"Let me go," said Fred's wife. "Belle ought to be at the funeral, and she must."
"Do, Hatty. If Margaret is insensible it cannot matter who takes care of her, if it is only one of the family."
There was no time to lose, and Fred and Hatty hurried off. Fred had only time to land, find the fisherman's cottage where Margaret lay, and almost force Belle away, leaving his wife in her place.
"It was very, very kind in Hatty," Belle said, as the steamer pushed off. "I will relieve her as soon as possible. How often it happens that the tide of grief is partially stayed by a rush of care. I have been so absorbed in Margaret that I have hardly had time to think of myself."
"Can she be made comfortable in that little cottage?"
"They are very kind people who live there; and then as to comfort, she would not know if she was in a palace. The physician who attends her says the brain has received a severe shock and is very doubtful as to what the result will be. But she has a strong constitution, and I think she will live."
"And where?"
Belle turned upon him a look full of astonishment.
"I had not thought of that," she said. "Why, she would come to me, I suppose."
"It would be a great change for her, and interrupt her studies, and put miles between her and any studio," said Fred.