The Trial, Or, More Links of the Daisy Chain
r, but good deeds ar
deed was quite ravenous. He is asleep now, and looks as comfortable
ss, and dewy eyes, would have told her that there had been more to exhaust him
ings!' s
the drawing-room, he threw himself back in his c
imed. 'You don't
ther! Poor childre
he had only been taken
prostration-and that poor girl, called every way at once, fancied her asleep, and took no alarm till I came in this morning and fo
ard-did he
h had long been lost, and that throat was dreadful su
ds seemed to convey. He felt her movement, and put his arm round her, saying, 'No, Ethel, do not think I envy them. I might have done so
f change and separation, had formed new and congenial habits, saw the future hope before him; and since poor Margaret had been at rest, had been without present anxiety, or the sight of decay and
inutes; she has the nurse, and Spencer is backwards and forwards; I think they will pull
Ethel; 'I do hope he will get well. It
ink he will get through. I hope he will. He is a good friend for Aubrey. So touching it was this mor
lesome one, because it is so visible and unjustifiable, that people stri
sound feeling, poor fellow. You would like to have heard the fervour with which he begged me to tell his father to h
l, thoughtfully, as if she had not the strongest f
e hand, and mind he does not lose his father's practice. Burdon, that young prig that Spencer got down from London, met me at Gavin's, when I looked in there on my way home, and came the length of Minst
rather p
lad; there's not much more for him, as things are now, and it will be only loo
will le
ependence against him after the lesson he has had? I tell you, he has been promising me to look on
oiling with annoyance at having been called in too late to remedy the respectable apothecary's half measures. She believed that the son had been much better educate
his daughter; he had no relations that his son know
still,' said Ethel, 'but n
he turned up, a wealthy man, ten or fifteen years ago, and bought what they call the Vintry Mill, some way on this side of W
expelled for bullying
r. 'If he had stayed on, who knows but he mi
not
ut he is a flashy slang style of youth, and I
m? Is there likely to be
freely than I was ever allowed to do. Costly house, garden, greenhouses-he'd better have stuck to old Axworthy's plac
frantic about her singing last time he was at home-one evening when Mrs. Anderson abus
said the
she was looking forward to Averil's coming home, but that while she profited so much, they felt it due to her to give her every advantage; and did not I think-with my experience-that it was all so much
re sat the girl, dabbling with her water-colours, and her petticoats reaching half across the room, loo
g such an accomplished daughter. When she came out in ti
nd the more you cultivate a woman, the less she has of
she made a wo
is nervous with me, loses her head, and knocks everything down with her petticoats. Then-not a word to any one, Ethel-but imagine her perfect blindness
how is she ge
rs-hardly full comprehension. One can't take her away, and she can't bear
ut as she won't be any long
sh nurse would come.' 'I wish sister would come.' 'I wish mamma would come.' I went up to them the last thing, and told them how it was,
irst thing to-morrow,' said Ethel; 'at any
ose dreams had all night been haunted by the thought of the two little nursery
Street with two china-faced dolls, and, a little farther on, parted with a couple of rolls, interspers
and entered the growing suburb known as Bankside, where wretched cottages belonging to needy, gras
Mrs. Ward had bought and beautified; 'because it was so much better for the children to be out of the town.' The tears sprang into Mary's eyes at the veiled windows, and the unfeeling contrast of the spr
lass porch, Dr. May admitted himself, and led the way up-stairs with silent footfalls, Mary following with breath held back. A voice f
ey tell me; I
dark passage. 'Up there, first door to the right. You can
with a nursery wicket at the top, in undoing which, she was relieved of all doubts and scruples by a melancholy
of the last meal. In each of two cane cribs was sitting up a forlorn child, with loose locks of dishevelled hair, pale thin cheeks glazed with tears, staring eyes, and mouths rounded wit
y,' said the chi
an't be you
can't give us
feeble sobs of exhaustion. Recovering from fever, and still fasting
ither side. 'Mary never came to bed, and nobody has bee
looking fo
did jump out and ring,
cruel neglect, and as she passed Henry Ward's door, and heard several voices, she ventured on a timid summons of 'papa,' but, finding it unheard, she perceived that she must act for herself. Going down-stair
cook, charwoman, and their cavaliers, discussing a pile of hot-buttered toast, to
hed, as she said, 'The chil
ook rose, 'but it is the nurse-maid t
he butter with the other, ran away with them to the nursery, set them down, and rushed off for ano
and the nurse-maid, whose place it is, has been up most of the night with Mr. Leonard, and must have just dropped asl
girls quite starving that I came down. I will take care of them now. Don't wake her, pray. Only I hope,'
being fed by turns with delicately-buttered slices, Mary standing between like a mother-bird feeding her young, and pleased to find the eyes gr
of bed. She undertook to be still their Mary, and made them direct her to the house-maid's stores, went down on her k
, 'I thought you
am, my
t fires,' said Minna,
said he did not think any of the Miss Mays were fi
he, criticized by Mr. Henry Ward. Little ungrateful chit! No, it was not a matter of laughing, but of forgiveness; and the assertion of the dignity of usefulness was speedily forgotten in the toilette of the sm
s nothing since her first prayers after the day of terror and bereavement, and her eyes swam with tears as the younger gir
ed. The children greeted him fondly, and he sat down with one on each knee, and caressed them as he looked them well over, drawing out their narration of the wonderful things 'she' had done, the fingers pointing to designate who she was. His lo
ghters good for something. You had better stay with them til
ith them all day, only t
y get some air. Perhaps I shall want one of you in th
so
y is glad it should be so. He is out on th
Leo
eaven's good mercy we may drag him through; the pulse is r
there was a very poor welcome when their own Mary at length appeared, much shocked at the duration of her own slumbers, and greatly obliged to
ish our dolls' frocks!' and they hung about her
row brought visibly before him, and after the decorous space of commiseration, the smiles were bright again, and Mary heard how her father had popped in to boast of his daughter being 'as good as a house-maid, or as Miss What's-her-name;' and her foray in the kitchen was more diverting to Aubrey than she was as yet prepared
efficient friend and comforter; but Ethel saw that her sister's soul w
the little ones. Now you wou
d not you? and
ood for small childre
you are twenty-three years old, and I won't tell you anythi
hel; of course you always tell
mooth open brow, 'Very well then, go and do whatever comes to hand at Bankside, my dear. I do really want to stay at home, both
er father whispered that it was old Mr. Axworthy, and sent her at once to the nursery, where she was welcomed with a little shriek of delight, each child bounding in
thoughts. It was rather disappointing. The little sisters had evidently been well and religiously taught, but they were too childish to dwell on thoughts of awe or grief, and the small minds were chiefly fixed upon the dolls, as the one bright spot in the dreary day. Mary yielded, and worked and answered the
us while we go to sle
ow, for she asked the difficult question, 'Can mamma see us now?' which Mary could only answer with a tender 'Perhaps,' and
holding out their arms, made a proffer of themselves to be her
mind that they belonged to their brother and sister; but
m Dr. May's child, you know
d! Mamma says there was never any one so fond of littl
lead them upwards, finally betaking herself to the repetition of hymns, which put them to sleep. She had spent some time in sitting between them in the summer darkness, when there was a low ta
ve only just got r
were busy with pap
very well; and is full of
They want to make themselves a present t
another thing; he and Averil will look after them; and he made a most right answer when Mr. Axworthy offered to take Leonard into his office,' proceeded the communicative Doctor, unable to help pouring himself out, in spite of time and pl
ncautiously emphatic, was a glance round all
to get home?' said the
there is anyt
l end in being hysterical if she does not get fed and rested, and then we shall be done for! Now I want you to take charge of her. See, here's her room, and I have ordered up some tea for her. You must get her quieted down, make her have a tolerable meal, and when she has worked off her excitement,
lly magnifying the task, and diminishing her own capabilities, she simply felt
g to send
ive Averil any
hops, if
ile, or anything t
rls drugging themselves. You
ing nothing Ethel more detested than what she rather rudely called nervous q
e luxurious than what she ever saw, except when visiting with Flora, and so new as to tell a tale of the mother's fond preparation for the return of the daughter from school. In a few moments she heard her father saying, in a voice as if spe
trasted with her heated, rumpled, over-watched appearance, as she sank her head on her hand, not noticing either Mary's presence or t
ch darker than her profuse and glossy hair, which was always dressed in the newest and most stylish fashion, which, as well as the whole air of her dress and pe
lids and lips, a dried-up appearance, and a heated oppressed air, as if the faculties were deadened and burnt up, though her hand was cold and trembling. Her hair, still in its elaborate arrangement, hung loose, untidy, untouched; her collar and sleeves were soiled and tumbled; her
e warm water, and bringing it with a spon
her burning brow, that she could not resist; she put her head back, a
ight heavy dress, and make her c
Then I could
ress; besides, one can move so muc
aps Dr. May would let me go back now!' as a mountain of mohair and scarlet
and by; but he said
There's no one but m
e. You don't know what good it used to do my sist
st thought she was brushing her victim to sleep in her chair, b
d Averil, with almost d
t the way you use me, Miss Ward, w
ardon,' was the m
come, and entertain her hostess; and strenuously she worked, letting the dry lips imbibe a cup of tea, before she attempted the solids; then coaxing and commanding, she gained her point, and succeeded in causing a f
ldered smile, as Mary filled up her cup for her.
a sister. You know I have known something of like
t,' said Averil, passing her hands over
and that is bett
he difference it might have mad
een a wonderful nurse, considering-' the
. Even when I scalded his fingers with bringing him that boiling water-but I
d can't hold out for ever. People must s
is only one:'
t is because you are tired out that you get nervous an
l, with her eyes rounded, 'are
ou mean?'
'They sent me away from mamma-they told me papa wanted me: then they sent me from him; they sa
hat sent you without telling
said A
gue about what they called pious frauds, and he always said they were want of faith. You may trust him. He told me Leonard was in the state wh
dding, and after one or two vibrations in her chair, she looked up with lustreless glassy eyes. Mary took one of these semi-wakened moments, and in the tone of caressing authori
s. He durst not move, but he smiled and nodded satisfaction; and Mary, after tidying the room, and considering with herself, took off her more cumbrous garments, wrapped herself in a cloak, and lay down beside Averil, not expecting to sleep, but passing to thoughts of Harry, and of that 23rd Psalm, which they had agreed to say at the same hour every night. By how many hours was Harry beforehand with her? That was a calculation that
nd regularly, so that it was; a pleasure to listen to her; and Mary did not fear wak
ead came to her. 'Asleep still? So is he. Al
nstantaneously sound asleep, before his startled daughter had quite taken everything in; but she had only to glance at his
st move, it was only to secure a fuller view of the patient, from whom she was half cut off by a curtain at the foot of the bed. A sort of dread, however, made Mary gaze at everything around her before she brought her eyes upon him-her father's watch on the table, indicating ten minute
ut what did fill her with a certain apprehension, was the new and lofty beauty of expression that sat on that sleeping countenance. 'A nice boy,' 'rather a handsome lad,' 'a boy of ingenuous face,' they had always called Leonard Ward, when animated with health and spirits; and the friendship between him and Aubrey had been encouraged, but without thinking of him as more than an ordinary lad of good style. Now, however, to Mary's mind, the broad brow and wasted features in their rest had assumed a calm
of birds, the humming of bees, the calls of boys in distant fields, the far-away sound of waggon-wheels-when there was a slight move, and Mary, in the tension of all her fa
Leonard's had had time to unclose; and as Mary was sil
curtain. 'You are b
nk you-mu
silently brought it, and as quietly obeyed the finger that directed her to cordial and spoon-well kno
n here all ni
lad to see you s
s in the tone of that 'Thank you.' The Doctor held out his hand for the spo
. She is quite well; but
boy; then with a moment's pa
ings; but a constraining gesture of her father obliged her to r
Dr. May, bending over him-and Mary w
e faint to
Dr. May in his lowest, tenderest tones, putting his ha
eness of those words made Mary eager to put
their being together;' and Mary h
dial was swallowed; then a pause, and
is the best
or knelt down, and said the Lord's Prayer-the orphan's p
reaming over his face, and holding back the curtain, showed Mary the boy, again sunk into that sweet refreshing sleep. 'That is well over,' he said, w
ary, repressing her agi
ver; and you may tell his