"But I must talk of it: I like to have my curiosity gratified," she said, in her quick way. "Did the doctors say from the first that there was no hope?"
"Mamma knew there was no hope when she wrote to you. She had told me so the day before."
"I wonder she told you at all."
"Oh, Selina! that fortnight was too short for the leave-taking; for all she had to say to me. It will be years, perhaps, before we meet again."
"Meet again! Meet where?"
"In Heaven!"
"You are a strange child!" exclaimed Selina, looking at me very steadfastly. "Ursula has infected you, I see, with her serious notions. I used to tell her there was time enough for it years hence."
"And mamma used to tell you that perhaps, if you put off and put off, the years hence might never come for you, Selina."
"What! you remember that, do you?" she said, with a smile. "Yes, she used to lecture me; she was fifteen years older than I, and assumed the right to do so."
"Mamma never lectured; what she said was always kind and gentle," was my sobbing answer.