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7d73f5c
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In two minutes she would have forgotten all about having asked Celia for the day, and would be planning something else. If only Maria lived a little closer, Celia could have shared the responsibility of Caroline. It would only mean two children to look after instead of one. Because Pappy was a child. He needed humoring, and coaxing, and taking care of in much the same way as a child.
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Daphne du Maurier |
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f219d77
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It was strange how a person came full circle. How a man was once a baby and a boy, and then a lover and a father, and now a child again. It was strange that once she had been a little girl, climbing onto Pappy's knee, burying her head in his shoulder, clinging to him for protection, and he had been young, and strong, and like a god. And now it was all over, the purpose of his life. The strength had ebbed away. The man who had lived, and lov..
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Daphne du Maurier |
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6121ca8
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They've been drinking too," said Pappy, examining the tooth-glass. "Cognac, judging by the smell. I never knew my daughter drank." "She doesn't," said Celia, smoothing Pappy's bed. "She always has orangeade. Unless it's a first night, when she has champagne." "Then it must be Niall," said Pappy. "Someone--and who can it be but Niall?--has been pouring cognac into my tooth-glass. I shall attack Freada. Freada is responsible." He filled the t..
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Daphne du Maurier |
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dcd4ed7
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Something we always want and never have. Something that is forever out of reach.
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Daphne du Maurier |
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c6a0b94
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They went and stood together by the bed. They had wrapped Pappy in one of the hospital nightshirts, and it was somehow shocking and rather terrible to see Pappy dressed in this way, not in his own pajamas, not in his own bed. His breathing was heavy and queer. "If he must die," said Celia, "I would want him to die at home. He has always been afraid of hospitals. He would not want it to happen here." They looked at her strangely, the doctor ..
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Daphne du Maurier |
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68b80f6
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She put back the receiver and lifted it again. She asked for the number of Niall's room at the theater. She went on ringing. And surely, she thought with sudden hopelessness and a new kind of dead despair, they can't both be out and away, now at this minute in my life, when I need both of them so much? Surely one of them will come, surely one of them will help me? Because I don't want to go home alone. I don't want to be in the house alone,..
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Daphne du Maurier |
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df3c5d1
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If the flower of my generation had not been blown to bits in the war they would have brought it back again. Now it's too late. So few of us are left." The bride at St. George's"
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Daphne du Maurier |
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6c3fd86
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Sir,' or whatever one does say to God, 'here I am, Maria, and I am the lowest form of life,' that would be honest. And honesty counts for something, doesn't it?" "One doesn't know," said Niall. "That's the frightful thing. One just does not know what goes down well with God. He may think honesty is a form of bragging." "In that case I'm sunk," said Maria. "I think you're sunk, anyway," said Niall"
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Daphne du Maurier |
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39d7f93
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Think of the unkind things we have forgotten," said Niall. "Those are the ones that will be totted up against us. I sometimes wake up in the early morning and go quite cold thinking of all the things I must have done and can't remember." "Pappy must have taught you that," said Celia. "Pappy had a fearful theory that when we die we go to a theater, and we sit down and see the whole of our lives re-acted before us. And nothing is omitted. Not..
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Daphne du Maurier |
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ccfe3b8
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He argued the course of direction during the full seventy miles of the drive. The fact that his map was eighteenth century did not fluster him
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Daphne du Maurier |
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7fe5a79
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Charles was nowhere to be seen. Maria had to go to look for him. Celia's anxiety mounted. Pappy would never hang on until after six. He was like a baby with a bottle. He had to keep to his regular time for his whiskey or his whole system became disorganized.
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Daphne du Maurier |
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0c90140
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Maria stepped out of the telephone box. A policeman at the corner was watching her. Caroline was still crying. Maria turned and pushed the pram in the opposite direction from the policeman. You never knew. It might be against the law to leave a child to cry.
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Daphne du Maurier |
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7e96d9f
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She had changed into another mourning gown, cut somewhat fuller than the other, and instead of a hat she had wound her black lace shawl about her hair for covering. She was talking to Wellington, her profile turned to me, and got some reason or other I remembered what she had said the night before about Ambrose teasing her, how he had told her once that she reeked of old Rome. I think I knew now what he meant. Her features were like those s..
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Daphne du Maurier |
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cc3e061
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I don't know what stuff her gowns were made of, whether of stiff silk, or satin, or brocade, but they seemed to sweep the floor, and lift, and sweep again and whether it was the gown itself that floated, or she wearing it and moving forward with such grace, but the library, that had seemed dark and austere before she entered, would be suddenly alive.
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Daphne du Maurier |
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cb7bc49
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Roads? Who spoke of roads? We go by the moor and the hills, and tread granite and heather as the Druids did before us.
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druids
moors
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Daphne du Maurier |
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ca8f678
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So you see, when eat comes to one's own village, one's own doorstep, it isn't tragic and impersonal any longer. It's just an excuse to vomit private hatred.
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Daphne du Maurier |
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1d1133a
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But the point is this, monsieur," explained the patron, "the reason why madame complains of you, is not because of the immorality in itself; but because, so she tells me, you make immorality delicious."
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Daphne du Maurier |
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c7d3120
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This, dear God, was his contribution to the universe. Take it or leave it. Not for Niall the joys of Paradise, perhaps; but at least not the pangs of Purgatory. A small place, possibly, outside the Golden Gates.
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Daphne du Maurier |
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735ae69
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The trouble is, the children have no imagination. They are sweet, and have carefree, honest eyes; but they have not any magic in their day. The magic has all gone...
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Daphne du Maurier |
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e4a7971
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Mary's mother turned to her and said, "There's something of me gone in the grave with poor Nell, Mary. I don't know whether it's my faith or what it is, but my heart feels tired and I can't go on anymore."
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Daphne du Maurier |
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b28b73e
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I'd be no use in a town," said Mary. "I've never known anything but this life by the river, and I don't want to. Going into Helston is town enough for me. I'm best here, with the few chickens that's left to us, and the green stuff in the garden, and the old pig, and a bit of a boat on the river. What would I do up to Bodmin with my Aunt Patience?"
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Daphne du Maurier |
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8b14ea1
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I have asked your uncle, and he does not object, he says, if you are quiet-spoken and not a talker, and will give help when needed. He cannot give you money, or feed you for nothing, as you will understand. He will expect your help in the bar, in return for your board and lodging.
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Daphne du Maurier |
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986581e
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Mary lost count of time and space; the miles might have been a hundred and the hour midnight, for ail she knew. She began to cling to the safety of the coach; at least it had some remnant of familiarity. She had known it since the early morning, and that was long ago. However great a nightmare was this eternal drive, there were at least the four close walls to protect her, the shabby leaking roof, and, within calling distance, the comfortab..
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Daphne du Maurier |
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991fcf8
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when speaking, Aunt Patience avoided her eyes, and the very fluency of her words was in itself suspicious. She spoke much as a child does who tells herself a story and has a talent for invention. It hurt Mary to see her act this part, and she longed for her to be done with it, or be silent,
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Daphne du Maurier |
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c7b5590
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It was as though there was some latent power in his fingers which turned them from bludgeons into deft and cunning servants. Had he cut her a chunk of bread and hurled it at her she would not have minded so much; it would have been in keeping with what she had seen of him. But this sudden coming to grace, this quick and exquisite moving of his hands, was a swift and rather sinister revelation, sinister because it was unexpected and not true..
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Daphne du Maurier |
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4e4ac9b
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However demanding Pappy may have been, however tiring, however petulant, he was, in the true and deepest sense, her refuge. He shielded her from action. His was the cloak that covered her. She need not go out into the world, she need not struggle, need not face the things that other people face--because she looked after Pappy
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Daphne du Maurier |
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749a1ed
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Once a person gave his talent to the world, the world put a stamp upon it. The talent was not a personal possession anymore. It was something to be traded, bought, and sold. It fetched a high price, or a low one. It was kicked in the common market. Always, forever after, the possessor of the talent must keep a wary eye upon the purchaser. Therefore, if you were sensitive, if you were proud, you turned your back upon the market. You made exc..
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Daphne du Maurier |
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46bcc69
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For all the unpleasant suggestion that it conjured, it was the one room in the inn that had vitality, and was not morne and drear. The other rooms appeared neglected or unused; even the parlor by the entrance-porch had a solitary air, as though it were many months since an honest traveler had stepped upon the threshold and warmed his back before a glowing fire. The guest-rooms upstairs were in an even worse state of repair. One was used for..
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Daphne du Maurier |
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ad8a6a3
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However grim and hateful was this new country, however barren and untilled, with Jamaica Inn standing alone upon the hill as a buffer to the four winds, there was a challenge in the air that spurred Mary Yellan to adventure. It stung her, bringing color to her cheeks and a sparkle to her eyes; it played with her hair, blowing it about her face; and as she breathed deep she drew it through her nostrils and into her lungs, more quenching and ..
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Daphne du Maurier |
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5778214
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I don't know what stuff her gowns were made of, whether of stiff silk, or satin, or brocade, but they seemed to sweep the floor, and lift, and sweep again; and whether it was the gown itself that floated, or she wearing it and moving forward with such grace, but the library, that had seemed so dark and austere before she entered, would be suddenly alive. A new softness came to her by candlelight that was not with her in the day. [...] now, ..
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Daphne du Maurier |
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396a312
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I had left the land of fantasy, to her to enter into it. Two persons therefore could not share a dream. Except in darkness, as in make-believe. Each figure, then, a phantom.
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Daphne du Maurier |
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3230e58
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Mary shook her head. 'I've only seen the evil,' she said; 'I've only seen the suffering there's been, and the cruelty, and the pain. When my uncle came to Jamaica Inn he must have cast his shadow over the good things, and they died.
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Daphne du Maurier |
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bbe5ac0
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In the animal kingdom a freak was a thing of abhorrence, at once hunted and destroyed, or driven out into the wilderness.
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Daphne du Maurier |
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b7a4401
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A girl can't live alone, Mary, without she goes queer in the head, or comes to evil. It's either one or the other.
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Daphne du Maurier |
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18eee85
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There was no other sound except the husky wheezing of the clock in the hall and the sudden whirring note preparatory to the strike. It rang the hour - three o'clock - and then ticked on, choking and gasping like a dying man who cannot catch his breath.
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Daphne du Maurier |
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25ca2a5
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The man looked at her curiously. "Jamaica Inn?" he said. "What would you be doing at Jamaica Inn? That's no place for a girl. You must have made a mistake, surely." He stared at her hard, not believing her."
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Daphne du Maurier |
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e3b0a74
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The man would not commit himself. "I don't want to make trouble," he repeated, "and I don't know anything. It's only what people say. Respectable folk don't go to Jamaica anymore. That's all I know. In the old days we used to water the horses there, and feed them, and go in for a bit of a bite and drink. But we don't stop there anymore. We whip the horses past and wait for nothing, not till we get to Five Lanes, and then we don't bide long...
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Daphne du Maurier |
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0129dab
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She wondered if this was how a ship felt when the security of harbor was left behind. No vessel could feel more desolate than she did, not even if the wind thundered in the rigging and the sea licked her decks.
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Daphne du Maurier |
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3217838
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it seemed to her that never before had she known there was malevolence in solitude. The very coach, which all the day had rocked her like a cradle, now held a note of menace in its creaks and groans. The wind tore at the roof, and the showers of rain, increasing in violence now there was no shelter from the hills, spat against the windows with new venom. On either side of the road the country stretched interminably into space. No trees, no ..
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Daphne du Maurier |
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3e17b92
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No human being could live in this wasted country, thought Mary, and remain like other people; the very children would be born twisted, like the blackened shrubs of broom, bent by the force of a wind that never ceased, blow as it would from east and west, from north and south. Their minds would be twisted, too, their thoughts evil, dwelling as they must amid marshland and granite, harsh heather and crumbling stone. They would be born of stra..
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Daphne du Maurier |
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05cb4c8
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My brother Jem, damn him, he was the baby. Hanging onto mother's skirts when Matt and I were grown men. I never did see eye to eye with Jem. Too smart he is, too sharp with his tongue. Oh, they'll catch him in time and hang him, same as they did my father.
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Daphne du Maurier |
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ca64ca5
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Mary could see that her aunt was eager to speak of things unconnected with her present life; she seemed afraid of any questions, so Mary spared her, and plunged into a description of the last years at Helford, the strain of the bad times, and her mother's illness and death.
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Daphne du Maurier |
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e185165
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certainly she nodded from time to time, and pursed her lips, and shook her head, and uttered little ejaculations; but it seemed to Mary that years of fear and anxiety had taken away her powers of concentration, and that some underlying terror prevented her from giving her whole interest to any conversation.
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Daphne du Maurier |
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7908562
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cannot give an honest traveler a bed for the night? For what other purpose was it built? And how do you live, if you have no custom?" "We have custom," returned the woman sullenly. "I've told you that. There's men come in from the farms and outlying places. There are farms and cottages scattered over these moors for miles around, and folk come from there. There are evenings when the bar is full of them." "The driver on the coach yesterday t..
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Daphne du Maurier |