Only those who have had such duty to perform can understand the struggle it cost the gentle-spirited Isa. The first sight of her friend’s face suggested to Mrs Lockley the truth, and when words confirmed it she stood for a moment with a countenance pale as death. Then, clasping her hands tightly together, the poor woman, with a cry of despair, sank insensible upon the floor.
Chapter Fourteen.
The Last.
But the supposed death of Stephen Lockley did not soften the heart of his wife. It only opened her eyes a little. After the first stunning effect had passed, a hard, rebellious state of mind set in, which induced her to dry her tears, and with stern countenance reject the consolation of sympathisers. The poor woman’s heart was breaking, and she refused to be comforted.
It was while she was in this condition that Mrs Mooney, of all people, took it into her head to visit and condole with her neighbour. That poor woman, although a sot, was warm-hearted, and the memory of what she had suffered when her own husband perished seemed to arouse her sympathies in an unusual degree. She was, as her male friends would have said, “screwed” when she knocked at Mrs Lockley’s door.
The poor creature was recovering from a burst of passionate grief, and turned her large dark eyes fiercely on the would-be comforter as she entered.
“My dear Mrs Lockley,” began Mrs Mooney, with sympathy beaming on her red countenance, “it do grieve me to see you like this—a’most as much as wen my—”
“You’re drunk!” interrupted Mrs Lockley, with a look of mingled sternness and indignation.