She turned at once, but he paused a moment. The child’s sensitive nature had realised the moral atmosphere about him sufficiently to feel that storms were there.
“Mamma!” again. Then in a whisper, “Will Mrs. Morison come back to-morrow?”
“No, my dear.”
“Mamma, will she ever come back?”
“I do not know, dear. I fear not. If she gets better I think she will.”
“Is she ill, mamma?”
“Yes, dear; her soul is very ill. We must be very sorry for her.”
When she returned to the parlour Miss Latimer was sitting there. She had taken a sock from Lucy’s work-basket and was darning it.
“Can you stay with me to-night, dear friend?” asked Mrs. Challoner.
“Yes,” she said; “to-night and to-morrow night. Then I shall have to go home.”