"He is possessed with a devil,—the brandy-devil," said the doctor. "He will not live long, unless he changes his course. Van Horn has been the ruin of him, as he and his wife have been of so many others. She had the impudence to accost me in a store the other day, to ask about Madge, and took occasion to remark that she was very sorry: she had once seen a good deal of poor Mrs. Emerson; but, as things were now, she could not possibly think of going there. There were sad reports; and she feared Mrs. Emerson had been very imprudent, to say the least."
"The hypocrite!" exclaimed Letty. "The whole mischief is more of her doing than that of any one else. What did you say to her?"
"I gave her a piece of my mind," said the doctor, with grim significance. "I don't think she will speak to me again very soon. I have seen a good deal of wickedness and its effects among men in my day; and it is my firm conviction that no man on earth can be so wicked or so mischievous as a bad woman."
"She did Agnes more harm than any one else," said Letty. "Agnes was brought up to think dress and fashion and outside show of more consequence than any thing else in life. I remember when we were children and went to Sunday-school together, poor Aunt Train could never find time to see that Agnes had her lessons, though she could spend hours in ruffling and working her drawers and petticoats and flouncing her dresses, that she might look as nicely as Bessie and Jenny Dalton.
"My stepmother spent very few hours in ornamenting my clothes; but she always found time to go over my lessons with me and to be sure that I understood every word; and she was always ready to answer my questions, as far as she was able. Aunt used to say she neglected me, because I went so plainly dressed, and that it was very hard upon me to require a certain amount of work and sewing from such a little thing every day. Sometimes I thought so too, and envied Agnes her idleness; but, after all, I loved Mother Esther far better than Agnes did her own mother.
"But Agnes was much more serious about the time that Madge was born. She really seemed to wake up, in some degree, to the true meaning of life. And I think she might have been very different if Mrs. Van Horn had not got hold of her."
"I shall send Mary back to take care of poor Agnes to-night; and you had better go and see her to-morrow."
"I suppose Agnes ought not to talk a great deal?" said Letty.
"Talking will not hurt her, unless she grows too much excited," replied the doctor. "She will be the better for relieving her mind. What I most dread for her is her husband's return. I really wish he would stay away; but she was so anxious to see him once more, and her life hangs on such a thread, I could not deny her request to send for him. After all, nothing can make much difference. Good-night."
Early the next morning, Letty hastened to her cousin's bedside. She found Mary reigning supreme over the sick-room, which had greatly improved under her administration. The perfume-burner was banished, and the air came in fresh and sweet from the open window; while a look of order and tidiness had replaced the former crowded condition of the apartment.