She did not answer. She gave a sort of stifled sob. He took her hands, and knelt down by her side, the better to see her in the dusky room.
"Mother!" he said anxiously.
Louisa laid her head on his shoulder and burst into tears.
"My boy, my boy," she cried, holding close to him. "My boy!… You will not leave me? Promise me that you will not leave me?"
His heart was torn with pity.
"No, mother, no. I will not leave you. What made you think of such a thing?"
"I am so unhappy! They have all left me, all…."
She pointed to the things all about her, and he did not know whether she was speaking of them or of her sons and the dead.
"You will stay with me? You will not leave me?… What should I do, if you went too?"
"I will not go, I tell you; we will stay together. Don't cry. I promise."