proof of his innocence would have any effect upon her mind.
If that is ever forthcoming she may recover, and the two may be brought
together again. At the same time I think that you might very well call
upon her, introducing yourself by saying that as I was a friend of
Captain Sankey's and of her sons you were desirous of making her
acquaintance, especially as you heard that she was such an invalid. She
has no friends whatever. She was never a very popular woman, and the
line every one knows she has taken in reference to the murder of her
second husband has set those who would otherwise have been inclined to
be kind against her. Other people may be convinced of Ned's guilt, but
you see it seems to every one to be shocking that a mother should take
part against her son."

Accordingly Mrs. Porson called. On the first occasion when she did so
Mrs. Mulready sent down to say that she was sorry she could not see her,
but that the state of her health did not permit her to receive visitors.
Mrs. Porson, however, was not to be discouraged. First she made friends
with Lucy, and when she knew that the girl was sure to have spoken
pleasantly of her to her mother she opened a correspondence with Mrs.
Mulready. At first she only wrote to ask that Lucy might be allowed to
come and spend the day with her. Her next letter was on the subject of
Lucy's music. The girl had long gone to a day school kept by a lady in
Marsden, but her music had been neglected, and Mrs. Porson wrote to say
that she found that Lucy had a taste for music, and that having been
herself well taught she should be happy to give her lessons twice a
week, and that if Mrs. Mulready felt well enough to see her she would
like to have a little chat with her on the subject.

This broke the ice. Lucy's backwardness in music had long been a
grievance with her mother, who, as she lay in bed and listened to the
girl practicing below had fretted over the thought that she could obtain
no good teacher for her in Marsden. Mrs. Porson's offer was therefore
too tempting to be refused, and as it was necessary to appear to
reciprocate the kindness of that lady, she determined to make an effort
to receive her.

The meeting went off well. Having once made the effort Mrs. Mulready
found, to her surprise, that it was pleasant to her after being cut off
for so many months from all intercourse with the world, except such as
she gained from the doctor, her two children, and the old servan