“Fanny dear! I shall have horses to the carriage to-day, to go and call on these Hales. Should not you go and see nurse? It’s in the same direction, and she’s always so glad to see you. You could go on there while I am at Mrs. Hale’s.”
“Oh! mamma, it’s such a long way, and I am so tired.”
“With what?” asked Mrs. Thornton, her brow slightly contracting.
“I don’t know—the weather, I think. It is so relaxing. Couldn’t you bring nurse here, mamma? The carriage could fetch her, and she could spend the rest of the day here, which I know she would like.”
Mrs. Thornton did not speak; but she laid her work on the table, and seemed to think.
“It will be a long way for her to walk back at night!” she remarked, at last.
“Oh, but I will send her home in a cab. I never thought of her walking.”
At this point, Mr. Thornton came in, just before going to the mill.
“Mother! I need hardly say, that if there is any little thing that could serve Mrs. Hale as an invalid, you will offer it, I’m sure.”
“If I can find it out, I will. But I have never been ill myself, so I am not much up to invalids’ fancies.”