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Stockton, Frank Richard, 1834-1902

"The House of Martha"

"
I strode impatiently up and down the room. "Certainly it is," said I,
"and although it is reason enough, I suppose you are right, and it would
not do to offer it to Mrs. Raynor; and, for the matter of that, Mother
Anastasia may think it a very little thing to take me down to
Washington."
"I had thought of that," said Walkirk, "and that was one reason why I
proposed to go in your stead."
I made no answer to this remark. My mind was filled with annoying
reflections about the unreasonableness of people who insist upon knowing
people's reasons for doing things, and my annoyance was increased by the
conviction, now that I looked more closely into the matter, that the
only reason I could give for hastening after Mother Anastasia in this
way was indeed a very little one.
"Walkirk," I exclaimed, "can't you think of some other reason for my
seeing the Mother Superior without delay?"
"Truly," he replied, smiling, "it is rather difficult. You might offer
to build an annex to the House of Martha, but such a matter could surely
wait until the return of the Mother Superior."
I sniffed, and continued to stride. I must see Mother Anastasia in
Washington, because there I might have a chance of speaking to her
freely, which I could not expect to have anywhere else; and yet how was
I going to explain to her, or to any one else, my desire to speak with
her at all? It might have been difficult to explain this to myself; at
all events, I did not try to do it.


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