(12/13) The Year at Thrush Green Read Online Free Page B

but Molly had a key and let herself into her old home. It was warm and quiet. Tired after struggling through the mud of the green, Molly sat down to rest for a moment before seeking her father in the church which she could see through the cottage window.
    She looked appreciatively at the room which she knew so well. Everything was in apple-pie order, and shone from Nelly's ministrations.
    She had not approved of Nelly when they first met. Her own mother had died when Molly was in her teens, and she had automatically taken over as housekeeper to her curmudgeonly father.
    They had not been happy years for Molly, and the fact that she could escape into the welcoming Youngs' household every afternoon was her salvation. Later, after meeting Ben Curdle at one May Day fair on the green, life really took on some meaning, and the happy marriage which followed had transformed her outlook.
    Her dislike of her stepmother Nelly began to change to appreciation. It was true that she still regarded Nelly as over-boisterous and vulgar. She suspected that Nelly was the one who brought Albert to the altar, and not the other way round. In this she was right, and her own natural modesty and feeling for what was correct could never come to terms with this knowledge.
    Nevertheless, as time passed, Molly began to realize that Nelly's sterling qualities had been a blessing to all. For one thing, she had released Molly from bondage. She had, within limits, done much to improve Albert's lot. His home was clean and warm, his meals superb, even if too rich and abundant for Albert's ailing digestion, and her income was the only money which really contributed to the household funds.
    There was no doubt about it, reflected Molly, noting the shining pans on the hob, the thriving cyclamen on the window sill—her own Christmas present to Nelly—and the spotless walls and floor, Nelly was a first-class manager and deserved the wages and appreciation which her work at the Fuchsia Bush gave her.
    She rose to cross the road to the church to find Albert, but at that moment the door opened, and her father appeared.
    His welcome was typical. 'Ain't you got the kettle on? I'm fair shrammed with the cold.'
    Molly shifted the kettle to the centre of the stove. It began to hum immediately, and she went to the wall cupboard.
    'Tea or coffee, Dad?'
    'Coffee.'
    He sat down with a sigh, and began to blow his nose into a red-and-white spotted handkerchief.
    Molly made the coffee and put his mug on the table.
    'And what brings you over?' asked Albert. 'Want something, I suppose?'

    Molly ignored the churlishness, as she had done so often, and put a Christmas card in front of him.
    'I've been meaning to ask you for weeks about this man,' said Molly, 'and kept forgetting.'
    Albert studied the card, turning it back and forth.
    'What's so special about it?'
    'I just wondered if you knew anything about this fellow. He's an American. Anyway, it had an American stamp.'
    'Don't mean nothin' to me,' announced Albert, pushing the card across the table. 'What does Ben say? I take it that this was addressed to you two Curdles.'
    'That's right.'
    'Well, I've done me best to keep away from gypos,' said Albert nastily. 'One of the blighters stole my daughter. In marriage, in case you've forgot!'
    Silently, Molly put the card back in her bag, and drank her coffee. It was clear that her father was in one of his more spiteful and truculent moods.
    Once again, she decided that the small mystery of the Christmas card should be ignored.
    As soon as she had finished her coffee, she made her departure, wishing Albert goodbye at the door.
    By this time he was immersed in the local newspaper, and made no reply. Molly relieved her feelings by slamming the door shut as noisily as she could, and set off again across the slippery green.
    For once, sympathy for her stepmother was her dominant feeling, but Albert's remark about 'gypos' still rankled.
    He had never forgiven her for marrying into the Curdle