XXVII
THE CONFESSIONAL
"WAITY, I know what it is; you have found out about me! Who has
been wicked enough to tell you before I could do so--tell me,
who?"
"Oh, Patty, Patty!" cried Waitstill, who could no longer hold
back her tears. "How could you deceive me so? How could you shut
me out of your heart and keep a secret like this from me, who
have tried to be mother and sister in one to you ever since the
day you were born? God has sent me much to bear, but nothing so
bitter as this--to have my sister take the greatest step of her
life without my knowledge or counsel!"
"Stop, dear, stop, and let me tell you!"
"All is told, and not by you as it should have been. We've never
had anything separate from each other in all our lives, and when
I looked in your bureau drawer for a bit of soft cotton--it was
nothing more than I have done a hundred times--you can guess now
what I stumbled upon; a wedding-ring for a hand I have held ever
since it was a baby's. My sister has a husband, and I am not even
sure of his name!
"Waity, Waity, don't take it so to heart!" and Patty flung
herself on her knees beside Waitstill's chair. "Not till you hear
everything! When I tell you all, you will dry your eyes and smile
and be happy about me, and you will know that in the whole world
there is no one else in my love or my life but you and my--my
husband.
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