But conscience had after all the last word, for it spoke suddenly and loudly then:—
‘No, no; “a sword shall pierce thine own heart also.”’
CHAPTER IV
Till a few years ago the cottage was still standing where Anne Champion went to live at the bounty of Richard Meadowes. It stood on one of the crossways leading off the great west London road; but few people passed down the green lane, few even looked that way. The cottage was one of those deep thatched old dwellings that look like an owl with its feathers drawn up over its head; it had a garden filled with flowers and bee-hives, and the straight walk leading up to the door was bordered with flowering shrubs. Anne worked in the garden, clumsily enough at first, and she looked after the bees and got stung frequently, and time went on. Each week the old woman, Martha Hare, who occupied the house along with her, received a certain sum of money to be divided between herself and Anne; but Meadowes only came occasionally to the cottage at first: he was very cautious, having weighed Anne’s character pretty accurately. Then his visits became more frequent, and were somewhat prolonged, then he brought Anne a present from town. Anne began to draw her usual conclusions from these things: ‘He’s a-making up to me,’ she said to Martha Hare.
But she was scarcely prepared for it when Meadowes suddenly asked her one day if she would marry him.
‘I have been thinking of it for long, Anne,’ he said.
‘Sir, sir!’ said vulgar Anne. ‘I’m not your kind.’
‘But that is just my difficulty, and if you will listen to me I shall explain it. You cannot but see, Anne, that you are scarce in my class, as you say, and for that reason ’twill be better to keep the matter private, else my father will cut me off with a shilling. But if you will marry me privately, Anne, I swear to you I’ll be a good husband to you.’
Anne had been listening intently; but here she suddenly held up her hand.
‘There,’ she cried, ‘I’ll have you with no promises if I have you at all. I’ll take you as I know you, sir, and trust you but so far as I sees you.’