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

Constantly Assured His Girl-Wife That The Expected Epistle Would Surely

Come In Time,  For He Was The 'Old Man's' Only Son,  Whom He Would Not Be

Likely To Discard.

"Meanwhile Their Money Was Running Low. The Youth Was Anxious To Travel

And See The New World,  And To Take His Bride With Him,  But He Could Not

Do So Without Funds. At The End Of Six Weeks After He Had Written The

First Letter To His Father He Wrote A Second,  But Received No Answer;

Later Still He Wrote A Third,  With No Better Success.

"They Had Gone A Little Into Debt,  In Order To Eke Out Their Little

Ready Money Until The Longed-For Letters Of Credit Should Come From

England; But At The End Of Six Months Credit And Cash Were Nearly

Exhausted.

"One Morning In May The Boy-Husband Took Leave Of The Girl-Wife,  Saying,

As He Kissed Her Good-By,  That He Was Going Down Into The City To See If

He Could Get Some Work To Do.

"Without The Least Misgiving,  She Received His Farewell Kiss,  And Saw

Him Depart--Watched Him All The Way Down The Street,  Until He Got To

Second Avenue And Boarded A Down-Town Car.

"Then She Re-Entered The Little Gate,  And Began To Tend The Jonquils And

Hyacinths That Were Just Coming Into Bloom In Her Little Flower Garden.

She Did Not Expect To See Him Until Night,  Nor--Did She See Him Even

Then. When The Little Gate Opened At Eight O'clock And A Man Came Up The

Walk Leading To The Front Door At Which She Stood,  He Was Not Her

Husband,  But The Letter Carrier,  Who Put A Letter In Her Hand And Went

Away.

"She Ran Into The House,  And Lighted The Gas To Read Her Letter. Though

It Gave Her A Shock,  It Did Not Shake Her Faith In Her Boy.

"The Letter Told Her,  In Effect,  That Alfred Whyte,  When He Left Her

That Morning,  Had Started To Go To England In The Only Way By Which He

Could Get There--That Is,  By Working His Passage As A Deck Hand On Board

An Outward Bound Ship; That He Had Decided On This Course So As To Get A

Personal Interview With His Father,  To Whom He Would Go As A Penitent

Prodigal Son; For He Was Sure Of Obtaining By This Means Forgiveness,

And Assistance That Would Enable Him To Return And Bring His Little Wife

Back To England,  Where They Would Thenceforth Live In Comfort And

Luxury; That The Reason He Had Not Confided To Her His Intention Of

Making The Voyage Was Because He Dreaded Opposition From Her That Might

Have Led Him To Abandon The One Plan By Which He Hoped To Better Their

Condition.

"He Concluded By Entreating Her Not To Think For One Instant That He

Intended To Desert Her,  Who Was Dearer To Him Than His Own Life,  But To

Trust In Him As He Trusted In Her. In A Postscript He Told Her Where To

Find The Small Balance Of Money They Had Left,  As He Had Only Taken

Enough For His Car Fare To The City. In A Second Postscript He Promised

To Write By Every Opportunity. In A Third And Last Postscript He Begged

Her To Keep Up Her Heart.

"It Seemed A Frank Letter,  Yet It Was Reticent Upon One Point--The Name

Of The Ship On Which He Had Sailed. This Omission Might Have Been

Accidental. It Certainly Did Not Raise Any Doubt Of The Boy's Good Faith

In The Mind Of The Girl.

"She Cried A Great Deal Over The Separation From Her Lad,  And She Made A

Confidant Of The Elderly Irishwoman Who Was Her Sole Servant.

"After Two Weeks,  Ann Began To Watch Daily For The Letter Carrier,  In

Hope Of Getting A Letter From Alfred; But Day After Day,  Week After

Week,  Passed And None Came. But There Came News Of The Wreck Of The

Porpoise,  Which Had Sailed From New York For London On The Very Day That

Alfred Whyte Had Left The Country--And Which Had Gone Down In A Storm In

Mid-Ocean With All On Board.

"But As Numerous Ships Had Left New York On That Day Bound For Various

British Ports,  It Was Impossible To Discover Whether The Boy Was On

Board,  Or If He Shipped Under His Own Name Or An Assumed One.

"Ann Cried More Than Ever For A Few Days,  But Then Seemed To Give Up Her

Lad For Lost,  And To Resign Herself To The 'Inevitable.'

"She Wrote To Mr. Alfred Whyte,  Senior,  But Got No Reply To Her Letter;

Again And Again She Wrote With No Better Success. The Little Balance Of

Money Left By Her Boy-Husband Was All Gone. She Began To Sell Off The

Trifles Of Jewelry That He Had Given Her.

"One Morning The Letter Carrier Left A Letter With A London Postmark

Containing A Bill Of Exchange For A Hundred Pounds,  And Not One Word

Besides.

"Had It Come From Her Boy-Husband,  Or From His Father? She Could Not

Tell.

"Well,  To Be Brief,  She Never Saw Nor Heard Of Him Again. She Lived

Comfortably With Her Motherly Old Servant,  Enjoyed Life Thoroughly And

Grew More Beautiful Every Day,  And This Fool's Paradise Lasted As Long

As Her Money Did. Before Her Last Dollar Was Gone,  She Saw The

Advertisement In The _Pursuivant_ For A Nursery Governess,  And Answered

It,  As Has Been Told.

"This,  My Dear Cora,  Is The Substance Of The Story Told Me By Ann White

On The Day That I Called On Her In Answer To Her Letter. What Do You

Think Of It?" Inquired Mr. Fabian When He Had Finished His Narrative.

"I Think The Cruel Neglect Of Her Step-Parents And The Sufferings Of Her

Childhood Accountable For All Her Faults,  And I Feel Very Sorry For

Her,  Notwithstanding That She Seems To Be A Very Heartless Animal,"

Replied Corona.

"That Is The Secret Of The Wonderful Preservation Of Her Youth And

Beauty Even Up To This Present Time. Nothing Wears A Woman Out As Fast

As Her Own Heart."

"You Engaged Her As You Promised To Do,  But Why Did You Introduce Her At

Rockhold As A Single Girl,  And Why Under An Alias?" Gravely Inquired

Corona.

"I Introduced Her As A Single Girl At Her Own Request Because Of Her

Extreme Youth And Her Timidity. She Naturally Shrank From Being Known As

A Discarded Wife Or A Doubtful Widow. Besides,  I Never Did Say She Was A

Single Girl. I Merely Presented Her As Rose Flowers,  And Left It To Be

Inferred From Her Baby Face That She Was So."

"But Why Rose Flowers When Her Name Was Ann White?"

"What A Cross-Questioner You Are,  Corona! But I Will Answer You. Again

It Was By Her Own Desire That I Presented Her As Rose Flowers,  Which Was

Not An Alias,  As She Explained To Me,  But A Part Of Her True Name. She

Had Been Baptized As Rose Anna Flowers,  Which Was The Maiden Name Of Her

Grandmother,  Her Father's Mother."

Cora Might Have Asked Another Question,  Not So Easily Answered,  If She

Had Known The Circumstances To Which It Related,  Namely: Why Mr. Fabian

Had Fabricated That False Story Of The Young Governess Which He Palmed

Upon His Parents; But,  In Fact,  Cora,  At That Time A Child Seven Years

Old,  Had Never Heard Of It. But She Made Another Inquiry.

"What Became Of Rose Flowers After She Left Us? Did She Really Go To

Another Place? Who Was--Captain Stillwater?"

"Mr. Fabian Drove Slowly And Thoughtfully On Without Answering Her

Question Until She Had Repeated It. Then He Said:

"Cora,  My Dear,  That Is A Story I Cannot Tell You. Let It Be Enough For

Me To Say,  The Stillwater Episode In The Life Of This Lady Is The Ground

Upon Which I Forbid My Wife To Visit Her And Object To My Niece

Associating With Her."

"Does Violet Know The Stillwater Story?"

"No; Not So Much Of It Even As You Have Heard. Now,  Look Here,  Cora,  You

Think It Inconsistent Perhaps That I Should Have Brought This Woman To

Rockhold Years Ago To Become Your Governess,  And Now,  When She Is My

Father's Wife,  Object To Your Intimacy With Her. In The First Instance

She Has Been Far,  Very Far,  'More Sinned Against Than Sinning;' She Had

Been Very Imprudent,  That Was All. She Was Really The Wife,  By Scotch

Law,  Of The Boy She Ran Away With And Then Lost. I Saw Nothing In Her

Case That Ought To Prevent Her Entrance Into A Respectable Family,  And

Heaven Knows I Pitied Her And Tried To Save Her By Bringing Her To

Rockhold. I Saved Her Only For A Few Years. After She Left Us--But

There,  I Cannot Tell You That Story! You Must Not Be Intimate With Her."

"Yet She Is My Grandfather's Wife!"

"An Irreparable Misfortune. I Can't Expose Her Life To Him; Such A Blow

To His Pride Might Be His Death,  At His Age. No! Events Must Take Their

Course; But I Hope He Will Not Take Her To Any Place Where She Is Likely

To Be Recognized. Nor Do I Think He Will. He Is Aging Fast,  And Will Be

Likely To Live Quietly At Rockhold."

"And I Think She Also Would Avoid Such Risks. She Was Terribly

Frightened When She Recognized The Dean Of Olivet. Was He Really Her

Stepfather,  The Once Poor Curate?"

"Yes. You See While They Were Lionizing Him In The Eastern Cities,  His

Portrait,  With A Short Biographical Notice,  Was Published In One Of The

Illustrated Weeklies,  Where I Read Of Him,  And Identified Him By

Comparing Notes With What I Had Heard."

"How Came He To Rise So High?"

"Oh,  He Was A Learned Divine And Eloquent Orator. He Was Well Connected,

Too. It Would Seem That A Very Few Months After His Step-Daughter's

Flight He Was Inducted Into That Rich Living For Which He Had Been

Waiting So Many Years. From That Position His Rise Was Slow Indeed,

Covering A Period Of Twenty Years,  Until A Few Months Ago,  When He Was

Made Dean Of Olivet."

"To Think That A Man Capable Of Quarreling With His Wife And Ill-Using

Their Step-Child Should Fill So Sacred A Position In The Church!"

Exclaimed Cora.

"Yes; But You See,  My Dear,  The Church Is His Profession,  Not His

Vocation. He Is A Brilliant