‘It’s dogged as does it,’ said Mr
Crawley to himself. ’I have thought of
that,’ he said aloud. ’That my wife
is dear to me, and that my children are dear, I will
not deny. She was softly nurtured, Dr Tempest,
and came from a house in which want was never known.
Since she has shared my board she has had some experience
of that nature. That I should have brought her
to all this is very terrible to me—so terrible,
that I often wonder how it is that I live. But,
sir, you will agree with me, that my duty as a clergyman
is above everything. I do not dare, even for
their sake, to remain in the parish. Good morning,
Dr Tempest.’ Dr Tempest, finding that he
could not prevail with him, bade him adieu, feeling
that any service to the Crawleys within in his power
might be best done by intercession with the bishop
and with the dean.
Then Mr Crawley walked back to Hogglestock, repeating
to himself Giles
Hoggett’s words, ‘It’s dogged as
does it.’
MR CRAWLEY’S LETTER TO THE DEAN
Mr Crawley, when he got home after his walk to Silverbridge,
denied that he was at all tired. ’The man
at Silverbridge, whom I went to see administered refreshment
to me;—nay, he administered it with salutary
violence,’ he said, affecting even to laugh.
’And I am bound to speak well of him on behalf
of mercies over and beyond that exhibited by the persistent
tender of some wine. That I should find him judicious
I had expected. What little I have known of him
taught me so to think of him. But I found with
him also a softness of heart for which I had not looked.’
‘And you will not give up the living, Josiah?’
’Most certainly I will. A duty, when it
is clear before a man, should never be made less so
by any tenderness in others.’ He was still
thinking of Giles Hoggett. ‘It’s dogged
as does it.’ The poor woman could not answer
him. She knew well that it was vain to argue with
him. She could only hope that in the event of
his being acquitted at the trial, the dean, whose
friendship she did not doubt, might re-endow him with
the small benefice which was their only source of bread.
On the following morning there came by post a short
note from Dr Tempest. ‘My dear Mr Crawley,’
the note ran, ’I implore you, if there be yet
time, to do nothing rashly. And even though you
should have written to the bishop or to the dean, your
letters need have no effect, if you will allow me to
make them inoperative. Permit me to say that
I am a man much older than you, and one who has mixed
much both with clergymen and with the world at large.
I tell you with absolute confidence, that it is not
your duty in your present position to give up your
living. Should your conduct ever be called in
question on this matter you will be at perfect liberty
to say that you were guided by my advice. You
should take no step till after the trial. Then,
if the verdict be against you, you should submit to
the bishop’s judgment. If the verdict be
in your favour, the bishop’s interference will
be over.’
