall
+them.
+
+"There was Susan, too," she said, in a low voice, "that sang so
+sweet--oh, in the church it was so sweet to hear her; but when it was
+'_The rose is from my garden gone_,' she would not sing that, though
+that was ever in her sister's mind after she went away down to the
+river-side. I cannot think why they would not sing it to her; perchance
+the parson thought 'twas wicked--I know not now. And when she herself
+would try it with the lute, nothing would come right--all went wrong
+with her--all went wrong; and her father came angry and terrible to seek
+her--and 'twas the parson that would drag her forth--the bushes were not
+thick enough--good grandam, why should the bushes in the garden be so
+thin that the terrible eyes peered through them, and she tried to hide
+and could not?"
+
+"Nay, I tell thee, sweetheart," said the grandmother, whispering to her,
+"that the poor wench you speak of went home; and all were well content
+with her, and her father was right pleased; indeed, indeed, 'twas so."
+
+"Poor Judith, poor Judith!" the girl murmured to herself; and then she
+laughed slightly. "She was ever the stupid one; naught would go right
+with her; ay, and evil-tempered she was, too, for Quiney would ride all
+the way to London for her, and she thanked him with never a word or a
+look--never a word or a look, and he going all the way to please her.
+Poor wench, all went wrong with her somehow; but they might have let her
+go; she was so anxious to hide; and then to drag her forth--from under
+the bushes--grandam, it was cruelly done of them, was it not?"
+
+"Ay, ay, but hush thee now, dearie," her grandmother said, as she put a
+cool cloth on the burning forehead. "'Tis quite well now with the poor
+wench you speak of."
+
+Her father drew nearer, and took her hand quietly.
+
+"Judith," said he, "poor lass, I am come to see you."
+
+For an instant there was a startled look of fear in her eyes; but that
+passed, and she regarded him at first with a kind of smiling wonder, and
+thereafter with a contented satisfaction, as though his presence was
+familiar. Nay, she turned her attention altogether toward him now, and
+addressed him--not in any heart-broken way, but cheerfully, and as if he
+had been listening to her all along. It was clear that she did not in
+the least know who he was.
+
+"There now, lass," said he, "knowest thou that Quiney and I have ridden
+all the way from London to see thee? and thou must lie still and rest,
+and get well again, ere we can carry thee out into the garden."
+
+She was looking at him with those strangely brilliant eyes.
+
+"But not into the garden," she said, in a vacant kind of way. "That is
+all gone away now--gone away. 'Twas long ago--when poor Judith used to
+go into the garden--and right fair and beautiful it was--ay, and her
+father would praise her hair and the color of it--until he grew angry,
+and drove her away far from him then--and then--she wandered down to the
+river--and always Susan's song was in her mind--or the other one, that
+was near as sad as that, about the western wind, was it not? How went it
+now?--
+
+    "'Western wind, when will you blow?'
+
+Nay, I cannot recall it--'tis gone out of my head, grandam, and there is
+only fire there--and fire--and fire--
+
+    "'Western wind, when will you blow?'
+
+it went--and then about the rain next, what was it?--
+
+    "'So weary falls the rain!'
+
+Ay, ay, that was it now--I remember Susan singing it--
+
+    "'Western wind, when will you blow?
+      So weary falls the rain!
+    Oh, if my love were in my arms,
+      Or I in my bed again!'"
+
+And here she turned away from them and fell a-crying, and hid from them,
+as it were, covering her face with both her hands.
+
+"Grandmother, grandmother," they could hear her say through her sobbing,
+"there was but the one rose in my garden, and that is gone now--they
+have robbed me of that--and what cared I for aught else? And Quiney is
+gone too, without a word or a look--without a word or a look--and ere he
+be come back--well, I shall be away by then--he will have no need to
+quarrel with me and think ill of me that I chanced to meet the parson.
+'Tis all over now, grandmother, and done with, and you will let me bide
+with you for just a little while longer--a little while, grandmother;
+'tis no great matter for so little a while, though I cannot help you as
+I would--but Cicely is a good lass--and 'twill be for a little
+while--for last night again I found Hamnet--ay, ay, he hath all things
+in readiness now--all in readiness----" And then she uttered a slight
+cry, or moan rather. "Grandmother, grandmother, why do you not keep the
+parson away from me? You said that you would!"
+
+"Hush, hush, child," the grandmother said, bending over her and
+speaking softly and closely. "You are over-concerned about the poor lass
+that was treated so ill. Take heart now; I tell thee all is going well
+with her; her father hath taken her home again, and she is as happy as
+the day is long. Nay, I swear to thee, good wench, if thou lie still and
+restful, I will take thee to see her some of these days. Hush thee now,
+dearie; 'tis going right well with the lass now."
+
+The doctor touched the arm of Judith's father, and they both withdrew.
+
+"She knew you not," said he; "and the fewer people around her the
+better--they set her fancies wandering."
+
+They went down-stairs to where Quiney was awaiting them, and the sombre
+look on their faces told its tale.
+
+"She is in danger!" he said, quickly.
+
+The doctor was busy with his own thoughts, but he glanced at the young
+man and saw the burning anxiety of his eyes.
+
+"The fever must run its course," said he, "and Judith hath had a brave
+constitution these many years that I fear not will make a good fight.
+'Twas a sore pity that she was so distressed and stricken down in
+spirits, as I hear, ere the fever seized her."
+
+Quiney turned to the window.
+
+"Too late--too late!" said he. "And yet I spared not the nag."
+
+"You have done all that man could do," her father said, going to him.
+"Nay, had I myself guessed that she was in such peril--but 'tis past
+recall now."
+
+And then he took the young man by the hand, and grasped it firmly.
+
+"Good lad," said he, "this that you did for us was a right noble act of
+kindness, and I trust in Heaven's mercy that Judith herself may live to
+thank you. As for me, my thanks to you are all too poor and worthless;
+and I must be content to remain your debtor--and your friend."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIV.
+
+AN AWAKENING.
+
+
+It was going ill with her. Late one night, Quiney, who had kept hovering
+about the house, never able to sit patiently and watch the anxious
+coming and going within-doors, and never able to tear himself away but
+for a few hundred yards, wandered out into the clear starlit darkness.
+His heart was full. They had told him the crisis was near at hand. And
+almost it seemed to him that it was already over. Judith was going away
+from them. And those stars overhead--he knew but little of their names;
+he understood but little of the vast immensities and deeps that lay
+between them; they were to him but as grains of light in a darkened
+floor: and far above that floor rose the wonderful shining city that he
+had heard of in the Book of Revelation. And already, so wild and
+unstrung were his fancies, he could see the four square walls of jasper,
+and the gates of pearl, and the wide white steps leading up to these;
+and who was that who went all alone--giving no backward thought to any
+she was leaving behind--up those shining steps, with a strange light on
+her forehead and on her trembling hands? He saw her slowly kneel at the
+gate, her head meekly bowed, her hands clasped. And when they opened it,
+and when she rose, and made to enter, he could have cried aloud to her
+for one backward look, one backward thought, toward Stratford town and
+the friends of her childhood and her youth. Alas! there was no such
+thing. There was wonder on her face, as she turned to this side and to
+that, and she went hesitatingly; and when they took her hands to lead
+her forward, she regarded them--this side and that--pleased and
+wondering and silent; but there was never a thought of Stratford town.
+Could that be Judith that was going away from them so--she that all of
+them had known so dearly? And to leave her own friends without one word
+of farewell! Those others there--she went with them smiling and
+wondering, and looking in silence from one to the other--but she knew
+them not. Her friends were here--here--with breaking hearts because she
+had gone away and forgotten them, and vanished within those far-shining
+gates.
+
+And then some sudden and sullen thought of the future would overtake
+him. The injunctions laid on him by Judith's father could not be
+expected to last forever. And if this were to be so--if the love and
+desire of his youth were to be stolen away from him--if her bright young
+life, that was so beautiful a thing to all who knew her, was to be
+extinguished, and leave instead but a blankness and an aching memory
+through the long years--then there might arrive a time for a settlement.
+The parson was still coming about the house, for the women-folk were
+comforted by his presence; but Judith's father regarded him darkly, and
+had scarce ever a word for him. As for Quiney, he moved away, or left
+the house, when the good man came near--it was safer so. But in the
+future? When one was freer to act? For those injunctions could not be
+expected to last forever; and what greater joy could then be secured
+than the one fierce stroke of justice and revenge? He did not reason out
+the matter much: it was a kind of flame in his heart whenever he thought
+of it.
+
+And in truth that catastrophe was nearly occurring now. He had been
+wandering vaguely along the highways, appealing to the calmness of the
+night, as it were, and the serenity of the starlit heavens, for some
+quieting of his terrible fears; and then in his restlessness he walked
+back toward the cottage, anxious for further news and yet scarcely
+daring to enter and ask. He saw the dull red light in the window, but
+could hear no sound. And would not his very footfall on the path disturb
+her? They all of them went about the house like ghosts. And were it not
+better that he should remain here, so that the stillness dwelling around
+the place should not be broken even by his breathing? So quiet the night
+was, and so soundless, he could have imagined that the wings of the
+angel of mercy were brooding over the little cottage, hushing it, as it
+were, and bringing rest and sleep to the sore-bewildered brain. He would
+not go near. These were the precious hours. And if peace had at last
+stolen into the sick-chamber, and closed the troubled eyelids, were it
+not better to remain away, lest even a whisper should break the charm?
+
+Suddenly he saw the door of the cottage open, and in the dull light a
+dark figure appeared. He heard footsteps on the garden-path. At first
+his heart felt like a stone, and he could not move, for he thought it
+was some one coming to seek him with evil views; but presently, in the
+clear starlight, he knew who this was that was now approaching him. He
+lost his senses. All the black night went red.
+
+"So, good parson," said he (but he clinched his fists together so that
+he should not give way), "art thou satisfied with thy handiwork?"
+
+There was more of menace in the tone than in the taunt; at all events,
+with some such phrase as "Out of the way, tavern-brawler!" the parson
+raised his stick, as if to defend himself, And then the next instant, he
+was gripped firm, as in a vise; the stick was twisted from his grasp
+and whirled away far into the dark; and forthwith, for it all happened
+in a moment, five fingers had him by the back of the neck.
+
+There was one second of indecision--what it meant to this young athlete,
+who had his eyes afire and his mind afire with thoughts of the ill that
+had been done to the one he loved the dearest, can well be imagined. But
+he flung his enemy from him, forward, into the night.
+
+"Take thy dog's life and welcome--coward and woman-striker!"
+
+He waited; there was no answer. And then, all shaking from the terrible
+pressure he had put on himself, and still hungering and athirst to go
+back and settle the matter then and there, he turned and walked along
+the road, avoiding the cottage, and still with his heart aflame, and
+wondering whether he had done well to let the hour of vengeance go.
+
+But that did not last long. What cared he for this man that any thought
+of him should occupy him at such a moment? All his anxieties were
+elsewhere--in that hushed, small chamber, where the lamp of life was
+flickering low, and all awaiting, with fear and trembling, what the dawn
+might bring. And if she were to slip away so--escaping from them, as it
+were--without a word of recognition? It seemed so hard that the solitary
+figure going up those far, wide steps should have no thought for them
+she had left behind. As he saw her there, content was on her face, and a
+mild radiance and wonder; and her new companions were pleasant to her.
+She would go away with them--she was content to be with them--she would
+disappear among them, and leave no sign. And Sunday morning after Sunday
+morning he would look in vain for her coming through the church-yard,
+under the trees; and there would be a vacant place in the pew; no matter
+who might be there, one face would be wanting; and in the afternoon the
+wide meadows would be empty. Look where he might--from the foot-bridge
+over the river, from Bardon Hill, from the Wier Brake--there would be no
+more chance of his descrying Judith walking with Prudence--the two
+figures that he could make out at any distance almost. And what a
+radiance there used to be on her face--not that mild wonder that he saw
+as she passed away with her companions within the shining gates, but a
+happy, audacious radiance, so that he could see she was laughing long
+ere he came near her. That was Judith--that was the Judith he had
+known--laughing, radiant--in summer meadows, as it seemed to
+him--careless of the young men, though her eyes would regard them--and
+always with her chief secrets and mystifications for her friend
+Prudence. That was Judith--not this poor, worn sufferer, wandering
+through darkened ways, the frail lamp of her life going down and down,
+so that they dared not speak in the room. And that message that she had
+left for him with Prudence--was it a kind of farewell? They were about
+the last words she had spoken ere her speech lost all coherence and
+meaning--a farewell before she entered into that dark and unknown realm.
+And there was a touch of reproach in them too--"Tell him he did me wrong
+to think I had gone to meet the parson in the church-yard: 'twas but a
+chance." The Judith of those former days was far too proud to make any
+such explanation; but this poor stricken creature seemed anxious to
+appease every one and make friends. And was he to have no chance of
+begging her forgiveness for doing her that wrong, and of telling how
+little she need regard it, and how that she might dismiss the parson
+from her mind altogether, as he had done? The ride to London--she knew
+nothing of that; she knew nothing of her father having come all the way
+to see her. Why, as they came riding along by Uxbridge and Wycombe, and
+Woodstock and Enstone, many a time he looked forward to telling Judith
+of what he had done; and he hoped that she would go round to the stable
+and have a word for the Galloway nag and pet the good beast's neck. But
+all that was over now, and only this terrible darkness and the silence
+of the roads and the trees; and always the dull, steady, ominous light
+in the small window. And still more terrible, that vision overhead--the
+far and mystic city, and Judith entering with those new and strange
+companions, regarding this one and that, and ever with a smile on her
+face and a mild wonder in her eyes; they leading her away by the hand,
+and she timid, and looking from one to the other, but pleased to go with
+them into the strange country. And as for her old friends, no backward
+look or backward thought for them; for them only the sad and empty town,
+the voiceless meadows, the vacant space in the pew, to which many an eye
+would be turned as week by week came round. And there would be a grave
+somewhere that Prudence would not leave untended.
+
+But with the first gray light of the dawn there came a sudden trembling
+joy, that was so easily and eagerly translated into a wild, audacious
+hope. Judith had fallen into a sound sleep--a sleep hushed and profound,
+and no longer tortured with moanings and dull low cries as if for pity;
+a slumber profound and beneficent, with calmer breathing and a calmer
+pulse. If only on the awakening she might show that the crisis was over,
+and she started on the road--however long and tedious that might
+be--toward the winning back of life and health!
+
+It was Prudence who brought him the news. She looked like a ghost in the
+wan light, as she opened the door and came forth. She knew he would not
+be far away; indeed, his eyes were more accustomed to this strange light
+than hers, and ere she had time to look about and search for him he was
+there. And when she told him this news, he could not speak for a little
+while, for his mind rushed forward blindly and wildly to a happy
+consummation; he would have no misgivings; this welcome sleep was a sure
+sign Judith was won back to them; not yet was she to go away all alone
+up those wide, sad steps.
+
+"And you, Prudence," said he, or rather he whispered it eagerly, that no
+sound should disturb the profound quiet of the house, "now you must go
+and lie down; you are worn out; why, you are all trembling----"
+
+"The morning air is a little cold," said she; but it was not that that
+caused her trembling.
+
+"You must go and lie down, and get some sleep too," said he (but
+glancing up at the window, as if his thoughts were there). "What a
+patient watcher you have been! And now when there is this chance--do,
+dear Prudence, go within and lie down for a while----"
+
+"Oh, how could I?" she said; and unknown to herself she was wringing her
+hands--not from grief, but from mere excitement and nervousness. "But
+for this sleep, now, the doctor was fearing the worst. I know it, though
+he would not say it. And she is so weak! Even if this sleep calm her
+brain, or if she come out of it in her right mind--one never knows, she
+is so worn away--she might waken only to slip away from us."
+
+But he would not hear of that. No, no; this happy slumber was but the
+beginning of her recovery. Now that she was on the turn, Judith's brave
+constitution would fight through the rest. He knew it; he was sure of
+it; had there ever been a healthier, a happier wench--or one with such
+gallant spirits and cheerfulness?
+
+"You have not seen her these last two days," Prudence said, sadly.
+
+"Nay, I fear not now--I know she will fight through," said he,
+confidently (even with an excess of confidence, so as to cheer this
+patient and gentle nurse). "And what a spite it is that I can do
+nothing? Did you ask the doctor, Prudence? Is there nothing that I can
+fetch him from Harwich? ay, or from London, for that matter? 'Tis well
+for you that can do so much for your friend: what can I do but hang
+about the lanes? I would take a message anywhere, for any of you, if you
+would but tell me; 'tis all that I can do. But when she is getting
+better, that will be different--that will be all different then; I shall
+be able to get her many things, to please her and amuse her;
+and--and--think of this, Prudence," said he, his fancies running away
+with him in his eagerness, "do you not think, now, that when she is well
+enough to be carried into the garden--do you not think that Pleydell and
+I could devise some kind of couch, to be put on wheels, see you, and
+slung on leather bands, so that it would go easily? Why, I swear it
+could be made--and might be in readiness for her. What think you,
+Prudence? No one could object if we prepared it. Ay, and we should get
+it to go as smooth as velvet, so that she could be taken along the lanes
+or through the meadows."
+
+"I would there were need of it," Prudence said, wistfully. "You go too
+fast. Nay, but if she come well out of this deep sleep, who knows? Pray
+Heaven there be need for all that you can do for her."
+
+The chirping of a small bird close by startled them--it was the first
+sound of the coming day. And then she said, regarding him,
+
+"Would you like to see Judith--for a moment? 'Twould not disturb her."
+
+He stepped back, with a sudden look of dismay on his face.
+
+"What mean you, Prudence?" he said, quickly. "You do not think
+that--that--there is fear--that I should look at her now?"
+
+"Nay, not so; I trust not," she said simply. "But if you wished, you
+might slip up the stair; 'twould do no harm."
+
+He stooped and took off his shoes and threw them aside; then she led the
+way into the house, and they went stealthily up the short wooden stair.
+The door was open an inch or two; Prudence opened it still farther, but
+did not go into the room. Nor did he; he remained at the threshold, for
+Judith's mother, who was sitting by the bedside, and who had noticed the
+slight opening of the door, had raised her hand quietly, as if in
+warning. And was this Judith, then, that the cold morning light,
+entering by the small casement, showed him--worn and wasted, the natural
+radiance of her face all fled, and in place of that a dull, hectic tone
+that in nowise concealed the ravages the fever had made? But she slept
+sound. The bent arm, that she had raised to her head ere she fell
+asleep, lay absolutely still. No, it was not the Judith he had known--so
+gay and radiant and laughing in the summer meadows; but the wasted form
+still held a precious life, and he had no mistrust--he would not doubt;
+there was there still what would win back for him the Judith that he had
+known--ay, if they had to wait all through the winter for the first
+silver-white days of spring.
+
+They stole down-stairs again and went to the front door. All the world
+was awaking now; the light was clear around them; the small birds were
+twittering in the bushes.
+
+"And will you not go and get some sleep now, Prudence?" said he. "Surely
+you have earned it; and now there is the chance."
+
+"I could not," she said simply. "There will be time for sleep by-and-by.
+But now, if you would do us a service, will you go over to the town, and
+tell Susan that Judith is sleeping peacefully, and that she need not
+hurry back, for there be plenty of us to watch and wait? And Julius
+would like to hear the good news, that I know. Then you yourself--do you
+not need rest? Why----"
+
+"Heed not for me, dear Prudence," said he quickly, as if it were not
+worth while wasting time on that topic. "But is there naught else I can
+do for you? Naught that I can bring for you--against her getting well
+again?"
+
+"Nay, 'tis all too soon for that," was Prudence's answer. "I would the
+occasion were here, and sure."
+
+Well, he went away over to the town, and told his tale to those that
+were astir, leaving a message for those who were not; and then he passed
+on to his own house, and threw himself on his bed. But he could not
+rest. It was too far away, while all his thoughts were concentrated on
+the small cottage over there. So he wandered back thither, and again had
+assurance that Judith was doing well; and then he went quietly up to
+the summer-house and sat down there; and scarcely had he folded his arms
+on the little table, and bent forward his head, than he was in a deep
+sleep, nature claiming her due at last.
+
+The hours passed; he knew nothing of them. He was awakened by Judith's
+father, and he looked around him strangely, for he saw by the light that
+it was now afternoon.
+
+"Good lad," said he, "I make no scruple of rousing you. There is better
+news. She is awake, and quite calm and peaceable, and in her right
+mind--though sadly weak and listless, poor wench."
+
+"Have you seen her--have you spoken with her?" he said, eagerly.
+
+"Nay, not yet," Judith's father said. "I am doubtful. She is so faint
+and weak. I would not disturb her----"
+
+"I pray you, sir, go and speak with her!" Quiney entreated. "Nay, I know
+that will give her more peace of mind than anything. And if she begin to
+recall what happened ere she fell ill--I pray you, sir, of your
+kindness, go and speak with her."
+
+Judith's father went away to the house slowly, and with his head bent in
+meditation. He spoke to the doctor for a few minutes. But when, after
+some deliberation, he went up-stairs and into the room, it was his own
+advice, his own plan, he was acting on.
+
+He went forward to the bedside and took the chair that the old
+grandmother had instantly vacated, and sat down just as if nothing had
+occurred.
+
+"Well, lass, how goes it with thee?" he said, with an air of easy
+unconcern. "Bravely well, I hear. Thou must haste thee now, for soon we
+shall be busy with the brewing."
+
+She regarded him in a strange way, perhaps wondering whether this was
+another vision. And then she said, faintly,
+
+"Why are you come back to Stratford, father?"
+
+"Oh, I have many affairs on hand," said he; "and yet I like not the
+garden to be so empty. I cannot spare thee over here much longer. 'Tis
+better when thou art in the garden, and little Bess with thee--nay, I
+swear to thee thou disturbest me not--and so must thou get quickly well
+and home again."
+
+He took her hand--the thin, worn, white hand--and patted it.
+
+"Why," said he, "I hear they told thee some foolish story about me.
+Believe them not, lass. Thou and I are old friends, despite thy saucy
+ways, and thy laughing at the young lads about, and thy lecturing of
+little Bess Hall--oh, thou hast thy faults--a many of them too--but heed
+no idle stories, good lass, that come between me and thee. Nay, I will
+have a sharp word for thee an thou do not as the doctor bids; and thou
+must rest thee still and quiet, and trouble not thy head, for we want
+thee back to us at New Place. Why, I tell thee I cannot have the garden
+left so empty; wouldst have me with none to talk with but goodman
+Matthew? So now farewell for the moment, good wench; get what sleep thou
+canst, and take what the doctor bids thee; why, knowest thou not of the
+ribbons and gloves I have brought thee all the way from London? I
+warrant me they will please thee!"
+
+He patted her hand again, and rose and left, as if it were all a matter
+of course. For a minute or two after the girl looked dazed and
+bewildered, as if she were trying to recall many things; but always she
+kept looking at the hand that he had held, and there was a pleased light
+in her sad and tired eyes. She lay still and silent--for so she had been
+enjoined.
+
+But by-and-by she said, in a way that was like the ghost of Judith's
+voice of old,
+
+"Grandmother--I can scarce hold up my hand--will you help me? What is
+this that is on my head?"
+
+"Why, 'tis a pretty lace cap that Susan brought thee," the grandmother
+said, "and we would have thee smart and neat ere thy father came in."
+
+But she had got her hand to her head now, and then the truth became
+known to her. She began to cry bitterly.
+
+"Oh, grandmother, grandmother," she said, or sobbed, "they have cut off
+my hair, and my father will never look with favor on me again. 'Twas all
+he ever praised!"
+
+"Dearie, dearie, thy hair will grow again as fair as ever--ay, and who
+ever had prettier?" the old grandmother said. "Why, surely; and the
+roses will come to thy cheeks, too, that were ever the brightest of any
+in the town. Thy father--heardst thou not what he said a moment
+ago--that he could not bear to be without thee? Nay, nay, fret not, good
+lass, there be plenty that will right gladly wait for the growing of thy
+hair again--ay, ay, there be plenty and to spare that will hold thee in
+high favor and think well of thee--and thy father most of all of
+them--have no fear!"
+
+And so the grandmother got her soothed and hushed, and at last she lay
+still and silent. But she had been thinking.
+
+"Grandmother," said she, regarding her thin, wasted hand, "is my face
+like that?"
+
+"Hush thee, child; thou must not speak more now, or the doctor will be
+scolding me."
+
+"But tell me, grandmother," she pleaded.
+
+"Why, then," she answered, evasively, "it be none so plump as it
+were--but all that will mend--ay, ay, good lass, 'twill mend, surely."
+
+Again she lay silent for a while, but her mind was busy with its own
+fears.
+
+"Grandmother," she said, "will you promise me this--to keep Quiney away?
+You will not let him come into the room, good grandmother, should he
+ever come over to the cottage?"
+
+"Ay, and be this thy thanks, then, to him that rode all the way to
+London town to bring thy father to thee?" said the old dame, with some
+affectation of reproach. "Were I at thy age I would have a fairer
+message for him."
+
+"A message, grandmother?" the girl said, turning her languid eyes to her
+with some faint eagerness. "Ay, that I would send him willingly. He went
+to London for me, that I know; Prudence said so. But perchance he would
+not care to have it, would he, think you?"
+
+The old dame listened, to make sure that the doctor was not within
+hearing, for this talking was forbidden; but she was anxious to have the
+girl's mind pleased and at rest, and so she took Judith's hand and
+whispered to her.
+
+"A message? Ay, I warrant me the lad would think more of it than of
+aught else in the world. Why, sweetheart, he hath been never away from
+the house all this time--watching to be of service to any one--night and
+day it hath been so--and that he be not done to death passes my
+understanding. Ay, and the riding to London, and the bringing of thy
+father, and all--is't not worth a word of thanks? Nay, the youth hath
+won to my favor, I declare to thee; if none else will speak for him I
+will; a right good honest youth, I warrant. But there now, sweeting,
+hush thee; I may not speak more to thee, else the doctor will be for
+driving me forth."
+
+There was silence for some time; then Judith said, wistfully,
+
+"What flowers are in the garden now, grandmother?"
+
+The old dame went to the window slowly; it was an excuse for not having
+too much talking going on.
+
+"The garden be far past its best now," said she, "but there be marigolds
+and Michaelmas daisies----"
+
+"Could you get me a bit of rosemary, grandmother?" the girl asked.
+
+"Rosemary!" she cried in affright, for the mention of the plant seemed
+to strike a funeral note. "Foolish wench, thou knowest I can never get
+the rosemary bushes through the spring frosts. Rosemary, truly! What
+wantest thou with rosemary?"
+
+"Or a pansy, then?"
+
+"A pansy, doubtless--ay, ay, that be better now--we may find thee a
+pansy somewhere--and a plenty of other things, so thou lie still and get
+well."
+
+"Nay, I want but the one, grandmother," she said slowly. "You know I
+cannot write a message to him, and yet I would send him some token of
+thanks for all that he hath done. And would not that do, grandmother?
+Could you but find me a pansy--if there be one left anywhere--and a
+small leaf or two; and if 'twere put in a folded paper, and you could
+give it him from me, and no one knowing? I would rest the happier,
+grandmother, for I would not have him think me ungrateful--no, no, he
+must not think me that. And then, good grandmother, you will tell him
+that I wish him not to see me; only--only, the little flower will show
+him that I am not ungrateful; for I would not have him think me that."
+
+"Rest you still now, then, sweeting," the old dame said. "I warrant me
+we will have the message conveyed to him; but rest you still--rest you
+still--and ere long you will not be ashamed to show him the roses coming
+again into your cheeks."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXV.
+
+TOWARD THE LIGHT.
+
+
+This fresh and clear morning, with a south wind blowing and a blue sky
+overhead, made even the back yard of Quiney's premises look cheerful,
+though the surroundings were mostly empty barrels and boxes. And he was
+singing, too, as he went on with his task; sometimes--
+
+    "Play on, minstrel, play on, minstrel,
+      My lady is mine only girl;"
+
+and sometimes--
+
+    "I bought thee petticoats of the best,
+      The cloth so fine as fine might be;
+    I gave thee jewels for thy chest,
+      And all this cost I spent on thee;"
+
+or, again, he would practise his part in the new catch--
+
+    "Merrily sang the Ely monks,
+      When rowed thereby Canute the King."
+
+And yet this that he was so busy about seemed to have nothing to do with
+his own proper trade. He had chalked up on the wall a space about the
+size of an ordinary cottage-window; at each of the upper corners he had
+hammered in a nail, and now he was endeavoring to suspend from these
+supports, so that it should stand parallel with the bottom line, an
+oblong basket roughly made of wire, and pretty obviously of his own
+construction. His dinner of bread and cheese and ale stood untouched and
+unheeded on a bench hard by. Sometimes he whistled, sometimes he sang,
+for the morning air was fresh and pleasant, and the sunlight all about
+was enlivening.
+
+Presently Judith's father made his appearance, and the twisting and
+shaping of the wire hooks instantly ceased.
+
+"She is still going on well?" the lad said, with a rapid and anxious
+glance.
+
+"But slowly--slowly," her father answered. "Nay, we must not demand too
+much. If she but hold her own now, time is on our side, and the doctor
+is more than ever hopeful that the fever hath left no serious harm
+behind it. When that she is a little stronger, they talk of having her
+carried down-stairs--the room is larger--and the window hath a pleasant
+outlook."
+
+"I heard of that," said Quiney, glancing at the oblong basket of wire.
+
+"I have brought you other news this morning," Judith's father said,
+taking out a letter and handing it to Quiney. "But I pray you say
+nothing of it to the wench; her mind is at rest now; we will let the
+past go."
+
+"Nay, I can do no harm in that way," said the younger man, in something
+of a hurt tone, "for they will not let me see her."
+
+"No, truly? Why, that is strange, now," her father said, affecting to be
+surprised, but having a shrewd guess that this was some fancy of the
+girl's own. "But they would have her kept quiet, I know."
+
+Quiney was now reading the letter. It was from one of Judith's father's
+companions in London, and the beginning of it was devoted to the
+imparting of certain information that had apparently been asked from him
+touching negotiations for the purchase of a house in Blackfriars. Quiney
+rightly judged that this part had naught to do with him, and scanned it
+briefly; and as he went on he came to that which had a closer interest
+for him.
+
+The writer's style was ornate and cumbrous and confused, but his story,
+in plainer terms, was this: The matter of the purloined play was now all
+satisfactorily ascertained and settled, except as regarded Jack Orridge
+himself, whom a dire mischance had befallen. It appeared that, having
+married a lady possessed of considerable wealth, his first step was to
+ransom--at what cost the writer knew not--the play that had been sold to
+the booksellers, not by himself but by one Francis Lloyd. It was said
+that this Lloyd had received but a trifle for it, and had, in truth,
+parted with it in the course of a drunken frolic; but that "Gentleman
+Jack," as they called him, had to disburse a goodly sum ere he could get
+the manuscript back into his own hands. That forthwith he had come to
+the theatre and delivered up the play, with such expressions of
+penitence and shame that they could not forbear to give him full
+quittance for his fault. But this was not all; for, having heard that
+Francis Lloyd had in many quarters been making a jest of the matter, and
+telling of Orridge's adventures in Warwickshire, and naming names, the
+young man had determined to visit him with personal chastisement, but
+had been defeated in this by Lloyd being thrust into prison for debt.
+That thereafter Lloyd, being liberated from jail, was sitting in a
+tavern with certain companions; and there "Gentleman Jack" found him,
+and dealt him a blow on the face with the back of his hand, with a mind
+to force the duello upon him. But that here again Orridge had
+ill-fortune; for Lloyd, being in his cups, would fight then and there,
+and flung himself on him, without sword or anything, as they thought;
+but that presently, in the struggle, Orridge uttered a cry, "I am
+stabbed," and fell headlong, and they found him with a dagger-wound in
+his side, bleeding so that they thought he would have died ere help
+came. And that in truth he had been nigh within death's door, and was
+not yet out of the leech's hands; while as for Lloyd, he had succeeded
+in making good his escape, and was now in Flanders, as some reported.
+This was the gist of the story, as far as Quiney was interested;
+thereafter came chiefly details about the theatre, and the writer
+concluded with wishing his correspondent all health and happiness, and
+bidding him ever remember "his true loving friend, Henry Condell."
+
+Quiney handed back the letter.
+
+"I wish the dagger had struck the worser villain of the two," said he.
+
+"'Tis no concern of ours," Judith's father said. "And I would have the
+wench hear never a word more of the matter. Nay, I have already answered
+her that 'twas all well and settled in London, and no harm done; and the
+sooner 'tis quite forgotten the better. The young man hath made what
+amends he could; I trust he may soon be well of his wound again. And
+married, is he? Perchance his hurt may teach him to be more of a
+stay-at-home."
+
+Judith's father put the letter in his pocket, and was for leaving, when
+Quiney suggested that if he were going to the cottage he would accompany
+him, as some business called him to Bidford. And so they set out
+together--the younger man having first of all made a bundle of the wire
+basket and the nails and hooks and what not, so that he could the more
+easily carry them.
+
+It was a clear and mild October day; the wide country very silent; the
+woods turning to yellow and russet now and here and there golden leaves
+fluttering down from the elms. So quiet and peaceful it all was in the
+gracious sunlight; the steady ploughing going on; groups of people
+gleaning in the bean-field, but not a sound of any kind reaching them,
+save the cawing of some distant rooks. And when they drew near to
+Shottery, Quiney had an eye for the cottage-gardens, to see what flowers
+or shrubs were still available; for of course the long wire basket, when
+it was hung outside Judith's window, must be filled--ay, and filled
+freshly at frequent intervals. If the gardens or the fields or the
+hedge-rows would furnish sufficient store, there would be no lack of
+willing hands for the gathering.
+
+They went first to the front door (the room that Judith was to be moved
+into looked to the back), and here, ere they had crossed the threshold,
+they beheld a strange thing. The old grandmother was standing at the
+foot of the wooden stair, with a small looking-glass in her hand; she
+had not heard them approach, so it was with some amazement they saw her
+deliberately let fall the glass on to the stone passage, where naturally
+it was smashed into a hundred fragments. And forthwith she began to
+scold and rate the little Cicely, and that in so loud a voice that her
+anger must have been plainly heard in the sick-room above.
+
+"Ah, thou mischief, thou imp, thou idle brat, thou must needs go break
+the only looking-glass in the house! A handy wench, truly; thou can hold
+nothing with thy silly fingers, but must break cup and platter and pane,
+and now the looking-glass--'twere well done to box thine ears, thou
+mischief!"
+
+And with that she patted the little girl on the shoulder, and shrewdly
+winked and smiled and nodded her head; and then she went up the stair,
+again and loudly bewailing her misfortune.
+
+"What a spite be this now!" they could hear her say, at the door of
+Judith's room. "The only looking-glass in the house and just as thou
+wouldst have it sent for! That mischievous, idle little wench--heard you
+the crash, sweetheart? Well, well, no matter; I must still have the
+tiring of thee--against any one coming to see thee; ay, and I would have
+thee brave and smart, when thou art able to sit up a bit--ay, and thy
+hair will soon be grown again, sweeting--and then the trinkets that thy
+father brought--and the lace cuffs that Quiney gave thee--these and all
+thou must wear. Was ever such a spite, now?--our only looking-glass to
+be broken so; but thou shalt not want it, sweetheart--nay, nay, thou
+must rest in my hands--I will have thee smart enough; when any would
+come to see thee----"
+
+That was all they heard, for now she shut the door; but both of them
+guessed readily enough why the good dame had thrown down and smashed the
+solitary mirror of the house.
+
+Then they went within, and heard from Prudence that Judith was going on
+well but very slowly, and that her mind was in perfect calm and content,
+only that at times she seemed anxious that her father should return to
+London, lest his affairs should be hindered.
+
+"And truly I must go ere long," said he, "but not yet. Not until she is
+more fairly on the highway."
+
+They were now in the room that was to be given up to Judith, because of
+its larger size.
+
+"Prudence," said Quiney, "if the bed were placed so--by the window--she
+might be propped up, so that when she chose she could look abroad. Were
+not that a simple thing--and cheerful for her? And I have arranged a
+small matter so that every morning she may find some fresh blossoms
+awaiting her--and yet not disturbing her with any one wishing to enter
+the room. Methinks one might better fix it now, ere she be brought down,
+so that the knocking may not harm her."
+
+"I would she were in a fit state to be brought down," Prudence said,
+rather sadly; "for never saw I any one so weak and helpless."
+
+All the same he went away to see whether the oblong basket of wire and
+the fastenings would fit; and although (being a tall youth) he could
+easily reach the foot of the window with his hands, he had to take a
+chair with him in order to gain the proper height for the nails.
+Prudence from within saw what he was after, and when it was all fixed up
+she opened one of the casements to speak to him, and her face was well
+pleased.
+
+"Truly, now, that was kindly thought of," said she. "And shall I tell
+her of this that you have contrived for her?"
+
+"Why, 'tis in this way, Prudence," said he, rather shamefacedly, "she
+need not know whether 'tis this one or that that puts a few blossoms in
+the basket--'twill do for any one--any one that is passing along the
+road or through the meadows, and picks up a pretty thing here or there.
+'Twill soon be hard to get such things--save some red berries or the
+like--but when any can stop in passing and add their mite, 'twill be all
+the easier, for who that knows her but hath good-will toward her?"
+
+"And her thanks to whom?" said Prudence, smiling.
+
+"Why, to all of them," said he, evasively. "Nay, I would not have her
+even know that I nailed up the little basket--perchance she might think
+I was too officious."
+
+"And can you undo it?" she asked. "Can you take it down?"
+
+"Surely," he answered, and he lifted the basket off the hooks to show
+her.
+
+"For," said she, "if you would bring it round, might we not put a few
+flowers in it, and have them carried up to Judith, to show her what you
+have designed for her? In truth it would please her."
+
+He was not proof against this temptation. He carried the basket round, and
+they fell to gathering such blossoms as the garden afforded--marigolds,
+monthly roses, Michaelmas daisies, and the like, with some scarlet hips
+from the neighboring hedges, and some broad green leaves to serve as a
+cushion for all of these. But he did not stay to hear how his present
+was received. He was on his way to Bidford, and on foot, for he had kept
+his promise with the Galloway nag. So he bade Prudence farewell, and
+said he would call in again on his way back in the evening.
+
+The wan, sad face lit up with something like pleasure when Judith saw
+this little present brought before her; it was not the first by many of
+similar small attentions that he had paid her--tokens of a continual
+thoughtfulness and affection--though he was not even permitted to see
+her, much less to speak with her. How his business managed to thrive
+during this period they could hardly guess, only that he seemed to find
+time for everything. Apparently, he was content with the most hap-hazard
+meals, and seemed able to get along with scarcely any sleep at all; and
+always he was the most hopeful one in the house, and would not admit
+that Judith's recovery seemed strangely slow, but regarded everything as
+happening for the best, and tending toward a certain and happy issue.
+One result of his being continually in or about the cottage was
+this--that Master Walter Blaise had not looked near them since the night
+on which the fever reached its crisis. The women-folk surmised that, now
+there was a fair hope of Judith's recovery, he perchance imagined his
+ministrations to be no longer necessary, and was considerately keeping
+out of the way, seeing that he could be of no use. At all events, they
+did not discuss the subject much, for more than one of them had
+perceived that, whenever the parson's name was mentioned, Judith's
+father became reticent and reserved--which was about his only way of
+showing displeasure--so that they got into the habit of omitting all
+mention of Master Blaise, for the better preserving and maintaining the
+serenity of the domestic atmosphere.
+
+And yet Master Blaise came to be talked of--and to Judith herself--this
+very morning. When Prudence went into the room, carrying Quiney's
+flowers, the old grandmother said she would go down and see how dinner
+was getting forward (she having more mouths to feed than usual), and
+Prudence was left in her place, with strict injunctions to see that
+Judith took the small portions of food that had been ordered her at the
+proper time. Prudence sat down by the bedside. These two had not had
+much confidential chatting of late, for Judith had been forbidden to
+talk much, and was, indeed, far too weak and languid for that, while
+generally there was some third person about in attendance. But now they
+were alone; and Prudence had a long tale to tell of Quiney's constant
+watchfulness and care, and of all the little things he had thought of
+and arranged for her, up to the construction of the wire flower-basket.
+
+"But what he hath done, Judith, to anger Parson Blaise, I cannot make
+out," she continued--"ay, and to anger him sorely; for yesternight, when
+I went over to see how my brother did, I met Master Blaise, and he
+stayed me and talked with me for a space. Nay, he spoke too harshly of
+Quiney, so that I had to defend him, and say what I had seen of
+him--truly, I was coming near to speaking with warmth--and then he went
+away from that. And think you what he came to next, Judith?"
+
+The pale, quiet face of the speaker was overspread with a blush, and she
+looked timidly at her friend.
+
+"What then, sweetheart?"
+
+"Perchance I should not tell you," she said, with some hesitation; and
+then she said, more frankly, "Nay, why should there be any concealment
+between us, Judith? And he laid no charge of secrecy on me--in truth, I
+said that I would think of it, and might even ask for counsel and
+guidance. He would have made me his wife, Judith."
+
+Judith betrayed no atom of surprise, nay, she almost instantly smiled
+her approval--it was a kind of friendly congratulation, as it were--and
+she would have reached out her hand only that she was so weak.
+
+"I am glad of that, dear mouse," said she, as pleasantly as she could.
+"There would you be in your proper place; is't not so? And what said
+you? what said you, sweetheart? Ah, they all would welcome you, be sure;
+and a parson's wife--a parson's wife, Prudence--would not that be your
+proper place? would you not be happy so?"
+
+"I know not," the girl said, and she spoke wistfully, and as if she were
+regarding distant things. "He had nearly persuaded me, good heart, for
+indeed there is such power and clearness in all he says; and it was
+almost put before me as a duty, and something incumbent on me, for the
+pleasing of all of them, and the being useful and serviceable to so
+many; and then--and then----"
+
+There was another timid glance, and she took Judith's hand; and her eyes
+were downcast as she made the confession:
+
+"Nay, I will tell thee the truth, sweetheart. Had he spoken to me
+earlier--I--I might not have said him nay--so good a man and earnest
+withal, and not fearing to give offence if he can do true service to the
+Master of us all. Judith, if it be unmaidenly, blame me not, but at one
+time I had thoughts of him; and sometimes, ashamed, I would not go to
+your house when he was there in the afternoon, though Julius wondered,
+seeing that there was worship and profitable expounding. But
+now--now--now 'tis different."
+
+"Why, dear mouse, why?" Judith said, with some astonishment; "you must
+not flout the good man. 'Tis an honorable offer."
+
+Prudence was looking back on that past time.
+
+"If he had spoken then," she said, absently, "my heart would have
+rejoiced; and well I knew 'twould have been no harm to you, dear Judith,
+for who could doubt how you were inclined--ay, through all your quarrels
+and misunderstandings? And if 'twas you the good parson wished for in
+those days----"
+
+"Prudence," her friend said, reproachfully, "you do ill to go back over
+a by-gone story. If you had thoughts of him then, when as yet he had not
+spoken, why not now, when he would have you be his wife? 'Tis an
+honorable offer, as I say; and you--were you not meant for a parson's
+wife, sweetheart?"
+
+Then Prudence regarded her with her honest eyes.
+
+"I should be afraid, Judith. Perchance I have listened overmuch to your
+grandmother's talking and to Quiney's; they are both of them angered
+against him. They say he wrought you ill, and was cruel when he should
+have been gentle with you, and was overproud of his office. Nay, I
+marked that your father had scarce ever a word for him when he was
+coming over to the cottage, but would get away somehow and leave him.
+And--and methinks I should be afraid, Judith; 'tis no longer as it used
+to be in former days; and then, without perfect confidence, how should
+one dare to venture on such a step? No, no, Judith, I should be afraid."
+
+"In truth I cannot advise thee, then, dear heart," her friend said,
+looking at her curiously. "For more than any I know should you marry one
+that would be gentle with you and kind. And think you that the parson
+would overlord it?"
+
+"I know not--I know not," she said, in the same absent way. "But with
+doubt, with hesitation, without perfect confidence--how could one take
+such a step?"
+
+And then she bethought her.
+
+"Why, now, all this talking over my poor affairs?" she said, more
+cheerfully. "A goodly nurse I am proving myself! 'Tis thy affairs are of
+greater moment, and thou must push forward, sweetheart, and get well
+more rapidly, else they will say we are careless and foolish, that
+cannot bring thee into firmer health."
+
+"But I am well content," said Judith, with a perfectly placid smile.
+
+"Content! But you must not be content," Prudence exclaimed. "Would you
+remain within-doors until your hair be grown? Vanity is it, then? Ah,
+for shame--you that always professed to be so proud, and careless of
+what they thought! Content, truly! Look at so thin a hand--are you
+content to remain so?"
+
+"I am none so ill," Judith said, pleasantly. "The days pass well enough,
+and every one is kind."
+
+"But I say you must not be content!" Prudence again remonstrated. "Did
+ever any one see such a poor, weak, white hand as that? Look at the
+thin, thin veins."
+
+"Ah, but you know not, sweetheart," Judith said, and she herself looked
+at those thin blue veins in the white hand; "they seem to me to be
+running full of music and happiness ever since I came out of the fever
+and found my father talking to me in the old way."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVI.
+
+"WESTERN WIND, WHEN WILL YOU BLOW?"
+
+
+There was much laughing among the good folk of Stratford town--or rather
+among those of them allowed to visit Quiney's back yard--over the
+nondescript vehicle that he and his friend Pleydell were constructing
+there. But that was chiefly at the first, when the neighbors would call
+it a coffin on wheels or a grown-up cradle; afterward, when it grew
+into shape and began to exhibit traces of decoration (the little canopy
+at the head, for example, was covered, over with blue taffeta that made
+a shelter from the sun), they moderated their ridicule, and at last
+declared it a most ingenious and useful contrivance, and one that went
+as easily on its leather bands as any king's coach that ever was built.
+And they said they hoped it would do good service, for they knew it was
+meant for Judith; and she had won the favor and good-will of many in
+that town, in so far as an unmarried young woman was deemed worthy of
+consideration.
+
+But that was an anxious morning when Quiney set forth with this strange
+vehicle for the cottage. Little Willie Hart was there, and Quiney had
+flung him inside, saying he would give him a ride as far as Shottery,
+but thereafter he did not speak a word to the boy. For this was the
+morning on which he was to see Judith for the first time since the fever
+had left her, and not only that, but he had been appointed to carry her
+down-stairs to the larger room below. This was by the direct
+instructions of the doctor. Judith's father was now in London again, the
+doctor was not a very powerful man, the staircase was over-narrow to let
+two of the women try it between them; who, therefore, was there but this
+young athlete to gather up that precious charge and bear her gently
+forth? But when he thought of that first meeting with Judith he
+trembled, and dismay and apprehension filled his heart lest he should
+show himself in the smallest way shocked by her appearance. Careless as
+she might have been of other things, she had always put a value on that;
+she knew she had good looks, and she liked to look pretty and dainty,
+and to wear becoming and pretty things. And again and again he schooled
+himself and argued with himself. He must be prepared to find her
+changed--nay, had he not already had one glimpse of her, as she lay
+asleep, in the cold light of the dawn?--he must be prepared to find the
+happy and radiant face no longer that, but all faded and white and worn,
+the clear shining eyes no longer laughing, but sunken and sad, and the
+beautiful sun-brown hair--that was her chiefest pride of all--no longer
+clustering round her neck. Not that he himself cared--Judith was for him
+always and ever Judith, whatever she might be like, but his terror was
+lest he should betray, in the smallest fashion, some pained surprise. He
+knew how sensitive she was, and as an invalid she would be even more so,
+and what a fine thing it would be if her eyes were suddenly to fill
+with tears on witnessing his disappointment! And so he argued and
+argued, and strove to think of Judith as a ghost--as anything rather
+than her former self; and when he reached the cottage, he asked whether
+Judith was ready to be brought down, in so matter-of-fact a way that he
+seemed perfectly unconcerned.
+
+Well, she was not ready, for her grandmother had the tiring of her, and
+the old dame was determined that (if she had her way) her grandchild
+should look none too like an invalid. If the sun-brown curls were gone,
+at least the cap that she wore should have pretty blue ribbons where it
+met under the chin. And she would have her wear the lace cuffs, too,
+that Quiney had brought her from Warwick--did not she owe it to him to
+do service for the gift? And when all that was done, she made Judith
+take a little wine-and-water, to strengthen her for the being carried
+down-stairs, and then she sent word that Quiney might come up.
+
+He made his appearance forthwith, a little pale, perhaps, and hesitating
+and apprehensive as he crossed the threshold. And then he came quickly
+forward, and there was a sudden wonder of joy and gladness in his eyes.
+
+"Judith," he exclaimed, quite involuntarily, and forgetting everything,
+"why, how well you are looking!--indeed, indeed you are!--sweetheart,
+you are not changed at all!"
+
+For this was Judith; not any of the spectral phantoms he had been
+conjuring up, but Judith herself, regarding him with friendly (if yet
+timid) eyes, and her face, as he looked at her in this glad way, was no
+longer pale, but had grown rose-red as the face of a bride. Her anxiety
+and nervousness had been far greater than she dared to tell any of them;
+but now his surprise and delight were surely real, and then--for she was
+very weak, and she had been anxious and full of fear, and this joy of
+seeing him--of seeing a strange face, that belonged to the former happy
+time--was too much for her. Her lips were tremulous, tears rose to her
+eyes, and she would have turned away to hide her crying--but that all at
+once he recalled his scattered senses, and inwardly cursed himself for a
+fool, and forthwith addressed her in the most cheerful and simple way.
+
+"Why, now, what stories they have been telling me, Judith! I should
+scarce know you had been ill. You are thinner--oh, yes, you are a little
+thinner; and if you went to the woods to gather nuts I reckon you would
+not bring home a heavy bag; but that will all mend in time. In honest
+truth, dear Judith, I am glad to see you looking none so ill; now I
+marvel not at your father going away to see after his affairs--so sure
+he must have been."
+
+"I am glad that he went, I was fretting so," she said (and it was so
+strange to hear Judith's voice, that always stirred his heart as if with
+the vibration of Susan's singing), and then she added, timidly regarding
+him--"and you--I have caused you much trouble also."
+
+He laughed; in truth he was so bewildered with the delight of seeing
+this real living Judith before him that he scarce knew what he said.
+
+"Trouble! yes, trouble, indeed, that I could do nothing for you, and all
+the others waiting with you and cheering you. But now, dear Judith, I
+have something for you--oh, you shall see it presently; and you may
+laugh, but I warrant me you will find it easy and comfortable when that
+you are allowed to go forth into the garden. 'Tis a kind of couch, as it
+were, but on wheels--nay, you may call it your chariot, Judith, if you
+would be in state; and if you may not go farther than the garden at
+first, why, then you may lie in it, and have some one read to you; and
+there is a small curtain if you would shut them all out and go to sleep;
+ay, and when the time comes for you to go along the lanes, then you may
+sit up somewhat, for there are pillows for your head and for your back.
+As for the drawing of it, why, little Willie Hart can pull me when I am
+in it, and surely he can do the same for you, that are scarce so heavy
+as I, as I take it. Oh, I warrant you, you will soon get used to it; and
+'twill be so much pleasanter for you than being always within-doors--and
+the fresher air--the fresher air will soon bring back your color,
+Judith."
+
+For now that the first flush of embarrassment was gone he could not but
+see (though still he talked in that cheerful strain) how pale and worn
+was her face; and her hands, that lay listlessly on the coverlet, with
+the pretty lace cuffs going back from the wrists, were spectral hands,
+so thin and white were they.
+
+"Master Quiney," said the old dame, coming to the door, "it be all ready
+now below, if you can carry the wench down. And take time--take
+time--there be no hurry."
+
+"You must come and help me, good grandmother," said he, "to get her well
+into my arms."
+
+In truth he was trembling with very nervousness as he set about this
+task. Should some mischance occur--some stumble! And then he found
+himself all too strong and uncouth and clumsy, with her so frail and
+delicate and weak. But her grandmother lifted the girl's hand to his
+shoulder, or rather to his neck, and bade her hold on so, as well as she
+might; and then he got his arms better round her, and with slow and
+careful steps made his way down to the room below. There the bed was
+near the window, and when he had gently placed her on it, and propped up
+her head and shoulders, so that she was almost sitting, the first thing
+that she saw before her was the slung box of flowers and leaves outside
+the little casement. She turned to him and smiled, and looked her thanks
+with grateful eyes: he sought for no more than that.
+
+Of course they were all greatly pleased at this new state of affairs--it
+seemed a step on the forward way, a hopeful thing. Moreover, there was a
+brighter animation in the girl's look--whether that was owing to the
+excitement of the change or the pleasure at seeing the face of an old
+friend.
+
+And as the others seemed busy among themselves, suggesting small
+arrangements, and the like, Quiney judged it was time for him to go; his
+services were no longer needed.
+
+He went forward to her.
+
+"Judith," said he, "I will bid you good-day now. If you but knew how
+glad I am to have seen you--ay, and to find you going on so well! I will
+take away a lighter heart with me."
+
+She looked up at him hesitating and timid, and then she gathered
+courage.
+
+"But why must you go?" said she, with some touch of color in the pale
+face.
+
+He glanced at the others.
+
+"Perchance they may not wish me to stay; they may fear your being tired
+with talking."
+
+"But if I wish you to stay--for a little while?" she said, gently. "If
+your business call you not----"
+
+"My business!" he said. "My business must shift for itself on such a day
+as this; think you 'tis nothing for me to speak with you again, Judith,
+after so long a time?"
+
+"And my chariot," she said, brightly--"may not I see my chariot?"
+
+"Why, truly!" he cried. "Willie Hart is in charge of it without. We will
+bring it along the passage, and you will see it at the door; and you
+must not laugh, dear Judith--'tis a rude-made thing, I know--but
+serviceable--you shall have comfort from it, I warrant you."
+
+They wheeled it along the passage, but could not get it within the
+apartment; however, through the open door she could see very easily the
+meaning and construction of it. And when she observed with what care and
+pretty taste it had been adorned for her, even to the putting ribbons at
+the front corners of the little canopy (but this was not the work of
+men's fingers; it was Prudence who had contributed these), she was not
+in the least inclined to laugh at the efforts of these good friends to
+be of use to her and to gratify her. She beckoned him to come to her.
+
+"'Tis but a patchwork thing to look at," said he, rather shamefacedly,
+"but I hope you will find it right comfortable when you use it. I hope
+soon to hear of you trying it, Judith."
+
+"Give me your hand," said she.
+
+She took his hand and kissed it.
+
+"I cannot speak my thanks to you," she said, in a low voice, "for not
+only this but all that you have done for me."
+
+There were tears in her eyes, and he was so bewildered, and his heart so
+wildly aflame, that he could only touch her shoulder and say,
+
+"Be still now, Judith. Be still and quiet, and perchance they may let me
+remain with you a little space further."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Well, it was a long and a weary waiting. She seemed, too, content with
+her feeble state; there were so many who were kind to her; and her
+father sending her messages from London; and Quiney coming every morning
+to put some little things--branches of evergreens, or the like, when
+flowers were no longer to be had--in the little basket outside the
+window. He could reach to that easily; and when she happened to hear his
+footsteps coming near, even when she could not see him, she would tap
+with her white fingers on the window-panes--that was her thanks to him,
+and morning greeting.
+
+It was a bitter winter, and ever they were looking forward to the milder
+weather, to see when they might risk taking her out-of-doors, swathed up
+in her chariot, as she called it; but the weeks and weeks went by, hard
+and obdurate, and at last they found themselves in the new year. But she
+could get about the house a little now, in a quiet way; and so it was
+that, one morning, she and Quiney were together standing at the front
+window, looking abroad over the wide white landscape. Snow lay
+everywhere, thick and silent; the bushes were heavy with it; and far
+beyond those ghostly meadows, though they could not see it they knew
+that the Avon was fixed and hard in its winter sleep, under the hanging
+banks of the Wier Brake.
+
+"'_Western wind, when will you blow?_'" she said, and yet not sadly, for
+there was a placid look in her eyes: she was rather complaining, with a
+touch of the petulance of the Judith of old.
+
+The arm of her lover was resting lightly on her shoulder--she was strong
+enough to bear that now, and she did not resent the burden; and she had
+got her soft sunny-brown curls again, though still they were rather
+short; and her face had got back something of its beautiful curves; and
+her eyes, if they were not so cruelly audacious as of old, were yet
+clear-shining and gentle, and with abundance of kind messages for all
+the world, but with tenderer looks for only one.
+
+"'_Western wind_,'" she repeated, with that not over-sad complaint of
+injury, "'_when will you blow--when will you blow?_'"
+
+"All in good time, sweetheart, all in good time," said he; and his hand
+lay kindly on her shoulder, as if she were one to whom some measure of
+gentle tending and cheering words were somewhat due. "And guess you now
+what they mean to do for you when the milder weather comes? I mean the
+lads at the school. Why, then, 'tis a secret league and compact--I doubt
+not that your cousin Willie may have been at the suggesting of it--but
+'twas some of the bigger lads who came to me. And 'tis all arranged now,
+and all for the sake of you, dear heart. For when the milder weather
+comes, and the year begins to wake again, why, they are all of them to
+keep a sharp and eager eye here and there--in the lanes or in the
+woods--for the early peeping up of the primroses; and then 'tis to be a
+grand whole holiday that I am to get for them, as it appears; and all
+the school is to go forth to search the hedge-rows and the woods and the
+banks--all the country-side is to be searched and searched--and for
+what, think you? why, to bring you a spacious basketful of the very
+first primroses of the spring! See you, now, what it is to be the
+general favorite. Nay, I swear to you, dear Judith, you are the
+sweetheart of all of them; and what a shame it is that I must take you
+away from them all!"
+
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+
+List of Corrections:
+
+  p. 11: "and a semicicle on the crumbling earth" was changed to
+         "and a semicircle on the crumbling earth."
+
+  p. 78: "She did not not seem" was changed to
+         "She did not seem."
+
+  p. 81: "from you own people" was changed to
+         "from your own people."
+
+  p. 123: "chance of the the same" was changed to
+          "chance of the same."
+
+  p. 131: "we sat in the litttle bower" was changed to
+          "we sat in the little bower."
+
+  p. 166: "she had heard vaguely of from time time" was changed to
+          "she had heard vaguely of from time to time."
+
+  p. 169: "this acquaintence the moment she chose." was changed to
+          "this acquaintance the moment she chose."
+
+  p. 171: "the deliberare purpose" was changed to
+          "the deliberate purpose."
+
+  p. 191: "letters of red and biack;" was changed to
+          "letters of red and black;"
+
+  p. 203: "as he slowy sharpened" was changed to
+          "as he slowly sharpened."
+
+  p. 233: "For how long?--a fornight!" was changed to
+          "For how long?--a fortnight!"
+
+  p. 307: "her contritition" was changed to
+          "her contrition."
+
+  p. 322: "lead her delirous wanderings" was changed to
+          "lead her delirious wanderings."
+
+  p. 349: "so sure be must have been" was changed to
+          "so sure he must have been."
+
+
+Errata:
+
+  p. 176: "Nay, but this time you have hit the mark," complacently.
+  should be "Nay, but this time you have hit the mark," said Judith,
+  complacently.
+
+  p. 185: "'twas a bold demand to made of England!" should be "'twas a
+  bold demand to make of England!"
+
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Judith Shakespeare, by William Black
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