could get. The Tozer interest would not declare itself satisfied with these terms, and so the matter went on; during which the roses faded from day to day on the cheeks of Mrs. Robarts, as under such circumstances may easily be conceived.
In the mean time Lucy still remained at Hogglestock, and had there become absolute mistress of the house. Poor Mrs. Crawley had been at death's door; for some days she was delirious, and afterward remained so weak as to be almost unconscious; but now the worst was over, and Mr. Crawley had been informed that, as far as human judgment might pronounce, his children would not become orphans, nor would he become a widower. During these weeks Lucy had not once been home, nor had she seen any of the Framley people. "Why should she incur the risk of conveying infection for so small an object?" as she herself argued, writing by letters, which were duly fumigated before they were opened at the Parsonage. So she remained at Hogglestock, and the Crawley children, now admitted to all the honors of the nursery, were kept at Framley. They were kept at Framley, although it was expected from day to day that the beds on which they lay would be seized for the payment of Mr. Sowerby's debts.
Lucy, as I have said, became mistress of the house at Hogglestock, and made herself absolutely ascendant over Mr. Crawley. Jellies, and broth, and fruit, and even butter, came from Lufton Court, which she displayed on the table, absolutely on the cloth before him, and yet he bore it. I can not say that he partook of these delicacies with any freedom himself, but he did drink his tea when it was given to him, although it contained Framley cream—and, had he known it, Bohea itself from the Framley chest. In truth, in these days, he had given himself over to the dominion of this stranger; and he said nothing beyond "Well, well," with two uplifted hands, when he came upon her as she was sewing the buttons on to his own shirts—sewing on the buttons, and perhaps occasionally applying her needle elsewhere, not without utility.
He said to her at this period very little in the way of thanks. Some protracted conversations they did have now and again during the long evenings, but even in these he did not utter many words as to their present state of life. It was on religion chiefly that he spoke; not lecturing her
