I heard," she said
mysteriously, "that Dick was very devoted to Miss Livingstone at
Saratoga last summer--there's no end to the women who have been in love
with _him_: perhaps this sudden move has something to do with her.
Nothing but a great emergency can excuse him," petulantly.
That day, for the first time, the children wearied Miss Featherstone,
and she carried them in a body to Adele, saying that she had a violent
headache and was going out in the garden for a walk. As she paced
slowly up and down the tears fell over her pale cheeks. The only window
from which she could be seen was Mrs. Pinckney's, and that lady, she
knew, was too much absorbed in her own sensations to give her a
thought. "How I despise myself!" she murmured, "how degraded I am in my
own eyes! Can I ever recover my self-respect? I'm so miserable that I
should like to die because Colonel Pinckney has left the house,
and"--she hesitated--"because his sister-in-law thinks he was drawn
away by Miss Livingstone, Oh!"--and she groaned and clasped her hands
frantically together--"and all this agony for a man who has never
uttered a word of love to me!" Here a remembrance of his whole air and
manner rather contradicted this thought.
Pages:
235
236
237
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259