“And were you pleased with my country?”
“Well, of course America is very different from England, and I like my own land best, although America has some grand scenery,” Lillian responded. “But mamma came near losing her life there in a terrible railway accident, and I was only too glad to get safely home again.”
“Oh!” said Virgie, with a quick indrawn breath, “I remember; we were on that very train. Is that Lady Linton your mother?”
“Yes; how strange that you should have been in that accident, too?” returned Lillian, greatly surprised. “Were you injured?”
“No; mamma and I both escaped unhurt, though my maid had one arm badly broken. I can just remember Lady Linton; mamma took me to see her just before we left the place; I was sure I had heard the name before, when Mr. Hamilton mentioned her to me one day last week, but I could not place it.”
“I wonder——” began Lillian, excitedly, and then she suddenly checked herself.
She was just upon the point of saying, “I wonder if your mother was the lady who was so kind to mamma while she was so ill.”
Lady Linton had been obliged to confirm her physician’s statements to her son when he arrived, that a brave woman had saved her life at the time of the accident, and then carefully and faithfully nursed her through a critical crisis afterward; but she pretended not to know her name and never mentioned her again, though Percy and his sister often spoke of the circumstance with considerable curiosity and interest.
Virgie raised questioning eyes, as Lillian cut herself short, and she felt compelled to complete her sentence in some way, so she said:
“I wonder there were not more lives lost at that time; it must have been a shocking accident. But have you seen Lady Dunforth’s Japanese curiosities, Miss Alexander?”