And events had borne out the accuracy of her judgment, and proved the devotedness of her care.He should have heeded her for Eustacia's sake even more than for his own.
"It was all my fault," he whispered."O, my mother, my mother! would to God that I could live my life again, and endure for you what you endured for me!"On the Sunday after this wedding an unusual sight was to be seen on Rainbarrow.From a distance there simply appeared to be a motionless figure standing on the top of the tumulus, just as Eustacia had stood on that lonely summit some two years and a half before.But now it was fine warm weather, with only a summer breeze blowing, and early afternoon instead of dull twilight.
Those who ascended to the immediate neighbourhood of the Barrow perceived that the erect form in the centre, piercing the sky, was not really alone.Round him upon the slopes of the Barrow a number of heathmen and women were reclining or sitting at their ease.They listened to the words of the man in their midst, who was preaching, while they abstractedly pulled heather, stripped ferns, or tossed pebbles down the slope.This was the first of a series of moral lectures or Sermons on the Mount, which were to be delivered from the same place every Sunday afternoon as long as the fine weather lasted.
The commanding elevation of Rainbarrow had been chosen for two reasons: first, that it occupied a central position among the remote cottages around; secondly, that the preacher thereon could be seen from all adjacent points as soon as he arrived at his post, the view of him being thus a convenient signal to those stragglers who wished to draw near.The speaker was bareheaded, and the breeze at each waft gently lifted and lowered his hair, somewhat too thin for a man of his years, these still numbering less than thirty-three.