On this page
-
Text (1)
-
a woman's pen. 219
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
-
-
Transcript
-
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
40o The Chester And Hereford Railway Pas...
they have glanced at tlie stranger , have revealed a wealth of Innocent hy her love bearing in their 1 ; when crystal she depths has . gone He from is struck before with his her sig , ht touched there
seems a void , though the golden glory of the sun , and the sweet hush of the afternoon fall so serene about the place .
After leaning some minutes upon the gate h . e moves to g _* o , when his eyes rest incidently upon what is painted above the doorway .
It is nothing more fchan the ordinary notification in such cases , but the name annexed rouses his heart like the sound of a trumpet .
" Mary and Lydia Cresset , licensed dealers in tea , etc ., etc . " " My God ! " he says emphatically , as he puts his hand on the
latch and pushes against the gate . Then changing his sudden purpose of entrance , he softly replaces the latch , and goes onward with
far more rapid steps than heretofore . He is lost in thought . His naturally severe expression of face , deepens in austerityand there
, is betrayal of sadness as well . He finds the rustic inn where the road bends downward to the
river . It is a charming quaint old place ; the murmur of the waters near , and the rustle of the foliage around making an eternal song .
Here he dines , then his sons disperse , to fish through the waning evening , to stroll about , to lie upon the lawny grass-plot , and to
read and smoke . The youths more willingly leave their father alone , for they observe his abstraction , but love him too well to note
it , or ask the cause . As evening falls , he makes his way to the little bar . Here , as
he desired , he finds the landlady alone . Kising , she places him a chair , but he does not take it—he is going out he says , he is only
there to ask a few questions . Then he enquires if those of the name of Cresset , whose shop he observed by the bridge he crossed ,
have resided long in the place , or are new comers . " They came here , sir , about the time the railway was opened .
At first they rented a cottage more in the village , but old Mrs . Cresset is very fond , of a garden , and so they moved where they .
are about a twelve month since . " " Is there no Miss Cresset ?"
" Dear ! yes , sir . The old lady has never been married , but she is called missis out of respect to her years , and because I think she
likes it . The other missis is her sister-in-law , a brother ' s widow , and the little girl is the widow ' s child . "
" Indeed . What age is the elder one ?" " I should say about sixty or sixty-two . She may not be so old .
Pier health has been long on the decline , and so her years may seem more than they really be . "
" You will scarcely understand my next question , I fear , but I will put it as plainly as I can . Did the elder Mrs . Cresset ever
write books , ever get her bread by using her pen—was , what is called an authoress ? I do not ask the question from curiosity
alone . "
VOIi . I . fc »
A Woman's Pen. 219
a woman s pen . 219
-
-
Citation
-
English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), June 1, 1858, page 249, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01061858/page/33/
-