So, without fear, without hesitation, she rose and unbarred the door. There, against the moonlight, stood a form, so closely resembling her dead mother, that Mary never doubted the identity, but exclaiming (as if she were a terrified child, secure of safety when near the protecting care of its parent)—
"Oh! mother! mother! You are come at last!"
She threw herself, or rather fell, into the trembling arms of her long-lost, unrecognised aunt Esther.
CHAPTER XXI.
ESTHER'S MOTIVE IN SEEKING MARY.
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"My rest is gone, My heart is sore, Peace find I never, And never more." Margaret's Song in "Faust." |
I must go back a little to explain the motives which caused Esther to seek an interview with her niece.
The murder had been committed early on Thursday night, and between then and the dawn of the following day there was ample time for the news to spread far and wide among all those whose duty, or whose want, or whose errors, caused them to be abroad in the streets of Manchester.
Among those who listened to the tale of violence was Esther.