If you should go away I am afraid she might die." I did not go away.

I gave up my position in the bank and remained in Denboro.
At the end of the year I bought the Rogers house and land, moved a portion of our furniture down there, sold the rest, and resigned myself to a period of idleness in the country.

Dorinda I hired as housekeeper, and when Dorinda accepted the engagement she threw in Lute, so to speak, for good measure.
And here I have been ever since.

At first I looked upon my stay in Denboro as a sort of enforced vacation, which was to be, of course, only temporary.

But time went on and Mother's condition continued unchanged.
She needed me and I could not leave her.