She recollected that she must act her part, dressed in the morning and came down; but her looks were ghastly; she tasted no food, and as soon as possible left the breakfast-room. Her mother was going in quest of her when old nurse came with an anxious face to say,—‘Ma’am, I am afraid Miss Edmonstone must be very ill, or something. Do you know, ma’am, her bed has not been slept in all night?’
‘You don’t say so, nurse!’
‘Yes, ma’am, Jane told me so, and I went to look myself. Poor child, she is half distracted about Master Philip, and no wonder, for they were always together; but I thought you ought to know, ma’am, for she will make herself ill, to a certainty.’
‘I am going to see about her this moment, nurse,’ said Mrs. Edmonstone; and presently she found Laura wandering up and down the shady walk, in the restlessness of her despair.
‘Laura, dearest,’ said she, putting her arm round her, ‘I cannot bear to see you so unhappy.’
Laura did not answer; for though solitude was oppressive, every one’s presence was a burthen.
‘I cannot think it right to give way thus,’ continued her mother. ‘Did you really sit up all night, my poor child?’
‘I don’t know. They did so with him!’
‘My dear, this will never do. You are making yourself seriously unwell.’
‘I wish—I wish I was ill; I wish I was dying!’ broke from Laura, almost unconsciously, in a hoarse, inward voice.