"I will try to let you know where we are, Mrs. Bruce, as soon as possible," said Nora, turning back with a weary smile as they were leaving.
Mrs. Bruce wiped her eyes, and vented her feelings upon James, her tall, vulgarly dressed son, who was gazing with great satisfaction upon the lodgers' departure.
"You good-for-nothing creature!" exclaimed his mother, angrily indignant.
Mr. James Bruce smiled sarcastically. He did not share any of his mother's compassion for forlorn lodgers.
"Never you mind, mother," he said. "You'll thank me one of these days."
Days passed with no tidings from the Maynes. Mrs. Bruce could not forget her lodgers, and Nora's face, as she had seen it last, haunted her painfully. Where were they? Had the mother died? Was Nora ill? Were they starving? These and many other conjectures tormented the poor woman as the days lengthened into weeks, and no sign was made by mother or daughter. Many times Mrs. Bruce's tears fell over her wools when she was alone in the shop, and recalled the December evening Nora had served there, uniting so much sweet good-humor with her refined, lady-like ways, which had from the first captivated the heart of the simple-minded country-woman. Mrs. Bruce had a small assistant now in the person of a niece, and this young woman was never tired of hearing about Miss Mayne. She was listening to one of her aunt's stories as they sat over the fire in the shop one February day, when she suddenly exclaimed:
"Law, aunt, there's Miss Penelope Harleford in the Deanery carriage—coming in here, too!" and there, sure enough, was bright Miss Penny, in a long fur cloak, and a pretty felt hat shading her sweet young face. "A picter," as Mrs. Bruce said, "worth taking down." Young Miss Harleford came hurrying in, looking very eager and interested.
"I've come to inquire for some one who sold a screen here, Mrs. Bruce," said the young lady, cheerfully. "My cousin, Mr. Lionel Harleford, bought it here in December—a young lady sold it to him."
"Land, miss!" cried Mrs. Bruce, "so she did, my poor pretty! I wish I knew where she was now—she and her mother."
Penelope looked dismayed.