Heavily the thunder-clouds of Affliction had gathered over the
house--heavily, but not at their darkest yet. At five, that evening,
the shock of the calamity had struck its blow. Before another hour had
passed, the disclosure of the husband's sudden death was followed by
the suspense of the wife's mortal peril. She lay helpless on her widowed
bed; her own life, and the life of her unborn child, trembling in the
balance.
But one mind still held possession of its resources--but one guiding
spirit now moved helpfully in the house of mourning.
If Miss Garth's early days had been passed as calmly and as happily
as her later life at Combe-Raven, she might have sunk under the cruel
necessities of the time. But the governess's youth had been tried in the
ordeal of family affliction; and she met her terrible duties with the
steady courage of a woman who had learned to suffer. Alone, she had
faced the trial of telling the daughters that they were fatherless.
Alone, she now struggled to sustain them, when the dreadful certainty of
their bereavement was at last impressed on their minds.
Her least anxiety was for the elder sister. The agony of Norah's grief
had forced its way outward to the natural relief of tears.
Pages:
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177