All at once she started up and uttered a faint cry. Some one had passed swiftly through her door, and was approaching the bed. She saw the face, as it crossed the window, and sank to the pillow again.
"Mamma Rachael, is it you?" she gasped.
Lady Hope sat down on the edge of the bed. She seemed deathly cold; but there was a far-off look in her eyes, as the moonlight fell upon them, which seemed unnatural to the girl.
Clara put back the bed-clothes and reached out her arms; for Lady Hope was in her night-dress, and her feet were uncovered.
"Come into bed, mamma Rachael; you shiver so."
Lady Hope took no heed, but arose slowly from the bed, and, going to a dressing-table, poured some water from a ewer that stood there, and began to wash her hands.
Clara could see her in the moonlight, and sat up in the bed, afraid and wondering.
"Mamma, mamma Rachael," she faltered, terrified by the sound of her voice, "why are you staying out in the cold like that?"
Lady Hope shook the drops from her fingers, and leaving the table, began to pace the floor. At last Clara sprang from the bed and took hold of her.
Every nerve in the woman's body seemed to quiver under that touch; she uttered a shrill cry, and clung to the girl to save herself from falling.