“It was quite a severe stroke.”
“And if I should have another?”
“We won’t think of that just now. You must eat what you can of nourishing food.”
Mrs. Boyd glanced up at the doctor with beseeching eyes—
“It is best that I shouldn’t live—”
“For your daughter’s sake.” Dr. Kendricks felt almost ashamed of the platitude. A helpless burden on a young girl, a poor, weak woman.
“It is for her sake. She has found a good friend in Mrs. Barrington, and I can do no more. I did what I thought best then, but I did it for the sake of my aching, lonely heart. But for the child I believe I must have died then. Doesn’t God forgive when you do what seems best?”
There was anguish in every line of the wasted face.
“God knows the motive of every deed, and if it is done in single mindedness, in love and charity he will accept.”
“It was done in love. You see, her mother was dead. There was no one to claim her. Oh, what am I saying! Go away, you can do nothing for me,” and she turned her face over to the wall.