{"id":"01KG8AN0BK8N1GAJKX483YVNFM","cid":"bafkreicazluds2ssnhgi5plcf3yp7hxpyjtazvdfvngfviz3zkhmpnwsn4","type":"chunk","properties":{"end_line":2595,"extracted_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:52.918Z","extracted_by":"structure-extraction-lambda","label":"Chunk 9","source_file":"01KG89J1JSYKSGCE149MH9HF6A","start_line":2513,"text":"speedy marriage, because I thought that a girl of scarcely seventeen,\r\nand a boy scarcely twenty, should not be in such a hurry;--there was\r\nplenty of time, I thought, which could be profitably employed by both.\"\r\n\r\n\"Permit me here to interrupt you, mother. Whatever you may have seen in\r\nme; she,--I mean Lucy,--has never been in the slightest hurry to be\r\nmarried;--that's all. But I shall regard it as a _lapsus-lingua_ in\r\nyou.\"\r\n\r\n\"Undoubtedly, a _lapsus_. But listen to me. I have been carefully\r\nobserving both you and Lucy of late; and that has made me think further\r\nof the matter. Now, Pierre, if you were in any profession, or in any\r\nbusiness at all; nay, if I were a farmer's wife, and you my child,\r\nworking in my fields; why, then, you and Lucy should still wait awhile.\r\nBut as you have nothing to do but to think of Lucy by day, and dream of\r\nher by night, and as she is in the same predicament, I suppose; with\r\nrespect to you; and as the consequence of all this begins to be\r\ndiscernible in a certain, just perceptible, and quite harmless thinness,\r\nso to speak, of the cheek; but a very conspicuous and dangerous\r\nfebrileness of the eye; therefore, I choose the lesser of two evils; and\r\nnow you have my permission to be married, as soon as the thing can be\r\ndone with propriety. I dare say you have no objection to have the\r\nwedding take place before Christmas, the present month being the first\r\nof summer.\"\r\n\r\nPierre said nothing; but leaping to his feet, threw his two arms around\r\nhis mother, and kissed her repeatedly.\r\n\r\n\"A most sweet and eloquent answer, Pierre; but sit down again. I desire\r\nnow to say a little concerning less attractive, but quite necessary\r\nthings connected with this affair. You know, that by your father's will,\r\nthese lands and--\"\r\n\r\n\"Miss Lucy, my mistress;\" said Dates, throwing open the door.\r\n\r\nPierre sprang to his feet; but as if suddenly mindful of his mother's\r\npresence, composed himself again, though he still approached the door.\r\n\r\nLucy entered, carrying a little basket of strawberries.\r\n\r\n\"Why, how do you do, my dear,\" said Mrs. Glendinning affectionately.\r\n\"This is an unexpected pleasure.\"\r\n\r\n\"Yes; and I suppose that Pierre here is a little surprised too; seeing\r\nthat he was to call upon me this evening, and not I upon him before\r\nsundown. But I took a sudden fancy for a solitary stroll,--the afternoon\r\nwas such a delicious one; and chancing--it was only chancing--to pass\r\nthrough the Locust Lane leading hither, I met the strangest little\r\nfellow, with this basket in his hand.--'Yes, buy them, miss'--said he.\r\n'And how do you know I want to buy them,' returned I, 'I don't want to\r\nbuy them.'--'Yes you do, miss; they ought to be twenty-six cents, but\r\nI'll take thirteen cents, that being my shilling. I always want the odd\r\nhalf cent, I do. Come, I can't wait, I have been expecting you long\r\nenough.'\"\r\n\r\n\"A very sagacious little imp,\" laughed Mrs. Glendinning.\r\n\r\n\"Impertinent little rascal,\" cried Pierre.\r\n\r\n\"And am I not now the silliest of all silly girls, to be telling you my\r\nadventures so very frankly,\" smiled Lucy.\r\n\r\n\"No; but the most celestial of all innocents,\" cried Pierre, in a\r\nrhapsody of delight. \"Frankly open is the flower, that hath nothing but\r\npurity to show.\"\r\n\r\n\"Now, my dear little Lucy,\" said Mrs. Glendinning, \"let Pierre take off\r\nyour shawl, and come now and stay to tea with us. Pierre has put back\r\nthe dinner so, the tea-hour will come now very soon.\"\r\n\r\n\"Thank you; but I can not stay this time. Look, I have forgotten my own\r\nerrand; I brought these strawberries for you, Mrs. Glendinning, and for\r\nPierre;--Pierre is so wonderfully fond of them.\"\r\n\r\n\"I was audacious enough to think as much,\" cried Pierre, \"for you _and_\r\nme, you see, mother; for you _and_ me, you understand that, I hope.\"\r\n\r\n\"Perfectly, my dear brother.\"\r\n\r\nLucy blushed.\r\n\r\n\"How warm it is, Mrs. Glendinning.\"\r\n\r","title":"Chunk 9"},"relationships":[{"peer":"01KG8AJS0JNVAGJYMWXV1594N5","peer_type":"chapter","predicate":"in"},{"peer":"01KG89J1JSYKSGCE149MH9HF6A","peer_type":"file","predicate":"extractedFrom"},{"peer":"01KG89HMDZKNY753EZE1CJ8HZW","peer_type":"collection","predicate":"collection"},{"peer":"01KG8AN0BKXNQ9RJYYHSYMPXR1","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"prev"},{"peer":"01KG8AN0BYR37AG0AW8BDMA26H","peer_type":"chunk","predicate":"next"}],"ver":2,"created_at":"2026-01-30T20:48:55.667Z","ts":"2026-01-30T20:49:07.068Z","edited_by":{"method":"manual","user_id":"01KFF0H3YRP9ZSM033AM0QJ47H"}}