d.
Endless complications would follow. Mrs. Goddard would certainly have to
leave Billingsfield--no one could expect the Ambroses or the squire
himself to associate with a convict forger. Mr. Juxon vaguely wondered
whether he should live another nine years to see the end of all this, and
he inwardly determined to go to sea again rather than to witness such
misery. He could not see, no one could see how things could possibly turn
out in any other way. It would have been some comfort to have gone to the
vicar, and to have discussed with him the possibilities of Mrs. Goddard's
future. The vicar was a man after his own heart, honest, reliable,
charitable and brave; but Mr. Juxon thought that it would not be quite
loyal towards Mrs. Goddard if he let any one else know that he was
acquainted with her story.

For two days he stayed at home and then he went to see her. To his
surprise she received him very quietly, much as she usually did, without
betraying any emotion; whereupon he wished that he had not allowed two
days to pass without making his usual visit. Mrs. Goddard almost wished
so too. She had been so much accustomed to regard the squire as a friend,
and she had so long been used to the thought that Mr. and Mrs. Ambrose
knew of her past trouble, that the fact of the squire becoming acquainted
with her history seemed to her less important, now that it was
accomplished, than it seemed to the squire himself. She had long thought
of telling him all; she had seriously contemplated doing so when he first
came to Billingsfield, and now at last the thing was done. She was glad
of it. She was no longer in a false position; he could never again think
of marrying her; they could henceforth meet as friends, since he was so
magnanimous as to allow their friendship to exist. Her pride had suffered
so terribly in the beginning that it was past suffering now. She felt
that she was in the position of a suppliant asking only for a quiet
resting-place for herself and her daughter, and she was grateful to the
people who gave her what she asked, feeling that she had fallen among
good Samaritans, whereas in merry England it would have been easy for her
to have fallen among priests and Pharisees.

So it came about that in a few days her relations with Mr. Juxon were
re-established upon a new basis, but more firmly and satisfactorily than
before, seeing that now there was no possibility of mistake. And for a
long time it seemed as though ma