"No, Ann, you look ill. Don't trouble yourself to do anything. Go lie down and rest."
I assured her repeatedly that I was perfectly well; but she only smiled, and said in a commendatory tone,
"Good girl, good girl!"
All the morning I was fearfully nervous, starting at every little sound or noise. At length Miss Nancy became seriously uneasy, and compelled me to take a sedative.
As the day wore on, I began to grow calm. The sedative had taken effect, and my nervousness was allayed.
I took my sewing in the afternoon, and seated myself in Miss Nancy's room. Seeing that I was calm, she began a pleasant conversation with me.
"Henry will be here to-night, Ann, a free man, the owner of himself, the custodian of his own person, and you must put on your happiest and best looks to greet him."
"Ah, Miss Nancy, it seems like too much joy for me to realize. What if some grim phantom dash down this sparkling cup; just as we are about to press it to our eager and expectant lips? Such another disappointment I could not endure."
"You little goosey, you will mar half of life's joys by these idle fears."