These things puzzled Cecile. Why should Mme. Malet dislike England?
Why was Mme. Malet sad?
But the young matron was not the only one who had a sad face in this
pretty French farm just now; the elderly woman, the tall and upright
old Frenchwoman, Cecile saw one day crying bitterly by the fire. This
old woman had from the first been most kind to Cecile, and had petted
Maurice, often rocking him to sleep in her arms, but as she did not
know even one word of English, she left the real care of the children
to her daughter-in-law Suzanne. Consequently Cecile had seen very
little of her while she stayed in her own room, but when she came
downstairs she noticed her sad old face, and when she heard her
bitter sobs, the loving heart of the child became so full she could
scarcely bear her own feelings. She ran up to the old Frenchwoman and
threw her arms round her neck, and said "Don't cry; ah, don't cry!"
and the Frenchwoman answered "_La pauvre petite_!" to her, and
though neither of them understood one word that the other said, yet
they mingled their tears together, and in some way the sore heart of
the elder was comforted.
That evening, that very same evening, Cecile, sitting in the porch by
the young Mme. Malet's side, ventured to ask her why her mother-in-law
looked so sorry.
"My poor mother-in-law," answered Suzanne readily, "she has known
great trouble, Cecile. My Jean was not her only child. My mother-in-law
is mourning for another child.
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