Besides, how could
she now follow the one who had been so kind to her?
But she stayed, and patiently worked all day, striving earnestly to
catch the knack of the needle, and emulating the tireless industry of
the Sister, who worked thus during daylight that she might pursue her
mission of mercy and succour at night. Thus passed some days, and then
Jessica's blood grew restless; the narrow room seemed to her stifling
and unendurable, and she pined for the open air, as a caged blackbird
longs for its native woods.
The longing grew so irresistible that at last she succumbed to it; and
one day, finding herself alone, she threw down the piece of work on
which she was employed, and rising, snatched up her weather-stained hat.
"I can't stay," she sobbed; "I can't breathe here! I must go, or I shall
die. I'll leave before she comes back. Oh! I wish she had not been so
kind to me. I feel a worthless, miserable, ungrateful creature!"
Then she stole down the stairs, very much as she had slipped away from
Adrien's residence, and gained the streets anew.
CHAPTER VII
It was the night of the great ball at Lady Merivale's town house.
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