Rachel

　　"Oh, Rachel, I so loved and trusted you!"The grief, affection,ugg bailey button triplet 1873 boots, and regret that trembled in her voice rousedRachel from her state of passive endurance and gave her courage toplead for herself. But it was Christie whom she addressed, Christiewhose pardon she implored, Christie's sorrowful reproach that shemost keenly felt.

　　"Yes, it is true," she said, looking only at the woman who had beenthe first to befriend and now was the last to desert her. "It istrue that I once went astray, but God knows I have repented; thatfor years I've tried to be an honest girl again, and that but forHis help I should be a far sadder creature than I am this day.

　　Christie, you can never know how bitter hard it is to outlive a sinlike mine, and struggle up again from such a fall. It clings to me;it won't be shaken off or buried out of sight. No sooner do I find asafe place like this, and try to forget the past, than some onereads my secret in my face and hunts me down. It seems very cruel,very hard, yet it is my punishment, so I try to bear it, and beginagain. What hurts me now more than all the rest, what breaks myheart, is that I deceived you. I never meant to do it,foamposite for cheap. I did notseek you, did I? I tried to be cold and stiff; never asked for love,though starving for it, till you came to me, so kind, so generous,so dear,--how could I help it? Oh, how could I help it then?"Christie had watched Rachel while she spoke, and spoke to her alone;her heart yearned toward this one friend, for she still loved her,and, loving, she believed in her.

　　"I don't reproach you, dear: I don't despise or desert you, andthough I'm grieved and disappointed, I'll stand by you still,because you need me more than ever now, and I want to prove that Iam a true friend. Mrs. King, please forgive and let poor Rachel stayhere, safe among us.""Miss Devon, I'm surprised at you! By no means; it would be theruin of my establishment; not a girl would remain, and the characterof my rooms would be lost for ever," replied Mrs. King, goaded on bythe relentless Cotton.

　　"But where will she go if you send her away? Who will employ her ifyou inform against her? What stranger will believe in her if we, whohave known her so long, fail to befriend her now? Mrs. King, thinkof your own daughters, and be a mother to this poor girl for theirsake."That last stroke touched the woman's heart; her cold eye softened,her hard mouth relaxed, and pity was about to win the day,fake montblanc pens, whenprudence, in the shape of Miss Cotton, turned the scale, for thatspiteful spinster suddenly cried out, in a burst of righteous wrath:

　　"If that hussy stays, I leave this establishment for ever!" andfollowed up the blow by putting on her bonnet with a flourish.

　　At this spectacle, self-interest got the better of sympathy in Mrs.

　　King's worldly mind. To lose Cotton was to lose her right hand, andcharity at that price was too expensive a luxury to be indulged in;so she hardened her heart,Replica Designer Handbags, composed her features, and said,impressively:

　　"Take off your bonnet, Cotton; I have no intention of offending you,or any one else, by such a step. I forgive you, Rachel, and I pityyou; but I can't think of allowing you to stay. There are properinstitutions for such as you, and I advise you to go to one andrepent. You were paid Saturday night, so nothing prevents yourleaving at once. Time is money here, and we are wasting it. Youngladies, take your seats."All but Christie obeyed, yet no one touched a needle, and Mrs. Kingsat, hurriedly stabbing pins into the fat cushion on her breast, asif testing the hardness of her heart.