A Pair of Patient Lovers | Page 8

no personal objection to myself," he said, with a modest
satisfaction. "In fact, I think she really likes me, and only dislikes my
engagement to Edith. But she knows that Edith is incapable of
marrying against her mother's will, or I of wishing her to do so; though
there is nothing else to prevent us."
My wife allowed herself to say, "Isn't it rather cruel of her?"
"Why, no, not altogether; or not so much so as it might be in different
circumstances. I make every allowance for her. In the first place, she is
a great sufferer."
"Yes, I know," my wife relented.
"She suffers terribly from asthma. I don't suppose she has lain down in
bed for ten years. She sleeps in an easy-chair, and she's never quite free
from her trouble; when there's a paroxysm of the disease, her anguish is
frightful. I've never seen it, of course, but I have heard it; you hear it all
through the house. Edith has the constant care of her. Her mother has to
be perpetually moved and shifted in her chair, and Edith does this for
her; she will let no one else come near her; Edith must look to the
ventilation, and burn the pastilles which help her to breathe. She

depends upon her every instant." He had grown very solemn in voice
and face, and he now said, "When I think of what she endures, it seems
to me that it is I who am cruel even to dream of taking her daughter
from her."
"Yes," my wife assented.
"But there is really no present question of that We are very happy as it
is. We can wait, and wait willingly till Mrs. Bentley wishes us to wait
no longer; or--"
He stopped, and we were both aware of something in his mind which
he put from him. He became a little pale, and sat looking very grave.
Then he rose. "I don't know whether to say how welcome you would be
at St. Michael's to-morrow, for you may not be--"
"We are Unitarians, too," said Mrs. March. "But we are coming to hear
you."
"I am glad you are coming to church," said Glendenning, putting away
the personal tribute implied with a gentle dignity that became him.
VII.
We waited a discreet time before returning the call of the Bentley ladies,
but not so long as to seem conscious. In fact, we had been softened
towards Mrs. Bentley by what Glendenning told us of her suffering,
and we were disposed to forgive a great deal of patronage and
superiority to her asthma; they were not part of the disease, but still
they were somehow to be considered with reference to it in her case.
We were admitted by the maid, who came running down the hall
stairway, with a preoccupied air, to the open door where we stood
waiting. There were two great syringa-bushes on each hand close to the
portal, which were in full flower, and which flung their sweetness
through the doorway and the windows; but when we found ourselves in
the dim old-fashioned parlor, we were aware of this odor meeting and
mixing with another which descended from the floor above--the smell

of some medicated pastille. There was a sound of anxious steps
overhead, and a hurried closing of doors, with the mechanical sound of
labored breathing.
"We have come at a bad time," I suggested.
"Yes, why did they let us in?" cried my wife in an anguish of
compassion and vexation. She repeated her question to Miss Bentley,
who came down almost immediately, looking pale, indeed, but steady,
and making a brave show of welcome.
"My mother would have wished it," she said, "and she sent me as soon
as she knew who it was. You mustn't be distressed," she entreated, with
a pathetic smile. "It's really a kind of relief to her; anything is that takes
her mind off herself for a moment. She will be so sorry to miss you,
and you must come again as soon as you can."
"Oh, we will, we will!" cried my wife, in nothing less than a passion of
meekness; and Miss Bentley went on to comfort her.
"It's dreadful, of course, but it isn't as bad as it sounds, and it isn't
nearly so bad as it looks. She is used to it, and there is a great deal in
that. Oh, don't go!" she begged, at a movement Mrs. March made to
rise. "The doctor is with her just now, and I'm not needed. It will be
kind if you'll stay; it's a relief to be out of the room with a good
excuse!" She even laughed a little as she said this; she went on to lead
the talk away from what