第47章 At Melchester(6)

The mind of the matron was horrified -not so much at the possible death of Sue as at the possible half-column detailing that event in all the newspapers,which,added to the scandal of the year before,would give the college an unenviable notoriety for many months to come.

More lanterns were procured,and the river examined;and then,at last,on the opposite shore,which was open to the fields,some little boot-tracks were discerned in the mud,which left no doubt that the too excitable girl had waded through a depth of water reaching nearly to her shoulders -for this was the chief river of the county,and was mentioned in all the geography books with respect.As Sue had not brought disgrace upon the school by drowning herself,the matron began to speak superciliously of her,and to express gladness that she was gone.

On the self-same evening Jude sat in his lodgings by the Close Gate.Often at this hour after dusk he would enter the silent Close,and stand opposite the house that contained Sue,and watch the shadows of the girls'heads passing to and fro upon the blinds,and wish he had nothing else to do but to sit reading and learning all day what many of the thoughtless inmates despised.But to-night,having finished tea and brushed himself up,he was deep in the perusal of the Twenty-ninth Volume of Pusey's Library of the Fathers,a set of books which he had purchased of a second-hand dealer at a price that seemed to him to be one of miraculous cheapness for that invaluable work.He fancied he heard something rattle lightly against his window;then he heard it again.Certainly somebody had thrown gravel.He rose and gently lifted the sash.

'Jude!'(from below).

'Sue!'

'Yes -it is!Can I come up without being seen?'

'Oh yes!'

'Then don't come down.Shut the window.'

Jude waited,knowing that she could enter easily enough,the front door being opened merely by a knob which anybody could turn,as in most old country towns.He palpitated at the thought that she had fled to him in her trouble as he had fled to her in his.What counterparts they were!

He unlatched the door of his room,heard a stealthy rustle on the dark stairs,and in a moment she appeared in the light of his lamp.He went up to seize her hand,and found she was clammy as a marine deity,and that her clothes clung to her like the robes upon the figures in the Parthenon frieze.

'I'm so cold!'she said through her chattering teeth.'Can I come by your fire,Jude?'

She crossed to his little grate and very little fire,but as the water dripped from her as she moved,the idea of drying herself was absurd.

'Whatever have you done,darling?'he asked,with alarm,the tender epithet slipping out unawares.

'Walked through the largest river in the county -that's what I've done!They locked me up for being out with you;and it seemed so unjust that I couldn't bear it,so I got out of the window and escaped across the stream!'She had begun the explanation in her usual slightly independent tones,but before she had finished the thin pink lips trembled,and she could hardly refrain from crying.

'Dear Sue!'he said.'You must take off all your things!And let me see -you must borrow some from the landlady.I'll ask her.'

'No,no!Don't let her know,for God's sake!We are so near the school that they'll come after me!'

'Then you must put on mine.You don't mind?'

'Oh no.'

'My Sunday suit,you know.It is close here.'In fact,everything was close and handy in Jude's single chamber,because there was not room for it to be otherwise.He opened a drawer,took out his best dark suit,and giving the garments a shake,said,'Now,how long shall I give you?'

'Ten minutes.'

Jude left the room and went into the street,where he walked up and down.A clock struck half-past seven,and he returned.Sitting in his only arm-chair he saw a slim and fragile being masquerading as himself on a Sunday,so pathetic in her defencelessness that his heart felt big with the sense of it.On two other chairs before the fire were her wet garments.She blushed as he sat down beside her,but only for a moment.

'I suppose,Jude,it is odd that you should see me like this and all my things hanging there?Yet what nonsense!They are only a woman's clothes -sexless cloth and linen....I wish I didn't feel so ill and sick!

Will you dry my clothes now?Please do,Jude,and I'll get a lodging by and by.It is not late yet.'

'No,you shan't,if you are ill.You must stay here.Dear,dear Sue,what can I get for you?'

'I don't know!I can't help shivering.I wish I could get warm.'

Jude put on her his great-coat in addition,and then ran out to the nearest public-house,whence he returned with a little bottle in his hand.'Here's six of best brandy,'he said.'Now you drink it,dear;all of it.'

'I can't out of the bottle,can I?'Jude fetched the glass from the dressing-table,and administered the spirit in some water.She gasped a little,but gulped it down,and lay back in the armchair.

She then began to relate circumstantially her experiences since they had parted;but in the middle of her story her voice faltered,her head nodded,and she ceased.She was in a sound sleep.Jude,dying of anxiety lest she should have caught a chill which might permanently injure her,was glad to hear the regular breathing.He softly went nearer to her,and observed that a warm flush now rosed her hitherto blue cheeks,and felt that her hanging hand was no longer cold.Then he stood with his back to the fire regarding her,and saw in her almost a divinity.

Jude's reverie was interrupted by the creak of footsteps ascending the stairs.

He whisked Sue's clothing from the chair where it was drying,thrust it under the bed,and sat down to his book.Somebody knocked and opened the door immediately.It was the landlady.

'Oh,I didn't know whether you was in or not,Mr.Fawley.I wanted to know if you would require supper.I see you've a young gentleman --'

'Yes,ma'am.But I think I won't come down to-night.Will you bring supper up on a tray,and I'll have a cup of tea as well.'