The shock had proved nearly fatal to his young wife . The next day Camilla Clark 's baby was born dead , and the poor mother hovered for weeks between life and death . Slowly , very slowly , life won the battle , and Camilla came back from the valley of the shadow . But she was still an invalid , and would be so for a long time . The Clarks had come to Lindsay only a short time before the accident . They were boarding at Mrs. Barry 's when it happened , and Mrs. Barry had shown every kindness and consideration to the unhappy young widow . But now the Barrys were very soon to leave Lindsay for the West , and the question was , what was to be done with Camilla Clark ? She could not go west ; she could not even do work of any sort yet in Lindsay ; she had no relatives or friends in the world ; and she was absolutely penniless . As she and her husband had joined the church to which the aforesaid Ladies ' Aid belonged , the members thereof felt themselves bound to take up her case and see what could be done for her . The obvious solution was for some of them to offer her a home until such time as she would be able to go to work . But there did not seem to be anyone who could offer to do this -- unless it was Mrs. Falconer . The church was small , and the Ladies ' Aid smaller . There were only twelve members in it ; four of these were unmarried ladies who boarded , and so were helpless in the matter ; of the remaining eight seven had large families , or sick husbands , or something else that prevented them from offering Camilla Clark an asylum . Their excuses were all valid ; they were good , sincere women who would have taken her in if they could , but they could not see their way clear to do so . However , it was probable they would eventually manage it in some way if Mrs. Falconer did not rise to the occasion . Nobody liked to ask Mrs. Falconer outright to take Camilla Clark in , yet everyone thought she might offer . She was comfortably off , and though her house was small , there was nobody to live in it except herself and her husband . But Mrs. Falconer sat silent through all the discussion of the Ladies ' Aid , and never opened her lips on the subject of Camilla Clark despite the numerous hints which she received . Miss Bailey made one more effort as aforesaid . When her despairing reference to Providence brought forth no results , she wished she dared ask Mrs. Falconer openly to take Camilla Clark , but somehow she did not dare .
There were not many things that could daunt Miss Bailey , but Mrs. XXXXX 's reserve and gentle aloofness always could .
Aid Bailey Barry Barrys Camilla Clarks Falconer Providence accident weeks