"My dear," said Theobald, after having discussed the
matter with Christina for the twentieth time, "my dear, the only thing to
guide and console us under misfortunes of this kind is to take refuge in
practical work. I will go and pay a visit to Mrs Thompson."
On those days Mrs Thompson would be told that her sins were all washed
white, etc., a little sooner and a little more peremptorily than on
others.
CHAPTER XXII
I used to stay at Battersby for a day or two sometimes, while my godson
and his brother and sister were children. I hardly know why I went, for
Theobald and I grew more and more apart, but one gets into grooves
sometimes, and the supposed friendship between myself and the Pontifexes
continued to exist, though it was now little more than rudimentary. My
godson pleased me more than either of the other children, but he had not
much of the buoyancy of childhood, and was more like a puny, sallow
little old man than I liked. The young people, however, were very ready
to be friendly.
I remember Ernest and his brother hovered round me on the first day of
one of these visits with their hands full of fading flowers, which they
at length proffered me.
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