You are the
very last person--"
"That is true," said the vicar, "and all the associations of the place
must be overwhelming. My dear, we must take her away with us. Mrs.
Turner, I am sure, is very kind, but it cannot be good for Mary to be
here."
"No, no! I never thought so," said Mrs. Bowyer. "I never intended--dear
Mrs. Turner, we all appreciate your motives. I hope you will let us see
much of you, and that we may become very good friends. But Mary--it is
her first grief, don't you know?" said the vicar's wife, with the tears
in her eyes; "she has always been so much cared for, so much thought of
all her life--and then all at once! You will not think that we
misunderstand your kind motives; but it is more than she can bear. She
made up her mind in a hurry, without thinking. You must not be annoyed if
we take her away."
Mrs. Turner had been looking from one to another while this dialogue went
on. She said now, a little wounded, "I wished only to do what was kind;
but, perhaps I was thinking most of my own child. Miss Vivian must do
what she thinks best."
"You are all kind--too kind," Mary cried; "but no one must say another
word, please. Unless Mrs. Turner should send me away, until I know what
this all means, it is my place to stay here."
IX.
It was Lady Mary who had come into the vicarage that afternoon when Mrs.
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