Chapter V
Reading edition
The light took a golden tincture before dusk, and nature rested. Mellow sunshine cast long shadows, interspersed with a tender radiance; the cottages and house-places were still; and peace brooded over hamlet and homestead, for the day’s work was done.
The 10th of July sank to lovely close, and through a blue dusk one window glimmered on the confines of the village.
Toward it walked a man, and in his pocket he carried a little parcel. Once he hesitated, and seemed disposed to hurl his gift into the hedge and return whence he came. But he held on, and presently reached the cottage door and knocked at it.
“Might I come in an’ have a tell, Mrs. Thorn?” he asked in a deep voice.
There was a moment of silence, then a fluttered uprising.
“Yes, if you’m in a mind to, Mr. Lethbridge.”