"What is it?" said Molly at last; "don't—oh, don't keep us in suspense any longer!"
"Come into the next room, Molly, and I will tell you," said Miss Leicester. "Cecil, dear, you shall hear afterward; but if you will stay now quite quiet with dear Kate, you will be helping us best."
Cecil nodded, her eyes were bright, she gave Molly's hand a little squeeze, and Molly rose and followed her mistress into the other room.
The moment she got there, she began to speak with excitement.
"I know what you are going to tell me, and I can't bear it," she said. "Don't tell me, don't! Tell the others, but not me. I—I can't bear it! There is the cathedral near—let me go there. I—I know what you are going to say, but I can bear it best if I am just alone in the cathedral."
"You are excited, Molly, and carried out of yourself," said Miss Leicester. "That is not the best way to meet trouble."
"No, no!" answered poor Molly, "I know that. I am ashamed of myself. If things were different, I should not mind quite so much, but as they are—as they are—if Kate dies, I shall never be happy again."
"You and Kate have not been as perfect friends as you used to be," said Miss Leicester suddenly.
"No," answered Molly, "that is true, that is the bitter part of it all. Kate was angry with me; believing what she did, she had reason to be. I can't tell you, because it is a secret."
"Had it anything to do with Kate's speech on her birthday?"