'Oh, no,' said Sophy, 'kneeling always does it.'
'Does what, my dear?' said Albinia, sitting on the floor by her, and
looking up to Mrs. Dusautoy, exceedingly frightened.
'Makes me feel sick,' said Sophy; 'I thought it would go off, as it
always does, it didn't; but it is better now.'
'No, don't get up yet,' said Mrs. Dusautoy, as she was trying to
move; 'I would offer you the sofa, it would be more hospitable, but I
think the floor is the most comfortable place.'
'Thank you, _much_,' said Sophy, with an emphasis.
'Do you ever lie down on it when you are tired?' asked the lady,
looking anxiously at Sophy.
'I always wish I might.'
Albinia was surprised at the interrogations that followed; she did
not understand what Mrs. Dusautoy was aiming at, in the close
questioning, which to her amazement did not seem to offend, but
rather to be gratifying by the curious divination of all sensations.
It made Albinia feel as if she had been carrying on a deliberate
system of torture, when she heard of a pain in the back, hardly ever
ceasing, aggravated by sitting upright, growing severe with the least
fatigue, and unless favoured by day, becoming so bad at night as to
take away many hours of sleep.
'Oh! Sophy, Sophy,' she cried, with tears in her eyes, 'how could you
go on so? Why did you never tell me?'
'I did not like,' began Sophy, 'I was used to it.'
Oh, that barrier! Albinia was in uncontrollable distress, that the
girl should have chosen to undergo so much suffering rather than
bestow any confidence.
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