"It is not mine," said Bernardine, simply; "it is my husband's, and represents all the years of toil he has worked, and all the rigid economy he has practiced."
The girl looked at her keenly. Could it be that she was simple enough to believe that the man who had deserted her so cruelly had married her? Well, let her believe what she chose, it was no business of hers.
The bowl of bread and milk and the cup of tea were sent up to Bernardine, and she disposed of them with a heartiness that amused her companion.
"I am afraid you will not sleep well after eating so late," she said, with a great deal of anxiety in her voice.
"I shall rest all the better for taking the hot milk. I fall asleep generally as soon as my head touches the pillow, and I do not wake until the next morning. Why, if the house tumbled down around me, I believe that I would not know it. I will remove my jacket, to keep it from wrinkling."
This information seemed to please her companion. She breathed a sigh of relief, and an ominous glitter crept into her small black eyes.
"But I do not want to go to sleep to-night," added Bernardine in the next breath. "I shall sit by the window, with my face pressed against the pane, watching for my—my husband."
Her companion, who had introduced herself as Margery Brown, cried out hastily:
"Don't do that. You will look like a washed-out, wilted flower by to-morrow, if you do, and your—your husband won't like that. Men only care for women when they are fresh and fair. Go to bed, and I will sit up and watch for you, and wake you when he comes; though it's my opinion he won't come until to-morrow, for fear of disturbing you."
But Bernardine was firm in her resolve.