"My dear," said
Theobald, after having discussed the matter with Christina for the
twentieth time, "my dear, the only thing to guide and console us under
misfortunes of this kind is to take refuge in practical work. I will
go and pay a visit to Mrs. Thompson."
On those days Mrs. Thompson would be told that her sins were all
washed white, etc., a little sooner and a little more peremptorily
than on others.
CHAPTER XXII
I USED to stay at Battersby for a day or two sometimes, while my
godson and his brother and sister were children. I hardly know why I
went, for Theobald and I grew more and more apart, but one gets into
grooves sometimes, and the supposed friendship between myself and
the Pontifexes continued to exist, though it was now little more
than rudimentary. My godson pleased me more than either of the other
children, but he had not much of the buoyancy of childhood, and was
more like a puny, sallow little old man than I liked. The young
people, however, were very ready to be friendly.
I remember Ernest and his brother hovered around me on the first day
of one of these visits with their hands full of fading flowers,
which they at length proffered me.
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