Why didn't ye show me your boots at first
and have done with it?" saying which the cobbler snorted and sat down;
then, having apparently swallowed a handful of nails, he began to
hammer away lustily, while Barnabas followed Clemency into the inner
room, and, being there, they stood for a long moment looking on each
other in silence.
And now Barnabas saw that, with her apron and mobcap, the country
serving-maid had vanished quite. In her stead was a noble woman,
proud and stately, whose clear, sad eyes returned his gaze with a
gentle dignity; Clemency indeed was gone, but Beatrix had come to
life. Yet, when he spoke, Barnabas used the name he had known her by
first.
"Clemency," said he, "your father is seeking for you."
"My--father!" she exclaimed, speaking in a whisper. "You have
seen--my father? You know him?"
"Yes. I met him--not long ago. His name is Ralph Darville, he told me,
and he goes up and down the countryside searching for you--has done
so, ever since he lost you, and he preaches always Forgiveness and
Forgetfulness of Self!"
"My father!" she whispered again with quivering lips. "Preaching?"
"He tramps the roads hoping to find you, Clemency, and he preaches
at country wakes and fairs because, he told me, he was once a very
selfish man, and unforgiving.
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