‘Oh! hush, Ombra, hush!—you don’t think what you are saying,’ said her mother.
‘You see now, at least, what a mistake it would have been to take her into our confidence, mamma. It would have been fatal. I am so thankful I stood out. If she had us in her power now what should we have done?’ Ombra added, more calmly, after the first irritation was over.
But Mrs. Anderson shook her head.
‘It is never wise to deceive anyone; harm always comes of it,’ she said, sadly.
‘To deceive! Is it deceiving to keep one’s own secrets?’
‘Harm always comes of it,’ answered Mrs. Anderson, emphatically.
And after all was still in the house, and everybody asleep, she stole through the dark passage in her dressing-room, and opened Kate’s door softly, and went in and kissed the girl in her bed. Kate was not asleep, and the tears were wet on her cheeks. She caught the dark figure in her arms.
‘Oh! forgive me. I am so ashamed of myself!’ she cried.
Mrs. Anderson kissed her again, and stole away without a word. ‘Forgive her! It is she who must forgive me. Poor child! poor child!’ she said, in her heart.