The lamps now began to be lighted, and turning to the west front
he walked round. He took it as a good omen that numerous blocks
of stone were lying about, which signified that the cathedral was
undergoing restoration or repair to a considerable extent. It seemed
to him, full of the superstitions of his beliefs, that this was an
exercise of forethought on the part of a ruling Power, that he might
find plenty to do in the art he practised while waiting for a call to
higher labours.
Then a wave of warmth came over him as he thought how near he now
stood to the bright-eyed vivacious girl with the broad forehead
and pile of dark hair above it; the girl with the kindling glance,
daringly soft at times--something like that of the girls he had
seen in engravings from paintings of the Spanish school. She was
here--actually in this Close--in one of the houses confronting this
very west facade.
He went down the broad gravel path towards the building. It was
an ancient edifice of the fifteenth century, once a palace, now
a training-school, with mullioned and transomed windows, and a
courtyard in front shut in from the road by a wall. Jude opened the
gate and went up to the door through which, on inquiring for his
cousin, he was gingerly admitted to a waiting-room, and in a few
minutes she came.
Though she had been here such a short while, she was not as he had
seen her last. All her bounding manner was gone; her curves of
motion had become subdued lines. The screens and subtleties of
convention had likewise disappeared. Yet neither was she quite the
woman who had written the letter that summoned him. That had plainly
been dashed off in an impulse which second thoughts had somewhat
regretted; thoughts that were possibly of his recent self-disgrace.
Jude was quite overcome with emotion.
"You don't--think me a demoralized wretch--for coming to you as I
was--and going so shamefully, Sue?"
"Oh, I have tried not to! You said enough to let me know what had
caused it. I hope I shall never have any doubt of your worthiness,
my poor Jude! And I am glad you have come!"
She wore a murrey-coloured gown with a little lace collar. It was
made quite plain, and hung about her slight figure with clinging
gracefulness. Her hair, which formerly she had worn according to the
custom of the day was now twisted up tightly, and she had altogether
the air of a woman clipped and pruned by severe discipline,
an under-brightness shining through from the depths which that
discipline had not yet been able to reach.