One evening they had arranged to go on the morrow to the
Academy. Miss Garland kept her appointment, but as soon as she appeared,
Rowland saw that something painful had befallen her. She was doing her
best to look at her ease, but her face bore the marks of tears. Rowland
told her that he was afraid she was ill, and that if she preferred to
give up the visit to Florence he would submit with what grace he might.
She hesitated a moment, and then said she preferred to adhere to their
plan. "I am not well," she presently added, "but it 's a moral malady,
and in such cases I consider your company beneficial."
"But if I am to be your doctor," said Rowland, "you must tell me how
your illness began."
"I can tell you very little. It began with Mrs. Hudson being unjust to
me, for the first time in her life. And now I am already better!"
I mention this incident because it confirmed an impression of Rowland's
from which he had derived a certain consolation. He knew that Mrs.
Hudson considered her son's ill-regulated passion for Christina Light a
very regrettable affair, but he suspected that her manifest compassion
had been all for Roderick, and not in the least for Mary Garland.
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