Clergy -- Fiction; Conduct of life -- Fiction; England -- Fiction; Families -- Fiction; Spouses of clergy -- Fiction
The Bishop loved little Polly on the spot. He was thankful that there
was anyhow one person in the house who thought of Rachel. What had
Greville been about to let his wife get into such a weak state.
"You may enjoy the leg of the chicken with a clear conscience, my
girl," said the Bishop, "for I feel sure your Mistress would not be
able to eat it to-day. There's milk I suppose?"
"Yes Sir, there's baby's milk," said Polly doubtfully, "but I don't
think Mistress would like me to touch that. She's very particular about
his milk."
"Well I want you to run round to the grocer's and buy for me a bottle
of bovril. Run as fast as you can and I'll tell you how to make it.
Where is the Baby?"
Polly put her finger up and listened.
"I do believe he's just awake," she said. "I'll bring him down if you'd
be so kind as to look after him while I go to the Grocer's."
The Bishop carried the baby into the drawing-room and laid him on
Rachel's lap.
"That will do you good," he said smiling at her.
The sight of her baby in the Bishop's arms brought the happy colour
into Rachel's face.
"He doesn't know what a privilege he has just had," she said laughing.
Then she looked down at the child, "I do hope he will be a good man
like his father," she murmured.
"So thank God, she still loves her absentminded husband as much as
ever!" thought the Bishop, but he felt he could have shaken him. To
possess such a treasure and not take more care of her was in his
opinion reprehensible in the extreme. They were a blind pair! He to her
lovely self-forgetfulness, and she to his absentmindedness. Well, he
was thankful that she was still devoted to him.
Rachel laughed when she discovered that the Bishop had made her bovril
himself! It was luxury to be looked after and taken care of.
Before he left, he made her promise to have medical advice.
"It would never do for me to see a doctor," she expostulated, "and I
have no time in which to be ill. What do you suppose Luke would do with
an invalid wife, and little Pat with a useless mother! No, it won't
do to give in and it was only the sudden sight of you that made me so
stupid."
"It is only right to both your husband and child that you should
consult a doctor," returned the Bishop. "Possibly all you need is a
tonic; anyhow, as I consider I stand in the position of a father to
you, you must do what I say. And you must certainly curtail your work."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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