“Fair!” she exclaimed, and the girl answered, in a cheerful tone:
“You have overslept yourself, mother.”
“Is that it? I feel very weak, dear. I do not want to rise just yet.”
“That is all right, darling. Lie still, and I will give you a cup of warm tea and a slice of toast. Then you may go to sleep again if you wish.”
She was glad to see that her mother seemed to relish the repast. She finished it and lay down upon her pillow; then Fair asked anxiously:
“Do you feel well enough for me to leave you and go to work?”
She knew, poor girl, that her purse was utterly empty. The last of her wages had been expended in the purchase of the fatal wedding dress.
“Yes, darling, you may go. Heaven bless you, my good, patient child,” she added, just as a loud, startling rap sounded on the door.
CHAPTER X.
A SUDDEN BEREAVEMENT.
Neither Fair nor her mother had heard any footstep at the door, and the loud, sudden rap startled them so that Mrs. Fielding fell back on her pillow with a cry of alarm, and Fair dropped the little brown hat she was about to place on her curly head, and started violently as she called out: