Could he have overheard her conversation with Sally Leadbitter? They had whispered low, she thought. Pondering on this, and many other things, she reached Ancoats.
CHAPTER XXXV.
"FORGIVE US OUR TRESPASSES."
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"Oh, had he lived, Replied Rusilla, never penitence Had equalled his! full well I know his heart, Vehement in all things. He would on himself Have wreaked such penance as had reached the height Of fleshly suffering,—yea, which being told, With its portentous rigour should have made The memory of his fault, o'erpowered and lost In shuddering pity and astonishment, Fade like a feeble horror." Southey's "Roderick." |
As Mary was turning into the street where the Wilsons lived, Jem overtook her. He came upon her suddenly, and she started.
"You're going to see mother?" he asked tenderly, placing her arm within his, and slackening his pace.
"Yes, and you too. Oh, Jem, is it true? tell me."
She felt rightly that he would guess the meaning of her only half expressed inquiry. He hesitated a moment before he answered her.
"Darling, it is; it's no use hiding it—if you mean that I'm no longer to work at Duncombe's foundry. It's no time (to my mind) to have secrets from each other, though I did not name it yesterday, thinking you might fret. I shall soon get work again, never fear."