"Poor child! and then for this terrible trouble to come! No wonder you are both changed."
"Do you think her changed?" Mrs. Costello asked in alarm. "She has been so brave."
"She has grown to look much older and as if she thought too much; that is all. And that is no wonder."
Mrs. Costello was silent for a moment. She knew that Lucia had had another burden, especially her own, to bear, and it seemed to her that Mrs. Bellairs must know or guess something of it too. If she did, it would be as well for her to know the exact truth. She made up her mind at once.
"I found that it was necessary to tell her," she said, "just before Mr. Percy went away."
Mrs. Bellairs looked at her inquiringly.
"I was afraid," she answered, "that he was likely to cause you some uneasiness."
"He did more than that," Mrs. Costello said. "He gave Lucia her first hard thoughts of her mother. But after all I may be doing him injustice. Did you know that he really wanted to carry her away with him?"
"He did! And she refused him?"
"She refused him, when she knew her own position, and the impossibility of her marrying him."