"
"How was that? Did you know the passer-by?"
Esther busied herself with the dishes on the sideboard; and, divining that
something serious had happened to her servant, Miss Rice refrained and
allowed the dinner to pass in silence. Half-an-hour later Esther came into
the study with her mistress's tea. She brought over the wicker table, and
as she set it by her mistress's knees the shadows about the bookcase and
the light of the lamp upon the book and the pensive content on Miss Rice's
face impelled her to think of her own troubles, the hardship, the passion,
the despair of her life compared with this tranquil existence. Never had
she felt more certain that misfortune was inherent in her life. She
remembered all the trouble she had had, she wondered how she had come out
of it all alive; and now, just as things seemed like settling, everything
was going to be upset again. Fred was away for a fortnight's holiday--she
was safe for eleven or twelve days. After that she did not know what might
not happen. Her instinct told her that although he had passed over her
fault very lightly, so long as he knew nothing of the father of her child,
he might not care to marry her if William continued to come after her. Ah!
if she hadn't happened to go out at that particular time she might never
have met William.
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