The Squire's DaughterHocking, Silas K. (Silas Kitto)
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The Squire's Daughter
Hocking, Silas K. (Silas Kitto)
Landlord and tenant -- Fiction; Love stories; Social classes -- England -- Fiction
"She can't be very heavy," Ralph thought, as he looked down into her
sweet, colourless face. "I'll have to make the attempt, anyhow. It's
nearly two miles to St. Goram; but perhaps I shall be able to manage
it."
A moment or two later he had gathered her up in his strong arms, and,
with her bandaged head resting on his shoulder, and her heart beating
feebly against his own, he marched away back over the broken gate in the
direction of St. Goram. Jess gave a feeble whinny, then followed slowly
and dejectedly, with her nose to the ground.
Half a mile away the ground dipped into a narrow valley, with a clear
stream of water meandering at the bottom.
Ralph laid down his burden very gently and tenderly close to the stream,
with her head pillowed on a bank of moss. He was at his wits' end, but
he thought it possible that some ice-cold water sprinkled on her face
might revive her.
Jess stood stock-still a few yards away and watched the operation. Ralph
sprinkled the cold water first on her face, then he got a large leaf,
and made a cup of it, and tried to get her to drink; but the water
trickled down her neck and into her bosom.
She gave a sigh at length and opened her eyes suddenly. Then she tried
to raise her head, but it fell back again in a moment.
Ralph filled the leaf again and raised her head.
"Try to drink this," he said. "I'm sure it will do you good." And she
opened her lips and drank.
He filled the leaf a third time, and she followed him with her eyes, but
did not attempt to speak.
"Now, don't you feel better?" he questioned, after she had swallowed the
second draught.
"I don't know," she answered, in a whisper. "But who are you? And where
am I?"
"You have had an accident," he said. "Your horse threw you. Don't you
remember?"
She closed her eyes and knitted her brows as if trying to recall what
had happened.
"It was close to Treliskey Plantation," he went on, "and the gate was
shut. You told me to open it, and I refused. I was a brute, and I shall
never forgive myself so long as I live."
"Oh yes; I remember," she said, opening her eyes slowly, and the
faintest suggestion of a smile played round her ashen lips. "You took
offence because----"
"I was a brute!" he interjected.
"I ought not to have spoken as I did," she said, in a whisper. "I had no
right to command you. Do--do you think I shall die?"
"No, no!" he cried, aghast. "What makes you ask such a question?"
"I feel so strange," she answered, in the same faint whisper, "and I
have no strength even to raise my head."
"But you will get better!" he said eagerly. "You must get better--you
must! For my sake, you must!"
"Why for your sake?" she whispered.
"Because if you die I shall feel like a murderer all the rest of my
life. Oh, believe me, I did not mean to be rude and unkind! I would die
for you this very moment if I could make you better! Oh, believe me!"
And the tears came up and filled his eyes.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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