She crept to the window and saw his bent figure striding up
the road in the moonlight. Then a belated sense of fear came to her
with the consciousness of victory, and she slipped into bed, cold to the
bone.
A day or two later poor Eudora Skeff, who for twenty years had been the
custodian of the Hatchard library, died suddenly of pneumonia; and the
day after the funeral Charity went to see Miss Hatchard, and asked to be
appointed librarian. The request seemed to surprise Miss Hatchard: she
evidently questioned the new candidate's qualifications.
"Why, I don't know, my dear. Aren't you rather too young?" she
hesitated.
"I want to earn some money," Charity merely answered.
"Doesn't Mr. Royall give you all you require? No one is rich in North
Dormer."
"I want to earn money enough to get away."
"To get away?" Miss Hatchard's puzzled wrinkles deepened, and there was
a distressful pause. "You want to leave Mr. Royall?"
"Yes: or I want another woman in the house with me," said Charity
resolutely.
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