ir consciences;
and our own Mr. Truelocke among them. I think he was more stiffly set
than ever in his opinion of the unlawfulness of conformity, since he had
that talk with James Westrop; at least Aunt Golding thought so. But on
other points he showed himself mild and persuadable, so that there was
nothing like the difficulty Harry and all of us had looked for in
winning him to come and dwell at the Grange, for a season at least; and
he agreed to make the change before the fatal day should come.

So we had all a busy time of it that last week, in getting his many
books and his simple household stuff removed from the Parsonage house,
and in bestowing them suitably at the Grange, where Aunt Golding had
prepared two fair rooms for his particular use. And however bad the
occasion for our doing this work, some of us found pleasure in it.

I must own I myself always loved a busy, bustling time, when there
seemed a little more to be done in each day than we could crowd into it;
which was our case now, wheat harvest having begun. And I was gladder
than common of the stir and the bustle, for it helped to stupefy and
dull a pain there was at my heart whenever the thought crossed me how
soon Harry would be gone. He was to depart on a long voyage to the East
Indies, and would indeed have sailed already but for his loving care
about his father, which made him resolute to tarry until he saw the old
gentleman in a manner provided for.

Some perverse whimsy of mine had made me careful never to be left alone
in Harry's company since that talk with him by moonlight in the orchard.
It's no wonder that I so perfectly recollect all the sayings and doings
of that day, for it was a fateful day indeed to some of our little
company. But the things that dwelt most constantly in my memory, to the
shutting out of weightier matters, were Harry's looks and words on my
saying I would be as a daughter to Mr. Truelocke. There was small need
to bid me think well of them; I thought of them whether I would or no,
all the while telling myself that I was a poor fool for brooding over
such airy trifles; that I had not known aught of Harry, nor he of me,
six months before; and that I deserved whipping for fancying he could
mean anything serious. And so, between a kind of fear and a good deal of
pride, I tried, as I have said, to avoid any private talk with him; and
I succeeded pretty well. But Harry's blunt, plain-spoken ways
overmatched me after all.

T