CHAPTER VI.





MORNING found little Ella, though much exhausted by the severe
struggle through which she had passed, so far restored that her
parents ceased to feel that anxiety with which for hours, as they
hung over her, their hearts had been painfully oppressed.

It could not but be that a shadow would rest on the gentle face of
Mrs. Wilkinson, as she met her husband at the breakfast table; for
it was impossible to obliterate the memory of such a night of trial
and alarm as the one through which she had just passed. And yet,
with a strong effort, she strove to appear cheerful, and when she
spoke to her husband, it was with a forced smile and a tone of
tenderness that touched and subdued his feelings; for he well
understood that, in a certain sense, she was merely acting.

But few words passed between them during the brief morning meal. As
the hour was later than usual, Wilkinson found it necessary to hurry
off to his place of business; so, rising before his wife left the
table, he kissed her pale lips, and, without venturing to make a
remark, left the room.