carry for Mrs Carbonel and the little ones.

Mrs Carbonel was at the door when her husband rode up, having only just
managed to hush off her little Mary to sleep, and left her and the baby
with Rachel Mole to watch over them. Poor thing, she had been in a
terrible state of anxiety and terror for all these hours, so much the
worse because of the need of keeping her little girl from being agitated
by seeing her alarm or hearing the cries, exclamations, and fragments of
news that Mrs Pearson and her daughters were rushing about with.

When she saw him first, and Sophy a moment afterwards, she sprang up to
him as he dismounted, and greeted him with a burst of sobs and thankful
tears.

"Why, Mary, Mary, what's this? One would think I had been in a general
engagement. You, a soldier's wife! No; nobody's a hair the worse!
Here is Sir Harry Hartman wondering at you."

To hear of the presence of a stranger startled Mrs Carbonel into
recovering herself, with "I beg your pardon," and her pretty courtesy,
with the tears still on her face; while the old gentleman kindly spoke
of the grievous afternoon she had had, and all the time Mr and Mrs
Pearson were entreating him to do them the honour to come in and drink a
glass of wine--for cake and wine were then considered to be _the thing_
to offer guests in a farmhouse.

Sir Harry, aware of what farmhouse port was apt to be, begged for a
glass of home-brewed ale instead, but came in readily, hoping to
persuade Mrs Carbonel to send for the Poppleby post-chaise, and let him
take her and her children home. She was afraid, however, to disturb
little Mary, and Mrs Pearson reckoned on housing them for the night,
besides which his park was too far-off. So it was settled that Sophy,
for whom there really was no room, should go to Poppleby Parsonage with
Mr Grantley for the night, and she and Sir Harry only tarried to talk
over the matter, and come to an understanding of the whole as far as
might be.

"Who warned you?" asked the captain.

"The last person I should expect--Tirzah Todd, good woman," said Mrs
Carbonel. "She came and called me, and helped me over the hedges."

"And Hoglah came after me," said Sophy, "and told me to come here, only
I could not."

"You were the heroine of the whole, Miss Carbonel," said Sir Harry.

"Oh, don't say so; I didn't do any good at all," said Sophy, becoming
much ashamed of her attempt at haranguing. "Old Pucklechurch was the
one, for he s