Part 24 (2/2)
Katherine nodded; speak she could not This orse than anything she had expected Mrs Burton had suggested that Mary was in love with Jervis, but here was Mary herself plainly inti that Jervis had once asked for her love, but that she had refused hiret her refusal ever since
”He is such a good felloent on Mary, with a yearning note in her voice which stabbed Katherine like actual pain ”When Father asked him about the affair in the tidehole, he never once said anything about my fearful panic, which so nearly cost him his life; and the very fact of his reticence has made me feel the meanest creature on the face of the earth I can scarcely lookbeen in such sore straits I feel like sinking through the couch from very shame”
”Why don't you tell Mr Selincourt then?” asked Katherine bluntly ”He would understand how panic had unnerved you, and certainly he would not judge you harshly”
”I can't tell hih I told you I was a coward, and so I a to ood opinion My pride, I suppose; but really I can't help it,” Mary answered with a shrug
”Yet you have tolda sood opinion, or was it that you did not care?”
”I was just desperate; I had to own up to someone, and so, from love of contrast I suppose, I turned to you, who are always brave,” Mary said
Katherine shook her head: ”You reat irls are; it is one of the weaknesses of our nature which neither training nor hardshi+p will overcome”
”Do you expect me to believe you when you talk like that?” asked Mary ”What about that tiet Jervis Ferrars out of Oily Dave's flooded house? Do you think a girl as a coward could have done that?”
”I could not have done it if I had stayed to think about it,” replied Katherine, a soft flush stealing into her cheeks ”But there was no ti had to be done quickly, so it was easy enough If I had set out fro as in front of me, I could not possibly have faced it, of that I am quite sure”
”In other words, what it really amounts to is this: we are all cowards by nature, but it is possible, by cultivating the grace of self-sacrifice, so to forget ourselves in our care for others that we can rise above our natural cowardice, and become as brave or braver than men,” said Mary
”It sounds like a serh ”Why don't you take to writing books, if you can express yourself sobooks successfully, one must have lived, not merely existed, as I have done,” Mary answered a little sadly Then she said in a different tone; ”You have done ht like a top-the first real rest I have had since thaton the rocks”
”I shall sleep too, I hope, for I have a big day's work to-o
”Give me a kiss, dear, just to showa coward, or rather for re Katherine's head down
There was a wild desire in Katherine's heart to push off those caressing hands, and rush away in all haste: but she did not yield to it, realizing that this also was a ti, she kissed Mary on both cheeks
CHAPTER XXII
A Business Offer
A fortnight slipped away August had cohts, which solorious suh in those uncultivated wastes there was little harvest from the land, the harvest of the sea wenta little at first, and leaning on a stick, but soon gaining strength enough to go about as usual; only now, ood care to avoid places of danger like the tideholes
Since that evening of confidential talk with Katherine, Mary had honestly striven for the grace of self-forgetfulness; but the virtue is not learned in one lesson, nor yet in two, and she would probably have given up striving, through disgust at her own failures, if her pride had not been deeply stirred, and the obstinate part of her nature brought into full play
Pleading hard work as an excuse, Katherine avoided her after that evening, from a secret dread of any more confidences This was easier than it otherould have been, owing to Mrs Burton having taken the twins over to Fort Garry to spend a ith Mrs M'Crawney, which left Katherine with the burden of housekeeping on her shoulders in addition to the business of the store
Jervis Ferrars ca to sit and talk with the invalid on every subject under the sun, froot little chance of speech with Katherine, as always feverishly busy over some task which absorbed her whole attention
The day after Mrs Burton came back from Fort Garry another vessel arrived from Liverpool to anchor off Seal Cove Only one ain, and when an occasion is so rare it is likely to be made much of The captain held a sort of reception on board, to which everyone in Seal Cove was invited The M'Krees cae with all their babies; Mrs Jenkin appeared in finery which no one even dreanificent in a frock-coat of shi+ny black cloth, worn over a football sweater of outrageous pattern
Katherine and her father were the only stay-at-homes, but 'Duke Radford was not fit for excursions of that sort, and if Katherine had gone Miles must have stayed at home, which would have been rather hard on a boy as fond of shi+ps as he was But although everyone went to the reception, so, and one of the first to leave was Mr Selincourt, who had himself rowed up river and landed at the store to ask Katherine if she would give him a cup of tea