nds on her hips. A
lamp stood near her on the long table around which the men were eating
and drinking; under its torn shade the light flared unevenly, lighting
up some things with ruthless clearness and leaving others in complete
darkness. Of the men, I could see nothing distinctly except their heavy
jaws and coarse hands and the lighter patches of their white shirts and
blue smocks. I could make out very little of the large, low-ceilinged
room. A rickety chair here; an old dresser there, with a few battered
dishes on it. At regular intervals, a brass pendulum sends forth gleams
as it catches the light; and the smouldering fire in the tall
chimney-place flickers for a moment and illumines the strings of beans
and onions drying round the hearth. On the floor, in the middle of the
room, two little cowherds are quarrelling for the possession of a goose,
no doubt won as a prize in the village. The poor thing, lying half-dead,
with its wings and legs tied up, utters piteous sounds, which are the
signal for a burst of laughter and coarse jokes.

But suddenly all is silence. A door opens at the far end of the room and
on the threshold stands the mistress, with a candle in her hand and some
bottles under her arm. The fear inspired by the old madwoman is obvious
at once. The two urchins take refuge under the table with their prey,
Rose's laughter ceases abruptly and, through the window-panes, I hear
the steady ticking of the clock and the clatter of the spoons in the
bowls.

The old woman has sat down in the full light. She is eating, with bent
back, lowered head and jerky, nervous movements, while her wicked little
sunken eyes peer from under her heavy, matted brows. She speaks some
curt words in _patois_, too fast for me to catch their sense; but her
strident voice hurts my ears. The conversation becomes livelier by
degrees and soon everybody is speaking at once....

I wait in vain for an absent look, a gesture of annoyance, an expression
of pain on Rose's part. No, she seems at her ease among these people, as
she was at the great house, as she is and as she will be everywhere. She
follows the remarks of one and all and shows the same attention which
she vouchsafes to me when I speak to her. From time to time, she says a
word or two; and I recognise the shrill voice and the vulgar gestures
that used to hurt me so much during our early talks.

I remained there for a long time, always waiting, always hoping. Excited
by liqu