The Trumpet-Major by Thomas Hardy

John continued his sad and heavy pace till walking seemed too old and / worn-out a way of showing sorrow so new, and he leant himself against the / fork of an apple-tree like a log. There the trumpet-major remained for a / considerable time, his face turned towards the house, whose ancient, many- / chimneyed outline rose against the darkened sky, and just shut out from / his view the camp above. But faint noises coming thence from horses / restless at the pickets, and from visitors taking their leave, recalled / its existence, and reminded him that, in consequence of Matilda's / arrival, he had obtained leave for the night -- a fact which, owing to the / startling emotions that followed his entry, he had not yet mentioned to / his friends.

While abstractedly considering how he could best use that privilege under / the new circumstances which had arisen, he heard Farmer Derriman drive up / to the front door and hold a conversation with his father. The old man / had at last apparently brought the tin box of private papers that he / wished the miller to take charge of during Derriman's absence; and it / being a calm night, John could hear, though he little heeded, Uncle / Benjy's reiterated supplications to Loveday to keep it safe from fire and / thieves. Then Uncle Benjy left, and John's father went upstairs to / deposit the box in a place of security, the whole proceeding reaching / John's preoccupied comprehension merely as voices during sleep.

The next thing was the appearance of a light in the bedroom which had / been assigned to Matilda Johnson. This effectually aroused the trumpet- / major, and with a stealthiness unusual in him he went indoors. No light / was in the lower rooms, his father, Mrs. Garland, and Anne having gone / out on the bridge to look at the new moon. John went upstairs on tip- / toe, and along the uneven passage till he came to her door. It was / standing ajar, a band of candlelight shining across the passage and up / the opposite wall. As soon as he entered the radiance he saw her. She / was standing before the looking-glass, apparently lost in thought, her / fingers being clasped behind her head in abstraction, and the light / falling full upon her face.

'I must speak to you,' said the trumpet-major.

She started, turned and grew paler than before; and then, as if moved by / a sudden impulse, she swung the door wide open, and, coming out, said / quite collectedly and with apparent pleasantness, 'O yes; you are my / Bob's brother! I didn't, for a moment, recognize you.'

'But you do now?'

'As Bob's brother.'

'You have not seen me before?'

'I have not,' she answered, with a face as impassible as Talleyrand's.

'Good God!'

'I have not! ' she repeated.

'Nor any of the -- th Dragoons? Captain Jolly, for instance?'

'No.'

'You mistake. I'll remind you of particulars,' he said drily. And he / did remind her at some length.

'Never! ' she said desperately.

But she had miscalculated her staying powers, and her adversary's / character. Five minutes after that she was in tears, and the / conversation had resolved itself into words, which, on the soldier's / part, were of the nature of commands, tempered by pity, and were a mere / series of entreaties on hers.

The whole scene did not last ten minutes. When it was over, the trumpet- / major walked from the doorway where they had been standing, and brushed / moisture from his eyes. Reaching a dark lumber-room, he stood still / there to calm himself, and then descended by a Flemish-ladder to the / bakehouse, instead of by the front stairs. He found that the others, / including Bob, had gathered in the parlour during his absence and lighted / the candles.

Miss Johnson, having sent down some time before John re-entered the house / to say that she would prefer to keep her room that evening, was not / expected to join them, and on this account Bob showed less than his / customary liveliness. The miller wishing to keep up his son's spirits, / expressed his regret that, it being Sunday night, they could have no / songs to make the evening cheerful; when Mrs. Garland proposed that they / should sing psalms which, by choosing lively tunes and not thinking of / the words, would be almost as good as ballads.

This they did, the trumpet-major appearing to join in with the rest; but / as a matter of fact no sound came from his moving lips. His mind was in / such a state that he derived no pleasure even from Anne Garland's / presence, though he held a corner of the same book with her, and was / treated in a winsome way which it was not her usual practice to indulge / in. She saw that his mind was clouded, and, far from guessing the reason / why, was doing her best to clear it.

At length the Garlands found that it was the hour for them to leave, and / John Loveday at the same time wished his father and Bob good-night, and / went as far as Mrs. Garland's door with her.