"As you say, the property was left in my trust for
you by your father, but I had no need to turn it over to Richards. It
should have been fixed up. It serves me right that this has come upon
me." It was the lawyer's voice that broke now.
Gloria raised her head and wiped her drenched face. To hear the words
her uncle spoke was a relief to her. Still the fact remained. All she
had thought to do toward righting a wrong of somebody's must be done to
right a wrong that lay at her own door.
She tried to stand up bravely under it, this girl who had been sheltered
and petted and cared for, but it was a hard task. And then there was
the shock to all the dreams she had had of playing Lady Bountiful to
another. For a few days she struggled and kept up, but a cold she had
taken on the last day of her travel, aggravated by excitement, settled
into a downright ailment. Very tenderly they coaxed her to stay within
the blankets and among the soft pillows for the first few days, and then
she stayed without coaxing. The District Nurse was at her side, and
another was placed as substitute on her district.
The weeks went by, and gradually the white face took on a tinge of
color. Still more weeks went by and the pillows were forsaken for the
chair, and gradually Gloria crept back to the life waiting for her.
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