"One Summer evening, my father came upon a family by the roadside." "Once he had set his eyes on them, there would only be one outcome because my father was well-known to have peculiar ideas of hospitality, and the brotherhood of man." "Emmie." "It's only ever "Emmie" when you want something." "With the work at the Manor, money coming in," " we're enjoying our blessings." " Now you're making me nervous." "We know what we should do with blessings." "We share them." "Robert Timmins, don't you dare tell me you've brought home..." "One night." "A meal." "We can afford it." "No." "One night." "That's a promise." "Episode 6" "Transcript:" "Evarin" "Synch:" "Moochie" "Answer me this, my dear." "Why did God put dirt on this earth if'n that it in't meant to keep our skins warm?" "I calls it undergarments free of charge." "Don't you bring God into bath time." "That's as good as cursing with no clothes on." "Who made soap and water if God didn't?" "I'll happily give my face a wipe." "There's sense in that." "We all need to see." "But why does a man need clean legs when he's got trousers?" "If you come here, I'll give you an 'ead to toe!" "I'm too old for it." "I did all the washing I needed when I was younger." "Twister Turill, if you don't let me give you a good scrub down, then you can sleep in the pig sty, and that's all that you deserve." "Who's that peering in?" "I know all your tricks to avoid a wash and I ain't falling for none of them." "A child." "A little girl." "Looked just like my sister." " Little Amelia?" " It was her." "I seen her eyes." "I'd know her face, even after all these years." "Why's my... sister  ghosting?" "Not so long ago, no more than a year, they were a family just like us." "A home, work, stove to cook upon." "Bit odd bad luck's brought them down to this." "Emmie." "Emma, wouldn't you want someone to reach out the hand of togetherness if we fell on hard times?" "One night." "I'll back up the fire and they can sleep here on the floor." "The little one doesn't seem to speak at all." "I think she has no voice." "I close my eyes well enough, but then it's like something prods me stark awake." "It must be these hot nights, that's all." "It's like there's something on my mind, unsettling me." "Just get something to eat and then you'll be sleeping like a log." "That's the mystery of it." "This is a merry kettle of fish." "I can't take any more of it." "11 nights Thomas has kept us awake now." "12, ma'am, if I may." "He and Zillah will be down there pretending it's an impenetrable riddle, but it's all too clear what's keeping Thomas from his slumbers." "Miss Ellison." "Our problem, Laura, is that Thomas could never admit to himself that such feelings might exist inside of him." "And we are unlikely to get any sleep until he does." "We've seen how good you are with numbers, Laura." "How are you with rhymes?" "There must be something going on for the post office lights to be burning 12 nights running." "Nothing ever seems to happen." "There must be something brewing, or else why would they be up at this hour?" "We'll wait five more minutes." "We must write something that's convincingly in Thomas' own voice, otherwise Miss Ellison might not grasp who this anonymous love poem is from." ""If I slight or spite you in any form or fashion,"" ""It is not you I am denying, it is my own passion."" "Why, Laura!" "You are every inch the poet." "Write it, write it." "Our hopes of a decent night's sleep are resting on your poeticism." "Where's your ma, child?" "What about your pa?" "Did he say when he'd be back?" "Did they say anything at all?" "They've gone, left the child behind." "Don't you worry." "We'll find them." "Come on." "Ma'am." "Twister, there's nothing out there but the sunshine and your neighbours." "I ain't afraid." "I'm just bone tired." "Well, you stay where you are, my dear." "Bees." "Bees, I'll be with you in a minute." "If Amelia was out there, I'd tell you, wouldn't I?" "I'd welcome that little girl in and sit her down" "and talk about those lovely long-ago days, all summer long in the fields and the hedgerows." "I remember her as well as you do." "She could skip like she had fire in her toes." "You know what I mean?" "I'd sit her by the fire and I'd be more than glad she'd come back." "But she in't." "She's long gone from us." "So if you see her again... you tell her she's just one of your imaginings." "She in't there." "You tell her you don't believe her." "Can you do that for me?" "She in't true." "Don't believe her." "Good." "Now you rest, hey." "I'll go and tend the bees." "Dorcas." "I'm sorry to barge in on you like this, but..." "Well, this child here, Polly, her family rested the night with us and... the simple truth of it is they're gone and left her behind." "I heard they were travelling this way and I wondered if they'been sighted on one of the early morning postal deliveries." "Thomas, did you see anything?" "Well, I did notice a rather dishevelled bunch." "Mother, father, couple of lads, heading Bicester way at top speed." "I know who you mean." "A family hurrying out on their cart." "It was heading towards Banbury." "They can't be headed in two directions at once." "I'm clear what I saw." "I'm certain my eyes have not deceived me." "I am afraid we have all been without proper sleep for some nights and it's taking its toll on us." "Either way, the family are three hours ahead of you." "Does the child have any idea where they might be headed?" "The girl doesn't speak." "She's a mute." "Why would they go and leave her behind?" "I can't help thinking I'm to blame." "They saw how our children lived and they must have wanted that for Polly." "What will you do, Pa?" "I'm the maker of this calamity." "I'll find a way out of it." "Don't you worry too much." "My pa will take good care of you." "He'll take good care." "Now I have to go to work." "You wait here and I'll check on you as often as I can, all right?" "Good girl." "You wait here." "You all right, Zillah?" "A woman can have a touch of backache, can't she, without some meddling girl spying on her?" "Wait." "Please stop." "Wait." "Hello?" "What are you doing here?" "Aren't you going to speak to me?" "I won't bite you, I promise." "You like the flowers, yes?" "You see." "Do you have a name?" "Aren't you going to tell me?" "You can't tell me." "Well, would you like to come for a walk?" "You know your own mind." "I'm like that." "You're a little like me, aren't you?" "You can't have landed out of nowhere." "Or perhaps you can." "What shall we do with you?" "Why don't you come with me into the kitchen and we can get you lemonade?" "But you liked the sound of lemonade though, didn't you?" "You stay here and pick some more flowers." "I'll be back in a minute." "A letter for Thomas." "Miss Ellison left it." "Zillah, perhaps you would like to take the rest of the day off." "I don't know why you're all getting on at me." "I just wondered if seeing Polly has upset you." "I've just got a bit of a backache." "That's all." "You in't there." "I know you in't there, so go away." "You're not wanted here so get away and don't come back!" "Let me explain." "I heard a dozen different tales about which way they went." "What can I do?" "She's bewildered and frightened" " and she needs us to take care of her." " She's a lovely girl." "And she deserves a chance same as the next child does." "But the thought of it" " makes me feel so afraid, Robert..." " Emma..." "I am ashamed that I have spent the whole day wishing this child away," "wishing my husband didn't have such a good heart." "I do feel that." "If I promise to take it upon myself to find her a family round here to take her in." "I only want to knows she's not to be handed over to the authorities." " And if you can't find a family?" " I will." "You know me when I set my mind to doing something." "If the moment comes when I have to be hard hearted, then I will have to do it." "I know." "But it won't be hard hearted." "It's not in you to be." "And the moment won't come, anyway." "You'll see." "You sound like Caroline, always saying something will turn up." "Trust me." "Are you unwell, Lady Adelaide?" "I do feel quite strange." "Laura, this place is well known for its ghost stories, isn't it?" "There are tales in the hamlet of folk seeing a whole regiment of soldiers marching in the sky, complete with a drum and a fife band." "Because the mind can play terrible tricks, can't it?" "But if a person wanted something badly, and then out of nowhere it appears," "I mean, that has to be a trick of the mind, doesn't it?" "A dream?" "But suppose there were evidence." "The truth of it is, Laura, I had a strange encounter, here in this garden." "I met a child." "I spoke to her, though she didn't speak to me." "That must have been Polly." "Polly?" "Mrs Timmins." "I am sorry to arrive unannounced at your door." "Do you think I might come in?" "Hello, Polly." "Polly and I met today at the Manor." "Polly is the reason I have called upon you." "I believe that she has been left with you, her family have vanished." "That's right, ma'am." "Is it your wish to keep her, Mrs Timmins?" "That's not possible, Your Ladyship." "Do you think it is likely that the family will ever return?" "My husband says they have left her here in the hope of a better life." "Polly, you liked the gardens, didn't you?" "The flowers." "Would you like to come back, play there some more?" "I have a proposal." "When I met Polly today, it felt like fate or providence had brought us together." "This girl has been living on the road for more than a year, ma'am." "She's had no schooling, can barely eat at a table." "She's a child in need of love," " isn't that so?" " It is." "Isn't this what we hoped for, Robert?" "Someone to take Polly in." "I appreciate your kindness, Your Layship..." "This is not mere sentiment, Mr Timmins." "I can guarantee you my overriding concern will be Polly's wellbeing." "She doesn't speak." "Well, we must hope that is because of the distress she must be feeling." "If it isn't, we will have the best doctors look at her." "I would like to take care of Polly." "You were sleeping." "In public and on duty." "I was not sleeping," "I was mentally counting." "I do that with my eyes closed." "I saw her!" "She was sleeping." "I'll see to it that Miss Lane gets to know what goes on behind her counter." "I'm always snoozing during opening hours." "It's my one professional weakness." "I was not snoozing, ma'am." "She was, I saw her!" "And if you don't believe me" "I don't know why I've given my whole life to this post office to have some hoity-toity young miss just falling asleep behind the counter." "Of course I believe you." "I shouldn't joke about such things." "Laura will be dealt with in the proper manner." "Now, perhaps I could have a pot of tea and a slice of cake to perk me up" " Well." " Well." "We will have a postal order." "Three pounds." "Ladies." " Ma'am." " This arrived for you, Thomas." "Delivered by hand." "I recognise the scent." "Lily of the Valley." "Such a hot day." "The only relief is to close one's eyes for a moment." "Your Ladyship, always such a delight to be at your service." "This is Polly." "Perhaps you could furnish her with the prettiest dress you can offer." "One of Your Ladyship's charitable..." "Erm, not quite." "Perhaps Your Ladyship was extending a kindness to one of your staff?" "Not quite." "So we'll take this dress." "It seems to suit Polly's hair." "She has such lovely hair, don't you think?" "It might be... with a Wash." "Or two." "Your Ladyship seems in very good spirits today." "Not that Your Ladyship's spirits aren't good at other days." "Just today, Your Ladyship has a certain lightness." "More than your usual lightness." "I'm glad you've noticed." "Is there a cause?" "Yes." "Er, we'll take these dresses, and this hat, some socks, gloves." "Perhaps you'd be so kind as to put together a selection of your own choice of other necessities?" "We're naturally curious to know who the child is." "Perhaps you'd like to tell us." "I don't think so." "Timothy," " this is Polly." " Hello." "Was there ever a prettier little girl?" "Come and sit on my lap and meet Timothy." "I found this lovely creature in our garden." "You landed here amongst us, didn't you, Polly?" "Like a wish." "Polly, there are some sweet peas at the bottom of the garden." "Would you run along and pick me a nice big bunch, please?" "So she's the child that was left behind." "I heard Mr Timmins came into Candleford with the tale." "She's a mute and frightened little thing." "And now she's in need of a home." "Adelaide, I would do anything to make you happy." "But you can see that this is simply not possible?" "Last night, I lay awake and I wished for this, for something like this." "No amount of signs or portents could convince me that such a course would not be doomed." "I have much to give." "And I would like the opportunity to give it." "Would you deny me that, Timothy?" "Her parents left her..." "Yes, they left her in Lark Rise." "She has a chance there to belong." "But not here, Adelaide, not here." "Thank you!" "Polly, shall we put you in the bath?" "And you can try on your new nightdress." "You hardly speak two words in a week." "And I can hardly keep up with the cooking for you and do you ever say thank you?" "Yes." "And I will say it again more often and more feelingly from now on." "And as for you keeping us all awake night after night, just because of that Miss Ellison." "You're behaving just like a courting youth." "Do you know that the last postler used to bring me flowers from his round?" "I will look out for some flowers" " for you tomorrow, Zillah." " And as for that scheming miss." "I've seen her put a letter in the sorting office for you to take out." " What letter?" " Zillah, how can you be so spiteful?" "I'm just taken for granted!" "Oh, Zillah, I'm sorry we've taken you for granted." "The whole town knows this post office would collapse without your spirit to drive us on." "Do you think it might help ease your burden if I were to get you an assistant?" "An assistant?" "An assistant?" "!" "Some harridan who makes me feel old and useless." "It was a silly idea." "I'm sorry, I'm a little overwrought." "I need a sweet sherry to calm me down." "Would you like to join me?" "I could get a little cottage and put my feet up." "I can see, I can see by your face..." "No, there is no look on my face, I promise you, other than sheer exhaustion from too many sleepless nights." "I know, I know what you think." "You think it's just idle threats but it's not, it's not!" "I'm not having it!" "I'll fetch my coat." "I ain't staying in this post office one more night!" "How can you all be so indulging of Zillah when she...?" " Sometimes, we must simply forebear." " Why?" "There are some things that are not for you to know, Laura." "And certainly not for me to tell you." "I know you're not sleeping." "If you know I'm not sleeping, then you're not sleeping." "I'm coming down." "We'll have a bit of a tune, then." "# Darling, I am # # growing old #" "# Silver threads # # among the gold #" "# Shine upon # # my brow today #" "# Life is fading # # fast away #" "# But, my darling, # # you will be, will be #" "# Always young and # # fair to me #" "# Fair to me. #" "You haven't seen her again, have you?" "I ain't." "It's like my mind's had a good cottage bath." "There's nothing in there but you, my dear, and a pretty tune." "# When your hair # # is silver white #" "# And your cheeks # # no longer bright #" "# As the roses # # of the May #" "# I will kiss # # your lips and say... #" "You will tell me if you see her again." "I in't heard nothing, neither." "# But my darling, # # mine alone #" "# You have never #" "# You have never older grown Older grown... #" "Matthew, would you let Zillah in?" "And we must all wear our most convincingly relieved smiles." "Are we ready?" "Sir Timothy!" "Miss Lane, forgive me for turning up at your door like this." "But, er..." "Er, well, I..." "I need your assistance." "Laura, perhaps you would be kind enough to let this poor child sleep in your bed tonight?" "Polly, you go with Laura." "She will take good care of you." "Taking Polly in like this, it's panic." "It's understandable, yes, but dangerous." "For Polly, I mean." "Adelaide is infatuated." "Of course, the girl is delightful, attractive, but... what will happen if..." "WHEN Adelaide falls pregnant?" "What will become of Polly then?" "Adelaide is a little lost, Dorcas, and that is why I need your help." "Let Polly stay here until I can..." "I can talk with Adelaide." "Stay here without Adelaide's knowledge?" "That's what I am asking, yes." "And if she finds out?" "She must not." "Please." "She is going to feel that you have betrayed her." "Well, yes, at first." "But that will pass with time and experience, I hope." "I believe." "And I will be left with the knowledge that I have betrayed her." "Even if Adelaide never finds out, I will know." " Dorcas, I came to you because..." " Because you trust me." "I know." "But perhaps also because you imagine that my first thought might not be for Adelaide." "Now, I can see why bringing Polly here might allow you to resolve the situation between yourself and Adelaide, but what about the child?" "Well, child abandonment is a serious offence and as magistrate, I should intervene." "Polly herself should go without hesitation to the workhouse." "But we're not going to let that happen." "Now, it might prove difficult were she to remain in Candleford." "So we will find a place for her." "Oxford, perhaps." "I am going to say yes to your request." "Though I will admit I want to say no." "However, I cannot deny you in your hour of need." "I never could and you know that." "But I have to tell you, I fear for us all in this." "What are we to make of this?" "The Squire bringing a child to Miss Lane in the dead of night." "We are to make of it that Sir Timothy is in dire straits and it is not in our business to turn him away." "That was my meaning, ma'am." "If somebody could bring us up some port?" " Sir Timothy is quite shaken." " I will, ma'am." "If you think I'm coming back because I'm sorry," "I can soon go away again." "Zillah, we don't have time for any more of your hysterics." "Hysterics?" "Me?" "I seen her weeping and wailing in this kitchen." "Tear and kisses, I've seen it with my own eyes," " so there's no denying it." " No." "I can't deny it." "But that was a very long time ago, and you know it!" "Laura, when you're ready, if you could bring us up some port." "There is something going on at the post office." "I am certain of it." "Dorcas Lane presents herself as the paragon of Candleford." "Without blemish." "Without stain." "Well, perhaps there is something to hide, which is why there are all these goings-on after dark." "She has been, in a manner of speaking, kind to us of late." " That is merely tactical." " Look, another light." "Ruby, we are going to discover just what it is the post office has to hide." "Yeah?" "My sister has an ache." "Laura!" "Tell Miss Lane that Ruth and Prudence are here from the store." "What calls themselves Ruby and Pearl." "Ma'am, Ruby and Pearl Pratt are downstairs." "Thank you, Laura." "Do you think they might have seen you bringing Polly here?" " No, it's impossible." " They must have seen our lights on." "I will have to invite them in to let see that there is nothing untoward going on." "But I must get back before Adelaide wakes." "Let me see what I can do." "We are sorry to trouble you at the darkest of hours, but my sister is suffering such severe stomach ache and we are without medicine." "We noticed how your lights were on and have been on for several nights now." "We seem to have an infectious case of insomnia started by Thomas." "Now it appears to have spread across the street." "If we have been keeping you awake, I do apologise." "Now, the ache." "Zillah, I'm sure we have some medicine that Ruby might take." "I do hope there's nothing wrong to keep you all so awake?" "It is said that nocturnal wakefulness is due to a mental disturbance." "There is something, as you have so wisely fathomed." "Thomas Brown has an admirer." "Isn't that so, Thomas?" "And we don't know who it is." "Only an anonymous poem." "A poem?" "It's the mystery of it that's been keeping us all awake." "And that is all?" " We must go." " No!" "Er, your medicine." "Of course, yes." "Zillah, could you fetch the medicine?" "Zillah!" "We were wondering if the poem came from someone close by." "Close by?" "Why on earth would you think that?" "It was so beautifully crafted." "And... the sentiments were so fine." " Well, it..." " Off We go." " Good night." " We say good night." "Ruby." "Thank you." "Come along!" "Ma'am." "I am a tad mystified." "How did you know that I had received a poem?" "Because it had Miss Ellison's scent on it." "The coast is clear." " I am indebted to you, Dorcas." " Timothy, these next few days could be quite precarious." "I think it might be best if you and I didn't see each other." "I will send a message in your private postbag with the morning delivery to let you know how things are." "This old business..." "Polly and Adelaide." "Sometimes circumstances force us to reflect." "You must go." "It will be dawn soon." "Go." "Oh, Laura, what am I to do?" "I've broken Miss Lane's heart." "Oh, Zillah, please don't torment yourself so." "I never had a family except for this, this post office." "You have no family?" "Miss Lane's grandfather took me when I was just a babe." "I was found in the lane." "In a basket, not even a name." "Oh, Zillah." "So seeing Polly, that's upset you?" "I had as much love as any child would need, but..." "I thank them with my spite and my temper." "No, Zillah." "You thank them with your tenderness and your Banbury cakes." "There's no mistress in Candleford." "No mistress for miles on end could be more lovingly cared for than Miss Lane." "She knows it." "How can I let her see how sorry I am?" "Miss Lane will show you." "I'm sure of it." "Zillah, I want you to put aside all of your other duties and take care of Polly for me." "I am entrusting you with this girl's welfare, Zillah, because" "I think at this time of difficulty, she will need special care." "Do you understand what it is I am asking you?" "Yes, ma'am, I do." "Then I feel certain that we are in safe hands." "Laura, you and I will run the post office." "We will smile and chat as though we have slept like babes." "Matthew, you will tell anyone who asks for Zillah that she has a stack of ironing up to her chin." "I will say a prayer, ma'am." "Today, we will need your prayers, Thomas Brown." "But you must go about your rounds as if all is well at the Candleford post office." "Thomas." "A note for Sir Timothy's private postbag." "We will have a family, I'm sure of it." "But not like this." "You didn't even discuss it with me." "You sneak away in the night." "Why?" "Because you know you are wrong." "You can't face me with your decision." " Your decision!" " I am facing you now." "Yes, when it is done." "Am I supposed to simply accept it?" "Where did you take her?" "She's somewhere safe." "Lark Rise." "You have decided she belongs there." "Your Lordship." "Your Ladyship." "All is well at the post office." "I don't understand." "I'm sure I saw you put the letter into Sir Timothy's private postbag." "Well, ma'am, I did put something into the bag." "Well, what did you put in there?" "The poem, ma'am." "The poem?" "Those few lines of verse of a romantic nature which were in my possession." "And this poem has now been delivered to Sir Timothy from the post office?" "Just thought you should know, and perhaps explain to the Squire how I was reading the poem when you handed me this letter and the accident which had them change places." "And what was the title of this poem, Thomas?" "The Definition Of Love, ma'am." ""My love is of a birth as rare as"" ""'tis for object, strange and high,"" ""It was begotten by despair,"" ""Upon impossibility... "" ""Magnanimous despair alone could show me so divine a thing"" ""But fate does iron wedges drive,"" ""And always crowds itself betwixt"" ""For Fate with jealous eye does see two perfect loves,"" ""Nor lets them close."" ""Their union would her ruin be,"" ""And her tyrannic power depose."" ""And therefore her decree of steel"" ""Us as the distant poles have placed..."" ""As lines, so love's oblique,"" ""may well themselves in every angle greet."" ""But ours, so truly parallel,"" ""Though infinite,"" ""Can never meet."" ""Therefore, the love"" ""which us doth bind,"" ""But fate so enviously debars," ""is the conjunction"" ""of the mind"" ""and opposition"" ""of the stars."" "What does it mean, ma'am?" "It talks of true lovers... kept apart by fate." "They... go about their lives in parallel lines... never to touch," "never to join." "If I were to receive such a poem," "I would... take it as a message of refusal to accept such a fate." "It is a poem of such longing, it's almost as though to send it is an act of defiance against circumstances." "No doubt, Miss Ellison has her rather forbidding father in mind when the poem refers to "tyrannic power"." "But what has brought Miss Ellison to send such a poem to me?" "What's happened to the light?" "Twister Turill, look at me." "Not my chin, my eyes!" "I've seen her." "Twister," "I'm losing you to yout own mind." "Was I bad to her, Queenie?" "Was I?" "Why's my own sister after me?" "What did I ever do?" "I'm tormented trying to remember." "You were a child, too." "I just can't escape her." "The worst of it is, other people have seen her now." " What do you mean?" " Robert and Emma have seen her." " How have they?" " She was in their cottage." "And the lady's seen her," "Lady Adelaide." "She, she... took Amelia with her." "You old duffer!" "Why, that wasn't Amelia you saw." "That was Polly, the lost child, the left-behind girl." "And she's as real as you or me." "I didn't see Amelia?" "Of course not." "I'm not lost to my own mind?" "No more than you ever were." "Laura" "May I come in?" "I am looking for Polly." "I know you will tell me if she is here." "Lady Adelaide." "There's nothing the matter, is there?" "I do hope not, Dorcas." "I didn't mean to suggest you were disturbing us or you were unwelcome." "Please, can we be honest with one another?" "I would like to know..." "Did Timothy bring Polly here?" "Yes, he did." "Well." "That is honest." "Please, don't go." "Timothy didn't want to hurt you." "I would be grateful if you didn't explain" " my own husband to me, Miss Lane." " No." "I apologise, Your Ladyship." "Are you going to tell me that Timothy did this, you both did this to spare me from my own embarrassing folly?" "I am such a fool." "What have I done to Timothy?" "You have done nothing so bad." "You let your heart rule you, and we have all done that." "I feared that keeping Polly here would hurt you, yet I did it." "Isn't that worse than anything you've done?" "Why did you do it?" "I will tell you what I told Timothy." "I wanted to say no..." "But I couldn't turn away a friend in his hour of need." "It was his hour of need, wasn't it?" "Do you think I could have a drink?" "Of course." "Perhaps I will join you." "I seem only to have champagne." "Champagne seems oddly appropriate." "There is a question that..." "I have been wanting to ask you." "Yes." "I would be grateful if you would be ruthlessly frank with me." "I will try." "Are you resolved to living a life without children?" "Yes." "I am." "Was there a moment when you knew?" "I suppose, yes." "Knowing is different to accepting." "Accepting came... more gradually" " and..." " Painfully." " See, my question is..." " Oh, that isn't the question?" "You're so happy." "How do you do it?" "Is that the question?" "Yes." "Robert!" "Robert!" "There's a noise." "Someone's downstairs." "I want my ma." "You will, kitten." "You will." " Ma'am." " Thomas." "I owe you an apology." "This business with Miss Ellison..." "The poem landing in Sir Timothy's private post bag." "It's all of my making." "I tried to engineer a..." "A coming together of yourself and the Reverend's daughter." "I thought it might be... conducive." "But I seem only to have succeeded in creating misunderstanding and suffering." "I will apologise to Miss Ellison and tell her that you sent her no endearing missives." "Perhaps it's best if we don't tell her." " And let her believe...?" " That I have feelings for her." "Wouldn't that put you into a problematical position, Thomas?" "No more problematical than I already find myself, ma'am." "The truth of it is," "I know why I can't sleep." "I do hold feelings for Miss Ellison." "You have played your part." "And now I suppose I must play mine." " Isn't she pretty?" " You can plait your hair like this." "Come along!" "Come on, everybody!" "Come on!" "Dorcas, we have brought..." "Yes." "You have indeed, Emma." "Ma!" "Oh, if ever there was an occasion to boil a kettle!" "I have much to thank my grandfather for, Zillah, but mostly I am grateful for his love of walking country lanes." "Oh-ho-hoo!" "Ma'am!" "Your pa has such ideas about the brotherhood of man." "Your ma has a fondness for telling me about it." "Sir, I owe you an apology." "In my negligence, due to my lack of sleep," "I delivered a poem to you which belonged to me, a rather fine poem, but not one that belongs in your private post bag, sir." "I gathered there must have been some kind of mistake." "A very interesting poem it was, too, sir, concerning parallel lines and fate." "The Dexters left Polly behind, because they thought that was best for their daughter." "But they came back because they realised they were wrong." "For all the dramas that came over the horizon, there were more wonders of humanity right here amongst us." "# Always young and fair to me" "# So fair to me..." "For some of us, the world turned." "For others, it stopped." "There seem to be no lights on tonight, Pearl." "No." "Perhaps they've all gone to bed." "Perhaps." "Perhaps we should go to bed?" "Yes, we will." "They might stir." "Something might occur." "Five more minutes." "Mm."