Emma at once turned to the
little one with smiles of re-assurance. Kate would have preferred to
deal slaps, but contented herself with taking a cup of tea to the
fireside, and sulking for half an hour.
Emma unrolled the bundle of work, and soon the hum of the
sewing-machine began, to continue late into the night.
CHAPTER XIX
You remember that one side of the valley in which stood New Wanley
was clad with trees. Through this wood a public path made transverse
ascent to the shoulder of the bill, a way little used save by Wanley
ramblers in summer time. The section of the wood above the path was
closed against trespassers; among the copses below anyone might
freely wander. In places it was scarcely possible to make a way for
fern, bramble, and underwood, but elsewhere mossy tracks led one
among hazels or under arches of foliage which made of the mid-day
sky a cool, golden shimmer. One such track, abruptly turning round a
great rock over the face of which drooped the boughs of an ash, came
upon a little sloping lawn, which started from a high hazel-covered
bank. The bank itself was so shaped as to afford an easy seat,
shaded even when the grass in front was all sunshine.
Adela had long known this retreat, and had been accustomed to sit
here with Letty, especially when she needed to exchange deep
confidences with her friend.
Pages:
417
418
419
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427
428
429
430
431
432
433
434
435
436
437
438
439
440
441