"I am so surprised, dazed, I can't think; it is most generous!"
"Not generous; we expect to receive all that we give; yet we won't be selfish, either. I don't ask you to give Molly up at all, in one sense— only to let us share with you in her love, and take from you all expense and care."
"Dear Mrs. Macon, you are a mother to us now—have been from the first day I saw you—and Molly is a happy girl to have won your approbation! She shall decide this matter for herself; I will consent to whatever she wishes."
"Then will you tell her, Sara? I want her to decide unbiassed by my presence;" to which Sara readily agreed.
But when told, Molly was even more amazed than her sister had been, and at first ran and clung to her, like a child about to be torn from its mother's arms.
The almost involuntary action touched Sara deeply, and for a moment the sisters remained locked in a close embrace, each sobbing uncontrollably. After a little they grew more quiet, and talked the matter over in all its bearings, and Sara could see that the idea pleased the child.
"If it was to give you and Morton up, I'd never consent," she said decidedly, "but it isn't. Mrs. Macon is just as fond of you as of me, Sara, and all the difference is that now you and Robert can marry without worrying over my future."
"We have never worried, dear; lay that up to Robert's credit, and remember that his offer of a home to you and Morton was as hearty and sincere as Mrs. Macon's own. I should not have been so fond and proud of him otherwise."
Molly, sitting affectionately on her sister's knee, toyed with her hair a moment, then said diffidently,—
"Sara."