织工马南-第9节
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‘But you'll never be lonely again，father，'said Eppie loving－ly．‘That's what Aaron said．He doesn't want to take me away from you．He wants us all to live together，and he'll do all the work，and you needn't work at all，father．He'll be like a son to you．’
‘Well，my child，you're young to be married，'said Silas．‘But he's a good young man．We'll ask his mother what we should do．She always gives us good advice．You see，Eppie，I'm getting older，and I'd like to think of you with a strong young husband to take care of you for the rest of your life．Yes，we'll ask Dolly Winthrop for her opinion．’
9 Godfrey confesses at last
At the Red House Nancy was waiting patiently for God－frey to come home to tea．Suddenly one of the servants ran into the sitting…room，crying excitedly，‘Madam，there are lots of people in the street！They're all running the same way，towards the quarry！Perhaps there's been an accident！’
‘Jane，don't get so excited，'replied Nancy calmly．‘I ex…pect it's nothing serious．Go and get the tea ready．Mr Godfrey will be back soon．’But secretly she was saying to herself，‘I hope nothing's happened to Godfrey！’
So when he came into the room，a few minutes later，she was very relieved．‘My dear，I'm so thankful you've come，'she said，going towards him．‘I was beginning to think—’
She stopped suddenly when she saw Godfrey's shaking hands and white face．She put her hand on his arm，but he did not seem to notice，and threw himself into a chair．
‘Sit down—Nancy，’he said with difficulty．‘I came back as soon as I could，to prevent anyone telling you except me． It's terrible news for me， but I'm more worried about how you will feel about it．’
‘It isn't father or Priscilla？'said Nancy，trying to control her trembling lips．
‘No，it's nobody living，'said Godfrey．‘It's Dunstan，my brother，who left home sixteen years ago and never came back．We've found him…found his body—all that's left of it—in the old quarry．
Nancy felt calmer now．That was not terrible news．
‘You know the men have been draining our fields near the quarry．Well，as a result， the quarry has suddenly gone dry，and we've found him lying at the bottom． We know it's him be－cause he's wearing his watch and his rings．’
Godfrey paused．It was not easy to say what came next．
‘Do you think he drowned himself？’asked Nancy，wonder－ing why her husband was so shaken by the death of a brother he had never loved．
‘No，he fell in，'replied Godfrey in a low voice．‘Dunstan was the man who robbed Silas Marner．The bags of gold were found with his body．’
‘Oh Godfrey！I am sorry！'said Nancy．She understood how ashamed her husband must be．The Casses were so proud of their family name．
‘I had to tell you．I couldn't keep it from you，’Godfrey continued，and then stopped，looking at the ground for two long minutes．Nancy knew that he had something more to say．Finally Godfrey lifted his eyes to her face，and said，‘Every－body's secrets are discovered sooner or later，Nancy．I've lived with a secret ever since I married you，but I'm going to confess it now．I don't want you to discover it from someone else，or hear about it when I'm dead，I was weak and hesitating when I was younger—I'm going to be firm with myself now．’
Nancy could not speak．She stared at her husband in horror．What secret could he possibly have from her？
‘Nancy，'said Godfrey slowly，‘when I married you，I hid something from you—I was wrong not to tell you．That woman Silas Marner found dead in the snow—Eppie's moth er—that poor woman—was my wife．Eppie is my child．’
He paused，looking worriedly at Nancy．But she sat quite still，although her face looked rather white．
Perhaps you won't be able to love me any more，’he said，his voice trembling a little．
She was silent．
I was wrong，I know I was wrong to marry Molly and then to keep it a secret．But I loved you，Nancy，I only ever wanted to marry you．
Still Nancy was silent，looking down at her hands．And God frey almost expected her to get up and say she would leave him and go to live with her father and sister．She was so religious，and so firm in her ideas of right and wrong！
But at last she lifted her eyes to his and spoke．She did not sound angry，but only sad．‘Oh Godfrey，why didn't you tell me this long ago？ I didn't know Eppie was yours and so I re fused to adopt her．Of course I'd accept your child into our home！But—oh，Godfrey—how sad to think we've spent all these years with no children！Why didn't you confess the truth before we married？We could be so happy now，with a beautiful daughter，who would love me as her mother！'tears were running down Nancy's face But Nancy，’cried Godfrey，bitterly angry with himself，‘ I couldn't tell you everything！I was in danger of losing you if I told you the truth！’
‘I don't know about that，Godfrey．I certainly never want－ed to marry anyone else But it wasn't worth doing wrong just so that you could marry me．And our marriage hasn't been as happy for you as you thought it would be There was a sad smile on Nancy's face as she said the last words．
‘Can you ever forgive me for what I've done，Nancy？
You have only hurt me a little，Godfrey，and you've been a good husband to me for fifteen years But it's the other wom－an who you've hurt the most，and I don't see how you can put that right．’
But we can take Eppie into our home now，'said Godfrey．
‘It'll be different now that she's grown up，'said Nancy，shaking her head sadly．‘It'll be more difficult for her to get used to us．But it's our duty to take care of your child，and I'll ask God to make her love me．
Then we'll go to the weaver's cottage tonight，'said God－frey，‘and talk to Marner and Eppie about it．’
10 Eppie has to decide
That evening Silas was resting in his chair near the fire，after the excitement of the day．Eppie was sitting close to him，holding both his hands，and on the table was Silas's lost gold．He had put the coins in piles，as he used to．
‘You see，that's all I ever did in the long evenings before you came to me，’he was telling Eppie，‘just count my gold．I was only half alive in those days．What a good thing the money was taken away from me！I was killing myself with working all day，and counting money half the night．It wasn't a healthy life．And when you came，with your yellow curls，I thought you were the gold，And then，when I began to love you，I didn't want my gold any more．’He stopped talking for a moment and looked at the money．‘The gold doesn't mean anything to me now．But perhaps，if I ever lost you，Eppie，if you ever went away from me，I'd need my gold again．I'd feel lonely then，and I'd think God had forgotten me，and perhaps I'd go back to my bad old habits．'there were tears in Eppie's beautiful eyes，but she did not have time to answer Silas，as just then there was a knock on the door．When she opened it，Mr and Mrs Godfrey Cass came in．
Good evening，my dear，'said Nancy，taking Eppie's hand gently．‘We're sorry to come so late． ’
‘Well，Marner，'said Godfrey，as he and Nancy sat down，‘I'm glad you've got your money back，and I'm very sorry it was one of my family who stole it from you． Whatever I can do for you，I will，to repay what I owe you—and I owe you a lot， Marner．'silas was always uncomfortable with important people like the young Squire．‘You don't owe me anything，sir．You've already been very kind to me。 And that money on the table is more than most working people can save in their whole life．Eppie and I don't need very much．’
Godfrey was impatient to explain why they had come．‘Yes，you've done well these last sixteen years，Marner，taking care of Eppie here．She looks pretty and healthy，but not very strong。 Don't you think she should be a lady，not a working woman？Now Mrs Cass and I，you know；have no children，and we'd like to adopt a daughter to live with us in our beauti…ful home and enjoy all the good things we're used to．In fact，we'd like to have Eppie．I'm sure you'd be glad to see her be－come a lady，and of course we'd make sure you have every thing you need。 And Eppie will come to see you very often，I expect．’
Godfrey did not find it easy to say what he felt，and as a re－sult his words were not chosen sensitively．Silas was hurt，and afraid．His whole body trembled as he said quietly to Eppie af－ter a moment，‘I won't stand in your way，my child．Thank Mr and Mrs Cass．It's very kind of them．’
Eppie stepped forward She was blushing，but held her head high．‘Thank you，sir and madam．But I can't leave my father．And I don't want to be a lady， thank you．'she went back to Silas's chair，and put an arm round his neck，brushing the tears from her eyes．
Godfrey was extremely annoyed He wanted to do what he thought was his duty．And adopting Eppie would make him feel much less guilty about his past But，Eppie，you must agree，’he cried．‘You are my daughter！Marner，Eppie's my own child Her mother was my wife。
Eppie's face went white． Silas，who had been relieved by hearing Eppie's answer to God
