And when I hint to my reader that I had some conscience in
paying my curate, though, as they had no children, they did not require so
much as I should otherwise have felt compelled to give them, he will easily
see that as my family grew up I could not have so much to give away of
my own as I should have liked. Therefore this trust of the good Mr.
Boulderstone was the more acceptable to me.
One word more ere I finish this chapter.--I should not like my friends to
think that I had got tired of our Christmas gatherings, because I have made
no mention of one this year. It had been pretermitted for the first time,
because of my daughter's illness. It was much easier to give them now than
when I lived at the vicarage, for there was plenty of room in the old hall.
But my curate, Mr. Weir, still held a similar gathering there every Easter.
Another one word more about him. Some may wonder why I have not mentioned
him or my sister, especially in connection with Connie's accident. The fact
was, that he had taken, or rather I had given him, a long holiday. Martha
had had several disappointing illnesses, and her general health had
suffered so much in consequence that there was even some fear of her lungs,
and a winter in the south of France had been strongly recommended.
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