Will Shakespeare's little lad Author:Imogen Clark Purchase of this book includes free trial access to www.million-books.com where you can read more than a million books for free. This is an OCR edition with typos. Excerpt from book: himself, that the delicate face had grown thinner and paler ? "Art not well, sweet heart?" he demanded, as he leaped to the ground and caught the lad in his a... more »rms, holding him at a little distance and scanning his features uneasily. " La, Will," Mistress Anne Shakespeare laughed, " I do protest thou art as full o' whimseys as an old goody. Methinks the child is in fair health; he's grown taller sith thou wert here, and belike he'a summat slimmer; but, go to ! he hath a parlous appetite, and that I know full well. Speak up, sirrah ; thou art not sick ? " " Not so, dear Mother; naught aileth me." " Ay, forsooth, the lad is right," Mistress Mary Shakespeare said, in her reassuring way ; " 'tis only thy fancy, sweet son — and thy fear," she added, in a lower tone, with a little catch in her breath like a sob; " nay, I see with thine eyes sometimes, and I understand. But 'tis pure fancy now," she continued, briskly, and her voice, even in its gentleness, made one think of the stirring of the breeze which dispels the clouds and drives them relentlessly across the sky to leave the blue unmarred. " And Nan's not wrong about the appetite neither; there's scant falling off there. I do bethink me, an he seemeth pale to thee, that it is for some cause which is not far to seek. The lad's slumbers have been broke o' ' Art not well, sweet heart ? " lie demanded. late. Am I not right, boy ? Thou need'st not to hang thy head, dear wag; I know the trick thou hast o' dreaming wi' open eyes. I know the little sums thou hast made on everything. Nay, the shopmen o' Middle Row keep not fairer tallies o' their sales than thou hast kept o' thy hours, and thy minutes even, sith ever thou heard'st that someone was coming home from London town." " Ha, ha, sweet Mother ; is that the cause ...« less