"And I must go alone! Most near and dear,
I cannot hope to have thee with me here!
I know that thou wilt watch me to the last,
Till all sweet ministries of love be past,
And we shall not be separated long—
But 'Love is strong as Death,' and Death is strong."
—From "Heart to Heart."
YES, Chris was enjoying herself. There was not the smallest doubt about that. Barbara read her letters through, with a smile on her lips and a light in her eye.
"I am so thankful that she is having this change," she said to Jean. "Chris has never had any pleasure like it before. It will do her a world of good."
"Now," said Jean, "if she sees some nice Scotchman up there, and gets engaged to be married, would you be glad, Barbara?"
"Oh, I hope I should; yes, I am sure I should," was the hurried reply.
Then, after a pause, Barbara said rather nervously, "What is this Dr. Fergusson like, Jean? Chris seems to mention him so often."
Jean felt her heart give a thump against her ribs. She knew at once what was in Barbara's mind, and for the first time, wondered what she would feel like if Chris captivated the doctor's heart.
"He—he is a very good man, I know," she replied, steadying her voice with an effort. "Every one likes him."
Barbara said no more, but Jean passed a sleepless night with useless conjectures as to the possibility of Chris and the doctor taking a liking to each other. "Of course, she cannot fail to like him!" argued Jean, in deep depression of spirits. "And she is so bright and good tempered, so unselfish and so unaffected, that he is very likely to care for her. She will make him a good wife, and I shall have the satisfaction of knowing that I have brought about the match. Oh—" here she flung herself face downwards on her pillow and gripped it with both hands in the intensity of her feelings—"it will be hard—very hard to bear!"
She applied herself with extra vigour to her household tasks, and more than once Barbara remonstrated with her.