upon the idlers with that ambiguous gaze
of his, which at one moment seemed to mean satisfaction, and at another
fiery disdain.

"Well--there's a difference between 'em, though he do call himself a
teetotaller," said Nance Mockridge. "She'll wish her cake dough afore
she's done of him. There's a blue-beardy look about 'en; and 'twill out
in time."

"Stuff--he's well enough! Some folk want their luck buttered. If I had a
choice as wide as the ocean sea I wouldn't wish for a better man. A poor
twanking woman like her--'tis a godsend for her, and hardly a pair of
jumps or night-rail to her name."

The plain little brougham drove off in the mist, and the idlers
dispersed. "Well, we hardly know how to look at things in these times!"
said Solomon. "There was a man dropped down dead yesterday, not so very
many miles from here; and what wi' that, and this moist weather, 'tis
scarce worth one's while to begin any work o' consequence to-day. I'm in
such a low key with drinking nothing but small table ninepenny this
last week or two that I shall call and warm up at the Mar'ners as I pass
along."

"I don't know but that I may as well go with 'ee, Solomon," said
Christopher; "I'm as clammy as a cockle-snail."

14.

A Martinmas summer of Mrs. Henchard's life set in with her entry into
her husband's large house and respectable social orbit; and it was as
bright as such summers well can be. Lest she should pine for deeper
affection than he could give he made a point of showing some semblance
of it in external action. Among other things he had the iron railings,
that had smiled sadly in dull rust for the last eighty years, painted
a bright green, and the heavy-barred, small-paned Georgian sash windows
enlivened with three coats of white. He was as kind to her as a man,
mayor, and churchwarden could possibly be. The house was large, the
rooms lofty, and the landings wide; and the two unassuming women
scarcely made a perceptible addition to its contents.

To Elizabeth-Jane the time was a most triumphant one. The freedom she
experienced, the indulgence with which she was treated, went beyond her
expectations. The reposeful, easy, affluent life to which her mother's
marriage had introduced her was, in truth, the beginning of a great
change in Elizabeth. She found she could have nice personal possessions
and ornaments for the asking, and, as the mediaeval saying puts it,
"Take, have, and keep, are pleasant words." With peace