“And it is her heart, you say?”
“Well, my father says so. You see, she has always been weakly, but there never seemed much amiss to us; and now my father says that he never expects her to make an old woman, and that there is something wrong with her heart, and he is afraid that she may go off in one of these attacks, and that is why he wants Bessie to come home at once.”
“Yes, I see; it looks very serious. Oh, there is the luncheon-bell. I have ordered the carriage round directly afterward, so you will be in plenty of time.”
When the two young men returned to the house they found Bessie in the dining-room. She took her old place by Richard, and made some pretense of eating. Once, when Richard spoke to her, begging her to remember the long journey before her, she looked up at him with a faint smile; that smile, so gentle and childlike, haunted Richard during the remainder of the day.
Bessie was battling bravely with her feelings all luncheon, and during the short interval that elapsed before the carriage was brought round she managed to say a few words to Mrs. Sefton, thanking her for all her kindness, and just before she left the house she found an opportunity to speak to Edna.
“Edna,” she whispered, holding her friend’s hand, “you will not forget our talk. I shall be thinking of you even when I am with Hatty.” And then for the moment she could say no more.
“Will you come, Miss Lambert?” urged Richard gently. He had followed the girls, and had overheard this little speech; but Bessie did not heed him.
“Will you try to be brave, Edna?” But her voice was almost inaudible.
“Go with Richard, Bessie, darling; he is waiting for you.” And then Bessie got into the carriage.
She looked back and waved her hand as they drove away, but this time there was no smile on her face. Edna was standing on the porch, and the afternoon sun was shining on her face and hair and white dress, and her large wistful eyes were full of sadness. Bessie’s lip quivered, her heart ached. How beautiful it all was! The world seemed glorified in sunshine; every one they met seemed happy, and yet Edna was wretched, and Hatty ill—perhaps dying; and a great black cloud seemed to overshadow everything, a sense of terror and confusion, of utter chaos. “In the midst of life we are in death.” Why did those words come to Bessie? Just before the train moved Richard broke the silence.