Her sharp,
_"Flaw-seeking eyes, like needles' points,"_
were always open, and more especially when the circle consisted, as
now, of her brother-in-law, his children, and his new wife. Doubtless
she considered watchfulness her duty. Indeed, as she explained over
and over again to Aunt Maria, the principal reason which made her
consent still to remain at the Lodge, instead of returning to her own
pretty cottage at Avonside, was to overlook and guard the interests of
"those poor motherless children."
Now it happened, unfortunately for Miss Gascoigne, that if Christian
had one bright spot in the future of her married life to which she had
looked forward earnestly, longingly, it was those children--how she
would take care of them; fill up her weary days with them; love them,
and be loved by them; in short, find in them the full satisfaction of her
motherly heart--that heart in which she then thought there was no
instincts or emotions left except the motherly. How she yearned and
craved for this, God and her own soul only knew.
Yet, how she hardly knew, but so it was, none of these hopes had been
fulfilled. She saw almost nothing of the children save during the one
hour after dinner, when she sat silently watching them, one on each
side of their father, and one on his knee, all so happy together.
Pages:
79
80
81
82
83
84
85
86
87
88
89
90
91
92
93
94
95
96
97
98
99
100
101
102
103