He
became so much depressed, physically as well as mentally, before
the end of the day, that Mr. Davis was seriously alarmed for the
consequences. He hailed with gladness a proposal made by the
Farquhars, that the boy should be removed to their house, and
placed under the fond care of his mother's friend, who sent her
own child to Abermouth the better to devote herself to Leonard.
When they told him of this arrangement, he at first refused to go
and leave her: but when Mr. Benson said--
"She would have wished it, Leonard! Do it for her sake!" he went
away very quietly; not speaking a word, after Mr. Benson had made
the voluntary promise that he should see her once again. He
neither spoke nor cried for many hours; and all Jemima's delicate
wiles were called forth, before his heavy heart could find the
relief of tears. And then he was so weak, and his pulse so low,
that all who loved him feared for his life.
Anxiety about him made a sad distraction from the sorrow for the
dead. The three old people, who now formed the household in the
Chapel-house, went about slowly and dreamily, each with a dull
wonder at their hearts why they, the infirm and worn-out, were
left, while she was taken in her lovely prime.
The third day after Ruth's death, a gentleman came to the door
and asked to speak to Mr. Benson. He was very much wrapped up in
furs and cloaks, and the upper, exposed part of his face was sunk
and hollow, like that of one but partially recovered from
illness.
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