Here Comes a Candle Read Online Free

grandmother. ”
    “ Nonsense, ” said the doctor. “ You might as sensibly blame yourself for what happened to Mr. Penrose ’ s child. I tell you, Jon, you ’ ll be a fool if you don ’ t go on your knees to ask her to come. Besides, you ’ re responsible for her. She risked her life to stay with your grandmother and nearly lost it too, by the sound of it. ” He moved toward the door. “ If I were you, I ’ d get her safe on board ship just as quick as you can. There ’ s all hell loose in the town by now—-and talk of a counter-attack by the British, too. The 98th are on their way to Kingston, they say, straight from Bermuda and full of fight. ”
    “ The 98th? ” Kate Croston ’ s voice rose almost to a scream.
    “ Why, yes, so they say. But there may be nothing in it. Anyway, I must be going. I ’ ll make arrangements for the funeral, Jonathan, when I’ ve time, and then, my advice to you is to get back to the other side of the lake just as fast as you can. And take Mrs. Croston with you. ”
    Left alone, they looked at each other for a long moment in a silence charged with doubt. Surprisingly, she spoke first “ Mr. Penrose, would you take me? Could you? ”
    “ Oh, I guess I could, all right. Chauncey ’ s an old friend of mine. We sailed together once. ” No mis taking the doubt in his voice.
    “ But you don ’ t want to. And I don ’ t blame you. Oh, I suppose I ’ m mad even to ask it, but, Mr. Penrose, I must get away. There ’ s someone—someone in the 98th. You heard Dr. Brown say they were coming? If I have to meet him again, I think I ’ ll die. ” She was out of the chair now, her head hardly reaching his shoulder, her hands working together, her voice holding a threat of hysteria. And then, eyes eagerly searching his strong, unreadable face. “ Suppose it was your daughter, Sarah, grown up: suppose she was begging you like this? Or begging someone else? You ’ d want them to help her, wouldn ’ t you? And, I promise you, I won ’ t be a burden on you. If you take me away from here, I ’ ll give my life to your Sarah. I ’ ll be glad to. It ’ s what I want, someone to care for. ”
    “ But I don ’ t think you quite understand. ” There was something chilling about his tone and h is cool gaze. “ This is no sinecure, Mrs. Croston. This is no pet child to cosset . The doctors say it ’ s hopeless. They don ’ t pretend to understand the case, but they say it can only get worse. Myself, I refuse to believe them. Well, I ’ m her father, I remember what she was like—before. But I ’ m the only one. Even Arabella— ” he stopped. “ Well, it ’ s no wonder; sometimes, when the screaming goes on for hours, even I despair. How could you cope with her, a little thing like you? ”
    Her chin went up. “ Because I ’ d care, Mr. Penrose. You said that was what she needed, didn ’ t you? Loving ... caring. Don ’ t you see, I ’ ve been lonely, been unhappy myself, for so long— ” And then, impatiently, “ But why should you see? Why should you listen? You know nothing about me. ”
    “ I know what Dr. Brown told me, but I confess I ’ m puzzled ...”
    “ I don ’ t blame you. Well then, let me te ll you: here I stand, poor but honest. I ’ m not quite a pauper; I won ’ t be a charge on you. ” Her tone of self-mockery came as a surprise to him. She might be a plain little shrimp of a thing, but she had character.
    “ My father was a clergyman, ” she went on. “ In Sussex. I ’ ve lived there all my life. Till last autumn— ” She stopped, teeth biting into her lower lip, then went off at a tangent: “ I taught Sunday school there: I ’ m not totally ignorant about children, though I had no brothers or sisters. My mother died—four years ago. I looked after my father till he died last year. ” Her voice shook on the words, and he was instinctively aware of immense gaps in her narrative. “ I don ’ t want to talk about that. ” She