"
Time passed. The old man was buried, and Mr. and Mrs. Transom took
possession at Compton Burrows and reigned in his stead. 'Lizabeth dwelt
a mile or so down the valley with the Hoopers, who, as she had said,
were thankful enough to get her services, for Mrs. Hooper was well up in
years, and gladly resigned the dairy work to a girl who, as she told her
husband, was of good haveage, and worth her keep a dozen times over.
So 'Lizabeth had settled down in her new home, and closed her heart and
shut its clasps tight.
She never met William to speak to. Now and then she caught sight of him
as he rode past on horseback, on his way to market or to the "Compton
Arms," where he spent more time and money than was good for him. He had
bought himself out of the army, of course; but he retained his barrack
tales and his air of having seen life. These, backed up with a baritone
voice and a largehandedness in standing treat, made him popular in the
bar parlour. Meanwhile, Mrs. Transom, up at Compton Burrows--perhaps
because she missed her "theayters"--sickened and began to pine; and one
January afternoon, little more than a year after the home-coming,
'Lizabeth, standing in the dairy by her cream-pans, heard that she was
dead.
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