King, goaded on by
the relentless Cotton.
"But where will she go if you send her away? Who will employ her if
you inform against her? What stranger will believe in her if we, who
have known her so long, fail to befriend her now? Mrs. King, think
of your own daughters, and be a mother to this poor girl for their
sake."
That last stroke touched the woman's heart; her cold eye softened,
her hard mouth relaxed, and pity was about to win the day, when
prudence, in the shape of Miss Cotton, turned the scale, for that
spiteful spinster suddenly cried out, in a burst of righteous wrath:
"If that hussy stays, I leave this establishment for ever!" and
followed 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, and
charity at that price was too expensive a luxury to be indulged in;
so she hardened her heart, 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 pity
you; but I can't think of allowing you to stay. There are proper
institutions for such as you, and I advise you to go to one and
repent.
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