"Oh, darling Cora," she purred, "you do not know—you cannot even fancy—the ineffable sense of repose I feel in being here, after all the turbulence of the past year. You read my letter to your dearest grandfather?"
"From that you must have seen to what straits I was reduced. Think! After having sold everything I possessed in the world—even all my clothing, except two changes for necessary cleanliness—to pay my board; after trying in every direction to get honest work to do; I was in daily fear of being told to leave the hotel because I could not pay my board."
"That was very sad! but was it not very expensive—for you—living at the Wirt House? Would it not have been better, under your circumstances, to have taken cheaper board?"
"Perhaps so, dear; but Captain Stillwater had always made his home at the Wirt House when his ship was in port, and had always left me there when his ship sailed, so that I felt at home in the house, you see."
"Yes, I see," said Mrs. Rothsay.
"Oh, my fondly cherished darling—you, loved, sheltered, caressed—you, rich, admired, and flattered—cannot understand or appreciate the trials and sufferings of a poor woman in my position and circumstances. Think, darling, of my condition in that city, where I was homeless, friendless, penniless, in daily fear of being sent from the house for inability to pay my board!"
"I am sorry to hear all this," said Cora. And then she was prompted to add: "But where was Mr. Fabian Rockharrt? He was your earliest friend. He first introduced you to my grandfather. He never lost sight of you after you left us, but corresponded with you frequently, and gave us news of you from time to time. Surely, Mrs. Stillwater, had he known your straits, he would have found some way of setting you up in some business. He never would have allowed you to suffer privation and anxiety for a whole year."
While Cora spoke she fixed her eyes on the face of her listener. But Rose Stillwater was always perfect mistress of herself. Without the slightest change in countenance or voice, she answered sweetly:
"Why, dear love, of course I did write to Mr. Fabian first of all, and told him of the death of my dear husband, and asked him if he could help me to get another situation as primary teacher in a school or as a nursery governess."