Lucy Maud Montgomery Short Stories, 1905 to 1906Montgomery, L. M. (Lucy Maud)
General
Lucy Maud Montgomery Short Stories, 1905 to 1906
Montgomery, L. M. (Lucy Maud)
Short stories, Canadian
When Constance found herself alone in the room, she looked about her
with curiosity. It was a very dainty, old-fashioned little room. The
floor was covered with braided mats; the two square, small-paned
windows were draped with snowy muslin. In one corner was a little
white bed with white curtains and daintily ruffled pillows, and in the
other a dressing table with a gilt-framed mirror and the various
knick-knacks of a girlish toilet. There was a little blue rocker and
an ottoman with a work-basket on it. In the work-basket was a bit of
unfinished, yellowed lace with a needle sticking in it. A small
bookcase under the sloping ceiling was filled with books.
Constance picked up one and opened it at the yellowing title-page. She
gave a little cry of surprise. The name written across the page in a
fine, dainty script was "Jean Constance Irving," her mother's name!
For a moment Constance stood motionless. Then she turned impulsively
and hurried downstairs again. Mr. and Mrs. Bruce were still in the
sitting room talking to each other in the firelight.
"Oh," cried Constance excitedly. "I must know, I must ask you. This is
my mother's name, Jean Constance Irving, can it be possible she was
your little Jeannie?"
* * * * *
A fortnight later Miss Channing received a letter from Constance.
"I am so happy," she wrote. "Oh, Miss Channing, I have found 'mine own
people,' and Heartsease Farm is to be my own, own dear home for
always.
"It was such a strange coincidence, no, Aunt Flora says it was
Providence, and I believe it was, too. I came here one rainy night,
and Aunty put me in my mother's room, think of it! My own dear
mother's room, and I found her name in a book. And now the mystery is
all cleared up, and we are so happy.
"Everything is dear and beautiful, and almost the dearest and most
beautiful thing is that I am getting acquainted with my mother, the
mother I never knew before. She no longer seems dead to me. I feel
that she lives and loves me, and I am learning to know her better
every day. I have her room and her books and all her little girlish
possessions. When I read her books, with their passages underlined by
her hand, I feel as if she were speaking to me. She was very good and
sweet, in spite of her one foolish, bitter mistake, and I want to be
as much like her as I can.
"I said that this was _almost_ the dearest and most beautiful thing.
The very dearest and most beautiful is this--God means something to me
now. He means so much! I remember that you said to me that he meant
nothing to me because I had no human love in my heart to translate the
divine. But I have now, and it has led me to Him.
"I am not going back to Taunton. I have sent in my resignation. I am
going to stay home with Aunty and Uncle. It is so sweet to say _home_
and know what it means.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account