"Yes," said Tom, wofully, "he'll have to go without a pair or so of gloves this month and smoke fewer cigars; and I couldn't have believed that there was a man living I could have borne to take money from, but, somehow, he made it seem almost as if he owed it to me." When Mrs. Sylvestre went away she left hope and comfort behind her. Kitty followed her into the passage with new light in her eyes. "If I have the sewing," she said, clasping her hands, "it will be _such_ a load off Tom's mind to know that we have a little money, that he will get better. And he knows I like sewing; so, perhaps, he will not mind it so much. I am so thankful to you! If Tom will only get well," she exclaimed, in a broken whisper,--"if Tom will only get well!" And, suddenly, in response to some look on Agnes' face, and a quick, caressing gesture, she leaned forward, and was folded in her arms. It is very natural to most women to resort to the simple feminine device of tears, but it was not often Mrs. Sylvestre so indulged herself, and there were tears in her eyes and in her voice, too, as she held the gentle, childish creature to her breast. She had felt a great deal during the last twenty-four hours, and the momentary display of emotion was a relief to her. "He will get better," she said, with almost maternal tenderness, "and you must help him by taking care of yourself, and giving him no cause for anxiety. You must let me help to take care of you. We will do all we can,"--and there was something akin to fresh relief to her in the mere use of the little word "we." CHAPTER XXX. Mrs. Merriam saw faint traces of tears in Mrs. Sylvestre's eyes when she returned from her call on the Bosworths, and speculated, with some wonder, as to what her exact mental condition was, but asked very few questions, feeling that, upon the whole, she would prefer to hear the version of the story given to Mr. Arbuthnot when he called. He did so the following evening, and, having seen the Bosworths in the interval, had comments of his own to make. "It was very good in you to call so soon," he said to Agnes. "I wished very much to call," she replied. "I could not have waited longer." "You left a transcendent impression," said Arbuthnot. "Tom was very enthusiastic, and Kitty feels that all their troubles are things of the past." "They talked to me a great deal of you," said Agnes. "I felt after hearing them that I had not known you very well--and wished that I had known you better." She said it with a sweet gravity which he found strangely disturbing; but his reply did not commit him to any special feeling. "They will prove fatal to me, I see," he said. "Don't allow them to prejudice you against me in that manner." "I wish," she said, "that my friends might be prejudiced against me in the same way." Then he revealed a touch of earnestness in spite of himself. They had both been standing upon the hearth, and he took a step toward her.