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640 THE ADVENTURES OF PHILIP
him at his marriage ; and J. J. has made a little picture of her,
with her sad smile and her sweet face, which hangs in Philip's
drawing-room, where father, mother, and children talk of the Little
Sister as though she were among them still.
She was dreadfully agitated when the news came from New.
York of Dr. Firmin's second marriage. " His second ? His third !"
she said. " The villain, the villain !" That strange delusion
which we have described as sometimes possessing her increased in
intensity after this news. More than ever, she believed that Philip
was her own child. She came wildly to him, and cried that his
lather had forsaken them. It was only when she was excited that
she gave utterance to this opinion. Dr. Goodenough says that,
though generally silent about it, it never left her.
Upon his marriage Dr. Firmin wrote one of his long letters to
his son, announcing the event. He described the wealth of the lady
(a widow from Norfolk, in Virginia) to whom he was about to be
united. He would pay back, ay, with interest, every pound, every
dollar, every cent he owed his son. Was the lady wealthy ? We
had only the poor Doctor's word.
Three months after his marriage he died of yellow fever, on
his wife's estate. It was then the Little Sister came to see us in
widow's mourning, very wild and flushed. She bade our servant
say, " Mrs. Firmin was at the door ;" to the astonishment of the
man, who knew her. She had even caused a mourning-card to be
printed. Ah, there is rest now for that little fevered brain, and
peace, let us pray, for that fond faithful heart.
The mothers in Philip's household and mine have already made
a match between our children. We had a great gathering the other
day at Roehampton, at the house of our friend, Mr. Olive Newcome
(whose tall boy, my wife says, was very attentive to our Helen),
and, having been educated at the same school, we sat ever so long
at dessert, telling old stories, whilst the children danced to piano
music on the lawn. Dance on the lawn, young folks, whilst the
elders talk in the shade ! What ? The night is falling : we have
talked enough over our wine ; and it is time to go home ? Goodnight.
Good-night, friends, old and young ! The night will fall :
the stories must end : and the best friends must part.
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