Part 6 (2/2)

”Never mind, mother, I'm not one bit sleepy. I'm really not. Wouldn't you like to have me get you some water or something?”

”No, thank you, darling; I'm afraid it wouldn't do any good, but if you are not asleep I should like to talk to you a little.”

Betty took one of the hot hands in both her little cool ones, and patted it gently. After another fit of coughing, her mother went on.

”You are only a little girl, Betty, but you are very sensible, and in many ways seem older than you really are. There are some things that I think you ought to know about, in case anything should ever happen to me.”

”But nothing is going to happen, is it, mother?” Betty asked in a rather frightened whisper. They both spoke in whispers, so as not to disturb Jack in the next room.

”No, no, dear, of course not; I only said 'in case.' I am sure I shall be all right in the morning, but if at any time I should be ill, Betty--if anything serious were to happen to me--you and Jack would be all alone.”

Betty nestled closer to her mother's side, and softly kissed the hot fingers.

”I sometimes fear, dear, that I have done wrong in not making more friends,” Mrs. Randall said, after another fit of coughing. ”People would have been kind I dare say, but I have always been so proud and reserved. Some of the families where I teach would have been friendly if I had let them. I almost wish now that I had.”

”Mrs. Hamilton is very kind,” said Betty eagerly; ”and she came to see you.”

”Yes, dear, and I liked her too, but I have always so dreaded being patronized. You know, dear, that I haven't always been poor.”

”Yes, mother, I know; you were not poor in England.”

”I have often told you about my English home, and about your Uncle Jack, and how happy we were together when we were children. I have been thinking a great deal of those times this evening, and all last night I dreamed of Jack.”

”He was your twin brother, wasn't he, mother?”

”Yes; and we were everything to each other. Our mother died when we were babies, and our two sisters were much older, almost grown up in fact, while we were still little children. I suppose my father loved us in his way, but he was very stern, and we were all rather afraid of him. Our older sisters were very good to us little ones, but they had their own affairs to think of, and so Jack and I were left a good deal to ourselves. Such merry times as we had--such pranks as we played.”

”You mean the time when Uncle Jack rode the wild colt, and the day you climbed the plum tree, and fell and broke your arm,” said Betty, glad to have her mother's thoughts turn in this direction, and hopeful of new stories.

”Yes, those and many others, but, Betty dear, I want to talk to you about something else to-night. You have never heard very much about your father, have you, darling?”

”No, mother,” said Betty softly; ”I know you don't like to talk about him.”

”I ought to like it, but I loved him so dearly that for a long time after his death I could not bring myself to mention his name to any one, even my own children.”

”Did Uncle Jack love him too?” Betty asked rather timidly; ”you said you always liked the same things.”

”They never met. Jack was at college when your father first came into our neighborhood. He came to visit at the vicarage; Mr. Marvyn, our vicar, had known his father. By that time both my sisters were married, and as I was often lonely at home when Jack was away, I got into the habit of spending a good many days with the Marvyn girls, who were about my own age. Your father was only a poor artist, but he was very clever, and people said he would make his mark in the world some day.

Jack was very fond of sketching himself, and I think that was one reason why I first began to be interested in your father. We used to go off on sketching expeditions together that spring, and we grew to know each other very well. Jack was invited to spend his summer vacation in Switzerland with a party of friends, and he decided to go. It was the first vacation he had not spent with me, and I think I was more hurt and jealous than I had any right to be under the circ.u.mstances. I wrote him how I felt, and he, as was only natural, thought me silly, and told me so. That made me angry, and we quarreled for the first time in our lives. It was only a foolish little quarrel, but it kept me from telling him, as I should otherwise have done, how much I was going about with Archie Randall.

”At first my father did not seem to notice how things were going, but I think some one must have warned him, for one day when I came back from a long walk with your father, he called me into his study, and told me he did not wish me to have anything more to do with young Randall, who was only a penniless artist, and not a proper companion for one of his daughters.

”I am not going to tell you about that time, Betty. I was very angry, and I am afraid I did not behave very well towards my father, who was an old man, and who I think really loved me. When he found that I would not obey him, he sent for Archie, and forbade him to see me again. Then all at once your father and I found out how much we cared for each other. He was very honorable. He wanted me to wait for him while he went away and made a name for himself, but I was young and headstrong, and I loved him better than anything else in the world. The end of it was that we ran away, and were married in London by special license.”

Betty gasped. This was the most interesting, romantic story she had ever heard.

”And didn't your father ever forgive you?” she questioned breathlessly.

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