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257
Cranford
·
Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell
37
CHAPTER
III.
A
LOVE
AFFAIR
OF
LONG
AGO
I
THOUGHT
that
probably
my
connection
with
Cranford
would
cease
after
Miss
Jenkyns’s
death;
at
least,
that
it
would
have
to
be
kept
up
by
correspondence,
which
bears
much
the
same
relation
to
personal
intercourse
that
the
books
of
dried
plants
I
sometimes
see
(“Hortus
Siccus,”
I
think
they
call
the
thing)
do
to
the
living
and
fresh
flowers
in
the
lanes
and
meadows.
I
was
pleasantly
surprised,
therefore,
by
receiving
a
letter
from
Miss
Pole
(who
had
always
come
in
for
a
supplementary
week
after
my
annual
visit
to
Miss
Jenkyns)
proposing
that
I
should
go
and
stay
with
her;
and
then,
in
a
couple
of
days
after
my
acceptance,
came
a
note
from
Miss
Matty,
in
which,
in
a
rather
circuitous
and
very
humble
manner,
she
told
me
how
much
pleasure
I
should
confer
if
I
could
spend
a
week
or
two
with
her,
either
before
or
after
I
had
been
at
Miss
Pole’s;
“for,”
she
said,
“since
my
dear
sister’s
death
I
am
well
aware
I
have
no
attractions
to
offer;
it
is
only
to
the
kindness
of
my
friends
that
I
can
owe
their
company.”
Of
course
I
promised
to
come
to
dear
Miss
Matty
as
soon
as
I
had
ended
my
visit
to
Miss
Pole;
and
the
day
after
my
arrival
at
Cranford
I
went
to
see
her,
much
wondering
what
the
house
would
be
like
without
Miss
Jenkyns,
and
rather
dreading
the
changed
aspect
of
things.
Miss
Matty
began
to
cry
as
soon
as
she
saw
me.
She
was
evidently
nervous
from
having
anticipated
my
call.
I
comforted
her
as
well
as
I
could;
and
I
found
the
best
consolation
I
could
give
was
the
honest
praise
that
came
from
my
heart
as
I
spoke
of
the
deceased.
Miss
Matty
slowly
shook
her
head
over
each
virtue
as
it
was
named
and
attributed
to
her
sister;
and
at
last
she
could
not
restrain
the
tears
which
had
long
been
silently
flowing,
but
hid
her
face
behind
her
handkerchief
and
sobbed
aloud.
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