He was here in an hour and she made her peace
with God. I did not ask you to the funeral as you had been so long
away. My dear Mary, I cannot live alone at my age. I was sixty-
five last Michaelmas, and I want you back in the old house. Let
bygones be bygones. I shall always be, your affectionate father,
'THOMAS TOLLER.
'PS.--You can have the same bedroom you had when your own mother was
alive.'
The furniture, modern stuff, was sold, every stick of it, and Miss
Toller rejoiced when the spring sofa and chairs which had been
devoted to Poulters and Goachers and Taggarts were piled up in the
vans. The nightmares of fifteen years hid themselves in the mats
and carpets.
Helen and she standing at the dresser ate their last meal in the
dingy kitchen of Russell House. It was nothing but sandwiches, but
it was the most delicious food they had tasted there. It is a
mistake if you are old to go back to the village in which you were
born and bred. Ghosts meet you in every lane and look out from the
windows. There are new names on the signboard of the inn and over
the grocer's shop.
Pages:
17
18
19
20
21
22
23
24
25
26
27
28
29
30
31
32
33
34
35
36
37
38
39
40
41