The Trumpet-Major by Thomas Hardy

Her suspense was interrupted by a very gentle tapping at the door, and / then the rustle of a hand over its surface, as if searching for the latch / in the dark. The door opened a few inches, and the alabaster face of / Uncle Benjy appeared in the slit.

'O, Squire Derriman, you frighten me!'

'All alone? ' he asked in a whisper.

'My mother and Mr. Loveday are somewhere about the house.'

'That will do,' he said, coming forward. 'I be wherrited out of my life, / and I have thought of you again -- you yourself, dear Anne, and not the / miller. If you will only take this and lock it up for a few days till I / can find another good place for it -- if you only would! ' And he / breathlessly deposited the tin box on the table.

'What, obliged to dig it up from the cellar?'

'Ay; my nephew hath a scent of the place -- how, I don't know! but he and a / young woman he's met with are searching everywhere. I worked like a wire- / drawer to get it up and away while they were scraping in the next cellar. / Now where could ye put it, dear? 'Tis only a few documents, and my will, / and such like, you know. Poor soul o' me, I'm worn out with running and / fright!'

'I'll put it here till I can think of a better place,' said Anne, lifting / the box. 'Dear me, how heavy it is!'

'Yes, yes,' said Uncle Benjy hastily; 'the box is iron, you see. However, / take care of it, because I am going to make it worth your while. Ah, you / are a good girl, Anne. I wish you was mine!'

Anne looked at Uncle Benjy. She had known for some time that she / possessed all the affection he had to bestow.

'Why do you wish that? ' she said simply.

'Now don't ye argue with me. Where d'ye put the coffer?'

'Here,' said Anne, going to the window-seat, which rose as a flap, / disclosing a boxed receptacle beneath, as in many old houses.

''Tis very well for the present,' he said dubiously, and they dropped the / coffer in, Anne locking down the seat, and giving him the key. 'Now I / don't want ye to be on my side for nothing,' he went on. 'I never did / now, did I? This is for you. ' He handed her a little packet of paper, / which Anne turned over and looked at curiously. 'I always meant to do / it,' continued Uncle Benjy, gazing at the packet as it lay in her hand, / and sighing. 'Come, open it, my dear; I always meant to do it!'

She opened it and found twenty new guineas snugly packed within.

'Yes, they are for you. I always meant to do it! ' he said, sighing / again.

'But you owe me nothing! ' returned Anne, holding them out.

'Don't say it! ' cried Uncle Benjy, covering his eyes. 'Put 'em away. / Well, if you _don't_ want 'em -- But put 'em away, dear Anne; they are / for you, because you have kept my counsel. Good-night t'ye. Yes, they / are for you.'

He went a few steps, and turning back added anxiously, 'You won't spend / 'em in clothes, or waste 'em in fairings, or ornaments of any kind, my / dear girl?'

'I will not,' said Anne. 'I wish you would have them.'