"
"Did you see how the tallow had all run down over the candles?"
"Yes, I did. She gave that candle she carried out in the kitchen to
him, too. Mother says she wasn't never any kind of a housekeeper."
"Hush! Arabella: here he is coming now."
But it was not Thomas; it was his father, advancing through the
evening with his son's gait and carriage. When the two girls
discovered that, one tittered out quite audibly, and they scuttled
past. They were not rivals; they simply walked faithfully side by
side in pursuit of the young minister, giving him as it were an
impartial choice. There were even no heart-burnings between them; one
always confided in the other when she supposed herself to have found
some slight favor in Thomas's sight; and, indeed, the young minister
could scarcely bow to one upon the street unless she flew to the
other with the news.
Thomas Merriam himself was aware of all this devotion on the part of
the young women of his flock, and it filled him with a sort of angry
shame. He could not have told why, but he despised himself for being
the object of their attention more than he despised them. His heart
sank at the idea of Evelina's discovering it. What would she think of
him if she knew all those young women haunted his house and lagged
after meeting on the chance of getting a word from him? Suppose she
should see their eyes upon his face in meeting time, and decipher
their half-unconscious boldness, as he had done against his will.
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