human
You are ill, Mrs. Cotton,
gpt
I have not felt well for some time, returned Sophy, trying to seem composed;
human
How long has she been sick?
gpt
Only a few days. Noah took the horse and cart to fetch her and Mary home to live with us. It is kind of Noah--very kind. But, God forgive me! I almost wish they mayn't come.
human
Why, child, it would cheer thee up a bit. I am sure thee wantest some one to take care o' thee.
gpt
I would rather be alone,
human
What has come over thee, Sophy Cotton? said the old woman, coming up to her and laying her hand on her shoulder, while she peered earnestly into her face.
gpt
I never saw such a cruel change in a young cretur in the course of a few weeks! But there may be a cause--a natural cause,
human
No, no, thank goodness! You are wrong--quite wrong, Mrs. Martin. No child of mine will ever sport upon my threshold, or gather daisies beside my door; and I am thankful--so thankful, that it is so!
gpt
That's hardly in natur'. Most o' womankind love young children--'specially their own.
human
My dear Mrs. Cotton, said Sarah soothingly,
gpt
Indeed, Sarah, I can't.
human
Is Noah cross to you?
gpt
Quite the reverse--he's the kindest of men.
human
He looks very stern.
gpt
His looks belie him.
human
And do you love him?
gpt
If I did not, I should not be so miserable;
human
Mrs. Cotton, you distress us greatly, continued Sarah, taking her cold, passive hand.
gpt
Won't you tell a friend and neighbour the reason of this grief?
human
Tell one who loves thee like a mother.
gpt
Speak out your mind, dear, said Sarah, pressing affectionately the thin, wasted hand that lay so passively within her own.
human
It will ease your heart.
gpt
Ah! if I thought that you would tell no one, --and Sophy raised her death-pale face, and fixed her earnest eyes mournfully upon her interrogator,--
human
I would confide to you my trouble; but oh, if you were so cruel as to betray me, it would drive me mad.
gpt
Sure we can be trusted, Mistress Cotton, and the old woman drew herself up with an air of offended dignity.
human
What interest could Sarah and I have to betray thee? we be no idle gossips going clacking from house to house about matters that don't concern us. What good could it do us to blab the secrets of other folk?
gpt
It is only anxiety for your welfare, dear Mrs. Cotton, whispered Sarah,
human
I believe you, my kind friends, replied Sophy.
gpt
I know I should feel better if I had the thing off my mind. It is dreadful to bear such a burthen alone.
human
Does not your husband know it?
gpt
That is what occasions me such grief; I dare not tell him what vexes me; I once hinted at it, and I thought he would have gone mad. You wonder why I look so pale and thin; how can it be otherwise, when I never get a sound night's rest?
human
What keeps you awake?
gpt
My husband! He does nothing but rave all night in his sleep about some person he murdered years ago.
human
Oh, if you could but hear his dreadful cries--the piteous moans he makes--the frantic prayers he puts up to God to forgive him for his great crime, and take him out of the fires of hell, it would make your hair stand on end: it makes me shiver and tremble all over with fear. And then to see, by the dim light of the rush candle, (for he never sleeps in the dark,) the big drops of sweat that stand upon his brow and trickle down his ghastly face; to hear him grind and gnash his teeth in despair, and howl in a wild sort of agony, as he strikes at the walls with his clenched fists; it would make you pray, Mrs. Martin, as I do, for the light of day. Yes, yes, it is killing me--I know it is: it is horrible to live in constant dread of the coming night--to shrink in terror from the husband in whose bosom you should rest in peace.
gpt
Doth this happen often?
human
Every night for the last two months; ever since you came to live near us. He used always to be afraid of the dark, and sometimes made a noise in his sleep, but he never acted as he does now. Once I asked him what he was dreaming about, and why he always fancied that he had murdered some one, when asleep. He flew at me like a maniac, and swore that he would throttle me if he ever heard me ask such foolish questions again; that people could not commit murder in their sleep--that they must be wide awake to shed blood.
gpt
Ay, ay, said the old woman with a malignant smile,
human
Constantly. Did you ever, Mrs. Martin, hear of a person of the name of Carlos?
gpt
Ay! 'tis out at last! 'tis out at last! My God, I thank thee! I thank thee! Yes, yes, 'Vengeance is mine, I will repay, saith the Lord!' My Bill! my brave Bill! and thee hadst to die for this man's crime! but God has righted thee at last--at last, in spite of this villain's evidence, who swore that thy knife did the deed, when he plunged it himself into the rich man's heart. Ha, ha! I shall live to be revenged upon him--I shall, I shall!
human
What have I done! shrieked the unhappy wife.
gpt
I have betrayed my husband into the hands of his enemies! and she sunk down at the old woman's feet like one dead. Gloating over her anticipated revenge, Mrs. Martin spurned the prostrate form with her foot, as she scornfully commanded her more humane daughter