Of course
there is Reggie; but--"
She stopped there, remembering that in all probability the son of Reggie
would be the grandson of William and Lydia Day--felon, and bankrupt
grocer. The thought choked her. Had Francis remembered it? "Whoever
marries Reggie will marry a rotten reed," she said impetuously. "I pity
the girl who does it, from my heart."
"So do I," said Deleah quietly, and knitted her brow, chasing a tiny
fugitive bead with the point of her needle.
Miss Forcus heard with surprise and satisfaction, yet was afraid to
believe. What penniless girl, whose hand was her own to bestow, would
refuse the wealthy young Forcus? Longing for further assurance, and
greatly daring, she risked the question: "You knew Reggie so well, then,
yet did not fall in love with him?"
"I? Oh, no!" Deleah said. She lifted her head from the frame over which
she was stooping and looked calmly in the other woman's face; and Miss
Forcus was struck with the perception of what a gentle dignity the girl
had. A dignity less arresting, perhaps, than that she had admired so much
in Francis's wife, but as effective.
"Ah, well!" she smiled, immensely relieved, and overjoyed to find she
might again take her protegee to her heart.
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