Crump. "There is one thing I
would like to ask," she continued, hesitating and reddening. "Don't
answer it unless you please. Was--is Ida the child of shame?"
"She is not," answered the nurse.
Mrs. Crump looked relieved. It removed a thought from her mind which
would now and then intrude, though it had never, for an instant,
lessened her affection for the child.
At this point in the conversation, the cooper entered the house. He
had just come home on an errand.
"It is my husband," said Mrs. Crump, turning to her visitor, by way
of explanation. "Timothy, will you come in a moment?"
Mr. Crump regarded his wife's visitor with some surprise. His wife
hastened to introduce her as Mrs. Hardwick, Ida's nurse, and handed
to the astonished cooper the letter which the latter had brought
with her.
He was not a rapid reader, and it took him some time to get through
the letter. He laid it down on his knee, and looked thoughtful. The
nurse regarded him with a slight uneasiness.
"This is, indeed, unexpected," he said, at last. "It is a new
development in Ida's history. May I ask, Mrs. Hardwick, if you have
any further proof. I want to be prudent with a child that I love as
my own,--if you have any further proof that you are what you claim
to be?"
"I judged that this letter would be sufficient," said the nurse;
moving a little in her chair.
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