Sylvia's Lovers

'A said as our lass should come, God willin', if she only came and

went, an' thee goin' on sprightly, old 'ooman. An' a'll turn

nurse-tender mysen for t' occasion, 'special if thou can stand t'

good honest smell o' whisky by then. So, my lass, get up thy smart

clothes, and cut t' best on 'em out, as becomes a Preston. Maybe,

a'll fetch thee home, an' maybe Philip will convoy thee, for Nanny

Corney bade thee to t' merry-making, as well. She said her measter

would be seem' thee about t' wool afore then.' 'I don't think as I can go,' said Philip, secretly pleased to know

that he had the opportunity in his power; 'I'm half bound to go Wi'

Hester Rose and her mother to t' watch-night.' 'Is Hester a Methodee?' asked Sylvia in surprise.

'No! she's neither a Methodee, nor a Friend, nor a Church person;

but she's a turn for serious things, choose wherever they're found.' 'Well, then,' said good-natured farmer Robson, only seeing the

surface of things, 'a'll make shift to fetch Sylvie back fra' t'

merry-making, and thee an' thy young woman can go to t'

prayer-makin'; it's every man to his taste, say I.' But in spite of his half-promise, nay against his natural

inclination, Philip was lured to the Corneys' by the thought of

meeting Sylvia, of watching her and exulting in her superiority in

pretty looks and ways to all the other girls likely to be assembled.

Besides (he told his conscience) he was pledged to his aunt to watch

over Sylvia like a brother. So in the interval before New Year's

Eve, he silently revelled as much as any young girl in the

anticipation of the happy coming time.

At this hour, all the actors in this story having played out their

parts and gone to their rest, there is something touching in

recording the futile efforts made by Philip to win from Sylvia the

love he yearned for. But, at the time, any one who had watched him

might have been amused to see the grave, awkward, plain young man

studying patterns and colours for a new waistcoat, with his head a

little on one side, after the meditative manner common to those who

are choosing a new article of dress. They might have smiled could

they have read in his imagination the frequent rehearsals of the

coming evening, when he and she should each be dressed in their gala

attire, to spend a few hours under a bright, festive aspect, among

people whose company would oblige them to assume a new demeanour

towards each other, not so familiar as their every-day manner, but

allowing more scope for the expression of rustic gallantry. Philip

had so seldom been to anything of the kind, that, even had Sylvia

not been going, he would have felt a kind of shy excitement at the

prospect of anything so unusual. But, indeed, if Sylvia had not been

going, it is very probable that Philip's rigid conscience might have

been aroused to the question whether such parties did not savour too

much of the world for him to form one in them.