Jude was too independent to make any fuss; and the contractor paid
him, and left. Jude picked up his tools, and Sue cleansed her brush.
Then their eyes met.
"How could we be so simple as to suppose we might do this!" said
she, dropping to her tragic note. "Of course we ought not--I ought
not--to have come!"
"I had no idea that anybody was going to intrude into such a lonely
place and see us!" Jude returned. "Well, it can't be helped, dear;
and of course I wouldn't wish to injure Willis's trade-connection by
staying." They sat down passively for a few minutes, proceeded out
of the church, and overtaking the boy pursued their thoughtful way
to Aldbrickham.
Fawley had still a pretty zeal in the cause of education, and, as was
natural with his experiences, he was active in furthering "equality
of opportunity" by any humble means open to him. He had joined an
Artizans' Mutual Improvement Society established in the town about
the time of his arrival there; its members being young men of all
creeds and denominations, including Churchmen, Congregationalists,
Baptists, Unitarians, Positivists, and others--agnostics had scarcely
been heard of at this time--their one common wish to enlarge their
minds forming a sufficiently close bond of union. The subscription
was small, and the room homely; and Jude's activity, uncustomary
acquirements, and above all, singular intuition on what to read
and how to set about it--begotten of his years of struggle against
malignant stars--had led to his being placed on the committee.
A few evenings after his dismissal from the church repairs, and
before he had obtained any more work to do, he went to attend a
meeting of the aforesaid committee. It was late when he arrived: all
the others had come, and as he entered they looked dubiously at him,
and hardly uttered a word of greeting. He guessed that something
bearing on himself had been either discussed or mooted. Some
ordinary business was transacted, and it was disclosed that the
number of subscriptions had shown a sudden falling off for that
quarter. One member--a really well-meaning and upright man--began
speaking in enigmas about certain possible causes: that it behoved
them to look well into their constitution; for if the committee were
not respected, and had not at least, in their differences, a common
standard of CONDUCT, they would bring the institution to the ground.
Nothing further was said in Jude's presence, but he knew what this
meant; and turning to the table wrote a note resigning his office
there and then.
Thus the supersensitive couple were more and more impelled to go
away. And then bills were sent in, and the question arose, what
could Jude do with his great-aunt's heavy old furniture, if he left
the town to travel he knew not whither? This, and the necessity of
ready money, compelled him to decide on an auction, much as he would
have preferred to keep the venerable goods.