Mrs. Whittredge lifted her head. Her face was drawn and white.
"I cannot forget," she said; "it is my misery. But I have no wish to make other lives as unhappy as my own. Will you believe me when I say I regret the wrong I did, and that I want to interfere with no one's happiness hereafter?"
"I will believe it," Celia said, holding out her hand.
Mrs. Whittredge did not refuse it; but her own was very cold in Celia's clasp. Drawing her veil over her face, without another word she left the house.
Celia sat still, dazed by the sudden onward sweep of things. A meaning, a possible motive, beneath Mrs. Whittredge's words occurred to her as her heart began to beat more quietly. "To interfere with no one's happiness hereafter." Could Allan—but no, she would not let herself think it. She would stay in the Forest, and work and wait, and trust in its beneficent spell.
CHAPTER TWENTY-EIGHTH.
BETTER THAN DREAMS.
| "I like this place, |
| And willingly could waste my time in it." |
The engagement of Miss Betty Bishop and Dr. Hollingsworth was announced. As Miss Betty said, there was no use in trying to keep it a secret with Mrs. Parton spreading her suspicions abroad.