"
[Sidenote: A Trying Time]
Edith felt rewarded then for all it had cost her to please her aunt and
work quietly on at Silchester, and she went back to Ivy House with all
her good resolutions strengthened, and her love for the dear ones at
home stronger than ever.
For a while things went on without much change. The wild, country girl
was fast growing into a graceful accomplished young woman, when two
events happened which caused her a great deal of thought and anxiety.
First, Aunt Rachel, who had all her life enjoyed excellent health, fell
rather seriously ill. She had a sharp attack of bronchitis, and instead
of terminating in two or three weeks, as she confidently expected, the
disease lingered about her, and at last settled into a chronic form, and
made her quite an invalid.
Both Edith and Stimson had a hard time while Miss Harley was at the
worst. Unaccustomed to illness, she proved a very difficult patient, and
kept niece and maid continually running up and downstairs, and
ministering to her real and fancied wants.
The warm, shut-up room where she now spent so many hours tried Edith
greatly, and she longed inexpressibly sometimes for the free air of her
dear Winchcomb fields, and the open doors and windows of the old house
at home. Life at Silchester had always been trying to her; it became
much more so when she had to devote herself constantly to an exacting
invalid, who never seemed to think that young minds and eyes and hands
needed rest and recreation--something over and above continued work and
study.
Pages:
382
383
384
385
386
387
388
389
390
391
392
393
394
395
396
397
398
399
400
401
402
403
404
405
406