‘No, you were older and besides, you have some originality in a sober way; and don’t imagine Miss Fennimore had the sore heart at the bottom—the foolishness that took to moaning after home as soon as it had cast it off past recall!’
‘Oh, Lucy! not past recall!’
‘Not past pardon, I am trying to hope. At least, there are some people who, the more unpardonable one is, pardon the more readily. When Owen comes home, I mean to try.’
‘Ah! I saw you had been going through a great deal.’
‘No, no, don’t charge my looks on sentiment,’ said Cilla, hastily; ‘there’s plenty to account for them besides. One never falls into those foibles when one is quite strong.’
‘Then you have been unwell?’
‘Not to the point of giving in. Oh, no! “Never say die” was always my motto, you know.’
‘To what point, dear Lucy?’
‘To that of feeling as if the entire creation was out of joint—not one child here and there, but everybody was cross; and I could not walk with the children, and my bones ached, and all that sort of thing.’
‘You had advice?’