“This is the young woman whom you so wished to see, Mrs Chopper, is it not?” said Mrs Phillips. “I am not surprised at your longing for her, for she appears well suited for a companion in such an hour; and, alas! how, few there are! Sit down, I request,” continued Mrs Phillips, turning to Mary. “How do you find yourself to-day, Mrs Chopper?”
“Sinking fast, dear madam, but not unwilling to go, since I have seen Nancy, and heard of my poor Peter; he wrote to Nancy a short time ago. Nancy, don’t forget my love to Peter.”
Emma Phillips, who had now grown tall and thin, immediately went up to Mary, and said, “Peter was the little boy who was with Mrs Chopper; I met him on the road when he first came to Gravesend, did I not?”
“Yes, miss you did,” replied Mary.
“He used to come to our house sometimes, and very often to meet me as I walked home from school. I never could imagine what became of him, for he disappeared all at once without saying good-bye.”
“He was obliged to go away, miss. It was not his fault; he was a very good boy, and is so still.”
“Then pray remember me to him, and tell him that I often think of him.”
“I will, Miss Phillips, and he will be very happy to hear that you have said so.”
“How did you know that my name was Phillips? O, I suppose poor Mrs Chopper told you before we came.”
Mrs Phillips had now read some time to Mrs Chopper, and this put an end to the conversation between Mary and Emma Phillips. It was not resumed. As soon as the reading was over, Mrs Phillips and her daughter took their leave.