I have told
you it would come to this. We ought to have moved immediately,--just as
soon as Julius came here as master."
"My house in the village has been empty for three years. It is cold and
damp. It needs attention of every kind. If we could only stay here until
Stephen's house was finished: then you could be married."
"O mother dear, that is not possible! You know Steve and I cannot marry
until father has been dead at least a year. It would be an insult to
father to have a wedding in his mourning year."
"If your father knows any thing, Charlotte, he knows the trouble we are
in. He would count it no insult."
"But all through the Dales it would be a shame to us. Steve and I would
not like to begin life with the ill words or ill thoughts of our
neighbors."
"What shall I do? Charlotte, dear, what shall I do?"
"Let us go to our own home. Better to brave a little damp and discomfort
than constant humiliation."
"This is my home, my own dear home! It is full of memories of your
father and Harry."
"O mother, I should think you would want to forget Harry!"
"No, no, no! I want to remember him every hour of the day and night. How
could I pray for him, if I forgot him? Little you know how a mother
loves, Charlotte. His father forgave him: shall I be less pitiful?--I,
who nursed him at my breast, and carried him in my arms."
Charlotte did not answer. She was touched by her mother's fidelity, and
she found in her own heart a feeling much akin to it.
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