Mary's mind was so deeply absorbed, and perhaps her
eyes so dim with tears that she could scarcely see what was before her,
when the door opened suddenly and a lady came out. "I will go myself,"
she said in an agitated tone to some one behind her. "Don't get yourself
laughed at," said a voice from within. The sound of the voices roused
the young spectator. She looked with a little curiosity, mixed with
anxiety, at the lady who had come out of the house, and who started, too,
with a gesture of alarm, when she saw Mary move in the dark. "Who are
you?" she cried out in a trembling voice, "and what do you want here?"
Then Mary made a step or two forward and said, "I must ask your pardon if
I am trespassing. I did not know there was any objection--" This stranger
to make an objection! It brought something like a tremulous laugh to
Mary's lips.
"Oh, there is no objection," said the lady, "only we have been a little
put out. I see now; you are the young lady who--you are the young lady
that--you are the one that--suffered most."
"I am Lady Mary's goddaughter," said the girl. "I have lived here all my
life."
"Oh, my dear, I have heard all about you," the lady cried. The people who
had taken the house were merely rich people; they had no other
characteristic; and in the vicarage, as well as in the other houses
about, it was said, when they were spoken of, that it was a good thing
they were not people to be visited, since nobody could have had the heart
to visit strangers in Lady Mary's house.
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