By this time the old dame had completely
recovered from her illness, and was able to move about, so as to
attend to the little domestic concerns of the cottage; Lucy could
therefore give her undivided attention to her work.
Her proceedings were by no means agreeable to her father or to
Modbury. The former wrote enjoining her by no means to leave the
farmer's house; but the letter came too late, for she had already
taken her departure. Modbury, however, in replying to an epistle in
which Fennel had given him free consent to marry his daughter,
expressed a thorough conviction of the firmness of the girl's
purpose, and that at present it was impossible to shake it. Though
she had left his roof he should continue to watch over her, and
hoped, by persevering kindness and attention, eventually to win her
affections. Under these circumstances, Lucy quietly established
herself in Mrs Damerel's cottage.
At first she found it a hard matter to gain sufficient money for her
labour to recompense the dame for her board and lodging, which she
insisted upon doing every time she was paid by her employers.
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