Eliakim's kitchen, her ostensible errand being to inquire
about some plain sewing the good lady was doing for her, while her
real object was to communicate as much of Arthur's story as she
thought proper. Incidentally she spoke of Mr. St. Claire, and when
the widow asked "What under the sun possessed him to live as he
did," she replied by telling of NINA, his ward, who, she said, had
recently come to Grassy Spring from the Asylum, adding a few items
as to how Arthur chanced to be her guardian, talking as if she had
known of it all the time, and saying she did not wonder that a
young man like him should shrink from having it generally
understood that he had a crazy girl upon his hands. He was very
kind to her indeed, and no brother could treat his sister more
tenderly than he treated Nina.
To every thing she said, Mrs. Eliakim smilingly assented, drawing
her own conclusions the while and feeling vastly relieved when, at
last, her visitor departed, leaving her at liberty to don her
green calash and start for the neighbors with this precious morsel
of gossip.
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