"Am I quite a stranger still?"
"No. I did not mean to hurt your feelings. But I seem to be cut off from everybody."
"Except One—who is always near. Never cut off from Him."
Cecilia stirred uneasily.
"Somebody else said so. I forget who. So many voices have come to me, one time and another. I cannot always distinguish them. My mother's voice for one; and it brought back things I had forgotten. But I do not talk. It is not my way. I told Mr. Kelly so."
"Mr. Kelly!"
"He has a Church in Brighton. I do not care for him; though he means well."
A red spot rose to either of Prue's cheeks, and there remained. She half said, "What Mr. Kelly?" but checked herself.
"He would not let me alone. People will not, I do not choose to be interfered with; and he interfered. Still, of course he was kind. He found employment for Felix; and he came to see me. He would have come oftener, if I had allowed it. But I cannot talk of myself to anybody and everybody."
"The less we talk of ourselves the better, perhaps," suggested Prue. "He is a clergyman, then?"