'Then, sir,' he answered, with an accent of bitterness
that had been silent in him since the memorable day when his
youthful hope had perished- 'then, sir, why didn't you say so
sixteen years ago, and claim her before I'd come to love her,
i'stead o' coming to take her from me now, when you might as well take
the heart out o' my body? God gave her to me because you turned your
back upon her, and He looks upon her as mine: you've no right to
her! When a man turns a blessing from his door, it falls to them as
take it in.'
'I know that, Marner. I was wrong. I've repented of my conduct in
that matter,' said Godfrey, who could not help feeling the edge of
Silas's words.
'I'm glad to hear it, sir,' said Marner, with gathering excitement;
'but repentance doesn't alter what's been going on for sixteen year.
Your coming now and saying "I'm her father" doesn't alter the feelings
inside us. It's me she's been calling her father ever since she
could say the word.'
'But I think you might look at the thing more reasonably,
Marner,' said Godfrey, unexpectedly awed by the weaver's direct
truth-speaking. 'It isn't as if she was to be taken quite away from
you, so that you'd never see her again. She'll be very near you, and
come to see you very often. She'll feel just the same towards you.'
'Just the same?' said Marner, more bitterly than ever. 'How'll
she feel just the same for me as she does now, when we eat o' the same
bit, and drink o' the same cup, and think of the same things from
one day's end to another? Just the same? that's idle talk.
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