She went from room to room. They had removed every trace of a child's presence as people do when the dead are laid away.
"I want every thing put back in its place," she said,—"his bed, his chair, his playthings. They must be ready for him when he comes." Then, as Mrs. Pennybacker looked up with quick apprehension, she said with a smile, "No, it is not fever; it is faith. I thought it all out while I was at the hospital. God will never let me lose my child."
When Judge Kirtley came she talked it over with a calm cheerfulness that amazed him,—listening to his report of what had been done and putting in now and then a question which showed her mind to be clear and alert. While she was helpless Judge Kirtley had not been idle. His next move, he told her, would be to attack the validity of the law upon which the will rested. Since the will itself had been sustained by the Probate Court, and that decision had been practically reaffirmed by the court which had just awarded the custody of the child to the guardian, and they had no new evidence to offer, this seemed to him their best show. In all his practice he had never known a case of this kind before, and he proposed now to test the law. He had associated with himself a firm of successful attorneys in middle life who were working upon the case with much interest.
"We may not see the end of this for a long time, my child, but when we do I expect to have a decision in your favor."
"It will be."
She said it with such implicit confidence that he felt impelled to say, remembering her former hopefulness and its disastrous overthrow, "Still, it is always wise to look the possibility of defeat in the face."
"No," she said, "I will not look the possibility of defeat in the face. Some day I will get him." It seemed almost as if her faith were inspired.
The court had provided that she should see the child at stated intervals, he told her. Philip was now at Mr. De Jarnette's country home, and was, he was informed, well and happy.
Her lips tightened. "I will go to him to-day," she said.
"Margaret, if this thing could be settled out of court it would save you a great deal of anxiety and tedious waiting. It is just possible that having been successful, Mr. De Jarnette might be in a compromising frame of mind. Sometimes it works that way. Could you make up your mind to see him yourself?"