"Miss Jane replied that she was sure, in the first place, that the clergyman would not make them, and felt that the time might pass when they could be made at all, if she did not, while, as she supposed, he was grieving for the death of his excellent uncle. Miss Jane, however, confessed that she had made a mistake in supposing that his heart was in any way touched with sorrow; but, on the contrary, she feared that he felt nothing but satisfaction at becoming the possessor of Texford, and was annoyed at being reminded of the uncertainty of human life. "But I ought not, perhaps, to repeat, even to you, dear mother and father, what my kind friends say; only, in this instance, I am sure they would not object to my doing so." "It's safer not to repeat what we hear, there is no doubt about that," observed the dame. "But, you know, what you say to us never goes to other ears. Now, to my mind, Miss Mary is right. Miss Jane can say strong things when she thinks it is her duty to say them, and people do not always take them in the same spirit they are spoken. I hope when my lady and Miss Julia come things will be put to rights, and that the Miss Pembertons will not be shut out of Texford more than they like." "For their sakes I hope, at all events, they may be on friendly terms with their relatives," said May. "However, Miss Mary has no wish to leave home even for a day, and I always enjoy being in her company alone, and attending to her. I can never feel weary in trying to repay the kindness she has shown me. She has taught me much of what I know, even more than her sister has, and her memory is so retentive that she can talk over the books we have read together, and remind me often of portions which I have forgotten." "Ah, she is a dear lady; it's a wonder she knows so much, and no eyes to see with," observed the dame. "She may not be so wonderful a woman as her sister is, who can talk every bit as cleverly, if not better, than Mr Simms, the apothecary, and it's my belief she could bleed as well if she thought fit, though she says she sees no reason to take honest blood out of people's bodies, but that a little sulphur and milk in the spring and the fall will answer the purpose as well." The dame was enlarging still further on Miss Jane's medical knowledge, when May, turning her head, saw Jacob, who had entered, and was standing watching her at a distance, and unwilling, it seemed, to be observed. A blush rose to his cheeks when he found that he had been discovered. "I promised not to be long away, and I ought to be on my road back again," she said. "So good-bye, mother; good-bye, father." May put out her hand to Jacob, who pressed it in his own rough palm, casting a look at her, in which reverence was mingled with affection. Not noticing his glance she tripped lightly away. He followed from the cottage, keeping, however, at some distance behind, till he had seen her enter the gate of Downside Cottage.