"I have never regretted my
choice, or felt ashamed of having gone all the way to Italy to join my
sick and suffering betrothed and become his wife, that I might nurse him
back to health."
"Oh, did you?" exclaimed Evelyn, looking full of interest and delight,
"please tell me the whole story, won't you? I should so like to hear it."
Elsie willingly complied with the request, and it would be difficult to
say which enjoyed the story most--she who told it, or she who listened.
"I think you were brave, and kind and good, Aunt Elsie," was Evelyn's
comment when the tale was told.
"I had a strong motive--the saving of a life dearer to me than my own,"
Elsie responded, half absently, as if her thoughts were busy with the
past.
Both were silent for a little, Evelyn gazing with mournful eyes upon the
lovely grounds and beautiful scenery about her home.
"Aunt Elsie," she said at length, "do you know what is to be done with
the house while mamma and I are away? If it should be left long
unoccupied it will fall into decay, and the grounds become a wilderness
of weeds.
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