The Project Gutenberg EBook of Bessie Costrell, by Mrs. Humphry Ward

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Title: Bessie Costrell

Author: Mrs. Humphry Ward

Release Date: July 26, 2007 [EBook #22128]

Language: English

Character set encoding: ASCII

*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BESSIE COSTRELL ***

Produced by Al Haines

BESSIE COSTRELL

BY

MRS. HUMPHRY WARD

AUTHOR OF

"ROBERT ELSMERE," "THE HISTORY OF DAVID GRIEVE,"
"MARCELLA," ETC.

HODDER AND STOUGHTON

LONDON ---- NEW YORK ---- TORONTO

1912

SCENE I

It was an August evening, still and cloudy after a day unusually chilly
for the time of year. Now, about sunset, the temperature was warmer
than it had been in the morning, and the departing sun was forcing its
way through the clouds, breaking up their level masses into delicate
lattice-work of golds and greys. The last radiant light was on the
wheat-fields under the hill, and on the long chalk hill itself.
Against that glowing background lay the village, already engulfed by
the advancing shadow. All the nearer trees, which the daylight had
mingled in one green monotony, stood out sharp and distinct, each in
its own plane, against the hill. Each natural object seemed to gain a
new accent, a more individual beauty, from the vanishing and yet
lingering sunlight.

An elderly labourer was walking along the road which led to the
village. To his right lay the allotment gardens just beginning to be
alive with figures, and the voices of men and children. Beyond them,
far ahead, rose the square tower of the church; to his left was the
hill, and straight in front of him the village, with its veils of smoke
lightly brushed over the trees, and its lines of cottages climbing the
chalk steeps behind it. His eye as he walked took in a number of such
facts as life had trained it to notice. Once he stopped to bend over a
fence, to pluck a stalk or two of oats. He examined them carefully;
then he threw back his head and sniffed the air, looking all round the
sky meanwhile. Yes, the season had been late and harsh, but the fine
weather was coming at last. Two or three days' warmth now would ripen
even the oats, let alone the wheat.