He did not hear her faint cry of bitter,
bitter remorse, as he walked through the hall, nor know she watched
him as he went slowly down the walk, stopping often to admire the fair
blossoms which Maddy did not feel at liberty to pick. "He loved
flowers," Agnes whispered, as her better nature prevailed over every
other feeling, and, starting eagerly forward, she ran after the old
man, who, surprised at her evident haste, waited a little anxiously
for her to speak. It was rather difficult to do so with Maddy's
inquiring eyes upon her, but Agnes managed at last to say: "Does that
crazy man like flowers--the one who prays for the madam?" "Yes, he
used to years ago," grandpa replied; and, bending down, Agnes began to
pick and arrange into a most tasteful bouquet the blossoms and buds of
May, growing so profusely within the borders.
"Take them to him, will you?" and her hand shook as she passed to
Grandpa Markham the gift which would thrill poor crazy Joseph with a
strange delight, making him hold converse a while with the unseen
presence which he called "she," and then whisper blessings on the
madam's head. Three days after this, a party of four left Aikenside,
which presented a most forlorn and cheerless appearance to the
passers-by, who were glad almost as the servants when, at the
expiration of a week, Guy came back and took up his olden life of
solitude and loneliness, with nothing in particular to interest him,
except his books the letters he wrote to Lucy; unless, indeed, it were
those he was going to write to Maddy, who, with Jessie, had promised
to become his correspondents.
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