Read "The Silent Woman" by Eliza Margaret Jane Humphreys online for free on Textopian. Full text with search, annotations, highlights, and AI-powered reading aids.
The hen is a timorous enough creature, usually considered, but the hen with her chickens to defend becomes a fierce and fearless antagonist, fully conscious of claws, and ruffled feathers, and sharp beak. In like manner, Lavinia Moneyash had been the simplest and least aggressive of maiden ladies until a sudden emergency showed her the duty of defending two human things she loved. Those words of Patience Quarn acted like an electric shock, bracing brain and heart, and bringing every energy to bear upon the situation. Instead of a pitying, sympathetic listener, she became a stern and upbraiding judge.
The invalid was arraigned for her indifference to life as a sin.