Maggie Hatfield told me what Bessy Houghton said to her about you . She said you were a lovesick fool , and she only went with you for a little amusement , and that if you thought you had nothing to do but marry her and hang up your hat there you 'd find yourself vastly mistaken . '' Possibly in her calmer moments Mrs. Eastman might have shrunk from such a deliberate falsehood , although it was said of her in Lynnfield that she was not one to stick at a lie when the truth would not serve her purpose . Moreover , she felt quite sure that Lawrence would never ask Maggie Hatfield anything about it . Lawrence turned white to the lips , `` Is that true , Mother ? '' he asked huskily . `` I 've warned you , '' replied his mother , not choosing to repeat her statement . `` If you go after Bessy any more you can take the consequences . '' She drew her shawl about her pale , malicious face and left him with a parting glance of contempt . `` I guess that 'll settle him , '' she thought grimly . `` Bessy Houghton turned up her nose at George , but she sha n't make a fool of Lawrence too . '' Alone in the stable Lawrence stood staring out at the dull red ball of the winter sun with unseeing eyes . He had implicit faith in his mother , and the stab had gone straight to his heart . Bessy Houghton listened in vain that night for his well-known footfall on the verandah . The next night Lawrence went home with Milly Fiske from prayer meeting , taking her out from a crowd of other girls under Bessy Houghton 's very eyes as she came down the steps of the little church . Bessy walked home alone . The light burned low in her sitting-room , and in the mirror over the mantel she saw her own pale face , with its tragic , pain-stricken eyes . Annie Hillis , her `` help , '' was out . She was alone in the big house with her misery and despair . She went dizzily upstairs to her own room and flung herself on the bed in the chill moonlight .
`` It is all XXXXX , '' she said dully .
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