The only person whom he allowed to approach the house was the
gardener, Grenard Pike, who rented a small cottage at the end of the
avenue that led to the back premises of the once noble mansion.
This favored individual was the Squire in low life; and the gossip
dealers in the village did not scruple to affirm that the likeness was
not _merely_ accidental; that Grenard Pike was brother to the Squire in
a natural way; but whether this report were true or false, he and his
master, if unrelated by blood, possessed kindred spirits, and perfectly
understood and appreciated each other. This man had neither wife nor
child, and the whole business of his life was how to get money, and,
when got, how to turn it to the best advantage. If the Squire was
attached to anything in the world, it was to this faithful satellite,
this humble transcript of himself.
The wretched Elinor, shut out from all society, and denied every
domestic comfort, was limited by her stingy partner to the awkward
attendance of a parish girl, who, together with her mistress, he
contrived to half starve; as he insisted on keeping the key of the
pantry, and only allowed them a scanty meal twice during the twenty-four
hours, which he said, was sufficient to keep them in health; more was
hurtful both to the mind and body.
Elinor had dragged on this miserable existence for twelve years, when,
to her unspeakable grief, she found that she was likely to become a
mother, for the prospect of this event served rather to increase, than
diminish her sorrows.
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