The Salamanca Corpus: Yeoman Fleetwood (1900 ... - Gredos

The Salamanca Corpus: Yeoman Fleetwood (1900)
"Madam," said Simon hesitatingly, "I will try to remember only how good the Squire
has been to me and mine, and how my father loved and honoured him." There was
silence in the room for a little space. Simon's mind wandered back to his childhood,
when the Squire's name had been a household word. He remembered how flattered he
had been by Mr. Charnock's kindly notice, how he had admired his genial ways, his
handsome face. He found it hard to reconcile his boyish idea of the lord of Charnleigh
with his present knowledge of the man's ignoble weakness and callousness. It seemed
hard to realise that the seeds which had now borne such bitter fruit had been merely
dormant in those early days, and had recently been quickened into active growth by
self-indulgence and extravagance.
As for Madam Charnock, Simon's words had sent her also travelling back to the past,
but she was thinking of another man: a man in very truth — upright, honourable,
staunch — Simon's father; and of the woman who had thought herself thrown away
upon him at first, and who was afterwards so glad to cling to him and to rejoice in his
protecting love. Mrs. Charnock felt a recurrence of the old irritation as she thought of
how tardy the awakening had been, how slow this woman had been to realise the
existence of her own happiness. The thought suggested another and with a little start she
glanced at Simon.
“It pains me, my good friend, that you should waste your young life and your young
love. I — I presume that you have not yet conquered your passion for my daughter? I
suppose we were mistaken in thinking you cared for Bertha! Ah, why do you doom
yourself thus
[168]
to loneliness! You are letting the best years of your life slip past, all for a vain fancy."
"You ought to know, madam," replied Simon sternly, "that it is no fancy. But do not let
us speak of it. I make no complaint. If you are returning home now,” he continued in an
altered tone, “let me accompany you to your own gate; the day is still stormy and the
roads are rough. You may find your way blocked by fallen trees. Would it not be wiser
to remain here quietly, and to allow me to send for your carriage? The short cut through
the wood is dangerous."