“My dear Anne,
“The news of your loss has just reached me. Before he died, my husband made me promise that if you were ever free, I would ask you to come to me. Will you come now? I am an old woman, and an invalid. In any case, before long I must have had a companion who would look after me, and nurse me when necessary. I cannot offer you a very cheerful home, but if you come you will be welcome.
“With sincere sympathy for the grief you have sustained,
“Believe me,
“Sincerely yours,
“Jane Burbage.”
On the next page, the last written page in the book, Anne read these words:—
“To-morrow I go to Fairholme Court. It is eighteen years since I saw it. I am now thirty years old, and what I said as a child is still true. Nothing has ever happened to me. Nothing will ever happen now. It is not surprising. I am very plain, and nothing happens to a plain woman who is also poor. I ought to be very grateful to Mrs. Burbage. She has probably saved me from starving. I am very grateful. But to-night I can’t feel anything except that I don’t care to go on living. If I were a religious woman I should think this sinful, but what I said as a child is still true. I don’t like religion. I mean that it has never affected me. Never made me happy. Perhaps I have never yet found the religion to suit me. I don’t know. To-morrow I begin a new life, but it will be again a life of nursing.
“I try to be grateful for a home. I try to feel cheerful. But all feeling seems to have gone. I remember my thoughts as a child. I was often very eager then, and hopeful. I was often sure in my heart that something delightful would happen to me. But now nothing seems worth while, and I am only very tired. Perhaps when I feel better I shall be glad that Fairholme Court is beautiful and in the country. To-night even that doesn’t matter.
“Hugh wrote to me after father’s death. He has saved a little money, and with another man, a friend, he is going to start a sheep farm in New Zealand. He is engaged to be married to a girl he met on one of his voyages. She has since returned to England, and they will have to wait till he has made a home for her before they can marry. But he seems full of hope, and is very happy.