lose him to make her know her malady, and meet it face to face. Upon the evening when Mary learned all this, she went into her chamber very early and closed the [113]door. No one interrupted her until Jane went in to robe her for the night, and to retire. She then found that Mary had robed herself and was lying in bed with her head covered, apparently asleep. Jane quietly prepared to retire, and lay down in her own bed. The girls usually shared one couch, but during Mary's ill-temper she had forced Jane to sleep alone. [113] After a short silence Jane heard a sob from the other bed, then another, and another. "Mary, are you weeping?" she asked. "Yes." "What is the matter, dear?" "Nothing," with a sigh. "Do you wish me to come to your bed?" "Yes, I do." So Jane went over and lay beside Mary, who gently put her arms about her neck. "When will he leave?" whispered Mary, shyly confessing all by her question. "I do not know," responded Jane, "but he will see you before he goes." "Do you believe he will?" "I know it;" and with this consolation Mary softly wept herself to sleep. After this, for a few days, Mary was quiet enough. Her irritable mood had vanished, but Jane could see that she was on the lookout for some one all the time, although she made the most pathetic little efforts to conceal her watchfulness. At last a meeting came about in this way: Next to the king's bed-chamber was a luxuriously [114]furnished little apartment with a well-selected library. Here Brandon and I often went, afternoons, to read, as we were sure to be undisturbed.
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