It was the first exigency of the kind, since the marriage of Giles
Dauber to Madge Newsome of the Deercote, in which the discussion of a
point so knotty and important had occurred. Giles dreamt not of the vast
difference that exists in the nature and docility of divers women. He
heard with a sort of incredulous surprise the first incipient grumblings
in contravention of his authority; but when these had fairly shaped
themselves into open defiance, he started agape with wonder. Recovering
himself, with a stern and portentous silence, he jumped out of bed and
drew on his doublet and hose. While thoughts of relentless import were
brooding, he groped his way down the ladder that communicated with the
lower apartment, for the purpose of ascertaining the quality and
condition of the stranger. The latter still manifested a noisy
impatience at being suffered, in so inhospitable a manner, to linger
without. The night was rainy and tempestuous--Giles shivered to the
backbone as he trod on the wheezing rushes strewed over the floor; they
were yet damp and dirty, by reason of the many visitors who had that
night loitered long at the Merry Maypole.
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