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织工马南-第7部分
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‘Whose child is it？’one of them asked．
‘I don't know，'replied Godfrey wildly．‘Some poor woman's－she's been found in the snow，I think．’
‘You'd better leave the poor child here with us then，Master Marner，’offered Mrs Kimble kindly．
‘No－I can't let it go，'said Silas unexpectedly．‘It's come to me—I don't know where from—I want to keep it！’‘Well！'said Mrs Kimble，surprised．‘A single man like you！Take care of a child！Well！’But the little one was holding on to Silas，and smiling up at him confidently．
Dr Kimble hurried into the hall．‘Where is this poor woman？Near the old quarry？Someone had better fetch Dolly Winthrop．I'll need her to help me．
‘I'll go！’cried Godfrey．He wanted to get away，before any one noticed his white face and shaking hands， and he needed time to think． He ran out into the night．
When he and Dolly arrived at the quarry，the doctor had moved the woman into Silas's cottage，and Godfrey had to wait outside．He walked up and down in the snow，for what seemed like hours． He knew he should tell the truth about the woman and the child，but he could not make himself do what he knew was right．‘Is she dead？'the voice inside his head asked．‘If she is，I can marry Nancy．And then I'll be good，and have no more secrets．And I'll make sure the child is taken care of，of course．
When Dr Kimble came out of the cottage，Godfrey tried to speak calmly．‘I thought I'd wait to see…’he began．
‘Oh，there was no need for you to come．Why didn't you send one of the men to fetch Dolly？The woman's dead， I'm afraid．She's very thin，and looks very poor．But she's got a wedding ring on．She'll be buried tomorrow．
‘I'll just have a look at her，'said Godfrey quickly．‘ I think I saw a woman on the road yesterday with a child．Perhaps it was her．’And he ran into the cottage．
There on the bed was his unloved wife．He only looked at her for a moment， but for the rest of his life he never forgot her sad，tired face．
The weaver had come back with the doctor，and was sitting by the fire，with the child on his knees．The little one was awake，but her wide open blue eyes looked up into Godfrey's face without recognizing him at all．The father was glad of this，but also a little sad，especially when he saw the small hand pull lovingly at the weaver's grey hair．
‘So，who's going to take care of the child？’Godfrey asked，pretending not to show much interest．
‘I am，'replied Silas firmly．‘The mother's dead，and I sup…pose the child hasn't got a father． She's alone in the world，and so am I．My money's gone，I don't know where，and she's come，I don't know where from．I don't understand it at all，but I'm going to keep her．’
‘Poor little thing！'said Godfrey．‘Let me give you some…thing for her clothes．’He put his hand in his pocket and gave Silas some coins．
As he walked back to the Red House，he felt very relieved．Nobody would recognize his dead wife，and soon his secret would be buried with her．Now he could talk of love to Nancy．He could promise to be a good husband to her．Only Dunstan knew about the secret marriage，and perhaps Dunstan would never come home．‘What a good thing I didn't confess every－thing to the Squire！’he thought．‘Now I can make Nancy and myself happy And the child？Well，it won't matter to her whether I'm her father or not．
That week the dead woman was buried in Raveloe，and the child stayed at the weaver's cottage．The villagers were very surprised that Silas had decided to keep her，but they liked him for wanting to help an orphan．The women，especially，were very ready to give him useful advice on taking care of children．
Dolly Winthrop came every day to help Silas．‘It's no trou－ble，'she said．‘I get up early，so I've got plenty of time．And I can bring you some of Aaron's old baby clothes，so you won't need to spend a lot of money on the child．I can wash her，and give her food，and—’
‘Ye—es，'said silas，hesitating．He was looking a little jeal－ously at the baby in Dolly's arms．‘That's very kind of you．But—but I want to do everything for her myself！I want her to be fond of me！She's my child！’
‘Don't worry，'said Dolly gently，giving him the child．‘Look，she loves you the best．See，she's smiling at you！And so Silas learnt how to take care of the little girl．He called her Eppie，which had been his little sister's name．His life was quite different now．When he was working and living only for his gold，he had not been interested in the world outside his cottage，or the people he sometimes met．But now that he had another reason for living，he had to look outward．He spent hours in the fields with Eppie，happily rediscovering the plants he used to know so well．Together they visited his neighbours，who were always delighted to see him and his adopted child．His days and evenings were full，taking care of a trusting，lov…ing child．
Godfrey Cass watched the little girl growing up with great interest During Eppie's childhood he often gave money to Silas to spend on her，but was careful that nobody should suspect him of being her father．His life was also changing．There was a new firmness about him which everyone noticed He was looking forward to marrying Nancy very soon．‘Nancy and I will have children！’he thought happily．‘But I won't forget that other child！’
8 Eppie has grown up
It was a bright autumn Sunday，sixteen years after Silas had found Eppie in his cottage．The Raveloe church bells were ringing，and people were coming out of church after the morning service．First came the new squire，Godfrey Cass，looking a little heavier now，but with a straight back and a firm step．On his arm was his wife Nancy，still a pretty woman．Just behind them came Mr Lammeter and Priscilla．They all went into the Red House．
‘You and Priscilla will stay for tea，won't you？Nancy asked her father．
‘My dear，you must ask Priscilla，'replied Mr Lammeter with a smile．‘She manages me and the farm as well．’
‘Well，it's better for your health if I manage everything，fa ther，'said Priscilla．‘Then there's nothing for you to worry about．No，Nancy dear，we must go home now． But you and I can have a walk round the garden while the servants are get ting the horses ready．
When the sisters were alone in the garden，Priscilla said，‘My dear，I'm very glad you're going to have a dairy．Making your own butter will give you something to think about all the time．You'll never be sad when you've got a dairy．’And she put her arm through her sister's．
‘Dear Priscilla，'said Nancy gratefully．‘I'm only ever sad when Godfrey is．I could be happy if he could accept our life as it is．But it's more difficult for a man ．’
‘Men！’cried Priscilla impatiently．‘They're always wanting something new！Never happy with what they've got！I'm glad I was too ugly to get married！I'm much happier with fa－ther！’
‘ Oh Priscilla，'said Nancy．‘Don't be angry with Godfrey—he's a very good husband． But of course he's disappointed that we haven't had children—he wanted them so much．’
‘Well，father is waiting for me—I'd better go now．Goodbye，my dear．’And the sisters kissed goodbye When Priscilla and her father had left，Godfrey said，‘Nancy，I think I'll just go and look at some of the fields we're draining near the old quarry ．’
‘You'll be back by tea…time，dear？’
‘Oh yes，I'll be back in an hour．’
This was a habit of Godfrey's on Sunday afternoons．He en－joyed walking round the fields that belonged to him now．So Nancy often had a quiet hour at about this time，which she spent reading，or sometimes just thinking。
She remembered all the little things that had happened to her，especially during her marriage，in the last fifteen years ．The great sadness of her married life had been the death of her only baby．Like most women，she had looked forward to be－coming a mother very much．But when the baby died soon af－ter it was born，she made herself accept the fact． She did not allow herself to think about it，or to wish for anything different．Godfrey，however，had been terribly disappointed，es－pecially when it seemed likely that Nancy could have no more children．
Nancy's religion was extremely important to her．She firmly believed that people should accept whatever happened to them in life，because it was God who decided everything．But she un…derstood how difficult it was for Godfrey to accept that their marriage would be childless．‘Was I right，'she wondered for the hundredth time，‘to refuse him，when he said we should adopt a child？I believe that if God hasn't given us a child，it's because God doesn't want us to have one．I'm sure I'm right．But poor Godfrey！It's worse for him than for me．I've got him， and the house，and now the dairy to think about． But although he's always good to me，I know he's unhappy—he wants children so much！’
From the first moment Godfrey had spoken of adopting a child，he had mentioned Eppie's name．She had always been the child he wanted to adopt．He had no idea that Silas would rather die than lose Eppie，and he imagined that the weaver would be glad if the child were adopted by the Cass family．‘After all，the girl will have a much better life with us，’he told himself．‘I can't be really happy if we don't have a child．And I can never tell Nancy the truth about Eppie—I'm afraid she'll hate me for it．’
While Nancy was sitting quietly in the Red House，thinking about her husband，Silas and Eppie were sitting outside their cottage near the quarry They had been to church too，which they did every week，like the Casses and most of the villagers Silas had started taking Eppie to church when she was very young，because Dolly Winthrop had persuaded him that every child should have some religious training．Because of Eppie，Silas was completely accepted in Raveloe now．Nobody thought he was strange any more；in fact，he was almost a popular fig…ure in the village．
He was older now，and could not work as hard as he used to．Recently，as he had more time to think，he had begun to re…member the past，and his old friends at the Light Street chapel�
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