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257
Cranford
·
Elizabeth Cleghorn Gaskell
63
The
evening
of
the
day
on
which
we
heard
of
Mr
Holbrook’s
death,
Miss
Matilda
was
very
silent
and
thoughtful;
after
prayers
she
called
Martha
back
and
then
she
stood
uncertain
what
to
say.
“Martha!”
she
said,
at
last,
“you
are
young”—
and
then
she
made
so
long
a
pause
that
Martha,
to
remind
her
of
her
half-finished
sentence,
dropped
a
curtsey,
and
said—
“Yes,
please,
ma’am;
two-and-twenty
last
third
of
October,
please,
ma’am.”
“And,
perhaps,
Martha,
you
may
some
time
meet
with
a
young
man
you
like,
and
who
likes
you.
I
did
say
you
were
not
to
have
followers;
but
if
you
meet
with
such
a
young
man,
and
tell
me,
and
I
find
he
is
respectable,
I
have
no
objection
to
his
coming
to
see
you
once
a
week.
God
forbid!”
said
she
in
a
low
voice,
“that
I
should
grieve
any
young
hearts.”
She
spoke
as
if
she
were
providing
for
some
distant
contingency,
and
was
rather
startled
when
Martha
made
her
ready
eager
answer—
“Please,
ma’am,
there’s
Jem
Hearn,
and
he’s
a
joiner
making
three-and-sixpence
a-day,
and
six
foot
one
in
his
stocking-feet,
please,
ma’am;
and
if
you’ll
ask
about
him
to-morrow
morning,
every
one
will
give
him
a
character
for
steadiness;
and
he’ll
be
glad
enough
to
come
to-morrow
night,
I’ll
be
bound.”
Though
Miss
Matty
was
startled,
she
submitted
to
Fate
and
Love.
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