"Come up now, and see your papa's bedroom. He's sleeping upstairs in
yours, that everything may be done up afresh in his."
Molly could just remember, in faint clear lines of distinctness, the
being taken into this very room to bid farewell to her dying mother.
She could see the white linen, the white muslin, surrounding the
pale, wan wistful face, with the large, longing eyes, yearning for
one more touch of the little soft warm child, whom she was too feeble
to clasp in her arms, already growing numb in death. Many a time when
Molly had been in this room since that sad day, had she seen in vivid
fancy that same wan wistful face lying on the pillow, the outline
of the form beneath the clothes; and the girl had not shrunk from
such visions, but rather cherished them, as preserving to her the
remembrance of her mother's outward semblance. Her eyes were full of
tears, as she followed Miss Browning into this room to see it under
its new aspect. Nearly everything was changed--the position of the
bed and the colour of the furniture; there was a grand toilette-table
now, with a glass upon it, instead of the primitive substitute of the
top of a chest of drawers, with a mirror above upon the wall, sloping
downwards; these latter things had served her mother during her short
married life.
"You see, we must have all in order for a lady who has passed so
much of her time in the countess's mansion," said Miss Browning, who
was now quite reconciled to the marriage, thanks to the pleasant
employment of furnishing that had devolved upon her in consequence.
"Cromer, the upholsterer, wanted to persuade me to have a sofa and a
writing-table. These men will say anything is the fashion, if they
want to sell an article. I said, 'No, no, Cromer: bedrooms are for
sleeping in, and sitting-rooms are for sitting in. Keep everything to
its right purpose, and don't try and delude me into nonsense.' Why,
my mother would have given us a fine scolding if she had ever caught
us in our bedrooms in the daytime. We kept our out-door things in
a closet downstairs; and there was a very tidy place for washing
our hands, which is as much as one wants in the daytime. Stuffing
up a bedroom with sofas and tables! I never heard of such a thing.
Besides, a hundred pounds won't last for ever. I sha'n't be able to
do anything for your room, Molly!"
"I'm right down glad of it," said Molly. "Nearly everything in it was
what mamma had when she lived with my great-uncle. I wouldn't have
had it changed for the world; I am so fond of it."