Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: (33) CHAPTER III. The generosity of a disposition which knew no bounds but his last guinea. Sir Walter Scott on Oliver Goldsmith. Margaret was compelled to be out of the house each morning by eight o'clock. It was one of the girl's daily sacrifices, this early departure; not a sacrifice in the sense of personal comfort, but of feeling. It cost her so much to go away and leave her mother without even so much as a kiss, for Mrs. Chessingham was never awakened early, and it cost her even more to relinquish her office of maid and nurse combined to another person, even though that other was the faithful and careful Janet . Meg's love for, and anxiety about her mother had reached a point higher than ordinary devotion. It would have been a joy to her to have been able to spend every hour of her day in ministering to the poor, weak, delicate creature who was so near and so dependent upon her, and this denied happiness made her daily work terribly difficult and distasteful at times. She was dressed and downstairs long before eight o'clock, and found Janet ready for her with a substantial breakfast, and a fine blazing fire in the kitchen grate. But Meg had several little tasks to do before eating. She laid the dainty little tray (that was to carry breakfast to her mother later on), with loving fingers, and arranged a dish of ham-and-tongue in the most inviting way possible. There was a tiny little jar of honey and a pat of the best fresh butter to be put on the tray, whilst from a drawer in an old cupboard Meg produced the few pretty pieces of silver left to their possession. When all was done she gave a little sigh. You will be sure to send me a telegram if she should not be so well this morning ? Perhaps it was only my fancy, but she seemed very weak...