“As he truly said, ‘As long as she has anyone to care for, she will never break down.’ Luckily, I was entirely knocked up for a few days just at first; and coming home we had a poor young woman on board very ill, and Emily nursed her day and night.”
“And now you will bring her to Fanny and me to take care of.”
“Thank you—another time. But, old fellow, I don’t know whether we either of us could stand your house full of children yet. Emily would be always among them, and think she liked it; but I knew how it would be. It was just so when I took her to a kind friend of ours after the little girls were taken; she had the children constantly with her, but I never saw her so ill as she was afterwards.”
“Reaction! Well, whenever you please; you shall have your rooms to yourselves, and only see us when you like. But I don’t mean to press you; only, what are you going to do next?”
“I can hardly tell. There are business matters of our own, and about poor James’s little girl, to keep us here a little while.” (“Who is that?” thought Kate.)
“Then you must go into our house. I was in hopes it might be so, and told the housekeeper to make ready.”
“Thank you; if Emily— We will see, when she comes in I want to make up my mind about that child. Have you seen much of her?”
Kate began to think honour required her to come forward, but her heart throbbed with fright.
“Not so much as I could wish. It is an intelligent little monkey, and our girls were delighted with her; but I believe Barbara thinks me a corrupter of youth, for she discountenances us.”
“Ah! one of the last times I was alone with Giles, he said, smiling, ‘That little girl in Bruton Street will be just what Mamma wants;’ and I know Emily has never ceased to want to get hold of the motherless thing ever since Mrs. Wardour’s death. I know it would be the greatest comfort to Emily, but I only doubted taking the child away from my sisters. I thought it would be such a happy thing to have Jane’s kind heart drawn out; and if Barbara had forgiven the old sore, and used her real admirable good sense affectionately, it would have been like new life to them. Besides, it must make a great difference to their income. But is it possible that it can be the old prejudice, De la Poer? Barbara evidently dislikes the poor child, and treats her like a state prisoner!”