Afterwards--but I may have said too
much already. Only, Lucy and I are helpless against Mrs.
Honeychurch alone. If you help we may succeed. Otherwise--"
"Otherwise--?"
"Otherwise," she repeated as if the word held finality.
"Yes, I will help her," said the clergyman, setting his jaw firm.
"Come, let us go back now, and settle the whole thing up."
Miss Bartlett burst into florid gratitude. The tavern sign--a
beehive trimmed evenly with bees--creaked in the wind outside as
she thanked him. Mr. Beebe did not quite understand the
situation; but then, he did not desire to understand it, nor to
jump to the conclusion of "another man" that would have attracted
a grosser mind. He only felt that Miss Bartlett knew of some
vague influence from which the girl desired to be delivered, and
which might well be clothed in the fleshly form. Its very
vagueness spurred him into knight-errantry. His belief in
celibacy, so reticent, so carefully concealed beneath his
tolerance and culture, now came to the surface and expanded like
some delicate flower.
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