Page:Aunt Phillis's Cabin.djvu/245



"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