"Much better and stronger, thank you, Lizzie. You are very kind to me, my dear."
"If you will let me, I will sleep with you."
Mrs. Lenoir offered no resistance to the proposal, and presently the girl and the woman were lying side by side.
"Don't mind waking me, Mrs. Lenoir, if you want me."
"No, my dear. Lizzie, you will not betray the confidence I am going to place in you. It will relieve me to speak it."
"Oh, I can keep a secret, Mrs. Lenoir."
"I believe," said Mrs. Lenoir very slowly, "that I have this night seen the face of my daughter."
"Then, you have a daughter!" cried Lizzie in a tone of delight.
"A daughter, my dear, whom I have not seen since she was a little child--and who they told me was dead. But I have seen her--I have seen her, if there is truth in nature! After all these years I have seen her--when she most needs a mother's care and counsel. I am praying now for the hours to pass quickly that I may fold her to my heart."
"Is she coming to you to-morrow, Mrs. Lenoir?"