Page:Eliot - Adam Bede, vol. II, 1859.djvu/368

356 hedgerows and the ploughed field with the same sense of oppressive dulness as before. But Adam scarcely felt that he was walking; he thought Hetty must know that he was pressing her arm a little—a very little; words rushed to his lips that he dared not utter—that he had made up his mind not to utter yet; and so he was silent for the length of that field. The calm patience with which he had once waited for Hetty's love, content only with her presence and the thought of the future, had forsaken him since that terrible shock nearly three months ago. The agitations of jealousy had given a new restlessness to his passion—had made fear and uncertainty too hard almost to bear. But though he might not speak to Hetty of his love, he would tell her about his new prospects, and see if she would be pleased. So when he was enough master of himself to talk, he said—

"I'm going to tell your uncle some news that 'll surprise him, Hetty; and I think he'll be glad to hear it too." "What's that?" Hetty said, indifferently.

"Why, Mr Burge has offered me a share in his business, and I'm going to take it."

There was a change in Hetty's face, certainly not