Part 39 (2/2)
”Forgive? Did he say forgive?”
”He certainly did, and he is true to his word. Shall I tell him to come?” The large eyes fixed intently on the beaming face before her, as if endeavoring to pierce the shadows.
After a moment's silence the mother slowly answered ”Tell him come,” and settled back in her chair wearied and exhausted.
Lillian was exuberant. ”She is better,” was her conclusion as she adjusted the pillows and brushed back the thin hair from the white temples. The heavy braids were gone, and the queenly bearing lost in helpless weakness.
It was finally concluded that Mrs. Hamilton should leave her mother in the care of the efficient nurse who had been in attendance during her long sickness, and, without speaking to her upon the subject, proceed on her journey to Boston, to return as soon as possible. Therefore on the following morning she started on her exciting mission. What a threefold cord was drawing her! The mother, to whose helplessness her filial love was clinging; the idolized husband for whom her heart was pining; and now the living tendrils of a buried affection had sprung up, and were twining themselves with an unseen power around the vibrating cord that bound her life to earthly loves and earthly hopes. The mother-love had awakened with its pleadings and would not be hushed. A little more than a year ago, and the brittle thread that held her was feeble, and the fibres frail; now other strands had been added, and as the car rolled over the s.p.a.ce that separated her from the consummation of her long-cherished hopes she thanked G.o.d for the tender hand that had led her. The great joy, however, that would sweep over her soul, as she recalled the reasons of her present mission, was not without its gloomy apprehensions. What if, after all, Mrs. g.a.y.l.o.r.d's adopted daughter was not her Lily? How was she to be sure? and then the mother's ravings, her wild confessions; her cries of innocence; certainly these must have come from the hidden consciousness of an appalling truth! She sat by the open window and watched the receding fields, the trees and villages, as the train sped through them, with a sensation of alarm, for she realized that every puff of the tireless engine brought her nearer and nearer to the acme of her hopes or to disappointment.
How her limbs trembled when, on reaching Boston, she entered a carriage and gave orders to be driven to the Parker House! In Boston at last! In this boiling cauldron of living souls should she find her child? What a thought! What a hope! She must rest. Sleep alone could give her strength of body for the trying ordeal. She partook of a hasty lunch and retired to her room. What if Mrs. g.a.y.l.o.r.d had left the city. It had been so long since the boy had told her she was here. Here was a new agony! She had not thought of that; and ringing the bell asked for a directory.
Bowing, the servant turned to bring it.
”Stay, perhaps you can tell me how far it is to Mr. Bancroft's store.”
”Peter Bancroft, ma'am?”
”I do not know.”
”He is just one block away, ma'am: Shall we send your card?”
”Yes.” She had not known before what were her wishes, and she wrote her address opposite her name and requested an interview. In a half hour the servant returned.
”Mr. Bancroft is in the parlor, ma'am, and will meet you there. Will you be kind enough to come immediately as his business is pressing?”
Lillian arose quickly and followed the servant.
”I beg your pardon for troubling you, but I am anxious to find a Mrs.
Hudson g.a.y.l.o.r.d. Are you the Mr. Bancroft with whom she is acquainted?”
”O, yes, if you are her friend I rejoice to meet you”; and he extended his hand.
”I am not acquainted with her, but would like to learn if she has a young lady whom she claims as an adopted daughter?”
”Lily? Certainly! But they are not in the city.” She started and he hurried to say: ”She is only an hour's ride away. You can get to her before ten in the morning. There is a little hotel out in Kirkham where she has a fancy to spend her summers rather than at a fas.h.i.+onable watering place, and I believe it was in that vicinity where she found her two protegees. If I can a.s.sist you in any way I shall be happy to do so.” He arose to depart. Lillian extended her hand; with many thanks and exchanging good-nights they separated, the merchant to forget perhaps the trifling incident in the press of business, the other to her lonely room and rest.
”Yes--I am glad,” she thought as she closed and bolted the door; ”she--my child--is not here and her mother has an hour's ride to get to her!” Peacefully she rested on the threshold of a new experience. Her heart throbbed wildly with hope and fear as it peered through at the coming possibilities, with new loves clamoring to be fed and old ones struggling for precedence, and yet she slept! The morning came and looked in through the narrow aperture of the closed shutters, but she did not wake. The gong sent its warning echoes up through the broad halls but she slept on. Eight o'clock and a loud knocking upon the door awoke her, and bounding from her bed she answered the summons.
”A gentleman in the parlor, ma'am, and wishes to see Mrs. Hamilton.”
”In just one moment!” and she hurriedly made herself ready to meet her visitor.
”The train would leave for Kirkham in a half hour, and Mr. Bancroft would be happy to see her safely upon it.” This was the word he sent her.
”Mrs. Hamilton is grateful and will be ready after a hasty cup of coffee.”
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