For Woman's Love Part- 2 by Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth (i love reading books txt) 📕
- Author: Mrs. E. D. E. N. Southworth
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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?"
Part 2 Chapter 20 (The Whispered Words) Pg 47
"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?"
Part 2 Chapter 20 (The Whispered Words) Pg 48
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."
Part 2 Chapter 20 (The Whispered Words) Pg 49
"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."
Part 2 Chapter 21 (Who Was Rose Flowers) Pg 50
"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
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