252 THE LIFE OF RICHARD JEFFERIES 



rusted ; Robert snicked the locks and examined them 

 carefully. He was black with dust and cobwebs. 



' Chairs and furniture he threw on one side, boxes on 

 another, papers and books in a corner, and soon began to 

 make order of confusion. 



' The light of morning came stronger through the chinks ; 

 the flame of the candle appeared yellow. The alchemy 

 of light was changing the sky without. 



' He worked on till footsteps sounded on the paths 

 outside, the carters had come to see to the horses. There 

 was someone at last to drive. 



' Robert went downstairs, and out to the pump ; there 

 he washed himself in the open air, as he had been made to 

 do years and years ago in his stern old father's time. 

 The habit adhered still ; the man was indeed aU habit. 

 Then he visited the stables, and began to drive the carters ; 

 the night was over, the day had begun. 



' Overhead and eastwards there shone a glory of blue 

 heaven, illuminated from within with golden light. The 

 deep rich azure was lit up with an inner gold ; it was a 

 time to worship, to lift up the heart. Is there anything 

 so wondrously beautiful as the sky just before the sun 

 rises in summer ? 



' There was a sound of cart-horses stamping heavily, 

 the rattle and creak of harness, the shuffle of feet ; a man 

 came out with a set forehead, grumbling and muttering ; 

 the driver was at work. 



' No one heeded the alchemy proceeding in the east, 

 which drew forth gold and made it shine in the purple.'* 



Yet in selling Felise a horse, he insisted on ten pounds 

 more than the price she knew he had just given for it. 

 Later, he contrived more than once to have Felise and 

 Barnard together in his garden, to see with his own eyes 

 the love between them. Then, when at last he believed, 

 seeing her frank ardour, that ' she was Martial's mistress,' 

 he caught her, gagged her, threw her down, and vainly 

 tried to make the horse trample on her. Frustrated by 



* The De7uy Morn. 



