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148
The Country of the Pointed Firs
·
Sarah Orne Jewett
43
Mrs.
Todd
could
not
resist
a
significant
glance
at
me,
but,
with
charming
sympathy,
she
forbore
to
point
the
lesson
or
to
connect
this
illness
with
its
apparent
cause.
She
loomed
larger
than
ever
in
the
little
old-fashioned
best
room,
with
its
few
pieces
of
good
furniture
and
pictures
of
national
interest.
The
green
paper
curtains
were
stamped
with
conventional
landscapes
of
a
foreign
order,--castles
on
inaccessible
crags,
and
lovely
lakes
with
steep
wooded
shores;
under-foot
the
treasured
carpet
was
covered
thick
with
home-made
rugs.
There
were
empty
glass
lamps
and
crystallized
bouquets
of
grass
and
some
fine
shells
on
the
narrow
mantelpiece.
“I
was
married
in
this
room,”
said
Mrs.
Todd
unexpectedly;
and
I
heard
her
give
a
sigh
after
she
had
spoken,
as
if
she
could
not
help
the
touch
of
regret
that
would
forever
come
with
all
her
thoughts
of
happiness.
“We
stood
right
there
between
the
windows,”
she
added,
“and
the
minister
stood
here.
William
wouldn't
come
in.
He
was
always
odd
about
seein'
folks,
just's
he
is
now.
I
run
to
meet
'em
from
a
child,
an'
William,
he'd
take
an'
run
away.”
“I've
been
the
gainer,”
said
the
old
mother
cheerfully.
“William
has
been
son
an'
daughter
both
since
you
was
married
off
the
island.
He's
been
'most
too
satisfied
to
stop
at
home
'long
o'
his
old
mother,
but
I
always
tell
'em
I'm
the
gainer.”
We
were
all
moving
toward
the
kitchen
as
if
by
common
instinct.
The
best
room
was
too
suggestive
of
serious
occasions,
and
the
shades
were
all
pulled
down
to
shut
out
the
summer
light
and
air.
It
was
indeed
a
tribute
to
Society
to
find
a
room
set
apart
for
her
behests
out
there
on
so
apparently
neighborless
and
remote
an
island.
Afternoon
visits
and
evening
festivals
must
be
few
in
such
a
bleak
situation
at
certain
seasons
of
the
year,
but
Mrs.
Blackett
was
of
those
who
do
not
live
to
themselves,
and
who
have
long
since
passed
the
line
that
divides
mere
self-concern
from
a
valued
share
in
whatever
Society
can
give
and
take.
There
were
those
of
her
neighbors
who
never
had
taken
the
trouble
to
furnish
a
best
room,
but
Mrs.
Blackett
was
one
who
knew
the
uses
of
a
parlor.
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