AMELIA ACCOUNTS FOR HER SUDDEN APPEARANCE
GOD IS WITH YOU OF A TRUTH, DEAR Mary," said Amelia. "His providence is clearly to be seen in all the circumstances which have brought me here exactly at the right moment to help you. Ever since I discovered that you were innocent, I have tried anxiously to find you, but in vain. You were ever present to my thoughts, and I could not rest without finding you—to tell you that you are quite cleared from suspicion—without doing all I could to atone to you for all you had so undeservedly suffered.
"My father tried every means possible to discover where you had gone, but all our inquiries were fruitless. A few days ago we came to this neighborhood, because my father, who is keeper of the king's forests, had some important business to settle about the woods in this part of the country. He has been busy all day about this matter, along with two other noblemen, who are also concerned in it. Since we came here, we have been living in a hunting lodge belonging to the king, and these two other noblemen, with their wives, are also there.
"This evening my mother was obliged to remain in the drawing room to entertain these ladies; but the evening was so beautiful, so cool, and so inviting, that I begged her permission to take a ramble to see the neighborhood. My mother allowed me to go a little way and sent the forester's daughter with me to show me anything worth seeing.
"She took me through the village, and as we passed the church, the gate of the churchyard was standing open. I have always had a fancy for reading the inscriptions on tombstones. I went into the churchyard, followed by the forester's daughter, who, willing apparently to humor my fancies, said, 'The only grave worth seeing in this churchyard is that of a poor man who died lately. It has neither tombstone nor inscription, but his daughter has adorned it with a beautiful basket of flowers. Would you like to see it?'
"I followed where she guided me, and judge of my surprise when I saw the basket—the very basket that had been the cause of so much suffering! I was sure it was the same, for I saw my own name and crest upon it. I eagerly asked the girl to tell me all she knew about you and your father.
"She told me of your being at the Pine Farm, of your father's illness and death, and of your grief. I immediately went to the minister's house, which I thought the most likely place to hear more of you. I found the minister a worthy old man, who gave you a very high character. I wished to go at once to the Pine Farm; but the minister advised me not to attempt it, saying that it was too far off, and as I had delayed some time conversing with him, it was now so late that it would be dark before I could get there.
"'What shall I do, then?' said I. 'We leave this place tomorrow as early as possible.' The good minister sent for the sexton and desired him to go as quickly as he could to the farm and to bring you with him to the parsonage.
"'I need not go so far to find the poor girl,' said the sexton. 'A few minutes ago, as I went to wind up the church clock, I saw her go into the churchyard. I have no doubt she is there now, weeping as usual at her father's grave.' On hearing this, I resolved to return immediately here.
"The good minister offered to come with me, but I wished our first meeting to be alone. I begged him rather to be so good as to go to the hunting lodge, where my father and my mother would be very glad to see him, to relieve my mother's anxiety about my long absence, and to tell her of my having found you. He agreed to do so, and I came here. You see now, dear Mary, how I appeared so suddenly at your side, and thus the basket has been the cause of our meeting again."
"Yes," said Mary, clasping her hands and raising her eyes in thankfulness to heaven; "God has graciously done this. He has heard my prayers, He has seen my tears. O how merciful He is! The Bible says that He sends His angels to help His people, and I think He also sends angels in human form to bring consolation to the afflicted."
Amelia interrupted her, saying, "Do not speak in this way of me, dear Mary; I am no angel, but God can use any instrument He pleases. I must tell you one thing more of His providence in this matter. Do you remember Margaret? You know she was jealous of you and did not hesitate to invent the most odious falsehoods to deprive you of our favor and to separate you from me.
"For a short time she appeared to triumph, and, glorying in her wickedness, she took the basket, and without any orders from us to do so, she threw it at your feet as you passed the castle. She then thought she had got rid of you forever; but this very piece of malignity has been the means, in the providence of God, of reuniting us, for the basket has been the cause of my finding you here. If it had not been for this basket on the grave, I might have gone away without ever hearing of you, though we were so near each other. Is it not true that God brings good out of evil?
"Margaret has been found out and punished, and I have another maid now who is very different, for she is a pious woman—a true Christian. Through her means, dear Mary, I have learned to know the truth and to love the Bible. I think even your good father would not be so much afraid to trust you with me now. But after I have said so much about ourselves, tell me, my poor Mary, how you came to be sitting so late by the grave alone."
Mary then related all that had passed at the farm that evening and her distress.
"Oh," exclaimed the young Countess, "here is another wonder of God's providence! He sent me just at your utmost need, and this wicked woman's cruelty in sending you away was the cause of our meeting sooner than we otherwise might have done. But we must not sit here much longer. It is getting very late, and my father and mother are expecting me. Come, then, Mary; you shall go with me; we are not to be parted again."
Mary cast one last look at the grave, which she thought she might never see again. Amelia observed it and said kindly, "Come, Mary, bring the basket; we will keep it as a remembrance of your good old father, and instead of it I will order a tombstone to be erected, which will be a more lasting monument. Come, then; you shall return here sometime soon, and in the meantime I must tell you the story of the finding of the ring while we are walking home."
The moon had now risen, and by its pleasant light the two girls saw their way out of the churchyard. At the gate they found the forester's daughter waiting, with a servant whom the Countess had sent to accompany them to the hunting lodge.