Sentence:  I corralled the judge, and we started off across the fields, in no very mild state of fear of that gentleman's wife, whose vigilance was seldom relaxed. And <WSD>thus</WSD> we came by a circuitous route to Mohair, the judge occupied by his own guilty thoughts, and I by others not less disturbing. 
Meaning of the word marked with <WSD> tags:  As a result.