Andrew Golding: A Tale of the Great PlagueKeeling, Anne E.
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Andrew Golding: A Tale of the Great Plague
Keeling, Anne E.
Plague -- England -- London -- Fiction
'Ah, child, thou little knowest. I have not yet heard of any outrageous
follies that our poor Andrew has run into; yet I am told, and I fear
it's true, that if he were to show his face openly in West Fazeby
to-morrow, his next lodging might be in York Castle, where he should lie
in the foulest den they could find for him, and have the worst company
to boot. Nor will it be very safe here for our good Mr. Truelocke, who
now talks of taking his journey to certain worthy kinsfolk of his that
are farmers in the Dale country, there he may live in a peaceful
obscurity; but his chief aim is to avoid bringing troubles on our
house.'
It struck me cruelly to think of Harry's father leaving us, but I had no
time to dwell on the thought, for now Althea sank down at my feet,
helpless and senseless like one who was dead indeed; and much ado we
had to bring her out of her swoon, which was very long, and she very
feeble when she was recovered from it. We got her to her room, and
persuaded her to lie down and sleep; and when we came away, Aunt Golding
turns to me with a puzzled look, saying,--
'What means this, Lucy? I never thought your sister one of those fine
ladies who swoon for every trifle;--what is it, think you?'
'Andrew,' says I, 'and the image of his danger; you made a frightful
picture of it, dear madam, do you know?'
'Ah, set a thief to catch a thief!' says Aunt Golding, and I felt glad
to hear her laugh once more; 'my love-passages are of too ancient a date
to serve me, it seems, but yours are fresh and new, my Lucy. But what of
Andrew? is Althea dear to him?'
'More dear than he knows, or she guesses,' quoth I; at which our good
aunt laughed again, but then said,--
'It's a thing that would have pleased me well, had I been told that it
would happen a year ago, but now I see nothing but trouble in it. There
would be no equal yoke there, my Lucy. Whatever extravagances Andrew
hath fallen into, the love of Christ runs through all he does and
thinks. And canst thou say the like of thy sister?'
'Not yet,' I murmured, but Aunt Golding heard me, and said,--
'Ay, well spoken, Lucy; we will remember that when we pray.'
After this, Aunt Golding had a long conference with Matthew Standfast,
whom she despatched in pursuit of Andrew, that he might furnish him with
money and warn him to keep away from the Grange for a season. And after
much trouble, Matthew found him, somewhere on the road to York; when it
cost him still more pains to lead his young master into compliance with
the prudent courses enjoined on him.
'He talked much,' said Matthew, 'of the honour of suffering for the
truth, and how he must not be the vile coward to refuse it. And I had
never been able to beat him away from that, but for the excellent
counsel of one that was riding with him; I think he was a Quaker also,
for he could talk with Master Andrew in his own dialect.'
'What manner of man was he?' said our aunt.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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