“Well, she wanted to come right over to you, but I told her to wait until to-morrow. Was I right?”
Annie Laurie nodded.
“Get undressed now, poor one,” soothed Aunt Zillah. “See, I’ll open your bed and warm it for you. Put on this flannel nightgown, that’s a dear. And I’ll bring you a glass of milk—unless you want something heartier.”
It was wonderful, being petted like this. She had led a chilly life, had Annie Laurie. She had known kindness, but not, it must be confessed, warm love. Yet now Aunt Zillah’s compassion and affection wrapped her about like a cloak. How did the old song run?
“Come under my plaidie, the night’s gaun to fa’;
Come in frae the cauld blast, the drift and the snaw;
Come under my plaidie and sit down beside me,
There’s room in’t, dear lassie, believe me, for twa.”
Yes, she would get in under Aunt Zillah’s plaidie and she would let the dear old lady know that she was grateful to her for having asked her. So, when she had drunk the warm fresh milk and been tucked in her bed, she put her arms around Aunt Zillah’s wrinkled neck and gave her a long, long hug.
“We’ll never, never go back on each other, will we?” she whispered tremulously.
“Never, lass, never,” responded the old lady, the tears dripping from her eyes on Annie Laurie’s upturned face. So, sweetened by a sorrow, which was after all but a natural and right sorrow such as must come to all, Annie Laurie sank into the dead sleep of grief.
The next few days were blurred and strange. Friends came to the house. Flowers arrived in boxes. There were many telephone messages. The aunts were called up from the telegraph office. There was business to do at the cemetery; arrangements to make at the church. Through it all, Annie Laurie strove to do her part. There would be time enough for grieving afterward, she decided. The thing now was not to let too heavy a burden fall on her aunts, who were, as Annie Laurie seemed to discover for the first time, really getting to be old ladies.
But at last it all was over. The house was quiet and peaceful. And the help on the farm came to Miss Adnah for instructions.