Chapter 4: Eight to Ten O’Clock A.m

⁠​​​‌​​​​​‌‌‌‌‌‌‌​‌​​‌​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌‌​​​​‌‌‌​​​‌‌‌‌​​‌‌‌‌​​​‌​‌‌‌​​‌‌⁠Mrs. Crickett, twice a widow, and now the parish clerk’s wife, a fine-framed, scandal-loving woman, with a peculiar corner to her eye by which, without turning her head, she could see what people were doing almost behind her, lived in a cottage standing nearer to the old manor-house than any other in the village of Carriford, and she had on that account been temporarily engaged by the steward, as