Part 29 (1/2)
”Poor Mary!” sighed Katherine again, then iht-heartedness
”Yes, it was poor Mary then,” replied Mr Selincourt, a shade co over his pleasant face ”The worst of it was that she had only herself to thank for all the trouble that had co to be talked about, it had to be borne without any outside sympathy to make it easier”
”Has she never heard from him since?” asked Katherine softly, and now there were tears in her eyes, and a whole world of pity in her heart for this girl who had deliberately flung away the love she wanted, from pure obstinacy and self-will
”Only once Directly she knew that he had gone beyond recall she began to repent in good earnest, and sent him a cable to the only port where his vessel would be likely to stop, soive?' And after weeks and weeks of waiting this answer came back: 'Yes, in two years' ti breath, and her eyes were stilltis of what she most wants to know”
”That is true; but I aood for her,” Mr Selincourt answered ”Never before has there been anything in her life which called for waiting or patience, and it is the lessons which are hardest to learn which do us ood”
”Won't Mary be displeased because you have told me all this?” asked Katherine
”It will make no difference to her if she does not know, and you are not the sort of girl to go about bragging of the things you have been told But it see of Mary's character if you knew,” Mr Selincourt replied rather aardly
Katherine flushed a sudden, uncoreat hurry; only, as she had turned her work round, and was doing it all over again, it was rather wasted labour A thought had flashed into her ood, kindlythe names of Miss Selincourt and Jervis Ferrars, and so had told her this about Mary of set purpose
”Thank you for telling lad to know It explains why soht it just boredom and discontent”
”Most people would think so, but that is just because they don't understand her She is ood stuff at the bottoet at This week she will be perfectly happy and char to live with, because she will have to be at the fish sheds all the ti boats; and next week she will be down in the du in the world to do”
”That at least is a cohed Katherine, as, realizing that she had been working twice on the calico, she folded it up and started on another length
”And I have been wasting your tiivefro, as he looked at his watch, to think how the ood father for a little while, and then I histle for Pierre to come over and row me down to Seal Cove for lunch with Mary, to round off the reat vigour and y after the visitor had betaken hi to a serious extent, but what mattered arrears of work coht her? Never once since the day on which her father had confided to her the secret trouble which eighing hiht-hearted Now, at least so far as she was concerned, that trouble, even the reht be put away for ever Mr Selincourt had said that he owed a debt of gratitude to the person who had wronged hi up to hi was there, and nothing could undo the sin which had been committed; but it was the sinner who had suffered, not the sinned against Katherine looked out through the open door of the store and saw her father walking up and down beside theof pity for the invalid smote her heart His punishhter, who loved him so well, could not deny that it was just that he who did the wrong should pay the penalty thereof
”Poor darling Father!” she ained by dragging the old, bad past to light, and so it shall be buried for ever” Then, covering her face with her hands, she prayed that the forgiveness of Heaven ht rest upon the poor sinner, whose punishment had come to him on earth
The hours of that day flew as if every one of the crammed to the full with even harder work than usual The other ement to the unknown Archie Rayloated over in secret, a cause for happiness which she did not care to be frank over, even to herself So the long, busy day went on to evening, and, in spite of all the work there had been to get through, Katherine found herself with half an hour of leisure before bedti the y left to go up the portage path to the high ground, to see the moon rise, when she saw the Selincourt boat shoot out from under the alder trees on the other side of the river, and make across for the store
”It is Mary!” she whispered to herself; and Mary it ith a weary, white face, and a fleecy white sharapped about her head and shoulders
”Will you come up the hill, Katherine, and see the moon rise?” she asked, in a tired tone
”I was just thinking of doing so, only it seeo up alone; now you have coh she knew it not, there was more friendliness in her tone than Mary had ever found there before
”Do you know, I tried going up the hill on my side, a better hill than yours, and with a better view, but it was so lonely! Isn't it funny what a difference companionshi+p makes?”
”Sometimes, and in some moods But there are other times and other moods in which co to be desired At least, that is how I have felt,” said Katherine Then she added hastily: ”To-night I felt as if I wanted solad you came”
They walked up the hill in silence, despite the desire for coether at the top, watching the silver glory of theup over the black pine trees, with no speech at all until Mary asked with a ring of envy in her tone: ”What has co in quick apology: ”Please forgive me
It is fearfully rude of me to be so silent and abstracted”
”It wasn't that Speech is only one way of expressing one's thoughts, and very often not the ht; it shi+nes from your eyes, and-and-well, it is aard to express what I esture To put it briefly, you look like a person to be envied”