That was for other ears and for the silent
hours of the night. And next morning when she came down to meet us her
face was wan and weary, but it wore the peace of victory and a glory not
of earth. Her greeting was full of dignity, sweet and gentle; but when
she came to Graeme she lingered over him and kissed him twice. And that
was all that any of us ever saw of that sore fight.
At the end of the week I took leave of them, and last of all of the
mother.
She hesitated just a moment, then suddenly put her hands upon my
shoulders and kissed me, saying softly, 'You are his friend; you will
sometimes come to me?'
'Gladly, if I may,' I hastened to answer, for the sweet, brave face was
too much to bear; and, till she left us for that world of which she was
a part, I kept my word, to my own great and lasting good. When Graeme
met me in the city at the end of the summer, he brought me her love, and
then burst forth--
'Connor, do you know, I have just discovered my mother! I have never
known her till this summer.'
'More fool you,' I answered, for often had I, who had never known a
mother, envied him his.
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