Fairlie. If you had anything to say that it was right and necessary for her to hear, you should have gone yourself to Limmeridge House—you should have spoken to the young lady with your own lips.”
She crouched down over the flat stone of the grave, till her face was hidden on it, and made no reply.
“Miss Fairlie will be as good and kind to you as her mother was, if you mean well,” I went on. “Miss Fairlie will keep your secret, and not let you come to any harm. Will you see her tomorrow at the farm? Will you meet her in the garden at Limmeridge House?”
“Oh, if I could die, and be hidden and at rest with you !” Her lips murmured the words close on the gravestone, murmured them in tones of passionate endearment, to the dead remains beneath. “ You know how I love your child, for your sake! Oh, Mrs. Fairlie! Mrs. Fairlie! tell me how to save her. Be my darling and my mother once more, and tell me what to do for the best.”