Her heart big with grief, she clasped him in her arms, and laid her cheek
against his bosom: higher she could not reach, and nearer than his
breast-bone she could not get to him. No endearment was customary between
them: James had never encouraged or missed any; neither did he know how to
receive such when offered.
"I am distressed, mother," he began, "to see you so upset; and I cannot
help thinking such a display of feeling unnecessary. If I may say so, it
seems to me unreasonable. You cannot, in such a brief period as this new
maid of yours has spent with you, have developed such an affection for
her, as this--" he hesitated for a word, "--as this _bouleversement_ would
seem to indicate! The young woman can hardly be a relative, or I should
surely have heard of her existence! The suddenness of the occurrence, of
which I heard only from my shoemaker, MacLear, must have wrought
disastrously upon your nerves! Come, come, dear mother! you must indeed
compose yourself! It is quite unworthy of you, to yield to such a paroxysm
of unnatural and uncalled-for grief! Surely it is the part of a Christian
like you, to meet with calmness, especially in the case of one you have
known so little, that inevitable change which neither man nor woman can
avoid longer than a few years at most! Of course, the appalling
instantaneousness of it in the present case, goes far to explain and excuse
your emotion, but now at least, after so many hours have elapsed, it is
surely time for reason to resume her sway! Was it not Schiller who said,
'Death cannot be an evil, for it is universal'?--At all events, it is not
an unmitigated evil!" he added--with a sigh, as if for his part he was
prepared to welcome it.
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