Godfrey was standing a
little way off, not to admire his brother's dancing, but to keep sight
of Nancy, who was seated in the group, near her father. He stood
aloof, because he wished to avoid suggesting himself as a subject
for the Squire's fatherly jokes in connection with matrimony and
Miss Nancy Lammeter's beauty, which were likely to become more and
more explicit. But he had the prospect of dancing with her again
when the hornpipe was concluded, and in the meantime it was very
pleasant to get long glances at her quite unobserved.
But when Godfrey was lifting his eyes from one of those long
glances, they encountered an object as startling to him at that moment
as if it had been an apparition from the dead. It was an apparition
from that hidden life which lies, like a dark by-street, behind the
goodly ornamented facade that meets the sunlight and the gaze of
respectable admirers. It was his own child, carried in Silas
Marner's arms. That was his instantaneous impression, unaccompanied by
doubt, though he had not seen the child for months past; and when
the hope was rising that he might possibly be mistaken, Mr
Crackenthorp and Mr Lammeter had already advanced to Silas, in
astonishment at this strange advent. Godfrey joined them
immediately, unable to rest without hearing every word- trying to
control himself, but conscious that if anyone noticed him, they must
see that he was white-lipped and trembling.
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