But she did not think of that; there was no thought
of herself, beyond wishing to give him her own room. Had there been ever
so many guest chambers, she would still have wished him to have hers.
But to get it ready in time! To make sure that there should be no
further waiting before doing all that human power could do. Even now it
might be too late. The wood fire had almost burned out, and to kindle a
blaze was the first thing to be done, so that she ran straight to the
hearth and dropped on her knees beside it. There was a little heap of
sticks in the chimney-corner, but her hands trembled so that she could
hardly put them on the dying coals. The breath that she coaxed the flame
with came in gasps, but a blaze quickly sprang up and leapt among the
sticks, and then she flew to prepare the bed. If she might only get it
ready before they came! The thought of that helpless head lying against
Father Orin's shoulder was like a stab at her heart.
Footsteps were rushing up and down stairs, and excited voices were
calling her name all over the house, but she did not pause or turn from
her task.
Pages:
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321
322
323
324
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335