The Mill on the Floss George Eliot (ereader android .txt) đ
- Author: George Eliot
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âEh, Miss, Iâd do it in a minuteâ âit is but a stepâ âbut Dr. Kennâs wife lies dead; sheâs to be buried tomorrow; died the day I come from Mudport. Itâs all the more pity she should haâ died just now, if you want him. I hardly like to go a-nigh him yet.â
âOh no, Bob,â said Maggie, âwe must let it beâ âtill after a few days, perhaps, when you hear that he is going about again. But perhaps he may be going out of townâ âto a distance,â she added, with a new sense of despondency at this idea.
âNot he, Miss,â said Bob. âHeâll none go away. He isnât one oâ them gentlefolks as go to cry at waterinâ-places when their wives die; heâs got summat else to do. He looks fine and sharp after the parish, he does. He christened the little un; anâ he was at me to know what I did of a Sunday, as I didnât come to church. But I told him I was upoâ the travel three parts oâ the Sundaysâ âanâ then Iâm so used to beinâ on my legs, I canât sit so long on endâ ââanâ lors, sir,â says I, âa packman can do wiâ a small âlowance oâ church; it tastes strong,â says I; âthereâs no call to lay it on thick.â Eh, Miss, how good the little un is wiâ you! Itâs like as if it knowed you; it partly does, Iâll be boundâ âlike the birds know the morninâ.â
Bobâs tongue was now evidently loosed from its unwonted bondage, and might even be in danger of doing more work than was required of it. But the subjects on which he longed to be informed were so steep and difficult of approach, that his tongue was likely to run on along the level rather than to carry him on that unbeaten road. He felt this, and was silent again for a little while, ruminating much on the possible forms in which he might put a question. At last he said, in a more timid voice than usualâ â
âWill you give me leave to ask you only one thing, Miss?â
Maggie was rather startled, but she answered, âYes, Bob, if it is about myselfâ ânot about anyone else.â
âWell, Miss, itâs this. Do you owe anybody a grudge?â
âNo, not anyone,â said Maggie, looking up at him inquiringly. âWhy?â
âOh, lors, Miss,â said Bob, pinching Mumpsâs neck harder than ever. âI wish you did, anâ tell me; Iâd leather him till I couldnât seeâ âI wouldâ âanâ the Justice might do what he liked to me arter.â
âOh, Bob,â said Maggie, smiling faintly, âyouâre a very good friend to me. But I shouldnât like to punish anyone, even if theyâd done me wrong; Iâve done wrong myself too often.â
This view of things was puzzling to Bob, and threw more obscurity than ever over what could possibly have happened between Stephen and Maggie. But further questions would have been too intrusive, even if he could have framed them suitably, and he was obliged to carry baby away again to an expectant mother.
âHappen youâd like Mumps for company, Miss,â he said when he had taken the baby again. âHeâs rare company, Mumps is; he knows iverything, anâ makes no bother about it. If I tell him, heâll lie before you anâ watch you, as stillâ âjust as he watches my pack. Youâd better let me leave him a bit; heâll get fond on you. Lors, itâs a fine thing to hev a dumb brute fond on you; itâll stick to you, anâ make no jaw.â
âYes, do leave him, please,â said Maggie. âI think I should like to have Mumps for a friend.â
âMumps, lie down there,â said Bob, pointing to a place in front of Maggie, âand niver do you stir till youâre spoke to.â
Mumps lay down at once, and made no sign of restlessness when his master left the room.
II St. Oggâs Passes JudgmentIt was soon known throughout St. Oggâs that Miss Tulliver was come back; she had not, then, eloped in order to be married to Mr. Stephen Guestâ âat all events, Mr. Stephen Guest had not married her; which came to the same thing, so far as her culpability was concerned. We judge others according to results; how else?â ânot knowing the process by which results are arrived at. If Miss Tulliver, after a few months of well-chosen travel, had returned as Mrs. Stephen Guest, with a post-marital trousseau, and all the advantages possessed even by the most unwelcome wife of an only son, public opinion, which at St. Oggâs, as else where, always knew what to think, would have judged in strict consistency with those results. Public opinion, in these cases, is always of the feminine genderâ ânot the world, but the worldâs wife; and she would have seen that two handsome young peopleâ âthe gentleman of quite the first family in St. Oggâsâ âhaving found themselves in a false position, had been led into a course which, to say the least of it, was highly injudicious, and productive of sad pain and disappointment, especially to that sweet young thing, Miss Deane. Mr. Stephen Guest had certainly not behaved well; but then, young men were liable to those sudden infatuated attachments; and bad as it might seem in Mrs. Stephen Guest to admit the faintest advances from her cousinâs lover (indeed it had been said that she was actually engaged to young Wakemâ âold Wakem himself had mentioned it), still, she was very youngâ ââand a deformed young man, you know!â âand young Guest so very fascinating; and, they say, he positively worships her (to be sure, that canât last!), and he ran away with her in the boat quite against her will, and what could she do? She couldnât come back then; no one would have spoken to her; and how very well that maize-coloured satinette becomes her complexion! It seems as if the folds in front were quite come in; several of her dresses are made soâ âthey say he thinks nothing too handsome to buy for her. Poor Miss Deane! She is very
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