Not many words he had to speak; but he did say that he had never done any
good to any one--ay, I was standing near behind his bed and heard all,
for I was thinking of her alone with him, and so I would be with her, and
she would have it so. Ay, and he said that he had misused cruel her that
had loved him, her ladyship, that's here. He said he had misused her
because he had never loved her truly, only pride and vainglory being in
his heart. Then he spoke summat to her that was there to forgive him and
help him over the stile 'twixt this field and it that's Beyond and Away,
which made her cry out in pain and say that he must fix his thoughts on
other things. And she prayed out loud for him, for he would have no
parson there. She prayed and prayed as never priest or parson prayed, and
at last he got quiet and still, and, when she stopped praying, he did not
speak or open his eyes for a longish while. But when the old clock on the
stable was striking twelve, he opened his eyes wide, and when it had
stopped, he said: 'It is always twelve by the clock that stops at noon.
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