Then the Squire hurried off homewards.
His chief thought now was--what would that most opinionated young
woman at home say to him? He was at once burning to have it out with
her, and--though he would have scorned to confess it--nervous as to
how he might get through the encounter.
* * * * *
Fate, however, ordained that his thoughts about the person who had
now grown so important to his household should be affected, before
he saw her again, from a new quarter. The Rector, Mr. Pennington,
quite unaware of the doughty deeds that had been done at the
Chetworth gate, and coming from his own house which stood within the
park enclosure, ran into the Squire at a cross-road.
The Squire looked at him askance, and kept his own counsel. The
Rector was a man of peace, and had once or twice tried to dissuade
the Squire from his proposed acts of war. The Squire, therefore, did
not mean to discuss them with him. But, in general, he and the
Rector were good friends. The Rector was a bit of a man of the
world, and never attempted to put a quart into a pint-pot.
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