In Emily's favourite
phrase, each individual thing was 'not worth while.'
When Lilias did think it 'worth while,' she would do a great deal
upon impulse, sometimes with more zeal than discretion, as she proved
by an expedition which she took on Christmas Eve. Mr. Mohun did not
allow the poor of the village to depend entirely on the gooding for
their Christmas dinner, but on the 24th of December a large mess of
excellent beef broth was prepared at the New Court, and distributed
to all his own labourers, and the most respectable of the other
cottagers.
In the course of the afternoon Lily found that one portion had not
been given out. It was that which was intended for the Martins, a
poor old rheumatic couple, who lived at South End, the most distant
part of the parish. Neither of them could walk as far as the New
Court, and most of their neighbours had followed Farmer Gage, and had
therefore been excluded from the distribution, so that there was no
one to send. Lily, therefore, resolved herself to carry the broth to
them, if she could find an escort, which was not an easy matter, as
the frost had that morning broken up, and a good deal of snow and
rain had been falling in the course of the day.
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