THE WAY OF TRANSGRESSORS IS HARD.
It is a trite saying, illustrated over and over again in many lives,
that the way of transgressors is hard; and when Augusta lay on her
sickbed, stricken down by the fell disease, she was paying a bitter
price for her days of selfishness, hypocrisy, cunning, and cruelty.
When God struck so hard it was impossible for man to say anything. No
one could have nursed the poor girl more devotedly than did Miss Roy.
Professional nurses were of course sent for; and Nora and Kitty were
sent immediately to the house of a cousin who promised to receive them
and take every care of them. The doctor said, when he learnt all
particulars, that it would not be safe to send Nancy away. She was not
allowed to go near Augusta, but she still remained at Fairleigh.
Nan and Captain Richmond had a little talk together. Nan came away
after that talk and crept into a corner by herself, and cried and
cried for a long time; then she came back to the Captain, put her arms
round his neck, and kissed him.
“I don’t mind anything now, for _you_ understand, and God
understands. And please—please forgive poor Gussie; she could not
have known what she was doing.”
But the Captain would make no promises about Augusta.
“We will leave her out for the present,” he said. “You and I are happy
together; we understand each other, and that which rested like a
nightmare on your poor little soul is lifted. The weather is fine; we
will spend all our time in the open air, and I will tell you some more
things about what soldiers do.”
So in those dark days the Captain and Nancy became better friends than
ever.
At last there came the hour when the crisis had passed for Augusta.
The danger was over—she would get well. Then both the Captain and
Miss Roy looked with fear at Nan; would she sicken, or would she
escape the danger? Ten days passed; then slowly—very slowly—the
fortnight of probation came to an end, and Nancy was still well, still
smiling, still happy.
“I do believe she will escape,” said the Captain. “It seems almost too
good to be true.”
Wonderful as it is to relate, Nancy did not become ill. And when this
point was clearly ascertained, she was taken to join Nora and Kitty at
their cousin’s house.
There the children had a gay time together while Augusta slowly came
back to convalescence. Very slow indeed was her recovery, for she had
taken the complaint badly, and for some time the fresh, fair beauty of
her face was marred. “But not for ever,” said Dr Earle. “By-and-by she
will recover her looks; but she has had a narrow escape both of her
life and of her eyesight.”
When Augusta was comparatively well again, on an evening in late
October, Mrs. Richmond arrived at her home.
Augusta was seated by herself in the drawing-room. She sat with her
back to the light. Her eyes were weak, and she did not like people to
see more of her poor disfigured face than was absolutely necessary.
But when Mrs. Richmond came in, and the girl noticed the kindly face,
so like her own mother’s, she uttered a strangled cry, and running
forward, flung her arms round her neck.
“Oh, Aunt Jessie, it _is_ good to see you. Oh, now I believe I
shall have a chance of being happy again.”
“Yes, my darling, I am glad to have got back. Oh, what I have suffered
on your account!”
“But don’t you know the truth? Hasn’t Uncle Pete told you?”
“He came down with me from London, Augusta. And—yes—he has told me
everything.”
“Then you can never really love me again.” Mrs. Richmond did not reply
for a moment; then she said slowly:
“When you lay in great pain and delirium, when you were nigh to death,
and missed your own mother, and felt, as you must have felt for a
short time at least, that God Himself was hiding His face from you,
then was your punishment, Augusta dear. If you have received it in due
submission and repentance, who am I that I should not love you?”
“And does Nan—does Nan forgive me?”
“She is in the other room. You are quite free from infection; she will
speak to you in a moment. But, Gussie, before you meet I have one
little thing to tell you: Nan will never go to the Asprays. She will
be my child always, for I owe to Nancy just as great a debt as Mr.
Aspray owed her father. It is an old story, dear, and I will not tell
it to Nancy yet for she is too young; but I think it right that you
should hear it. Long, long ago, before you were born, and before your
mother was married, Nancy’s mother and I were friends. But a great
trouble arrived, for we both—each unknown to the other—loved the
same man. He cared more for Nancy’s mother than he did for me; and
Nancy’s mother loved him with all her heart and soul and strength. I
didn’t know it at the time, although the knowledge came to me
afterwards. She refused him for my sake. She loved him, and allowed
him to think she cared nothing at all for him; and she did it
altogether for me.
“I married him: he was my husband. He was very good to me. I never
learnt the truth from him. He died, and after his death, somehow, I
learnt the truth. My dear friend married in time another man. The
marriage was not happy, and they were terribly poor. He died too, and
little Nancy was left unprovided for. So I told her mother on her
deathbed that Nancy would always be my tender care, my most cherished
darling. Now, Augusta, you know for yourself that she has a right to
my home and my love and my money. She is no charity-child, but a child
any mother would be proud of.”
“There never was any one like her,” said Augusta slowly. “There was a
time when I was mad with jealousy of her; but I know at last what she
really is. But, oh, Aunt Jessie! I am tired, and I want to be forgiven
right out. I have told Uncle Peter everything—every single thing from
the first. And now let me see Nancy, that she also may forgive me.”
THE END.
Edinburgh: Printed by W. & R. Chambers, Limited.
BOOKS BY MRS L. T. MEADE.
SEVEN MAIDS. Illustrated by Percy Tarrant.
THE ODDS AND THE EVENS. Ten Illustrations by Percy Tarrant.
A VERY NAUGHTY-GIRL. Eight Illustrations by W. Rainey.
MISS NONENTITY. Illustrated by W. Rainey.
LIGHT O’ THE MORNING. Eight Illustrations by W. Rainey.
THE GIRLS OF ST WODE’S. Eight Illustrations by W. Rainey
WILD KITTY. Eight Illustrations by J. Ayton Symington.
CATALINA. Eight Illustrations by W. Boucher.
GIRLS NEW AND OLD. Illustrated by J. Williamson.
BETTY: A School-Girl. Illustrated by Everard Hopkins.
FOUR ON AN ISLAND. Illustrated by W. Rainey.
THE CHILDREN OF WILTON CHASE. Six Illustrations by Everard Hopkins.
PLAYMATES. Six Illustrations by G. Nicolet.
LITTLE MARY. AND OTHER STORIES. Illustrated.
A FARTHINGFUL. Illustrated.
POOR MISS CAROLINA. Illustrated.
THE GOLDEN LADY. Illustrated.
BOOKS BY MRS MOLESWORTH
Published by W. & R. Chambers, Limited.
MEG LANGHOLME; or, The Day after To-morrow. Eight Illustrations
by W. Rainey.
PHILIPPA. Eight Illustrations by J. Finnemore.
OLIVIA. Eight Illustrations by Robert Barnes.
BLANCHE. Eight Illustrations by Robert Barnes.
“MY PRETTY AND HER BROTHER TOO.” Illustrated by Lewis Baumer.
THE THREE WITCHES. Illustrated by Lewis Baumer.
THE BOYS AND I: A Child’s Story for Children. Seventeen
Illustrations by Lewis Baumer.
HOODIE. Seventeen Illustrations by Lewis Baumer.
HERMY. Seventeen Illustrations by Lewis Baumer.
ROBIN REDBREAST. Six Illustrations by R. Barnes.
GREYLING TOWERS: A Story for the Young. Seventeen Illustrations
by P. Tarrant.
WHITE TURRETS. Four Illustrations by W. Raines.
IMOGEN: or, Only Eighteen. Four Illustrations by Herbert A. Bone.
THE NEXT-DOOR HOUSE. Six Illustrations by W. Hatherell.
THE GREEN CASKET, AND OTHER STORIES. Illustrated.
THE BEWITCHED LAMP. Frontispiece by R. Barnes.
NESTA; or, Fragments of a Little Life.