He didn't believe that, however.
"'Tis too late for tea," he said. "You'll be going up to tell Bewes you'll
take his son if he'll let your aunt bide."
She didn't answer.
"So you can just turn round again and march home," went on Jack, "because
the case is altered. 'Twas a very fine thought and worthy of you in a
manner of speaking, Milly; but you can console yourself with your good
intentions now; because, in a word, the house is sold, and it don't belong
to farmer no more."
She stared and shook, and he touched her elbow and turned her back to the
village.
"Go home and tell Mrs. Pedlar the house be sold," ordered Jack. "And you
tell her also I've heard of the man that's bought it. She won't be called
to do nought but stop there rent-free as before; and the man's pleased
with his property and will work up the garden for his own purposes and
mend the leaks and put on some fresh paint come spring."
Milly was too staggered to grasp it all at once, and by the time she began
to see the blessed thing that was happening, Jack had gone.
So she went home light-foot with her sorrows beginning to fade and her
heart beating happy again. And Mrs. Pedlar praised her God far into the
night, though 'twas a full week before she could grasp the truth and wake
care-free of a morning.
But she heard nought of the purchaser, and the mystery grew, because Mrs.
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