“You can always depend on me to carry her in and out, Mrs. Laurence. It is the least I can do.”
Then all the curious people that had been anxious about the matter, saw Mr. Smith and Mrs. Laurence shake hands over the fence, and they knew that cordial relations had been established between the cottage and the corner grocery.
This pleasant thought perhaps served to deepen the exquisite sense of enjoyment that pervaded the whole being of that gentle invalid, as she found herself moving in the open air for the first time almost in her life.
The easy motion; for Eva kept her ponies down to a soft unbroken trot; calmed her into a state of dreamy happiness. At first she was a little frightened by the noise of heavy wheels and the rush of life all around her; but Ruth had not won for herself such abiding faith in God’s mercy without putting some trust in human strength. She wondered at the cool dexterity with which Eva guided her pretty equipage through the streets, and shuddered a little now and then, as a carriage rushed by them, so near that it seemed as if there must be a clash of wheels; but this soon wore off, for, with a graceful sweep and a swifter trot the ponies turned into the park, and Ruth found herself in paradise.
Trees just tinged with the first frost of autumn, the grass soft and green as velvet, gleams of water here and there, flowers scattered along the drive, or clustering in gorgeous masses; above all a soft blue sky with snowy clouds heaped upon it, drifted to and fro by a mild south wind. Can anyone doubt that this was Heaven itself to that fair and gentle girl who had never in her whole life looked upon a scene of such beauty before; indeed had scarcely seen a tree that was not covered with dust from a city street, or a growing flower except the humble garden plants that bloomed around her own home.
“Oh, Eva, Eva! this is too beautiful! drive slower! drive slower! I cannot bear to see all these heavenly things pass away,” she would murmur, catching her breath with delight. “The water there; the water, let me look at it; let me feel the moist sweet air on my face.”
Eva would check her ponies and bend her smiling eyes on the invalid with loving satisfaction whenever she made a request of this kind; occasionally she would utter a little gleeful laugh at some question that a child would not have asked. Sometimes her eyes would fill with tears, as she felt the touching pathos of all this joy springing out of her sister’s utter isolation, which she in her health and beauty had scarcely comprehended before.
“What are those beautiful white creatures, Ruthy? Ah, indeed! how should you know? They are swans, dear; there now, watch them as they clear the water with their snow-white bosoms. See them arch their graceful necks and sail off toward the other shore scarcely caring to make way for the pretty boats that glide up and down with such sleepy stillness. Beautiful, you say, yes, indeed it is beautiful. I shall never get so used to it that every visit will not give me new delight.”
Ruth did not answer. Her heart was too full of new feelings. She drew a deep breath and closed her eyes. It all seemed like a dream that she wanted to impress on her brain.
That moment a landeau drove by in which was a lady and gentleman. Mrs. Lambert and her step-son, Ivon.