Page:An Unfinished Song.djvu/123

From Wikisource
Jump to navigation Jump to search
This page has been proofread, but needs to be validated.
118
AN UNFINISHED SONG

soon and then there will be a wedding. Can't you live without him for a day?"

Times are not what once they were, the customs of our people are undergoing a marked change. Time was when each sorrow was carried to friends or relatives of one's own age and solace found by opening the heart to its very depths, but this is becoming a thing of the past. The young woman of to-day must learn to bear her sorrow alone, especially when an affair of the heart is involved. I therefore concealed my feeling before Promada and laughed her anxiety down.

The day wore on, and the tennis players came. A party of ten of us assembled in the garden. Although there was only one court, no inconvenience was felt, because the number of the players was not a large one. My aunt did not play, and I excused myself on the ground that I was not well. The doctor was there, and when not playing came and sat by me, speaking to me in his usual gentle way.

"You still appear weak," he said. "Your sister tells me you pay no attention to your health, you forget your meals when interested in your books."