Much anxious consultation on the part of friends and well-wishers resulted in the halting one day outside Mrs. Andrews’ door of a cab, from which descended a neat, bright-eyed little woman in the uniform of a hospital nurse. It was, indeed, no other than the district nurse from the town of Branston, who, at the request of the authorities, had undertaken to escort Maria to the Union.
Mrs. Andrews met her on the doorstep.
“I’ve got her ready,” she said, in an agitated whisper. “She’s dressed all but her bonnet and shawl, and they’re quite handy, but I haven’t had the heart to tell her yet. It do seem hard for a poor old body. I d’ ’low it’s cruel hard.”
“You want me to tell her, in fact,” said the nurse. “Well, it all comes in the day’s work, I suppose, and we can’t keep the cab waiting.”
She went into the kitchen, and sat down by the small shrunken figure in the elbow-chair. Unpleasant tasks had frequently fallen to Nurse Margaret’s lot during the course of her professional career: she had had to announce impending bereavement to many an anxious family; she had not infrequently given a truthful answer to those patients who, already in the death-throes, had asked if their end were near; but never yet had she been called upon to perform a duty so painful as that of making this honest, decent, gentle, little old woman realise that she was to end her days in the workhouse.
She did realise it, though. Nurse Margaret saw the wrinkled face blanch, and the mouth quiver, and the eyes grow wide with horror and alarm; and then, just as she was preparing for an outburst of tears and protests, she saw, to her surprise, the poor old creature brace herself, and presently the answer came, given with a certain quiet dignity:—
“Well, Miss, I’ll come. I don’t wish to be a burden to nobody. ’Twon’t be for long, very like.”
Mrs. Andrews came out of her entrenchment behind the door, and tied on Maria’s bonnet and shawl, with many tears and inarticulate apologies.
“Don’t ’ee take on, my dear,” said Maria, with the same gentle dignity. “It bain’t none o’ your fault. I’m very thankful to ye for what you’ve done.”
“When I’m over my trouble I’ll come to see you,” gasped the good hostess, whose face was glazed with ineffectual grief. “They’ll—they’ll take good care of ye there, I’m told; and maybe better times will come, and we can get ’ee out again.”