So Grace Gaston was true to her trust and faithful to the charge she had placed upon herself. No mother more seriously considered the training and culture of her daughter. She felt all the anxiety of her responsible task and looked to a certain result. On her faithful and intelligent arrangement and preparation depended the life happiness of two of her friends. And on the desired result hung the expiation of the blame she could not rid herself of.
"Marie, I am finishing my letter to Mr. Winslow. What is there from your father he would like to hear?"
"Père wrote to me that Len Lawson had lost a good deal of his money trying to improve the Blue Vein mine. It is not so good now, as the vein is very small, and the stone is not so fine. Len has had the water fever for some time, and between the two he is changing."
"I have told him that you think you cannot leave your father for so long a time again. He does not show any sign of decline, but as he is so old you think that you should not be away from him so much."
"Yes, and père hopes to see Mr. Winslow this year."
"I will tell him so. I think that we will see him this year."
"It is late for him to return from that country, is it not?"
"Yes, but he says that he will have to come south at once."
"Why does he return this year? He said that it would take him another year to complete his work."
"Yes, he wrote to me that he could not expect to come home before next summer."