A man who had lost so many children might be allowed to be morbidly
jealous of the health of the rest. But it was a cruel stroke to her
to be obliged to part with her noble little boy, just when his daily
advances in walking and talking made him more charming than ever.
Her eyes were full of tears, and she struggled to choke back some
pettish rebellious words.
'You do not like to trust him with Susan,' said Mr. Kendal; 'you had
better come with him.'
'No,' said Albinia, 'I ought to stay here, and if you judge it right,
Maurice must go. I'll go and speak to Susan.'
And away she ran, for she had no power just then to speak in a wifely
manner. It was not easy to respect a man in a panic so extremely
inconvenient.
He was resolved on an immediate start, and the next few hours were
spent in busy preparation, and in watching lest the excited Lucy
should frighten her sister. Albinia tried to persuade Mr. Kendal at
least to sleep at Fairmead that night, and after watching him drive
off, she hurried, dashing away the tears that would gather again and
again in her eyes, to hold council with the Dusautoys on the best
means of stopping the course of the malady, by depriving it of its
victims.
She had a quiet snug evening with Sophy, whom she had so much
interested in the destitution of the sick children as to set her to
work at some night-gear for them, and she afterwards sat long over
the fire trying to read to silence the longing after the little soft
cheek that had never yet been laid to rest without her caress, and
foreboding that Mr.
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