She wanted to go into an unhaunted dwelling in a free,
unknown country--she felt as if it was her only chance of sanity.
Sometimes she thought her senses would not hold together till the time
when all these arrangements were ended. But she did not speak to any one
about her feelings, poor child; to whom could she speak on the subject
but to Dixon? Nor did she define them to herself. All she knew was,
that she was as nearly going mad as possible; and if she did, she feared
that she might betray her father's guilt. All this time she never cried,
or varied from her dull, passive demeanour. And they were blessed tears
of relief that she shed when Miss Monro, herself weeping bitterly, told
her to put her head out of the post-chaise window, for at the next
turning of the road they would catch the last glimpse of Hamley church
spire.
Late one October evening, Ellinor had her first sight of East Chester
Close, where she was to pass the remainder of her life. Miss Monro had
been backwards and forwards between Hamley and East Chester more than
once, while Ellinor remained at the parsonage; so she had not only the
pride of proprietorship in the whole of the beautiful city, but something
of the desire of hospitably welcoming Ellinor to their joint future home.
"Look! the fly must take us a long round, because of our luggage; but
behind these high old walls are the canons' gardens.
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