“No, indeed, she won’t! After this wonderful kindness to thee, she can’t bother me. She is welcome to iverything that is mine, even to my warmest and truest love. The best room at Annis Hall is hers, and we will both love and honor her all the days of our lives.”
“Now, then, I am quite happy, as happy as God and His gift can make a man; and if I was a Methodist, I would go to their chapel at once and tell them all what a good and great thing God hed done for them, as well as mysen. Thou sees they were thought of, no doubt, when I was thought of, for God knew I’d do right by His poor men and women and little childer.”
“I hope, though, thou wilt stand by thy awn church. It hes stood by thee, and all thy family for centuries. I wouldn’t like thee to desert the mother church of England.”
“Howiver can thou speak to me in such a half-and-half way. My prayer book is next to my Bible. Why-a! it is my soul’s mother. I hev my collect for ivery day, and I say it. On the mornings I went hunting, sometimes I was a bit hurried, but as I stood in my bare feet, I allays said it, and I allays did my best to mean ivery word I said.”
“I know, my love—but thou hes lately seemed to hev a sneaking respect for Mr. Foster, and Jonathan Hartley, and Methodists in general.”
“Well, that is true. I hev a varry great respect for them. They do their duty, and in the main they trusted in God through these past black years, and behaved themsens like men. But I should as soon think of deserting thee as of deserting my Mother Church.”
“I believe thee, yet we do hev varry poor sermons, and in that way Mr. Foster is a great temptation.”
“I niver minded the sermon. I hed the blessed Book of Common Prayer. And if the church is my soul’s mother, then the Book of Common Prayer is mother’s milk; that it is, and I wonder that thou hes niver noticed how faithfully I manage to say my collect. My mother taught me to say one ivery morning. I promised her I would. I am a man of my word, Annie, even to the living, and I would be feared to break a promise to the dead. I can’t think of anything much worse a man could do.”
“My dear one! This day God hes chosen thee to take care of his poor. We must get back to Annis as quickly as possible, and give them this hope.”
“So we must, but I hev a meeting to-morrow at ten o’clock with Josepha’s banker, business adviser, her lawyer, and her architect. I may be most of the day with his crowd. This is Monday, could tha be ready to start home on Thursday, by early mail coach?”