The Chaplet of Pearls by Charlotte Mary Yonge
page 278 of 671 (41%)
page 278 of 671 (41%)
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beside yourself! What noble lady ever nursed her babe?'
'I don't care noble ladies--I care for my child,' said the vehement, petulant little thing. 'And how--what good will Madame's caring for it do? What knows she of infants? How can she take care of it?' 'Our Lady will teach me,' said Eustacie, still pressing the child passionately to her heart; 'and see--the owl--the ring-dove--can take care of their little ones; the good God shows them how--He will tell me how!' Perrine regarded her Lady much as if she were in a naughty fit, refusing unreasonably to part with a new toy, and Nanon Rotrou was much of the same mind; but it was evident that if at the moment they attempted to carry off the babe, the other would put herself into an agony of passion, that they durst not call forth; and they found it needful to do their best to soothe her out of the deluge of agitated tears that fell from her eyes, as she grasped the child so convulsively that she might almost have stifled it at once. They assured her that they would not take it away now--not now, at any rate; and when the latent meaning made her fiercely insist that it was to leave her neither now nor ever, Perrine made pacifying declarations that it should be just as she pleased--promises that she knew well, when in that coaxing voice, meant nothing at all. Nothing calmed her till Perrine had been conducted away; and even then Nanon could not hush her into anything like repose, and at last called in the minister, in despair. |
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