第20章

Heaccompaniedhertothecottage，andsheconductedhimup-

stairs。JohnSouthwaspillowedupinachairbetweenthebedandthewindowexactlyoppositethelatter，towardswhichhisfacewasturned。

“Ah，neighborWinterborne。”hesaid。“Iwouldn’thavemindedifmylifehadonlybeenmyowntolose；Idon’tvallieitinmuchofitself，andcanletitgoif’tisrequiredofme。Buttothinkwhat’tisworthtoyou，ayoungmanrisinginlife，thatdotroubleme！Itseemsatrickofdishonestytowardsyetogooffatfifty-five！Icouldbearup，IknowIcould，ifitwerenotforthetree——yes，thetree，’tisthat’skillingme。Therehestands，threateningmylifeeveryminutethatthewinddoblow。He’llcomedownuponusandsquatusdead；andwhatwillyedowhenthelifeonyourpropertyistakenaway？”

“Neveryoumindme——that’sofnoconsequence。”saidGiles。“Thinkofyourselfalone。”

Helookedoutofthewindowinthedirectionofthewoodman’sgaze。Thetreewasatallelm，familiartohimfromchildhood，whichstoodatadistanceoftwo-thirdsitsownheightfromthefrontofSouth’sdwelling。Wheneverthewindblew，asitdidnow，thetreerocked，naturallyenough；andthesightofitsmotionandsoundofitssighshadgraduallybredtheterrifyingillusioninthewoodman’smindthatitwoulddescendandkillhim。Thushewouldsitallday，inspiteofpersuasion，watchingitseverysway，andlisteningtothemelancholyGregorianmelodieswhichtheairwrungoutofit。Thisfearitapparentlywas，ratherthananyorganicdiseasewhichwaseatingawaythehealthofJohnSouth。

Asthetreewaved，Southwavedhishead，makingithisflugel-manwithabjectobedience。“Ah，whenitwasquiteasmalltree。”hesaid，“andIwasalittleboy，Ithoughtonedayofchoppingitoffwithmyhooktomakeaclothes-linepropwith。ButIputoffdoingit，andthenIagainthoughtthatIwould；butIforgotit，anddidn’t。Andatlastitgottoobig，andnow’tismyenemy，andwillbethedeatho’me。LittledidIthink，whenIletthatsaplingstay，thatatimewouldcomewhenitwouldtormentme，anddashmeintomygrave。”

“No，no。”saidWinterborneandMarty，soothingly。Buttheythoughtitpossiblethatitmighthastenhimintohisgrave，thoughinanotherwaythanbyfalling。

“Itellyouwhat。”addedWinterborne，“I’llclimbupthisafternoonandshroudoffthelowerboughs，andthenitwon’tbesoheavy，andthewindwon’taffectitso。”

“Shewon’tallowit——astrangewomancomefromnobodyknowswhere——

shewon’thaveitdone。”

“YoumeanMrs。Charmond？Oh，shedoesn’tknowthere’ssuchatreeonherestate。Besides，shroudingisnotfelling，andI’llriskthatmuch。”

Hewentout，andwhenafternooncamehereturned，tookabillhookfromthewoodman’sshed，andwithaladderclimbedintothelowerpartofthetree，wherehebeganloppingoff——“shrouding。”astheycalleditatHintock——thelowestboughs。Eachofthesequiveredunderhisattack，bent，cracked，andfellintothehedge。Havingcutawaythelowesttier，hesteppedofftheladder，climbedafewstepshigher，andattackedthoseatthenextlevel。Thusheascendedwiththeprogressofhisworkfarabovethetopoftheladder，cuttingawayhisperchesashewent，andleavingnothingbutabarestembelowhim。

Theworkwastroublesome，forthetreewaslarge。Theafternoonworeon，turningdarkandmistyaboutfouro’clock。FromtimetotimeGilescasthiseyesacrosstowardsthebedroomwindowofSouth，where，bytheflickeringfireinthechamber，hecouldseetheoldmanwatchinghim，sittingmotionlesswithahanduponeacharmofthechair。BesidehimsatMarty，alsostraininghereyestowardstheskyeyfieldofhisoperations。

AcuriousquestionsuddenlyoccurredtoWinterborne，andhestoppedhischopping。Hewasoperatingonanotherperson’spropertytoprolongtheyearsofaleasebywhoseterminationthatpersonwouldconsiderablybenefit。Inthataspectofthecasehedoubtedifheoughttogoon。Ontheotherhandhewasworkingtosaveaman’slife，andthisseemedtoempowerhimtoadoptarbitrarymeasures。

Thewindhaddieddowntoacalm，andwhilehewasweighingthecircumstanceshesawcomingalongtheroadthroughtheincreasingmistafigurewhich，indistinctasitwas，heknewwell。ItwasGraceMelbury，onherwayoutfromthehouse，probablyforashorteveningwalkbeforedark。Hearrangedhimselfforagreetingfromher，sinceshecouldhardlyavoidpassingimmediatelybeneaththetree。

ButGrace，thoughshelookedupandsawhim，wasjustatthattimetoofullofthewordsofherfathertogivehimanyencouragement。

Theyears-longregardthatshehadhadforhimwasnotkindledbyherreturnintoaflameofsufficientbrilliancytomakeherrebellious。Thinkingthatshemightnotseehim，hecried，“MissMelbury，hereIam。”

Shelookedupagain。Shewasnearenoughtoseetheexpressionofhisface，andthenailsinhissoles，silver-brightwithconstantwalking。Butshedidnotreply；anddroppingherglanceagain，wenton。

Winterborne’sfacegrewstrange；hemused，andproceededautomaticallywithhiswork。Gracemeanwhilehadnotgonefar。

Shehadreachedagate，whereonshehadleanedsadly，andwhisperedtoherself，“WhatshallIdo？”

Asuddenfogcameon，andshecurtailedherwalk，passingunderthetreeagainonherreturn。Againheaddressedher。“Grace。”

hesaid，whenshewasclosetothetrunk，“speaktome。”Sheshookherheadwithoutstopping，andwentontoalittledistance，whereshestoodobservinghimfrombehindthehedge。

Hercoldnesshadbeenkindlymeant。Ifitwastobedone，shehadsaidtoherself，itshouldbebegunatonce。WhileshestoodoutofobservationGilesseemedtorecognizehermeaning；withasuddenstartheworkedon，climbinghigher，andcuttinghimselfoffmoreandmorefromallintercoursewiththesublunaryworld。

Atlasthehadworkedhimselfsohighuptheelm，andthemisthadsothickened，thathecouldonlyjustbediscernedasadark-grayspotonthelight-graysky：hewouldhavebeenaltogetheroutofnoticebutforthestrokeofhisbillhookandtheflightofaboughdownward，anditscrashuponthehedgeatintervals。

Itwasnottobedonethus，afterall：plainnessandcandorwerebest。Shewentbackathirdtime；hedidnotseehernow，andshelingeringlygazedupathisunconsciousfigure，loathtoputanendtoanykindofhopethatmightliveoninhimstill。“Giles——

Mr。Winterborne。”shesaid。

Hewassohighamidthefogthathedidnothear。“Mr。

Winterborne！”shecriedagain，andthistimehestopped，lookeddown，andreplied。

“Mysilencejustnowwasnotaccident。”shesaid，inanunequalvoice。“Myfathersaysitisbestnottothinktoomuchofthat——

engagement，orunderstandingbetweenus，thatyouknowof。I，too，thinkthatuponthewholeheisright。Butwearefriends，youknow，Giles，andalmostrelations。”

“Verywell。”heanswered，asifwithoutsurprise，inavoicewhichbarelyreacheddownthetree。“Ihavenothingtosayinobjection——IcannotsayanythingtillI’vethoughtawhile。”

Sheadded，withemotioninhertone，“Formyself，Iwouldhavemarriedyou——someday——Ithink。ButIgiveway，forIseeitwouldbeunwise。”

Hemadenoreply，butsatbackuponabough，placedhiselbowinafork，andrestedhisheaduponhishand。Thusheremainedtillthefogandthenighthadcompletelyenclosedhimfromherview。

Graceheavedadividedsigh，withatensepausebetween，andmovedonward，herheartfeelinguncomfortablybigandheavy，andhereyeswet。HadGiles，insteadofremainingstill，immediatelycomedownfromthetreetoher，wouldshehavecontinuedinthatfilialacquiescentframeofmindwhichshehadannouncedtohimasfinal？

Ifitbetrue，aswomenthemselveshavedeclared，thatoneoftheirsexisneversomuchinclinedtothrowinherlotwithamanforgoodandallasfiveminutesaftershehastoldhimsuchathingcannotbe，theprobabilitiesarethatsomethingmighthavebeendonebytheappearanceofWinterborneonthegroundbesideGrace。ButhecontinuedmotionlessandsilentinthatgloomyNiflheimorfog-landwhichinvolvedhim，andsheproceededonherway。

Thespotseemednowtobequitedeserted。ThelightfromSouth’swindowmaderaysonthefog，butdidnotreachthetree。A

quarterofanhourpassed，andallwasblacknessoverhead。Gileshadnotyetcomedown。

Thenthetreeseemedtoshiver，thentoheaveasigh；amovementwasaudible，andWinterbornedroppedalmostnoiselesslytotheground。Hehadthoughtthematterout，andhavingreturnedtheladderandbillhooktotheirplaces，pursuedhiswayhomeward。Hewouldnotallowthisincidenttoaffecthisouterconductanymorethanthedangertohisleaseholdshaddone，andwenttobedasusual。Twosimultaneoustroublesdonotalwaysmakeadoubletrouble；andthusitcametopassthatGiles’spracticalanxietyabouthishouses，whichwouldhavebeenenoughtokeephimawakehalfthenightatanyothertime，wasdisplacedandnotreinforcedbyhissentimentaltroubleaboutGraceMelbury。Thisseverancewasintruthmorelikeaburialofherthanarupturewithher；

buthedidnotrealizesomuchatpresent；evenwhenhearoseinthemorninghefeltquitemoodyandstern：asyetthesecondnoteinthegamutofsuchemotions，atenderregretforhisloss，hadnotmadeitselfheard。

Aloadofoaktimberwastobesentawaythatmorningtoabuilderwhoseworkswereinatownmanymilesoff。Theproudtrunksweretakenupfromthesilentspotwhichhadknownthemthroughthebuddingsandsheddingsoftheirgrowthfortheforegoinghundredyears；chaineddownlikeslavestoaheavytimbercarriagewithenormousredwheels，andfourofthemostpowerfulofMelbury’shorseswereharnessedinfronttodrawthem。

Thehorsesworetheirbellsthatday。Thereweresixteentotheteam，carriedonaframeaboveeachanimal’sshoulders，andtunedtoscale，soastoformtwooctaves，runningfromthehighestnoteontherightoroff-sideoftheleadertothelowestontheleftornear-sideoftheshaft-horse。Melburywasamongthelasttoretainhorse-bellsinthatneighborhood；for，livingatLittleHintock，wherethelanesyetremainedasnarrowasbeforethedaysofturnpikeroads，thesesound-signalswerestillasusefultohimandhisneighborsastheyhadeverbeeninformertimes。Muchbackingwassavedinthecourseofayearbythewarningnotestheycastahead；moreover，thetonesofalltheteamsinthedistrictbeingknowntothecartersofeach，theycouldtellalongwayoffonadarknightwhethertheywereabouttoencounterfriendsorstrangers。