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Bessie Costrell, by Mrs. Humphry Ward
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Title: Bessie Costrell
Author: Mrs. Humphry Ward
Release Date: July 26, 2007 [EBook #22128]
Language: English
Character set encoding: ASCII
*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK BESSIE COSTRELL ***
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BESSIE COSTRELL
BY
MRS. HUMPHRY WARD
AUTHOR OF
"ROBERT ELSMERE," "THE HISTORY OF DAVID GRIEVE," "MARCELLA," ETC.
HODDER AND STOUGHTON
LONDON ---- NEW YORK ---- TORONTO
1912
SCENE I
It was an August evening, still and cloudy after a day unusually chilly for the time of year. Now, about sunset, the temperature was warmer than it had been in the morning, and the departing sun was forcing its way through the clouds, breaking up their level masses into delicate lattice-work of golds and greys. The last radiant light was on the wheat-fields under the hill, and on the long chalk hill itself. Against that glowing background lay the village, already engulfed by the advancing shadow. All the nearer trees, which the daylight had mingled in one green monotony, stood out sharp and distinct, each in its own plane, against the hill. Each natural object seemed to gain a new accent, a more individual beauty, from the vanishing and yet lingering sunlight.
An elderly labourer was walking along the road which led to