CHAPTER XXXV
THE LAST DAY.
Mrs. Orme was up very early on that last morning of the trial, and had dressed herself before Lady Mason was awake. It was now March, but yet the morning light was hardly sufficient for her as she went through her toilet. They had been told to be in the court very punctually at ten, and in order to do so they must leave Orley Farm at nine. Before that, as had been arranged over night, Lucius was to see his mother.
'You haven't told him! he doesn't know!' were the first words which Lady Mason spoke as she raised her head from the pillow. But then she remembered. 'Ah! yes,' she said, as she again sank back and hid her face, 'he knows it all now.'
'Yes, dear; he knows it all; and is it not better so? He will come and see you, and when that is over you will be more comfortable than you have been for years past.'
Lucius also had been up early, and when he learned that Mrs. Orme was dressed, he sent up to her begging that he might see her. Mrs. Orme at once went to him, and found him seated at the breakfast table with his head resting on his arm. His face was pale and haggard, and his hair was uncombed. He had not been undressed that night, and his clothes hung on him as they always do hang on a man who has passed a sleepless night in them. To Mrs. Orme's inquiry after himself he answered not a word, nor did he at first ask after his mother. 'That was all true that you told me last night?'
'Yes, Mr. Mason; it was true.'
'And she and I must be outcasts for ever. I will endeavour to bear it, Mrs. Orme. As I did not put an end to my life last night I suppose that I shall live and bear it. Does she expect to see me?'
'I told her that you would come to her this morning.'
'And what shall I say? I would not condemn my own mother; but how can I not condemn her?'
'Tell her at once that you will forgive her.'
'But it will be a lie. I have not forgiven her. I loved my mother and esteemed her as a pure and excellent woman. I was proud of my mother. How can I forgive her for having destroyed such feelings as those?'
