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of the languor which had seized upon her spirits. ā€˜Iā€™m afraid I couldnā€™t bear the room another minute,ā€™ said the good lady, ā€˜if they remained here. WOULD you excuse my putting them out of window?ā€™

Joe begged she wouldnā€™t mention it on any account, and smiled feebly as he saw them deposited on the sill outside. If anybody could have known the pains he had taken to make up that despised and misused bunch of flowers!ā€”

ā€˜I feel it quite a relief to get rid of them, I assure you,ā€™ said Mrs Varden. ā€˜Iā€™m better already.ā€™ And indeed she did appear to have plucked up her spirits.

Joe expressed his gratitude to Providence for this favourable dispensation, and tried to look as if he didnā€™t wonder where Dolly was.

ā€˜Youā€™re sad people at Chigwell, Mr Joseph,ā€™ said Mrs V.

ā€˜I hope not, maā€™am,ā€™ returned Joe.

ā€˜Youā€™re the cruellest and most inconsiderate people in the world,ā€™ said Mrs Varden, bridling. ā€˜I wonder old Mr Willet, having been a married man himself, doesnā€™t know better than to conduct himself as he does. His doing it for profit is no excuse. I would rather pay the money twenty times over, and have Varden come home like a respectable and sober tradesman. If there is one character,ā€™ said Mrs Varden with great emphasis, ā€˜that offends and disgusts me more than another, it is a sot.ā€™

ā€˜Come, Martha, my dear,ā€™ said the locksmith cheerily, ā€˜let us have tea, and donā€™t let us talk about sots. There are none here, and Joe donā€™t want to hear about them, I dare say.ā€™

At this crisis, Miggs appeared with toast.

ā€˜I dare say he does not,ā€™ said Mrs Varden; ā€˜and I dare say you do not, Varden. Itā€™s a very unpleasant subiect, I have no doubt, though I wonā€™t say itā€™s personalā€™ā€”Miggs coughedā€”ā€˜whatever I may be forced to thinkā€™ā€”Miggs sneezed expressively. ā€˜You never will know, Varden, and nobody at young Mr Willetā€™s ageā€”youā€™ll excuse me, sirā€”can be expected to know, what a woman suffers when she is waiting at home under such circumstances. If you donā€™t believe me, as I know you donā€™t, hereā€™s Miggs, who is only too often a witness of itā€”ask her.ā€™

ā€˜Oh! she were very bad the other night, sir, indeed she were, said Miggs. ā€˜If you hadnā€™t the sweetness of an angel in you, mim, I donā€™t think you could abear it, I raly donā€™t.ā€™

ā€˜Miggs,ā€™ said Mrs Varden, ā€˜youā€™re profane.ā€™

ā€˜Begging your pardon, mim,ā€™ returned Miggs, with shrill rapidity, ā€˜such was not my intentions, and such I hope is not my character, though I am but a servant.ā€™

ā€˜Answering me, Miggs, and providing yourself,ā€™ retorted her mistress, looking round with dignity, ā€˜is one and the same thing. How dare you speak of angels in connection with your sinful fellow-beingsā€”mereā€™ā€”said Mrs Varden, glancing at herself in a neighbouring mirror, and arranging the ribbon of her cap in a more becoming fashionā€”ā€˜mere worms and grovellers as we are!ā€™

ā€˜I did not intend, mim, if you please, to give offence,ā€™ said Miggs, confident in the strength of her compliment, and developing strongly in the throat as usual, ā€˜and I did not expect it would be took as such. I hope I know my own unworthiness, and that I hate and despise myself and all my fellow-creatures as every practicable Christian should.ā€™

ā€˜Youā€™ll have the goodness, if you please,ā€™ said Mrs Varden, loftily, ā€˜to step upstairs and see if Dolly has finished dressing, and to tell her that the chair that was ordered for her will be here in a minute, and that if she keeps it waiting, I shall send it away that instant.ā€”Iā€™m sorry to see that you donā€™t take your tea, Varden, and that you donā€™t take yours, Mr Joseph; though of course it would be foolish of me to expect that anything that can be had at home, and in the company of females, would please YOU.ā€™

This pronoun was understood in the plural sense, and included both gentlemen, upon both of whom it was rather hard and undeserved, for Gabriel had applied himself to the meal with a very promising appetite, until it was spoilt by Mrs Varden herself, and Joe had as great a liking for the female society of the locksmithā€™s houseā€”or for a part of it at all eventsā€”as man could well entertain.

But he had no opportunity to say anything in his own defence, for at that moment Dolly herself appeared, and struck him quite dumb with her beauty. Never had Dolly looked so handsome as she did then, in all the glow and grace of youth, with all her charms increased a hundredfold by a most becoming dress, by a thousand little coquettish ways which nobody could assume with a better grace, and all the sparkling expectation of that accursed party. It is impossible to tell how Joe hated that party wherever it was, and all the other people who were going to it, whoever they were.

And she hardly looked at himā€”no, hardly looked at him. And when the chair was seen through the open door coming blundering into the workshop, she actually clapped her hands and seemed glad to go. But Joe gave her his armā€”there was some comfort in thatā€”and handed her into it. To see her seat herself inside, with her laughing eyes brighter than diamonds, and her handā€”surely she had the prettiest hand in the worldā€”on the ledge of the open window, and her little finger provokingly and pertly tilted up, as if it wondered why Joe didnā€™t squeeze or kiss it! To think how well one or two of the modest snowdrops would have become that delicate bodice, and how they were lying neglected outside the parlour window! To see how Miggs looked on with a face expressive of knowing how all this loveliness was got up, and of being in the secret of every string and pin and hook and eye, and of saying it ainā€™t half as real as you think, and I could look quite as well myself if I took the pains! To hear that provoking precious little scream when the chair was hoisted on its poles, and to catch that transient but not-to-be-forgotten vision of the happy face withinā€” what torments and aggravations, and yet what delights were these! The very chairmen seemed favoured rivals as they bore her down the street.

There never was such an alteration in a small room in a small time as in that parlour when they went back to finish tea. So dark, so deserted, so perfectly disenchanted. It seemed such sheer nonsense to be sitting tamely there, when she was at a dance with more lovers than man could calculate fluttering about herā€”with the whole party doting on and adoring her, and wanting to marry her. Miggs was hovering about too; and the fact of her existence, the mere circumstance of her ever having been born, appeared, after Dolly, such an unaccountable practical joke. It was impossible to talk. It couldnā€™t be done. He had nothing left for it but to stir his tea round, and round, and round, and ruminate on all the fascinations of the locksmithā€™s lovely daughter.

Gabriel was dull too. It was a part of the certain uncertainty of Mrs Vardenā€™s temper, that when they were in this condition, she should be gay and sprightly.

ā€˜I need have a cheerful disposition, I am sure,ā€™ said the smiling housewife, ā€˜to preserve any spirits at all; and how I do it I can scarcely tell.ā€™

ā€˜Ah, mim,ā€™ sighed Miggs, ā€˜begging your pardon for the interruption, there anā€™t a many like you.ā€™

ā€˜Take away, Miggs,ā€™ said Mrs Varden, rising, ā€˜take away, pray. I know Iā€™m a restraint here, and as I wish everybody to enjoy themselves as they best can, I feel I had better go.ā€™

ā€˜No, no, Martha,ā€™ cried the locksmith. ā€˜Stop here. Iā€™m sure we shall be very sorry to lose you, eh Joe!ā€™ Joe started, and said ā€˜Certainly.ā€™

ā€˜Thank you, Varden, my dear,ā€™ returned his wife; ā€˜but I know your wishes better. Tobacco and beer, or spirits, have much greater attractions than any I can boast of, and therefore I shall go and sit upstairs and look out of window, my love. Good night, Mr Joseph. Iā€™m very glad to have seen you, and I only wish I could have provided something more suitable to your taste. Remember me very kindly if you please to old Mr Willet, and tell him that whenever he comes here I have a crow to pluck with him. Good night!ā€™

Having uttered these words with great sweetness of manner, the good lady dropped a curtsey remarkable for its condescension, and serenely withdrew.

And it was for this Joe had looked forward to the twenty-fifth of March for weeks and weeks, and had gathered the flowers with so much care, and had cocked his hat, and made himself so smart! This was the end of all his bold determination, resolved upon for the hundredth time, to speak out to Dolly and tell her how he loved her! To see her for a minuteā€”for but a minuteā€”to find her going out to a party and glad to go; to be looked upon as a common pipe- smoker, beer-bibber, spirit-guzzler, and tosspot! He bade farewell to his friend the locksmith, and hastened to take horse at the Black Lion, thinking as he turned towards home, as many another Joe has thought before and since, that here was an end to all his hopesā€”that the thing was impossible and never could beā€”that she didnā€™t care for himā€”that he was wretched for lifeā€”and that the only congenial prospect left him, was to go for a soldier or a sailor, and get some obliging enemy to knock his brains out as soon as possible.

Chapter 14

Joe Willet rode leisurely along in his desponding mood, picturing the locksmithā€™s daughter going down long country-dances, and poussetting dreadfully with bold strangersā€”which was almost too much to bearā€”when he heard the tramp of a horseā€™s feet behind him, and looking back, saw a well-mounted gentleman advancing at a smart canter. As this rider passed, he checked his steed, and called him of the Maypole by his name. Joe set spurs to the grey mare, and was at his side directly.

ā€˜I thought it was you, sir,ā€™ he said, touching his hat. ā€˜A fair evening, sir. Glad to see you out of doors again.ā€™

The gentleman smiled and nodded. ā€˜What gay doings have been going on to-day, Joe? Is she as pretty as ever? Nay, donā€™t blush, man.ā€™

ā€˜If I coloured at all, Mr Edward,ā€™ said Joe, ā€˜which I didnā€™t know I did, it was to think I should have been such a fool as ever to have any hope of her. Sheā€™s as far out of my reach asā€”as Heaven

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