Her love for her new mother, which testified itself thus strongly and
sincerely, was returned by that mother with equal fervor. From the day
when little Mary first appeared at her bedside, Mrs. Blyth felt, to use
her own expression, as if a new strength had been given her to enjoy
her new happiness. Brighter hopes, better health, calmer resignation,
and purer peace seemed to follow the child's footsteps and be always
inherent in her very presence, as she moved to and fro in the sick
room. All the little difficulties of communicating with her and
teaching her, which her misfortune rendered inevitable, and which might
sometime have been felt as tedious by others, were so many distinct
sources of happiness, so many exquisite occupations of once-weary time
to Mrs. Blyth. All the friends of the family declared that the child
had succeeded where doctors, and medicines, and luxuries, and the
sufferer's own courageous resignation had hitherto failed--for she had
succeeded in endowing Mrs. Blyth with a new life. And they were right.
A fresh object for the affections of the heart and the thoughts of the
mind, is a fresh life for every feeling and thinking human being, in
sickness even as well as in health.
In this sense, indeed, the child brought fresh life with her to all who
lived in her new home--to the servants, as well as to the master and
mistress.
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