“I long for your help and comfort, but leave the decision entirely in your hands. Every one is good and sympathetic, and the pater has had most kind letters from his friends in town. We have this great comfort that his good name is untarnished, and that there is no shadow of disgrace in our misfortune. God bless you, my darlings! If we are rich in nothing else, we are rich in our love for one another.—Your devoted Mother.”
The girls looked at each other in a long, breathless silence. Ruth laid her hand across her heart with a little gasp of pain.
“Oh, mother! Poor little mother! And we are away, we who should be her best comforters! There is only one thing to do,—we must go home at once!”
“Yes,” assented Mollie firmly, “we must go home to-morrow.”
Chapter Thirty One.
A Fateful Decision.
It was all decided. The interview with Uncle Bernard was over, the last farewells spoken, and the boxes packed in readiness to go to the station. In less than an hour the Court and its inhabitants would be a thing of the past.
Out of consideration for Mr Farrell’s health, the girls had decided not to tell him of their bad news until the morning.