"Jane must know all that has been between him and me," said Susan with some bitterness; "and I do think she need not have led him this way neither! But I am glad you have seen him, mother. I like to know how he looks; for I may still wish him well." Susan's fingers resumed their knitting, and the dame proceeded with her darning. George would have silenced their merriment had he had the presence of mind to do so; but a peasant bridegroom is of all creatures the most awkward, the most shame-faced: far from bearing himself as the man who has won the prize he sought, he has the air of one who has been fairly caught in the snare, and has no longer a chance of escape. George, however, felt it impossible to again march, as it were in triumph, by Susan's door; he led Jane the back way into the village: it was nearly the same path he had taken the day he had told Susan of his marriage: and it is to be feared that Jane did not find her George the more gay or the more tender for being removed from the observation of others. Presently the sounds of gay voices once more grew upon the ear as the party returned on their steps. Dame Foster again put down her spectacles, and gazed through the window: "God bless him!" she exclaimed; "he could not stand it again, and he is not with the rest." "Not gone away and left Jane?" inquired Susan in a tone of alarm,--"that would not be right." "No, no, she's gone too. I warrant me, they've taken the back way round to Master Dixon's, and I like him all the better." The dame felt more in charity with him than she had done a few minutes before; and Susan was gratified, and yet grieved, that George should not be thoroughly happy. "He will be so soon!" she thought, however;--and so he was. He enjoyed the comforts of a tidy home, a blazing fire, a warm supper, and a smiling wife to greet him on his return from work. His days were occupied in his accustomed labour; his after-hours were filled up by cultivating his garden; and the helpmate who received him kindly, and provided him with comforts, became daily more endeared to him. The birth of a child gave him a fresh object of interest, and George was a happy man. Susan also was calm, if not happy. He was another woman's husband--he was a married man--and all was over for her. The barrier was so entirely insuperable that her feelings did change, that she did learn to think of him, merely as of a kind friend, and that the past did at length appear to her only as a dream. CHAPTER X.