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The Man with a Shadow
The Man with a Shadow
Chapter One.
The Curate Grows Suspicious; and Takes his Stick
“Do what, miss?” said Dally Watlock. “That! There, you did it again.”
“La, miss; I on’y thought my face might be a bit smudgy, and I wiped it.”
“Don’t tell me a falsehood, Dally. I know what it means. You felt guilty, and your face burned.”
“La, miss; I don’t know what you mean.”
“Then I’ll tell you, Dally. You are growing too light and free, and your conduct is far from becoming, or what it should be for a maid-servant at the Rectory. If girls are so foolish they must not be surprised at young men – gentlemen – taking such liberties. Now go. And mind this: if it ever occurs again, I shall acquaint my brother.”
“Well, I couldn’t help it, miss. I didn’t ask Mr Tom Candlish to kiss me.”
“Silence! How dare you? Leave the room.”
“I was a-going to, miss. He popped out from behind the hedge just as Billy Wilkins had given me the letters, and he says, ‘Give this note to Miss Leo, Dally,’ he says, ‘and mind no one else sees.’”
“I told you to leave the room, girl.”
“Well, miss, I’m a-going, ain’t I? And then, before I could help it, he put his arm round me and said my cheeks were like apples.”