All this had now become impossible. Jessie might work as she willed for the needs of by-and-by; but he was no longer free to do so. The utmost that he could hope to earn, perhaps for many a year, would do no more than keep his mother and the children afloat.
Could he ask Jessie to wait, in the hope that some day he might be free? That "some day" might lie far ahead. What if it should mean eight years, ten years, twelve years of waiting? Would Jessie be willing?
True, there was another mode of action which some young men in his position might have adopted. He might simply please himself in the matter. He might put his engagement to Jessie first and the claims of the widow and orphan second.
But the widow was his mother, and she had been the best and most loving of mothers to him. Jack's heart was set upon Jessie; but he loved that mother dearly, and he was also under the sway of a strong sense of duty. He knew well in what direction lay his plain duty for the present; and even apart from duty, he could not have neglected his mother. Jack would not have been Jack if such a thing had been possible to him. If Jessie did not wish to wait so long as might be necessary, he could set her free. Nothing could set aside the claims upon his strong young arm of his widowed mother.
In the midst of those cogitations Mokes came forward with an offer. He had talked much of "bad times" of late, and had, as we know, professed himself to be unable to give more than five shillings, to the lifeboat fund. It now appeared that he had a little more money somewhere within easy reach. He offered to buy up the whole contents of "Groates' Store," and even to take the house off the widow's hands, if she wished to move quickly into a less expensive domicile. He would pay down, for house and contents and custom, a certain round sum which, if not too liberal, might yet be looked upon as fair under the circumstances. At all events, it was more than would have been expected from Mokes.
Nobody who knew Mr. Mokes was deluded into supposing this to be an act of pure generosity. It might be granted that Mokes was sorry for the sudden death of his rival, and was concerned for the widow.
But, on the other hand, if Mokes himself neglected to purchase the goods and the custom and the remainder of the lease, somebody else might be expected to do so, and this would mean a continuance of opposition to Mokes' shop. Nay, it might mean a much more successful opposition if the shop should chance to fall into the hands of a better business man than Groates had proved to be. So Mokes was killing two birds with one stone when he made his offer.
"Seems to me it's the best thing we can do," Jack said to the Vicar, who had been throughout a kind adviser. "That'll help us to clear off a lot of things, and we'll be able to start freer. And Mr. Ward has offered to take me on, with better pay than I'd hoped to be able to get."
"Ward, the grocer, at New Maxham?"
"Yes, sir. He's got the biggest business for twenty miles round, and everybody trusts him. Mother's very pleased. She says she'd sooner have me with him than with anybody, and they say he's offered it me for mother's sake."