Read "Thomas Wingfold. Volume II" by George MacDonald online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
The next day he was much too exhausted and weak to talk about / anything. He took what his sister brought him, smiled his thanks, / and once put up his hand and stroked her cheek. But her heart was / not gladdened by these signs of comparative composure, for what gave / him quiet but the same that filled her with unspeakable horror?
The day after that was Saturday, and George Bascombe came as usual. / The sound of his step in the hall made her dying hope once more / flutter its wings: having lost the poor stay of the parson, from / whom she had never expected much, she turned in her fresh despair to / the cousin from whom she had never looked for anything. But what was / she to say to him? -- Nothing yet, she resolved; but she would take / him to see Leopold -- for was he not sure to hear that the parson had / been admitted? She did not feel at all certain that she was doing / right, but she would do it; and if she left them together, possibly / George might drop some good PRACTICAL advice, which, though spoken / in ignorance, might yet tell. George was such a healthy nature and / such a sound thinker! Was it not as ridiculous as horrible for any / man to think he had a right to throw away his very existence, and / bring disgrace upon his family as well, for a mere point of / honour -- no, not honour, mere fastidiousness!