“Don’t come in, Emily. It will only distress you—and it will do me no good. God bless you, my love. Don’t come in.”
“There!” said Mrs. Ellmother. “Do you hear that? Go back to the sitting-room.”
Thus far, the hard necessity of controlling herself had kept Emily silent. She was now able to speak without tears. “Remember the old times, aunt,” she pleaded, gently. “Don’t keep me out of your room, when I have come here to nurse you!”
“I’m her nurse. Go back to the sitting-room,” Mrs. Ellmother repeated.
True love lasts while life lasts. The dying woman relented.
“Bony! Bony! I can’t be unkind to Emily. Let her in.”
Mrs. Ellmother still insisted on having her way.
“You’re contradicting your own orders,” she said to her mistress. “You don’t know how soon you may begin wandering in your mind again. Think, Miss Letitia—think.”
This remonstrance was received in silence. Mrs. Ellmother’s great gaunt figure still blocked up the doorway.
“If you force me to it,” Emily said, quietly, “I must go to the doctor, and ask him to interfere.”