“It was to have been expected. She was nearly a century old. It is well!”
CHAPTER XLVIII
OLD ZILLAH
“She has come to life,” said Wynnette, quoting the words of the departed woman.
All looked at the girl in some surprise. With all her oddities, Wynnette was not used to make such speeches as that. And now, for the first time, they noticed that Wynnette’s face was very pale, with dark circles under her eyes.
“What is the matter with you, my dear?” inquired her mother.
“Nothing at all, mamma,” answered the girl.
“She sat by the open window late last night and fell asleep there, and slept until I woke her up this morning. That was quite enough to make her ill,” Odalite explained.
“Nay, my dear; in such fine June weather as the present, and in such pure air as ours, it would hardly have hurt her had she slept outdoors,” said the earl. “But what do you mean, my dear, by saying that our poor Old Zillah ‘has come to life’?” he inquired, as he turned to the girl.
“Nothing heterodox, uncle. Nothing but what we hear from our pulpits on every Easter Sunday morning,” she replied.
“Oh!” he exclaimed.