Page:Aunt Phillis's Cabin.djvu/245

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"Cousin Janet is well, my dear brother," said Mrs. Weston. "I was very thoughtless, but our dear neighbor, Mrs. Kent, is no more."

"Can it be possible?" said Mr. Weston, much agitated. "Read the letter aloud."

Mrs. Weston, turned to the beginning, and read aloud,

   "MY DEAR ANNA:
   "The time is near which will bring you all in health and
   happiness, I trust, to your home; and could you see how lovely it
   looks, I think you would be tempted to fix upon an earlier day.
   You see how selfish I am, but I confess that I quite count the
   days, as a child does to Christmas, and am ashamed of my
   impatience.
   "Throughout the winter I had no care. My kind friends did all the
   housekeeping, and the servants in the house, and on the
   plantation, were so faithful, that I feel indebted to all who have
   made my time so easy; and your absence has not, I am sure, been
   attended with any ill effects, without you find me a little cross
   and complaining, and Mr. Barbour out of his senses with joy, on
   your return. Good Mr. Barbour! he has superintended and encouraged
   the servants, and visited us forlorn ladies frequently, so that he
   must come in for a portion of our thanks too.
   "You will perhaps think I ought only to write you cheerful news,
   but it is best to let you know as well as I can, the condition
   that you will find us in, on your return. Phillis is the only one
   of us, whose concerns are of any immediate importance, but I am
   sorry to have to tell you that she is now seriously indisposed.
   Her cough has never really yielded--her other symptoms have
   varied; but for the last few weeks, her disease has not only
   progressed, but assumed a certain form. She is in consumption, and
   has no doubt inherited the disease from her mother.
   "I have, throughout the winter, felt great anxiety about her, and
   have not permitted her to work, though sometimes