For Woman's Love Part- 2 by Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth (i love reading books txt) 📕

Servitude. I Repeat,  There Is No Great Harm In Her; And Yet,  Cora,  My

Dear,  I Do Not Permit My Wife To Visit Her,  And I Do Not Wish You To

Remain In The Same House With Her."

"Why,  Uncle Fabian! You Were The Very First To Introduce Her To Us! It

Was You Who Were Charged With The Duty Of Finding A Nursery Governess

For Me,  And You Selected Rose Flowers From A Host Of Applicants."

"I Know I Did,  My Dear. She Seemed To Me A Lovely,  Amiable,  Attractive

Girl Of Seventeen,  Not Very Well Educated,  Yet Quite Old Enough And

Learned Enough To Be Nursery Governess To A Little Lady Of Seven

Summers. And She Did Her Duty And Made Herself Beloved By You All,  Did

She Not?"

"Yes,  Indeed."

"And So She Always Has Done And Always Will Do. And Yet,  My Dear,  You

Must Not Live In The Same House With Her Now,  Even If You Did Live Years

Together When She Was Your Governess."

"Are You Not Even More Prejudiced Against Mrs. Rockharrt Than I Am?"

"Bah! No,  My Dear; I Have No Ill Will Against The Woman,  Though I Will

Not Let My Niece Live With Her Or My Wife Visit Her.

"I Wish,  Uncle Fabian,  That You Would Be More Explicit And Tell Me All

You Know Of Rose Flowers--Or Mrs. Stillwater--Before She Became Mrs.

Rockharrt."

"Have You Told Me All You Know Of Her,  Cora,  My Dear?"

"I Have Said Several Times That I Know Nothing,  And Yet--Stop--"

"What?"

"In Addition To That Strange Interview That I Overheard,  Yet Did Not

Understand,  There Was Something Else That I Saw,  But Equally Did Not

Understand."

"What Was That?"

"Something That Happened While We Were In New York City In May Last."

"Will You Tell Me What It Was?"

"Yes,  Certainly. We Were Staying At The Star Hotel. We Stayed Over

Sunday,  And We Went To The Episcopal Church Near Our Hotel,  To Hear An

English Divine Preach."

"Well?"

"He Was The Celebrated Pulpit Orator,  The Dean Of Olivet--"

"Good Heav--" Exclaimed Mr. Fabian,  Involuntarily,  But Stopping Himself

Suddenly.

"What Is The Matter?" Demanded Cora,  Suspiciously.

"I Was Too Near The Edge Of The Precipice. We Might Have Been In The

River In Another Moment," Said Mr. Fabian.

Cora Did Not Believe Him,  But She Refrained From Saying So.

"The Danger Is Past. Go On,  My Dear."

"We Were Shown Into The Strangers' Pew. The Voluntary Was Playing. We

All Bowed Our Heads For The Short Private Prayer. The Voluntary Stopped.

Then We Heard The Voice Of The Dean And We Lifted Our Heads. I Turned To

Offer Mrs. Stillwater A Prayer Book. Then I Saw Her Face. It Was

Ghastly,  And Her Eyes Were Fixed In A Wild Stare Upon The Face Of The

Dean,  Whose Eyes Were Upon The Open Book From Which He Was Reading.

Quick As Lightning She Covered Her Face With Her Veil And So Remained

Until We All Knelt Down For The Opening Prayer. When We Arose From Our

Knees,  Rose Was Gone."

Cora Paused For A Few Moments.

"Go On,  Go On," Said Mr. Fabian.

"We Did Not Leave The Church. Grandfather Evidently Took For Granted

That Rose Had Left On Account Of Some Trifling Indisposition,  And He Is

Not Easily Moved By Women's Ailments,  You Know. So We Stayed Out The

Services And The Sermon. When We Returned To The Hotel We Found That

Rose Had Retired To Her Room Suffering From A Severe Attack Of Neuralgic

Headache,  As She Said."

"What Did You Think?"

I Thought She Might Have Been Suddenly Attacked By Maddening Pain,

Which Had Given The Wild Look To Her Eyes; But The Next Day I Had Good

Reason To Change My Opinion As To The Cause Of Her Strange Demeanor."

"What Was That?"

"We All Left The Hotel At An Early Hour To Take The Train For West

Point. Mrs. Stillwater Seemed To Have Quite Recovered From Her Illness.

We Had Arrived At The Depot And Received Our Tickets,  And Were Waiting

At The Rear Of A Great Crowd At The Railway Gate,  Till It Should Be

Opened To Let Us Pass To Our Train. I Was Standing On The Right Of My

Grandfather,  And Rose On My Right. Suddenly A Man Looked Around. He Was

A Great Wall Street Broker Who Had Dealings With Your Firm. Seeing

Grandfather,  He Spoke To Him Heartily,  And Then Begged To Introduce The

Gentleman Who Was With Him. And Then And There He Presented The Dean Of

Olivet To Mr. Rockharrt,  Who,  After A Few Words Of Polite Greeting,

Presented The Dean To Me,  And Turned To Find Rose Stillwater."

"Well! Well!"

"She Was Gone. She Had Vanished From The Crowd At The Railway Gate As

Swiftly,  As Suddenly,  And As Incomprehensibly As She Had Vanished From

The Church. After Looking About Him A Little,  My Grandfather Said That

She Had Got Pressed Away From Us By The Crowd,  But That She Knew Her Way

And Would Take Care Of Herself And Follow Us To The Train All Right. But

When The Gates Were Opened We Did Not See Her,  Nor Did We Find Her On

The Train,  Though Mr. Rockharrt Walked Up And Down Through The Twenty

Cars Looking For Her,  And Feeling Sure That We Should Find Her. The

Train Had Started,  So We Had To Go On Without Her. My Grandfather

Concluded That She Had Accidentally Missed It And Would Follow By The

Next One."

"And What Did You Think,  Cora?"

"I Thought That,  For Some Antecedent And Mysterious Reason,  She Had Fled

From Before The Face Of The Dean Of Olivet At The Railway Station,  Even

As She Had Done At The Church."

"When And Where Did You Find Her?"

"Not Until Our Return To New York City. My Grandfather Was In A Fine

State; Kept The Telegraph Wires At Work Between West Point And New York,

Until He Got Some Clew To Her,  And Then,  Without Waiting For The Closing

Exercises At The Military Academy,  He Hurried Me Back To The City. We

Found The Missing Woman At St. L----'S Hospital,  Where She Had Been

Conveyed After Having Been Found In An Unconscious Condition In The

Ladies' Room Of The Railway Depot. She Was Better,  And We Brought Her

Away To The Hotel. The Dean Of Olivet Went To Newport,  And Mrs.

Stillwater Recovered Her Spirits. A Few Days Later She Married Mr.

Rockharrt At The Church Where The Dean Had Preached. You Know Everything

Else About The Matter. And Now,  Uncle Fabian,  Tell Me That Woman's

Story,  Or At Least All That Is Proper For Me To Know Of It."

"Cora,  You Read Rose Stillwater Aright. She Did On Both These Occasions

Fly From Before The Face Of The Dean Of Olivet. I Will Tell You All

About Her,  For It Is Now Right That You Should Know; But You Must

Promise Never To Reveal It."

"I Promise."

"Well,  My Dear Corona,  I Must Ask You To Cast Your Thoughts Back To That

Year When You First Came To Rockhold To Live,  And Engrossed So Much Of

Your Grandmother's Time And Attention That Your Grandfather Grew Jealous

And Impatient,  And Commissioned Me To 'Hire' A Nursery Governess To

Look After You And Teach You The Rudiments Of Education. You Remember

That Time,  Cora?" Inquired Mr. Fabian,  As He Held The Reins With A

Slackened Grasp,  So That The Horse Jogged Slowly Along The Wooded Road

Between The Foot Of The Mountain And The Banks Of The River,  Under The

Star-Lit Sky.

"I Remember Perfectly," Answered The Girl.

"Well,  Business Took Me To New York About That Time,  And I Thought It A

Good Opportunity To Hunt Up A Governess For You. So I Advertised In The

New York Papers,  Giving My Address At An Uptown Office,  While My Own

Business Kept Me Down Town.

"The First Letter I Opened Interested Me So Much That I Gave My Whole

Attention To That First,  And So It Happened That I Had No Occasion To

Touch The Others. It Was From One Ann White,  Who Described Herself As A

Motherless And Fatherless Girl Of Sixteen,  A Stranger In This Country,

Who Was Trying To Get Employment As Assistant Teacher,  Governess,  Or

Copyist,  And Who Was Well Fitted To Take Sole Charge Of A Little Girl

Seven Years Old.

"Perhaps This Might Not Have Impressed Me,  But She Went On To Write That

She Had Not A Friend In The Whole Country,  That She Was Utterly

Destitute And Desolate,  And Begged Me For Heaven's Mercy Not To Throw

Her Letter Aside,  But To See Her And Give Her A Trial. She Inclosed Her

Photograph,  Not,  As She Wrote,  From Any Vanity,  But That I Might See Her

Face And Take Pity On Her.

"Cora,  There Was An Air Of Childish Frankness And Simplicity About Her

Letter That Was Well Illustrated By Her Photograph. It Was That Of A

Sweet-Smiling Baby Face; A Sunny,  Innocent Beautiful Face. I Answered

The Letter Immediately,  Asking For Her Address,  That I Might Call And

See Her. The Next Day I Received Her Answer,  Thanking Me With

Enthusiastic Earnestness For My Prompt Attention To Her Note,  And Giving

Me The Number And Street Of Her Residence In Harlem. I Got On A Second

Avenue Car And Rode Out To Harlem; Got Off At The Terminus,  Walked Up A

Cross Street And Walked Some Distance To A Bijou Of A Brown Cottage,

Standing In Shaded Grounds,  With Sunny Gleams