“No, I had not heard. I am so sorry for you, but it must have been a comfort to know that you could be with her all these last months of her life.”
“It was my comfort and hers, too, I think.”
There was silence for a moment. The girl’s brain was in a whirl. He was glad to see her, but ah, if he were to be married, she must not show him how glad she was. “I have just heard a piece of news,” she said at last.
“Yes? I hope it is good news. Where did you learn it?”
“From Polly. You know the blacksmith’s shop is only second to the store in being a place for choice bits of gossip.”
“And your news?”
“I heard that Archie M’Clean is to marry a rich widow of Pittsburg.”
Parker started forward and grasped Agnes’s hands again. “Then you are not going to marry him?”
“I cannot very well, it seems,” she laughed lightly. “Oh, don’t be afraid for me, Mr. Willet; I am not heart-broken, nor even unhappy!”
“I am glad of that, yet—”