Lab
Library
Journal
Shop
Sign in
to keep
Share image
1
257
Cranford
·
Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell
214
“And
please,
ma’am,
he
wants
to
marry
me
off-hand.
And
please,
ma’am,
we
want
to
take
a
lodger—
just
one
quiet
lodger,
to
make
our
two
ends
meet;
and
we’d
take
any
house
conformable;
and,
oh
dear
Miss
Matty,
if
I
may
be
so
bold,
would
you
have
any
objections
to
lodging
with
us?
Jem
wants
it
as
much
as
I
do.”
[To
Jem
]—“You
great
oaf!
why
can’t
you
back
me!—
But
he
does
want
it
all
the
same,
very
bad—
don’t
you,
Jem?—
only,
you
see,
he’s
dazed
at
being
called
on
to
speak
before
quality.”
[Picture:
Please,
ma’am,
he
wants
to
marry
me
off-hand]
“It’s
not
that,”
broke
in
Jem.
“It’s
that
you’ve
taken
me
all
on
a
sudden,
and
I
didn’t
think
for
to
get
married
so
soon—
and
such
quick
words
does
flabbergast
a
man.
It’s
not
that
I’m
against
it,
ma’am”
(addressing
Miss
Matty),
“only
Martha
has
such
quick
ways
with
her
when
once
she
takes
a
thing
into
her
head;
and
marriage,
ma’am—
marriage
nails
a
man,
as
one
may
say.
I
dare
say
I
shan’t
mind
it
after
it’s
once
over.”
“Please,
ma’am,”
said
Martha—
who
had
plucked
at
his
sleeve,
and
nudged
him
with
her
elbow,
and
otherwise
tried
to
interrupt
him
all
the
time
he
had
been
speaking—
“don’t
mind
him,
he’ll
come
to;
’twas
only
last
night
he
was
an-axing
me,
and
an-axing
me,
and
all
the
more
because
I
said
I
could
not
think
of
it
for
years
to
come,
and
now
he’s
only
taken
aback
with
the
suddenness
of
the
joy;
but
you
know,
Jem,
you
are
just
as
full
as
me
about
wanting
a
lodger.”
(Another
great
nudge.)
Marker
Marker
Fine marker
White-out
Fine white-out
Circle
Paint
Unmarker
Hand
Scalpel
Dice
Sieve
Purify
Undo
Redo
Start over
