She
was fond of the young girl, but she had valued her primarily, during the
last two years, as a kind of assistant priestess at Roderick's shrine.
Roderick had honored her by asking her to become his wife, but that poor
Mary had any rights in consequence Mrs. Hudson was quite incapable
of perceiving. Her sentiment on the subject was of course not very
vigorously formulated, but she was unprepared to admit that Miss Garland
had any ground for complaint. Roderick was very unhappy; that was
enough, and Mary's duty was to join her patience and her prayers to
those of his doting mother. Roderick might fall in love with whom he
pleased; no doubt that women trained in the mysterious Roman arts were
only too proud and too happy to make it easy for him; and it was very
presuming in poor, plain Mary to feel any personal resentment. Mrs.
Hudson's philosophy was of too narrow a scope to suggest that a mother
may forgive where a mistress cannot, and she thought herself greatly
aggrieved that Miss Garland was not so disinterested as herself. She was
ready to drop dead in Roderick's service, and she was quite capable
of seeing her companion falter and grow faint, without a tremor of
compassion.
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