'll go and see Mrs. Marsh, and him, and the minister, and
the doctor, and everybody. I'll tell 'em all everything. You go right on
ahead with your gettin' married. I ain't goin' to have your life spoiled
the way mine has been. You're young yet and you've got a right to it."

[Sidenote: Matilda's Burden]

"But--but, Aunt Matilda!"

"Aunt Matilda nothin'! What could you do, anyhow? She don't want you
anywheres near her, and the doctor said she mustn't be excited."

"I could do what I've always done--cooking and cleaning and washing and
ironing, and I could carry things up-stairs for you."

"Maybe you could, Rosemary, but you ain't goin' to. You've served out
your time. Don't you worry about me--I ain't goin' to kill myself."

"I--I wish you'd let me," Rosemary stammered.

"Well, I won't, and that's the end of it. I'll get along someways. The
minister used to say that when God gave any of us a burden we couldn't
carry by ourselves, He'd always send help, so, if I need help, I'll have
it.

"I'll enjoy myself, too, in a way," she went on, after a little. "It's
goin' to seem awful peaceful to have the house quiet, with no talkin'
nor argument goin' on in it. Sometimes I've thought that if I could get
out of the sound of the human voice for a spell I wouldn't feel so ugly.
It's wore on me considerable--never bein' alone except nights or when I
went up-stairs afternoons and pretended to take a nap. Lots of times I
wasn't lyin' down at all--I was just settin' there, with the door
locked, thinkin' how nice and quiet it was. Ma'll get a good rest, too,
while she ain't talkin', though it ain't for me to say she's needed it."

[Sidenote: The Wedding Dawn]

"So," she continued, clearing her throat, "you go right on ahead with
your marrying."

Rosemary bent and kissed the hollow, withered cheek. "I will," she said.
"Oh, dear Aunt Matilda! I wish you hadn't missed it all!"

The older woman's steel blue eyes softened, then filled. "Maybe I've
missed it and maybe I ain't," she said, huskily. "Maybe this life is
only a discipline to fit us for somethin' better that's comin'. Anyway,
if we keep on goin' and doin' the best we can as we go, I believe God
will make it right for us later on."

* * * * *

The morning of Rosemary's wedding dawned clear and cool. It was Autumn
and yet the sweetness of Summer still lingered in the air. Scarlet
banners trailed upon the maples and golden leaves rained f