Mrs. Sebastian, in her First Day clothes, and unwilling to lose a
word of what was going on in the sitting-room, had left the early
dinner to her assistant. But she brought in a cup of strong tea, and
some cream toast, begging the bereaved mother to stay her stomach
with that until the meal's victuals was ready. Mrs. Tracy appeared to
have forgotten that her stomach needed staying, but she thanked the
landlady and drank the tea as if thirsty, between her further
inquiries about the child.
"Are you not sure," she asked the lawyer, "that we are on the right
track this time?"
He said he was not sure, but indications were better than they had
been before.
"I don't wish to reproach you," said Mrs. Tracy, "but it is a
fearful thought to me, that they may be poisoning my child with
opiates again and injuring her perhaps for life. You might have
detained her."
"That's what I've said right along," exclaimed Mrs. Sebastian.
"But there was that woman who pretended to be her rightful mother,"
observed Grandma Padget, who, though not obliged to set up any
defence, wanted the case seen in all its bearings. "There _she_
set, easy and deliberate, telling _her_ story, how the little
thing's father died comin' over the water, and how hard, it was for
her to do the right thing by the child.
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