"Dead—yes! I wish she had died twenty years ago! I wish she had never been born!" Mrs. Fielding burst out, furiously.
"But I thought you were fond of her, mamma!" Jewel exclaimed, in momentary wonder. Then a sudden light broke over her mind. "Ah, I remember now! Sam said she had a secret to tell you. Was it that secret which turned you against Maria?"
Mrs. Fielding gave a startled look, and muttered:
"Sam is a fool! There was no secret!"
"And she had nothing to tell you, mamma?"
"Nothing of any consequence. The old woman was in her dotage, and since she joined the Methodist Church she had persuaded herself that she was the vilest of sinners, and that she must confess all the petty sins of her life to me, or she would go to perdition. But there was nothing—nothing."
"But you said just now that you wished she had never been born, and your hair is white all in a few hours. There must be some awful reason for that," persisted Jewel, her curiosity thoroughly aroused; but Mrs. Fielding turned upon her defiantly.
"There is nothing, I tell you, except that I have been maddened with neuralgia all night, and that is reason enough for the change in my hair. Now go, and remember, no more questions about Maria's foolish secrets. Let them be buried in her grave!"
Jewel saw that the excited woman could bear no more, and retreated, muttering as she went: