His time with liberated guilt
would come! He chuckled to think how he had provided himself with a
refuge against his hour of trouble. That very day he had left his
employment, meaning to return no more, securing his full wages through
having suddenly become resentful and troublesome, neglectful--and
imperative. To avoid further unpleasantness the firm had paid him all
his wages; and he had straightway come to Vilray to earn his bed and
board by other means than through a pen, a ledger and a gift for figures.
It would not be a permanent security against the future, but it would
suffice for the moment. It was a rest-place on the road. If the worst
came to the worst, there was his grand-daughter and his dear son-in-law
whom he so seldom saw--blood was thicker than water, and he would see to
it that it was not thinned by neglect.
Meanwhile he ogled Palass Poucette's widow with one eye, and talked
softly with his tongue to Mere Langlois, as he importuned Madame to "Sip
the good cordial in the name of charity to all and malice towards none.
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