'So when Lucy grew stronger, and the doctor said she would soon be able
to walk quite nicely again, perhaps Gertrude did not think about her so
much as she had done at first. She was going to be married, you see, and
to live in a foreign country, and even if she sent Lucy to boarding
school, she did not know who was to look after her during the holidays.
But to tell you the truth, Gertrude had so many other things to think of
that she forgot all about Lucy's future, and although she would be going
away very soon now, nothing had been done to provide for the child.
'Then something happened to remind Gertrude how necessary it was that
Lucy should be taken care of after she went away, only she had so little
time left that she did not know in the least what to do.
'One day Lucy wandered out of the garden and into the road, where the
woman with whom she used to live saw her and wanted to take her back
again. Not that the woman was fond of Lucy; she only wanted to take her
away so that Gertrude should pay more money to get her back again.'
At this part of the story the door opened and a servant entered to say
that Evangeline was particularly wanted somewhere else, and rising from
her chair, Evangeline walked to the door.
'Please finish the story!' exclaimed Mary, running after her. 'I do want
to know how it ends and what became of Lucy!'
'My dear little girl,' answered Evangeline, 'it is a very difficult
story to finish. At all events, I cannot stay to finish it to-day,' and
she left the room, closing the door behind her.
Mary felt very deeply interested in the story, because she thought that
Lucy seemed rather like herself, and that Gertrude was like Evangeline.
Certainly Sister Benevolence was very much like Sister Agatha! Still
Mary did not feel very clear about it, because she had no recollection
of being knocked down and run over. If anything of that kind had
happened to her, surely she would have known all about it! At any rate
she felt the strongest interest in Lucy and she wanted to know what
became of her, and especially she would have liked to hear that she did
not go back to the place she had come from, which might be as bad as
William Street.
She did not see Evangeline any more that day, but the next afternoon she
came to the room to speak to Sister Agatha.
'Tell me the rest of the story now!' exclaimed Mary, taking hold of her
dress; 'I do want so much to hear how it ends.'
'What story is that?' asked Evangeline, and she seemed to have forgotten
all about it.
'Why, the story about Lucy and Gertrude and Sister Benevolence,' said
Mary, but Evangeline looked at her without answering for a few moments,
then she said--
'You must ask Sister Agatha. She can finish it better than I can.'
'Will you, Sister Agatha?' asked Mary, as Evangeline left the room.
'You know,' she answered, 'I never could tell tales out of my head. I
can't tell you to-day. You see how busy I am!'
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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