“No different.”
“Melvina said she was afraid you did not have a comfortable night.” 235
The blue eyes flashed a suspicious glance of inquiry over the questioner’s countenance, then closed wearily.
“I didn’t,” was all she said.
“I am sorry to hear that.”
The regret was uttered with gentle sincerity. In an existence cloudless as her own, magnanimousness required little effort. Moreover, Lucy was forgiving by nature; and had she not been, the helplessness and friendlessness of the lonely soul before her would have presented a powerful plea for pity.
Ellen did not respond to the words.
“What was the trouble?” went on Lucy, after waiting a suitable length of time and sensing that no answer was to be forthcoming. “Were you in pain?”
At the interrogation a flame of hatred leaped into the woman’s face, flickered there, and then died down, leaving it cold and hard as marble.
“I got to thinkin’,” she returned briefly.