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+The Project Gutenberg EBook of Family Pride, by Mary J. Holmes
+
+This eBook is for the use of anyone anywhere at no cost and with
+almost no restrictions whatsoever.  You may copy it, give it away or
+re-use it under the terms of the Project Gutenberg License included
+with this eBook or online at www.gutenberg.org
+
+
+Title: Family Pride
+       Or, Purified by Suffering
+
+Author: Mary J. Holmes
+
+Release Date: April 12, 2005 [EBook #15607]
+
+Language: English
+
+Character set encoding: ASCII
+
+*** START OF THIS PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK FAMILY PRIDE ***
+
+
+
+
+Produced by Kentuckiana Digital Library, David Garcia, Mary Meehan,
+and the Online Distributed Proofreading Team.
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+
+                              FAMILY PRIDE
+
+                                   OR
+
+                          Purified by Suffering
+
+                            BY MARY J. HOLMES
+
+Author of "Dora Deane," "The English Orphans," "Homestead on the
+Hillside," "Tempest and Sunshine," "Lena Rivers," "Meadowbrook," "Cousin
+Maude," etc., etc.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER I.
+
+THE FARMHOUSE AT SILVERTON.
+
+
+Uncle Ephraim Barlow, deacon of the orthodox church in Silverton,
+Massachusetts, was an old-fashioned man, clinging to the old-time
+customs of his fathers, and looking with but little toleration upon what
+he termed the "new-fangled notions" of the present generation. Born and
+reared amid the rocks and hills of the Bay State, his nature partook
+largely of the nature of his surroundings, and he grew into manhood with
+many a rough point adhering to his character, which, nevertheless, taken
+as a whole, was, like the wild New England scenery, beautiful and grand.
+None knew Uncle Ephraim Barlow but to respect him, and at the church
+where he was a worshiper few would have been missed more than the tall,
+muscular man, with the long, white hair, who Sunday after Sunday walked
+slowly up the middle aisle to his accustomed seat before the altar, and
+who regularly passed the contribution box, bowing involuntarily in token
+of approbation when a neighbor's gift was larger than its wont, and
+gravely dropping in his own ten cents--never more, never less--always
+ten cents--his weekly offering, which he knew amounted in a year to just
+five dollars and twenty cents. And still Uncle Ephraim was not stingy,
+as the Silverton poor could testify, for many a load of wood and bag of
+meal found entrance to the doors where cold and hunger would have
+otherwise been, while to his minister he was literally a holder up of
+the weary hands, and a comforter in the time of trouble.
+
+His helpmeet, Aunt Hannah, like that virtuous woman mentioned in the
+Bible, was one "who seeketh wool and flax, and worketh willingly with
+her hands, who riseth while yet it is night, and giveth meat to her
+household." Indeed, for this last stirring trait Aunt Hannah was rather
+famous, especially on Monday mornings, when her washing was invariably
+swinging on the line ready to greet the rising sun.
+
+Miss Betsy Barlow, too, the deacon's maiden sister, was a character in
+her way, and was surely not one of those vain, frivolous females to whom
+the Apostle Paul had reference when he condemned the plaiting of hair
+and the wearing of gold and jewels. Quaint, queer and simple-hearted,
+she had but little idea of any world this side of heaven, except the one
+bounded by the "huckleberry" hills and the crystal waters of Fairy Pond,
+which from the back door of the farmhouse were plainly seen, both in the
+summer sunshine and when the intervening fields were covered with the
+winter snow.
+
+The home of such a trio was, like themselves, ancient and unpretentious,
+nearly one hundred years having elapsed since the solid foundation was
+laid to a portion of the building. Unquestionably, it was the oldest
+house in Silverton, for on the heavy, oaken door of what was called the
+back room was still to be seen the mark of a bullet, left there by some
+marauders who, during the Revolution, had encamped in that neighborhood.
+George Washington, too, it was said, had once spent a night beneath its
+roof, the deacon's mother pouring for him her Bohea tea and breaking her
+home-made bread. Since that time several attempts had been made to
+modernize the house. Lath and plaster had been put upon the rafters and
+paper upon the walls, wooden latches had given place to iron, while in
+the parlor, where Washington had slept, there was the extravagance of a
+knob, a genuine porcelain knob, such, as Uncle Ephraim said, was only
+fit for the gentry who could afford to be grand. For himself, he was
+content to live as his father did; but young folks, he supposed, must in
+some things have their way, and so when his pretty niece, who had lived
+with him from childhood to the day of her marriage, came back to him a
+widow, bringing her two fatherless children and a host of new ideas, he
+good-humoredly suffered her to tear down some of his household idols
+and replace them with her own. And thus it was that the farmhouse
+gradually changed its appearance both outwardly and in, for young
+womanhood which had but one glimpse of the outer world will not settle
+down quietly amid fashions a century old. And Lucy Lennox, when she
+returned to the farmhouse, was not quite the same as when she went away.
+Indeed, Aunt Betsy in her guileless heart feared that she had actually
+fallen from grace, imputing the fall wholly to Lucy's predilection for
+a certain little book on whose back was written "Common Prayer," and at
+which Aunt Betsy scarcely dared to look, lest she should be guilty of
+the enormities practiced by the Romanists themselves. Clearer headed
+than his sister, the deacon read the black-bound book, finding therein
+much that was good, but wondering why, when folks promised to renounce
+the pomps and vanities, they did not do so, instead of acting more stuck
+up than ever. Inconsistency was the underlying strata of the whole
+Episcopal Church, he said, and as Lucy, without taking any public step,
+had still declared her preference for that church, he, too, in a
+measure, charged her propensity for repairs to the same source with Aunt
+Betsy; but, as he could really see no sin in what she did, he suffered
+her in most things to have her way. But when she contemplated an attack
+upon the huge chimney occupying the center of the building, he
+interfered; for there was nothing he liked better than the bright fire
+on the hearth when the evenings grew chilly and long, and the autumn
+rain was falling upon the roof. The chimney should stand, he said; and
+as no amount of coaxing could prevail on him to revoke his decision, the
+chimney stood, and with it the three fireplaces, where, in the fall and
+spring, were burned the twisted knots too bulky for the kitchen stove.
+This was fourteen years ago, and in that lapse of time Lucy Lennox had
+gradually fallen in with the family ways of living, and ceased to talk
+of her cottage in Western New York, where her husband had died and where
+were born her daughters, one of whom she was expecting home on the warm
+July day when our story opens.
+
+Kate, or Katy Lennox, our heroine, had been for a year an inmate of
+Canandaigua Seminary, whither she was sent at the expense of a distant
+relative to whom her father had been guardian, and who, during her
+infancy, had also had a home with Uncle Ephraim, her mother having
+brought her with her when, after her husband's death, she returned to
+Silverton. Dr. Morris Grant he was now, and he had just come home from a
+three years' sojourn in Paris, and was living in his own handsome
+dwelling across the fields toward Silverton village, and half a mile or
+more from Uncle Ephraim's farmhouse. He had written from Paris, offering
+to send his cousins, Helen and Kate, to any school their mother might
+select, and as Canandaigua was her choice, they had both gone thither a
+year ago, Helen, the eldest, falling sick within the first three months,
+and returning home to Silverton, satisfied that the New England schools
+were good enough for her. This was Helen; but Katy was different. Katy
+was more susceptible of polish and refinement--so the mother thought;
+and as she arranged and rearranged the little parlor, lingering longest
+by the piano, Dr. Morris' gift, she drew bright pictures of her favorite
+child, wondering how the plain farmhouse and its inmates would seem to
+her after Canandaigua and all she must have seen during her weeks of
+travel since the close of the summer term. And then she wondered next
+why Cousin Morris was so much annoyed when told that Katy had accepted
+an invitation to accompany Mrs. Woodhull and her party on a trip to
+Montreal and Lake George, taking Boston on her homeward route. Surely
+Katy's movements were nothing to him, unless--and the little, ambitious
+mother struck at random a few notes of the soft-toned piano as she
+thought how possible it was that the interest always manifested by the
+staid, quiet Morris Grant for her light-hearted Kate was more than a
+brotherly interest, such as he would naturally feel for the daughter of
+one who had been to him a second father. But Katy was so much a child
+when he went away to Paris that it could not be. She would sooner think
+of the dark-haired Helen, who was older and more like him.
+
+"It's Helen, if anybody," she said aloud, just as a voice at the window
+called out: "Please, Cousin Lucy, relieve me of these flowers. I brought
+them over in honor of Katy's return."
+
+Blushing guiltily, Mrs. Lennox advanced to meet a tall, dark-looking
+man, with a grave, pleasant face, which, when he smiled, was strangely
+attractive, from the sudden lighting up of the hazel eyes and the
+glitter of the white, even teeth disclosed so fully to view.
+
+"Oh, thank you, Morris! Kitty will like them, I am sure," Mrs. Lennox
+said, taking from his hand a bouquet of the choice flowers which grew
+only in the hothouse at Linwood. "Come in for a moment, please."
+
+"No, thank you," the doctor replied. "There is a case of rheumatism just
+over the hill, and I must not be idle if I would retain the practice
+given to me. Not that I make anything but good will as yet, for only the
+Silverton poor dare trust their lives in my inexperienced hands. But I
+can afford to wait," and with another flash of the hazel eyes Morris
+walked away a pace or two, but, as if struck with some sudden thought,
+turned back, and fanning his heated face with his leghorn hat, said,
+hesitatingly: "By the way, Uncle Ephraim's last payment on the old mill
+falls due to-morrow. Tell him, if he says anything in your presence, not
+to mind unless it is perfectly convenient. He must be somewhat
+straitened just now, as Katy's trip cannot have cost him a small sum."
+
+The clear, penetrating eyes were looking full at Mrs. Lennox, who for
+a moment felt slightly piqued that Morris Grant should take so much
+oversight of her uncle's affairs. It was natural, too, that he should,
+she knew, for, widely different as were their tastes and positions in
+life, there was a strong liking between the old man and the young, who,
+from having lived nine years in the family, took a kindly interest in
+everything pertaining to them.
+
+"Uncle Ephraim did not pay the bills," Mrs. Lennox faltered at last,
+feeling intuitively how Morris' delicate sense of propriety would shrink
+from her next communication. "Mrs. Woodhull wrote that the expense
+should be nothing to me, and as she is fully able, and makes so much of
+Katy, I did not think it wrong."
+
+"Lucy Lennox! I am astonished!" was all Morris could say, as the tinge
+of wounded pride dyed his cheek.
+
+Kate was a connection--distant, it is true; but his blood was in her
+veins, and his inborn pride shrank from receiving so much from
+strangers, while he wondered at her mother, feeling more and more
+convinced that what he had so long suspected was literally true. Mrs.
+Lennox was weak, Mrs. Lennox was ambitious, and for the sake of
+associating her daughter with people whom the world had placed above
+her she would stoop to accept that upon which she had no claim.
+
+"Mrs. Woodhull was so urgent and so fond of Katy; and then, I thought it
+well to give her the advantage of being with such people as compose that
+party, the very first in Canandaigua, besides some from New York," Mrs.
+Lennox began in self-defense, but Morris did not stop to hear more, and
+hurried off a second time, while Mrs. Lennox looked after him, wondering
+at the feeling which she called pride, and which she could not
+understand. "If Katy can go with the Woodhulls and their set, I
+certainly shall not prevent it," she thought, as she continued her
+arrangement of the parlor, wishing so much that it was more like what
+she remembered Mrs. Woodhull's to have been, fifteen years ago.
+
+Of course that lady had kept up with the times, and if her old house was
+finer than anything Mrs. Lennox had ever seen, what must her new one be,
+with all the modern improvements? and, leaning her head upon the mantel,
+Mrs. Lennox thought how proud she would be could she live to see her
+daughter in similar circumstances to the envied Mrs. Woodhull, at that
+moment in the crowded car between Boston and Silverton, tired, hot, and
+dusty, worn out, and as nearly cross as a fashionable lady can be.
+
+A call from Uncle Ephraim aroused her, and going out into the square
+entry she tied his gingham cravat, and then handing him the big
+umbrella, an appendage he took with him in sunshine and in storm, she
+watched him as he stepped into his one-horse wagon and drove briskly
+away in the direction of the depot, where he was to meet his niece.
+
+"I wish Cousin Morris had offered his carriage," she thought, as the
+corn-colored and white wagon disappeared from view. "The train stops
+five minutes at West Silverton, and some of those grand people will be
+likely to see the turnout," and with a sigh as she doubted whether it
+were not a disgrace as well as an inconvenience to be poor, she repaired
+to the kitchen, where sundry savory smells betokened a plentiful dinner.
+
+Bending over the sink, with her cap strings tucked back, her sleeves
+rolled up, and her short, purple calico shielded from harm by her broad,
+motherly check apron, Aunt Betsy stood cleaning the silvery onions, and
+occasionally wiping her dim old eyes as the odor proved too strong for
+her. At another table stood Aunt Hannah, deep in the mysteries of the
+light, white crust which was to cover the tender chicken boiling in the
+pot, while in the oven bubbled and baked the custard pie, remembered
+as Katy's favorite, and prepared for her coming by Helen
+herself--plain-spoken, blue-eyed Helen--now out in the strawberry beds,
+picking the few luscious berries which almost by a miracle had been
+coaxed to wait for Katy, who loved them so dearly. Like her mother,
+Helen had wondered how the change would impress her bright little
+sister, for she remembered well that even to her obtuse perceptions
+there had come a pang when, after only three months abiding in a place
+where the etiquette of life was rigidly enforced, she had returned to
+their homely ways, and felt that it was worse than vain to try to effect
+a change. But Helen's strong sense, with the help of two or three good
+cries, had carried her safely through, and her humble home amid the
+hills was very dear to her now. But she was Helen, as the mother had
+said; she was different from Katy, who might be lonely and homesick,
+sobbing herself to sleep in her patient sister's arms, as she did on
+that first night in Canandaigua, which Helen remembered so well.
+
+"It's better, too, now, than when I came home," Helen thought, as with
+her rich, scarlet fruit she went slowly to the house. "Morris is here,
+and the new church, and if she likes she can teach in Sunday school,
+though maybe she will prefer going with Uncle Ephraim. He will be
+pleased if she does," and, pausing by the door, Helen looked across
+Fairy Pond in the direction of Silverton village, where the top of a
+slender spire was just visible--the spire of St. John's, built within
+the year, and mostly, as it was whispered, at the expense of Dr. Morris
+Grant, who, a zealous churchman himself, had labored successfully to
+instill into Helen's mind some of his own peculiar views, as well as to
+awaken in Mrs. Lennox's heart the professions which had lain dormant for
+as long a time as the little black-bound book had lain on the cupboard
+shelf, forgotten and unread.
+
+How the doctor's views were regarded by the deacon's family we shall
+see, perhaps, by and by. At present our story has to do with Helen,
+holding her bowl of berries by the rear door and looking across the
+distant fields. With one last glance at the object of her thoughts she
+re-entered the house, where her mother was arranging the square table
+for dinner, bringing out the white stone china instead of the mulberry
+set kept for everyday use.
+
+"We ought to have had some silver forks before Katy came home," she
+said, despondingly, as she laid by each plate the three-lined forks of
+steel, to pay for which Helen and Katy had picked huckleberries on the
+hills and dried apples from the orchard.
+
+"Never mind, mother," Helen answered, cheerily; "if Katy is as she used
+to be, she will care more for us than for silver forks, and I guess she
+is, for I imagine it would take a great deal to make her anything but a
+warmhearted, merry little creature."
+
+This was sensible Helen's tribute of affection to the little, gay,
+chattering butterfly, at that moment an occupant of Uncle Ephraim's
+corn-colored wagon, and riding with that worthy toward home, throwing
+kisses to every barefoot boy and girl she met, and screaming with
+delight as the old familiar waymarks met her view.
+
+"There are the oxen, the darling oxen, and that's Aunt Betsy, with her
+dress pinned up as usual," she cried, when at last the wagon stopped
+before the door; and the four women stepped hurriedly out to meet her,
+almost smothering her with caresses, and then holding her off to see if
+she had changed.
+
+She was very stylish in her pretty traveling dress of gray, made under
+Mrs. Woodhull's supervision, and nothing could be more becoming than her
+jaunty hat, tied with ribbons of blue, while the dainty kids, bought to
+match the dress, fitted her fat hands charmingly, and the little
+high-heeled boots of soft prunella were faultless in their style. She
+was very attractive in her personal appearance, and the mental verdict
+of the four females regarding her intently was something as follows:
+Mrs. Lennox detected unmistakable marks of the grand society she had
+been mingling in, and was pleased accordingly; Aunt Hannah pronounced
+her "the prettiest creeter she had ever seen;" Aunt Betsy decided that
+her hoops were too big and her clothes too fine for a Barlow; while
+Helen, who looked beyond dress, or style, or manner, straight into her
+sister's soft, blue eyes, brimming with love and tears, decided that
+Katy was not changed for the worse. Nor was she. Truthful, loving,
+simple-hearted and full of playful life she had gone from home, and she
+came back the same--never once thinking of the difference between the
+farmhouse and Mrs. Woodhull's palace, or if she did, giving the
+preference to the former.
+
+"It was perfectly splendid to get home," she said, handing her gloves
+to Helen, her sunshade to her mother, her satchel to Aunt Hannah, and
+tossing her bonnet in the vicinity of the water pail--from which it was
+saved by Aunt Betsy, who, remembering the ways of her favorite child,
+put it carefully in the press, examining it closely first and wondering
+how much it cost.
+
+Deciding that "it was a good thumpin' price," she returned to the
+kitchen, where Katy, dancing and curveting in circles, scarcely stood
+still long enough for them to see that in spite of boarding school fare,
+of which she had complained so bitterly, her cheeks were rounded, her
+eyes brighter, and her lithe little figure fuller than of old. She had
+improved in looks, but she did not appear to know it, or to guess how
+beautiful she was in the fresh bloom of seventeen, with her golden hair
+waving around her childish forehead, and her deep, blue eyes laughing so
+expressively with each change of her constantly varying face. Everything
+animate and inanimate pertaining to the old house was noticed by her.
+She kissed the kitten, squeezed the cat, hugged the dog, and hugged the
+little goat, tied to his post in the clover yard and trying so hard to
+get free. The horse, to whom she fed handfuls of grass, had been already
+hugged. She did that the first thing after strangling Uncle Ephraim as
+she alighted from the train, and some from the car window saw it, too,
+smiling at what they termed the charming simplicity of an enthusiastic
+schoolgirl. Blessed youth! blessed early girlhood, surrounded by a halo
+of rare beauty! It was Katy's shield and buckler, warding off many a
+cold criticism which might otherwise have been passed upon her.
+
+They were sitting down to dinner now, and the deacon's voice trembled
+as, with the blessing invoked, he thanked God for bringing back to them
+the little girl, whose head was for a moment bent reverently, but
+quickly lifted itself up as its owner, in the same breath with that in
+which the deacon uttered his amen, declared how hungry she was, and went
+into rhapsodies over the nicely cooked viands which loaded the table.
+The best bits were hers that day, and she refused nothing until it came
+to Aunt Betsy's onions, once her special delight, but now declined,
+greatly to the distress of the old lady, who, having been on the watch
+for "quirks," as she styled any departure from long-established customs,
+now knew she had found one, and with an injured expression withdrew the
+offered bowl, saying sadly: "You used to eat 'em raw, Catherine; what's
+got into you?"
+
+It was the first time Aunt Betsy had called a name so obnoxious to Kate,
+especially when, as in the present case, great emphasis was laid upon
+the "rine," and from past experience Katy knew that her good aunt was
+displeased. Her first impulse was to accept the dish refused; but when
+she remembered her reason for refusing, she said, laughingly: "Excuse
+me, Aunt Betsy, I love them still, but--but--well, the fact is, I am
+going by and by to run over and see Cousin Morris, inasmuch as he was
+not polite enough to come here, and you know it might not be so
+pleasant."
+
+"The land!" and Aunt Betsy brightened. "If that's all, eat 'em. 'Tain't
+noways likely you'll get near enough to him to make any difference--only
+turn your head when you shake hands."
+
+But Katy remained incorrigible, while Helen, who guessed that her
+impulsive sister was contemplating a warmer greeting of the doctor than
+a mere shaking of his hands, kindly turned the conversation by telling
+how Morris was improved by his tour abroad, and how much the poor people
+thought of him.
+
+"He is very fine looking, too," she said, whereupon Katy involuntarily
+exclaimed: "I wonder if he is as handsome as Wilford Cameron? Oh, I
+never wrote about him, did I?" and the little maiden began to blush as
+she stirred her tea industriously.
+
+"Who is Wilford Cameron?" asked Mrs. Lennox.
+
+"Oh, he's Wilford Cameron, that's all; lives on Fifth Avenue--is a
+lawyer--is very rich--a friend of Mrs. Woodhull, and was with us in
+our travels," Katy answered, rapidly, the red burning on her cheeks so
+brightly that Aunt Betsy innocently passed her a big feather fan, saying
+she looked mighty hot.
+
+And Katy was warm, but whether from talking of Wilford Cameron or not
+none could tell. She said no more of him, but went on to speak of
+Morris, asking if it were true, as she had heard, that he built the
+new church in Silverton.
+
+"Yes, and runs it, too," Aunt Betsy answered, energetically, proceeding
+to tell what goin's-on they had, with the minister shiftin' his clothes
+every now and ag'in, and the folks all talkin' together. "Morris got me
+in once," she said, "and I thought meetin' was left out half a dozen
+times, so much histin' round as there was. I'd as soon go to a show, if
+it was a good one, and I told Morris so. He laughed and said I'd feel
+different when I knew 'em better; but needn't tell me that prayers made
+up is as good as them as isn't, though Morris, I do believe, will get to
+heaven a long ways ahead of me, if he is a 'Piscopal."
+
+To this there was no response, and being launched on her favorite topic,
+Aunt Betsy continued:
+
+"If you'll believe it, Helen here is one of 'em, and has got a sight
+of 'Piscopal quirks into her head. Why, she and Morris sing that
+talkin'-like singin' Sundays when the folks git up and Helen plays the
+accordeon."
+
+"Melodeon, aunty, melodeon," and Helen laughed merrily at her aunt's
+mistake, turning the conversation again, and this time to Canandaigua,
+where she had some acquaintances.
+
+But Katy was so much afraid of Canandaigua, and what talking of it might
+lead to, that she kept to Cousin Morris, asking innumerable questions
+about him, his house and grounds, and whether there were as many
+flowers there now as there used to be in the days when she and Helen
+went to say their lessons at Linwood, as they had done before Morris
+sailed for Europe.
+
+"I think it right mean in him not to be here to see me," she said,
+poutingly, "and I am going over as quick as I eat my dinner."
+
+But against this all exclaimed at once. She was too tired, the mother
+said. She must lie down and rest, while Helen suggested that she had not
+yet told them about her trip, and Uncle Ephraim remarked that she would
+not find Morris home, as he was going that afternoon to Spencer. This
+last settled it. Katy must stay at home; but instead of lying down or
+talking much about her journey, she explored every nook and crevice of
+the old house and barn, finding the nest Aunt Betsy had so long looked
+for in vain, and proving to the anxious dame that she was right when she
+insisted that the speckled hen had stolen her nest and was in the act of
+setting. Later in the day, and a neighbor passing by spied the little
+maiden riding in the cart off into the meadow, where she sported like a
+child among the mounds of fragrant hay, playing her jokes upon the sober
+deacon, who smiled fondly upon her, feeling how much lighter the labor
+seemed because she was there with him, a hindrance instead of a help, in
+spite of her efforts to handle the rake skillfully.
+
+"Are you glad to have me home again, Uncle Eph?" she asked, when once
+she caught him regarding her with a peculiar look.
+
+"Yes, Katy-did, very glad," he answered. "I've missed you every day,
+though you do nothing much but bother me."
+
+"Why did you look funny at me just now?" Katy continued, and the deacon
+replied: "I was thinking how hard it would be for such a highty-tighty
+thing as you to meet the crosses and disappointments which lie all along
+the road which you must travel. I should hate to see your young life
+crushed out of you, as young lives sometimes are."
+
+"Oh, never fear for me. I am going to be happy all my life long. Wilford
+Cameron said I ought to be," and Katy tossed into the air a wisp of the
+new-made hay.
+
+"I don't know who Wilford Cameron is, but there's no ought about it,"
+the deacon rejoined. "God marks out the path for us to walk in, and when
+he says it's best, we know it is, though some are straight and pleasant
+and others crooked and hard."
+
+"I'll choose the straight and pleasant, then--why shouldn't I?" Kate
+asked, laughingly, as she seated herself upon a rock near which the hay
+cart had stopped.
+
+"Can't tell what path you'll take," the deacon answered. "God knows
+whether you'll go easy through the world, or whether he'll send you
+suffering to purify and make you better."
+
+"Purified by suffering," Kate said aloud, while a shadow involuntarily
+crept for an instant over her gay spirits.
+
+She could not believe she was to be purified by suffering. She had never
+done anything very bad, and humming a part of a song learned from
+Wilford Cameron, she followed after the loaded cart, returning slowly to
+the house, thinking to herself that there must be something great and
+good in the suffering which should purify at last, but hoping she was
+not the one to whom this great good should come.
+
+It was supper time ere long, and after that was over Kate announced her
+intention of going now to Linwood, Morris' home, whether he were there
+or not.
+
+"I can see the housekeeper and the birds and flowers, and maybe he will
+come pretty soon," she said, as she swung her straw hat by the string
+and started from the door.
+
+"Ain't Helen going with you?" Aunt Hannah asked, while Helen herself
+looked a little surprised.
+
+But Katy would rather go alone. She had a heap to tell Cousin Morris,
+and Helen could go next time.
+
+"Just as you like;" Helen answered, good-naturedly; but there was a
+half-dissatisfied, wistful look on her face as she watched her young
+sister tripping across the fields to call on Morris Grant.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER II.
+
+LINWOOD.
+
+
+Morris had returned from Spencer, and in his dressing-gown and slippers
+was sitting by the window of his cheerful library, looking out upon the
+purple sunshine flooding the western sky, and thinking of the little
+girl coming so rapidly up the grassy lane in the rear of the house. He
+was going over to see her by and by, he said, and he pictured to himself
+how she must look by this time, hoping that he should not find her
+greatly changed, for Morris Grant's memories were very precious of the
+playful child who, in that very room where he was sitting, used to tease
+and worry him so much with her lessons poorly learned, and the
+never-ending jokes played off upon her teacher. He had thought of her so
+often when across the sea, and, knowing her love of the beautiful, he
+had never looked upon a painting or scene of rare beauty that he did not
+wish her by his side sharing in the pleasure. He had brought her from
+that far-off land many little trophies which he thought she would prize,
+and which he was going to take with him when he went to the farmhouse.
+He never dreamed of her coming there to-night. She would, of course,
+wait for him. Helen had, even when it was more her place to call upon
+him first. How, then, was he amazed when, just as the sun was going down
+and he was watching its last rays lingering on the brow of the hill
+across the pond, the library door was opened wide and the room seemed
+suddenly filled with life and joy, as a graceful figure, with reddish,
+golden hair, bounded across the floor, and winding its arms around his
+neck gave him the hearty kiss which Katy had in her mind when she
+declined Aunt Betsy's favorite vegetable.
+
+Morris Grant was not averse to being kissed, and yet the fact that Katy
+Lennox had kissed him in such a way awoke a chill of disappointment, for
+it said that to her he was the teacher still, the elder brother, whom,
+as a child, she had in her pretty way loaded with caresses.
+
+"Oh, Cousin Morris!" she exclaimed, and, still holding his hand: "Why
+didn't you come over at noon, you naughty, naughty boy? But what a
+splendid-looking man you've got to be, though! and what do you think of
+me?" she added, blushing for the first time, as he held her off from him
+and looked into the sunny face.
+
+"I think you wholly unchanged," he answered, so gravely that Katy began
+to pout as she said: "And you are sorry, I know. Pray, what did you
+expect of me, and what would you have me be?"
+
+"Nothing but what you are--the same Kitty as of old," he answered, his
+own bright smile breaking all over his sober face.
+
+He saw that his manner repelled her, and he tried to be natural,
+succeeding so well that Katy forgot her first disappointment, and making
+him sit by her on the sofa, where she could see him distinctly, she
+poured forth a volley of talk, telling him, among other things, how much
+afraid of him some of his letters made her--they were so serious and so
+like a sermon.
+
+"You wrote me once that you thought of being a minister," she added.
+"Why did you change your mind? It must be splendid, I think, to be a
+young clergyman--invited to so many tea-drinkings, and having all the
+girls in the parish after you, as they always are after unmarried
+ministers."
+
+Into Morris Grant's eyes there stole a troubled light as he thought how
+little Katy realized what it was to be a minister of God--to point the
+people heavenward and teach them the right way. There was a moment's
+pause, and then he tried to explain to her that he hoped he had not been
+influenced either by thought of tea-drinking or having the parish girls
+after him, but rather by an honest desire to choose the sphere in which
+he could accomplish the most good.
+
+"I did not decide rashly," he said, "but after weeks of anxious thought
+and prayer for guidance I came to the conclusion that in the practice of
+medicine I could find perhaps as broad a field for good as in the
+church, and so I decided to go on with my profession--to be a physician
+of the poor and suffering, speaking to them of Him who came to save, and
+in this way I shall not labor in vain. Many would seek another place
+than Silverton and its vicinity, but something told me that my work was
+here, and so I am content to stay, feeling thankful that my means admit
+of my waiting for patients, if need be, and at the same time ministering
+to the wants of those who are needy."
+
+Gradually, as he talked, there came into his face a light, born only
+from the peace which passeth understanding, and the awe-struck Katy
+crept closer to his side, and, grasping his hand in hers, said, softly:
+"Dear cousin, what a good man you are, and how silly I must seem to you,
+thinking you cared for tea-drinkings, or even girls, when, of course,
+you do not."
+
+"Perhaps I do," the doctor replied, slightly pressing the warm, fat hand
+holding his so fast. "A minister's or a doctor's life would be dreary
+indeed if there was no one to share it, and I have had my dreams of the
+girls, or girl, who was some day to brighten up my home."
+
+He looked fully at Katy now, but she was thinking of something else, and
+her next remark was to ask him, rather abruptly, how old he was.
+
+"Twenty-six last May," he answered, while Katy continued: "You are not
+old enough to be married yet. Wilford Cameron is thirty."
+
+"Where did you meet Wilford Cameron?" Morris asked, in some surprise,
+and then the story which Katy had not told, even to her sister, came out
+in full, and Morris tried to listen patiently while Katy explained how,
+on the very first day of the examination, Mrs. Woodhull had come in, and
+with her the grandest, proudest-looking man, who the girls some of them
+said was Mr. Wilford Cameron, from New York, a very fastidious bachelor,
+whose family were noted for their wealth and exclusiveness, keeping six
+servants, and living in the finest style; that Mrs. Woodhull, who all
+through the year had been very kind to Katy, came to her after school
+and invited her home to tea; that she had gone, and met Mr. Cameron;
+that she was very much afraid of him at first, and was not sure that she
+was quite over it now, although he was so polite to her all through the
+journey, taking so much pains to have her see the finest sights, and
+laughing at her enthusiasm.
+
+"Wilford Cameron with you on your trip?" Morris asked, a new idea,
+dawning on his mind.
+
+"Yes; let me tell you," and Katy spoke rapidly. "I saw him that night,
+and then Mrs. Woodhull took me to ride with him in the carriage, and
+then--well, I rode alone with him once down by the lake, and he talked
+to me just as if he was not a grand man and I a little schoolgirl. And
+when the term closed I stayed at Mrs. Woodhull's, and he was there. He
+liked my playing and liked my singing, and I guess he liked me--that is,
+you know--yes, he liked me some," and Katy twisted the fringe of her
+shawl, while Morris, in spite of the pain tugging at his heart-strings,
+laughed aloud as he rejoined: "I have no doubt he did; but go on--what
+next?"
+
+"He said more about my joining that party than anybody, and I am very
+sure he paid the bills."
+
+"Oh, Katy," and Morris started as if he had been stung. "I would rather
+have given Linwood than have you thus indebted to Wilford Cameron or any
+other man."
+
+"I could not well help it. I did not mean any harm," Katy said, timidly,
+for at first she had shrunk from the proposition, but Mrs. Woodhull
+seemed to think it right, urging it on until she had consented, and so
+she said to Morris, explaining how kind Mr. Cameron was, and how careful
+not to remind her of her indebtedness to him, attending to and
+anticipating every want as if she had been his sister.
+
+"You would like Mr. Cameron, Cousin Morris. He made me think of you a
+little, only he is prouder," and Katy's hand moved up Morris' coat
+sleeve till it rested on his shoulder.
+
+"Perhaps so," Morris answered, feeling a growing resentment toward one
+who, it seemed to him, had done him some great wrong.
+
+But Wilford was not to blame, he reflected. He could not well help
+liking the bright little Katy--some; and so, conquering all ungenerous
+feelings, he turned to her at last and said:
+
+"Did my little Cousin Kitty like Wilford Cameron?"
+
+Something in Morris' voice startled Katy strangely; her hand came down
+from his shoulder, and for an instant there swept over her an emotion
+similar to what she had felt when with Wilford Cameron she rambled
+along the shores of Lake George, or sat alone with him on the deck of
+the steamer which carried them down Lake Champlain. But Morris had
+always been her brother, and she did not guess how hard it was for him
+to keep from telling her then that she was more to him than a sister.
+Had he told her, this story, perhaps, had not been written; but he kept
+silence, and so it is ours to record how Katy answered frankly at last:
+"I guess I did like him a little. I could not help it, Morris. You could
+not, either, or any one. I believe Mrs. Woodhull was more than half in
+love with him, and she is an old woman compared with me. By the way,
+what did she mean by introducing me to him as the daughter of Judge
+Lennox? I meant to have asked her, but forgot it afterward. Was father
+ever a judge?"
+
+"Not properly," Morris replied. "He was justice of the peace in
+Bloomfield, where you were born, and for one year held the office of
+side or associate judge, that's all. Few ever gave him that title, and
+I wonder at Mrs. Woodhull. Possibly she fancied Mr. Cameron would think
+better of you if he supposed you the daughter of a judge."
+
+"That may be, though I do not believe he would, do you?"
+
+Morris did not say what he thought, but quietly remarked, instead: "I
+know those Camerons."
+
+"What! Wilford! You don't know Wilford?" Katy almost screamed, and
+Morris replied: "Not Wilford, no; but the mother and the sisters were
+last year in Paris, and I met them many times."
+
+"What were they doing in Paris?" Katy asked, and Morris replied that he
+believed the immediate object of their being there was to obtain the
+best medical advice for a little orphan grandchild, a bright, beautiful
+boy, to whom some terrible accident had happened in infancy, preventing
+his walking entirely, and making him nearly helpless. His name was
+Jamie, Morris said, and as he saw that Katy was interested, he told her
+how sweet-tempered the little fellow was, how patient under suffering,
+and how eagerly he listened when Morris, who at one time attended him,
+told him of the Savior and His love for little children.
+
+"Did he get well?" Katy asked, her eyes filling with tears at the
+picture Morris drew of Jamie Cameron, sitting all day long in his wheel
+chair, and trying to comfort his grandmother's distress when the
+torturing instruments for straightening his poor back were applied.
+
+"No, he will always be a cripple, till God takes him to Himself," Morris
+said, and then Katy asked about the mother and sisters--were they proud,
+and did he like them much?
+
+"They were very proud," Morris said; "but they were always civil to me,"
+and Katy, had she been watching, might have seen a slight flush on his
+cheek as he told her of the stately woman, Wilford's mother, of the
+haughty Juno, a beauty and a belle, and lastly of Arabella, whom the
+family nicknamed Bluebell, from her excessive fondness for books, a
+fondness which made her affect a contempt for the fashionable life her
+mother and sister led.
+
+It was very evident that neither of the young ladies were wholly to
+Morris' taste, but of the two he preferred the Bluebell, for though very
+imperious and self-willed, she really had some heart, some principle,
+while Juno had none. This was Morris' opinion, and it disturbed the
+little Katy, as was very perceptible from the nervous tapping of her
+foot upon the carpet and the working of her hands.
+
+"How would I appear by the side of those ladies?" she suddenly asked,
+her countenance changing as Morris replied that it was almost impossible
+to think of her as associated with the Camerons, she was so wholly
+unlike them in every respect.
+
+"I don't believe I shocked Wilford so very much," Katy rejoined,
+reproachfully, while again a heavy pain shot through Morris' heart, for
+he saw more and more how Wilford Cameron was mingled with every thought
+of the young girl, who continued: "And if he was satisfied, I guess his
+mother and sisters will be. Anyway, I don't want you to make me feel how
+different I am from them."
+
+There were tears now on Katy's face, and casting aside all selfishness,
+Morris wound his arm around her, and smoothed her golden hair, just as
+he used to do when she was a child and came to him to be soothed. He
+said, very gently:
+
+"My poor Kitty, you do like Wilford Cameron; tell me honestly--is it
+not so?"
+
+"Yes, I guess I do," and Katy's voice was a half sob. "I could not help
+it, either, he was so kind, so--I don't know what, only I could not help
+doing what he bade me. Why, if he had said: 'Jump overboard, Katy
+Lennox,' I should have done it, I know--that is, if his eyes had been
+upon me, they controlled me so absolutely. Can you imagine what I mean?"
+
+"Yes, I understand. There was the same look in Bell Cameron's eye, a
+kind of mesmeric influence which commanded obedience. They idolize this
+Wilford, and I dare say he is worthy of their idolatry. One thing, at
+least, is in his favor--the crippled Jamie, for whose opinion I would
+give more than all the rest, seemed to worship his Uncle Will, talking
+of him continually, and telling how kind he was, sometimes staying up
+all night to carry him in his arms when the pain in his back was more
+than usually severe. So there must be a good, kind heart in Wilford
+Cameron, and if my Cousin Kitty likes him, as she says she does, and he
+likes her as I believe he must, why, I hope--"
+
+Morris Grant could not finish the sentence; for he did not hope that
+Wilford Cameron would win the gem he had so long coveted as his own.
+
+He might give Kitty up because she loved another best. He was generous
+enough to do that, but if he did it, she must never know how much it
+cost him, and lest he should betray himself he could not to-night talk
+with her longer of Wilford Cameron, whom he believed to be his rival. It
+was time now for Katy to go home, but she did not seem to remember it
+until Morris suggested to her that her mother might be uneasy if she
+stayed away much longer, and so they went together across the fields,
+the shadow all gone from Katy's heart, but lying so dark and heavy
+around Morris Grant, who was glad when he could leave Katy at the
+farmhouse door and go back alone to the quiet library, where only God
+could witness the mighty struggle it was for him to say: "Thy will be
+done." And while he prayed, not that Katy should be his, but that he
+might have strength to bear it if she were destined for another, Katy,
+up in her humble bedroom, with her head nestled close to Helen's neck,
+was telling her of Wilford Cameron, who, when they went down the rapids
+and she had cried with fear, had put his arm around her, trying to quiet
+her, and who once again, on the mountain overlooking Lake George, had
+held her hand a moment, while he pointed out a splendid view seen
+through the opening trees. And Helen, listening, knew just as Morris
+Grant had done that Katy's heart was lost, and that for Wilford Cameron
+to deceive her now would be a cruel thing.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER III.
+
+WILFORD CAMERON.
+
+
+The day succeeding Katy Lennox's return to Silverton was rainy and cold
+for the season, the storm extending as far westward as the city of New
+York, and making Wilford Cameron shiver as he stepped from the Hudson
+River cars into the carriage waiting for him, first greeting pleasantly
+the white-gloved driver, who, carefully closing the carriage door,
+mounted to his seat and drove his handsome bays in the direction of
+No. ---- Fifth Avenue. And Wilford, leaning back among the yielding
+cushions, thought how pleasant it was to be going home again, feeling
+glad, as he frequently did, that the home to which he was going was in
+every particular unexceptionable. The Camerons he knew were an old and
+highly respectable family, while it was his mother's pride that, go back
+as far as one might on either side, there could not be found a single
+blemish or a member of whom to be ashamed. On the Cameron side there were
+millionaires, merchant princes, bankers and stockholders, professors and
+scholars, while on hers, the Rossiter side, there were LL.D.'s and
+D.D.'s, lawyers and clergymen, authors and artists, beauties and belles,
+the whole forming an illustrious line of ancestry, admirably represented
+and sustained by the present family of Camerons, occupying the
+brownstone front, corner of ---- Street and Fifth Avenue, where the
+handsome carriage stopped and a tall figure ran quickly up the marble
+steps. There was a soft rustle of silk, an odor of delicate perfume,
+and from the luxurious chair before the fire kindled in the grate an
+elderly lady arose and advanced a step or two toward the parlor door. In
+another moment she was kissing the young man bending over her and
+saluting her as mother, kissing him quietly, properly, as the Camerons
+always kissed. She was very glad to have Wilford home again, for he was
+her favorite child, and brushing the raindrops from his coat she led him
+to the fire, offering him her own easy-chair and starting herself in
+quest of another. But Wilford held her back, and making her sit down, he
+drew an ottoman beside her and then asked her first how she had been and
+then how Jamie was, then where his sisters were, and if his father had
+come home--for there was a father, the elder Cameron, a quiet,
+unassuming man, who stayed all day in Wall Street, seldom coming home in
+time to carve at his own dinner table, and when he was at home, asking
+for nothing except to be left by his fashionable wife and daughters to
+himself, free to smoke and doze over his evening paper in the seclusion
+of his own reading-room.
+
+As Wilford's question concerning his sire had been the last one asked,
+so it was the last one answered, his mother parting his dark hair with
+her jeweled hand, and telling him first that with the exception of a
+cold taken at the park on Saturday afternoon when she drove out to try
+the new carriage, she was in usual health; second, that Jamie was very
+well, but impatient for his uncle's return; third, that Juno was
+spending a few days in Orange, and that Bell had gone to pass the night
+with her particular friend, Mrs. Meredith, the bluest, most bookish
+woman in New York.
+
+"Your father," the lady added, "has not yet returned, but as the dinner
+is ready I think we will not wait."
+
+She touched a silver bell beside her, and ordering dinner to be sent up
+at once, went on to ask her son concerning his journey, and the people
+he had met. But Wilford, though intending to tell her all, for he kept
+nothing from his mother, would wait till after dinner. So, offering her
+his arm, he led her out to where the table was spread, widely different
+from the table prepared for Katy Lennox away among the Silverton hills,
+for where at the farmhouse there had been only the homely wares common
+to the country, with Aunt Betsy's onions served in a bowl, there was
+here the finest of damask, the choicest of china, the costliest of
+cut-glass, and the heaviest of silver, with the well-trained waiter
+gliding in and out, himself the very personification of strict table
+etiquette, such as the Barlows had never dreamed about. There was no
+fricasseed chicken here, or flaky crust, with pickled beans and apple
+sauce; no custard pie with strawberries and rich, sweet cream, poured
+from a blue earthen pitcher, but there were soups, and fish, and roasted
+meats, and dishes with French names and taste, and desert elaborately
+gotten up and served with the utmost precision, and wines, with fruit
+and colored cloth, and handsome finger bowl; and Mrs. Cameron presiding
+over all, with the ladylike decorum so much a part of herself, her soft,
+glossy silk of brown, with her rich lace and diamond pin seeming in
+keeping with herself and her surroundings. And opposite to her Wilford
+sat, a tall, dark, handsome man of thirty or thereabouts--a man whose
+polished manners betokened at once a perfect knowledge of the world, and
+whose face to a close observer indicated how little satisfaction he had
+as yet found in that world. He had tried its pleasures, drinking the cup
+of freedom and happiness to its very dregs, and though he thought he
+liked it, he often found himself dissatisfied and reaching after
+something which should make life more real, more worth the living for.
+He had traveled all over Europe twice, had visited every spot worth
+visiting in his own country, had been a frequenter of every fashionable
+resort in New York, from the skating pond to the theatres, had been
+admitted as a lawyer, had opened an office on Broadway, acquiring some
+reputation in his profession, had looked at more than twenty girls with
+the view of making them his wife, and found them as he believed, alike
+fickle, selfish, artificial and hollow-hearted. In short, while thinking
+far more of family, and accomplishments, and style, than he ought, he
+was yet heartily tired of the butterflies who flitted so constantly
+around him, offering to be caught if he would but stretch out his hand
+to catch them. This he would not do, and disgusted with the world as he
+saw it in New York, he had gone to the Far West, roaming a while amid
+the solitude of the broad prairies, and finding there much that was
+soothing to him, but not discovering the fulfillment of the great want
+he was craving, until, coming back to Canandaigua, he met with Katy
+Lennox. He had smiled wearily when asked by Mrs. Woodhull to go with her
+to the examination then in progress at the seminary. There was nothing
+there to interest him, he thought, as Euclid and algebra, French and
+rhetoric were bygone things, while young school misses in braided hair
+and pantalets were shockingly insipid. Still, to be polite to Mrs.
+Woodhull, a childless, fashionable woman, who patronized Canandaigua
+generally, and Katy Lennox in particular, he consented to go, and soon
+found himself in the crowded room, the cynosure of many eyes as the
+whisper ran around that the fine-looking man with Mrs. Woodhull was the
+Wilford Cameron from New York, and brother to the proud, dashing Juno
+Cameron, who once spent a few weeks in town, Wilford knew they were
+talking about him, but he did not care, and assuming as easy an attitude
+as possible, he leaned hack in his chair, yawning indolently, and
+wishing the time away, until the class in algebra was called and Katy
+Lennox came tripping on to the stage, a pale blue ribbon in her golden
+hair and her simple dress of white relieved by no ornament except the
+cluster of wild flowers fastened in her belt and at her graceful throat.
+But Katy needed no ornaments to make her more beautiful than she was at
+the moment when, with glowing cheeks and sparkling eyes, modestly cast
+down for a moment as she took her place, and then as modestly uplifted
+to her teacher's face, she first burst upon Wilford's vision, a creature
+of rare, bewitching beauty, such as he had never dreamed about.
+
+Wilford had met his destiny, and he felt it in every throb of blood
+which went rushing through his veins.
+
+"Who is she?" he asked of Mrs. Woodhull, and that lady knew at once whom
+he meant, even though he had not designated her.
+
+An old acquaintance of Mrs. Lennox when she lived in East Bloomfield,
+Mrs. Woodhull had petted Katy from the first day of her arrival in
+Canandaigua with a letter of introduction to herself from the ambitious
+mother, and being rather inclined to match-making, she had had Katy in
+her mind when she urged Wilford to accompany her to the seminary.
+Accordingly, she answered him at once: "That is Katy Lennox, daughter of
+Judge Lennox, who died in East Bloomfield a few years ago."
+
+Lennox was a good name, while the title of judge increased its value.
+Wilford would not have acknowledged that, perhaps, but it was
+nevertheless the truth, and Mrs. Woodhull, who understood exactly the
+claim which Mr. Lennox had to the title, knew it was true, and that was
+why she spoke as she did. It was time Wilford Cameron was settled in
+life, and with the exception of wealth and family position, he could not
+find a better wife than Katy Lennox, and she would do what she could to
+bring the marriage about.
+
+"Pretty, is she not?" was her question put to Wilford after answering
+his inquiry, but Wilford did not hear, having neither eye nor ear for
+anything save Kitty, acquitting herself with a good deal of credit as
+she worked out a rather difficult problem, her dimpled white hand
+showing to good advantage against the deep black of the board; and then
+her voice, soft-toned and silvery as a lady's voice should be, thrilled
+Wilford's ear, awaking a strange feeling of disquiet, as if the world
+would never again be quite the same to him that it was before he met
+that fair young girl now passing from the room.
+
+Mrs. Woodhull saw that he was interested, and mentally congratulating
+herself upon the successful working of her plan, first gained the
+preceptress' consent, and then asked Katy home with her to tea that
+night. And this was how Wilford Cameron came to know little Katy Lennox,
+the simple-hearted child, who blushed so prettily when first presented
+to him, and blushed again when he praised her recitations, but who after
+that forgot the difference in their social relations, laughing and
+chatting as merrily in his presence as if she had been alone with Mrs.
+Woodhull. This was the great charm to Wilford, Katy was so wholly
+unconscious of himself or what he might think of her, that he could not
+sit in judgment upon her, and he watched her eagerly as she sported, and
+flashed, and sparkled, filling the room with sunshine, and putting to
+rout the entire regiment of blues which had been for months harassing
+the city-bred young man.
+
+If there was any one thing in which Katy excelled, it was music, both
+vocal and instrumental, a taste for which had been developed very early,
+and fostered by Morris Grant, who had seen that his cousin had every
+advantage which Silverton could afford. Great pains, too, had been given
+to her style of playing while at Canandaigua, so that as a performer
+upon the piano she had few rivals in the seminary, while her bird-like
+voice filled every nook and corner of the room, where, on the night
+after her visit to Mrs. Woodhull, a select exhibition was held, Katy
+shining as the one bright star, and winning golden laurels for beauty,
+grace and perfect self-possession from others than Wilford Cameron, who
+was one of the invited auditors.
+
+"Juno herself could not equal that," he thought, as Katy's fingers flew
+over the keys, executing a brilliant and difficult piece without a
+single mistake, and receiving the applause of the spectators easily,
+naturally, as if it were an everyday occurrence. But when by request she
+sang "Comin' through the Rye," Wilford's heart, if he had any before,
+was wholly gone, and he dreamed of Katy Lennox that night, wondering
+all the ensuing day how his haughty mother would receive that young
+schoolgirl as her daughter, wife of the son whose bride she fancied must
+be equal to the first lady in the land. And if Katy were not now equal
+she could be made so, Wilford thought, wondering if Canandaigua were the
+best place for her, and if she would consent to receive a year or two
+years' tuition from him, provided her family were poor. He did not know
+as they were, but he would ask, and he did, feeling a pang of regret
+when he heard to some extent how Katy was circumstanced. Mrs. Woodhull
+had never been to Silverton, and so she did not know of Uncle Ephraim,
+with his old-fashioned spouse and his older-fashioned sister, but she
+knew that they were poor--that some relation sent Katy to school; and
+she frankly told Wilford so, adding, as she detected the shadow on his
+face, that one could not expect everything, and that a girl like Katy
+was not found every day. Wilford admitted all this, growing more and
+more infatuated, until at last he consented to join the traveling
+party, provided Katy joined it too, and when on the morning of their
+departure for the Falls he seated himself beside her in the car, he
+could not well have been happier, unless she had really been his wife,
+as he so much wished she was.
+
+It was a most delightful trip, and Wilford was better satisfied with
+himself than he had been before in years. His past life was not all free
+from error, and there were many sad memories haunting him, but with Katy
+at his side, seeing what he saw, admiring what he admired, and doing
+what he bade her do, he gave the bygones to the wind, feeling only an
+intense desire to clasp the young girl in his arms and bear her away to
+some spot where with her pure fresh life all his own he could begin the
+world anew, and retrieve the past which he had lost. This was when he
+was with Katy. Away from her he could remember the difference in their
+position, and prudential motives began to make themselves heard. Never
+but once had he taken an important step without consulting his mother,
+and then, alas! the trouble it brought him was not ended yet, and never
+would be ended until death had set its seal upon the brow of one almost
+as dear as Katy, though in a far different way. And this was why Katy
+came back to Silverton unengaged, leaving her heart with Wilford
+Cameron, who would first seek advice from his mother ere committing
+himself by word. He had seen the white-haired man with his coarse, linen
+coat and coarser pants, waiting eagerly for her when the train stopped
+at Silverton, but standing there as he did, with his silvery locks
+parted in the center, and shading his honest, open face, Uncle Ephraim
+looked like some patriarch of old rather than a man to be despised, and
+Wilford felt only a respect for him until he saw Katy's arms wound so
+lovingly around his neck as she kissed and called him Uncle Eph. That
+sight grated harshly, and Wilford, knowing this was the uncle of whom
+Katy had often spoken, felt glad that he was not bound to her by any
+pledge. Very curiously he looked after the couple, witnessing the
+meeting between Katy and old Whitey, and guessing rightly that the
+corn-colored vehicle was the one sent to transport Katy home. He was
+very moody for the remainder of the route between Silverton and Albany,
+where he parted with his Canandaigua friends, they going on to the
+westward, while he stopped all night in Albany, where he had some
+business to transact for his father. And this was why he did not reach
+New York until late in the afternoon of the following day.
+
+He was intending to tell his mother everything, except indeed that he
+paid Katy's bills. He would rather keep that to himself, as it might
+shock his mother's sense of propriety and make her think less of Katy,
+impulsive, confiding Katy, little dreaming as on that rainy afternoon
+she sat in the kitchen at Silverton, with her feet in the stove-oven and
+the cat asleep in her lap, of the conversation taking place between
+Wilford Cameron and his mother. They had left the dinner table, and
+lighting his cigar, which for that one time the mother permitted in the
+parlor, Wilford opened the subject by asking her to guess what took him
+off so suddenly with Mrs. Woodhull.
+
+The mother did not know--unless--and a strange light gleamed in her
+eyes, as she asked if it were some girl.
+
+"Yea, mother, it was," and without any reservation Wilford frankly told
+the story of his interest in Katy Lennox.
+
+He admitted that she was poor and unaccustomed to society, but he loved
+her more than words could express.
+
+"Not as I loved Genevra," he said, as he saw his mother about to speak,
+and there came a look of intense pain into his fine eyes as he
+continued: "That was the passion of a boy of nineteen, simulated by
+secrecy, but this is different--this is the love of a mature man of
+thirty, who feels that he is capable of judging for himself."
+
+In Wilford's voice there was a tone warning the mother that opposition
+would only feed the flame, and so she offered none directly, but heard
+him patiently to the end, and then quietly questioned him of Katy and
+her family, especially the last. What did he know of it? Was it one to
+detract from the Cameron line kept untarnished so long? Were the
+relatives such as he never need blush to own, even if they came there
+into their drawing-room, as they would come if Katy did?
+
+Wilford thought of Uncle Ephraim as he had seen him upon the platform at
+Silverton, and could scarcely repress a smile as he pictured to himself
+his mother's consternation at beholding that man in her drawing-room,
+but he did not mention the deacon, though he acknowledged that Katy's
+family friends were not exactly the Cameron style. But Katy was young;
+Katy could be easily molded, and once away from her old associates, his
+mother and sisters could make of her what they pleased.
+
+"I understand, then, that if you marry her you do not marry the family,"
+and in the handsome, matronly face there was an expression from which
+Katy would have shrunk; could she have seen it and understood its
+meaning.
+
+"No, I do not marry the family," Wilford rejoined, emphatically, but the
+expression of his face was different from his mother's, for where she
+thought only of herself, not hesitating to trample on all Katy's love of
+home and friends, Wilford remembered Katy, thinking how he would make
+amends for separating her wholly from her home, as he surely meant to do
+if he should win her. "Did I tell you," he continued, "that her father
+was a judge? She must be well connected on that side, though I never
+heard of a Judge Lennox in any of our courts."
+
+"It must have been when you were in Europe the first time," Mrs. Cameron
+suggested, and as if the mention of Europe reminded him of something
+else, Wilford rejoined: "Katy would be kind to Jamie, mother. In some
+things she is almost as much a child as he, poor fellow," and again
+there came into his eyes a look of pain, while his voice was sadder in
+its tone, just as it always was when he spoke of little Jamie. "And now,
+what shall I do?" he asked, playfully. "Shall I propose to Katy Lennox,
+or shall I try to forget her?"
+
+"I should not do either," was Mrs. Cameron's reply for she well knew
+that trying to forget her was the surest way of keeping her in mind, and
+she dared not confess to him how wholly she was determined that Katy
+Lennox should never be her daughter if she could prevent it.
+
+If she could not, then as a lady and a woman of policy, she should make
+the most of it, receiving Katy kindly and doing her best to educate her
+up to the Cameron ideas of style and manner.
+
+"Let matters take their course for a while," she said, "and see how you
+feel after a little. We are going to Newport the first of August, Jamie
+and all, and perhaps you may find somebody there infinitely superior to
+this Katy Lennox. That's your father's ring. He is earlier than usual
+to-night. I would not tell him yet till you are more decided," and the
+lady went hastily out into the hall to meet her husband.
+
+A moment more and the elder Cameron appeared--a short, square-built man,
+with a face seamed with lines of care and eyes much like Wilford's, save
+that the shaggy eyebrows gave them a different expression. He was very
+glad to see his son, though he merely shook his hand, asking what
+nonsense took him off around the Lakes with Mrs. Woodhull, and wondering
+if women were never happy unless they were chasing after fashion. The
+elder Cameron was evidently not of his wife's way of thinking, but she
+let him go on until he was through, and then, with the most unruffled
+mien, suggested that his dinner would he cold. He was accustomed to
+that, and so he did not mind, but he hurried through his lonely meal
+to-night, for Wilford was home, and the father was always happier when
+he knew his son was in the house. Contrary to his usual custom, he spent
+the short summer evening in the parlor, talking with Wilford on various
+items of business, and thus preventing any further conversation
+concerning Katy Lennox, who just as their evening was commencing, was
+bowing the knee reverently between her sister and her uncle, listening
+while the good old man invoked the nightly blessing, without which he
+never retired to sleep. But in that household on Fifth Avenue there was
+no blessing asked of Heaven, no word of thanksgiving for the prosperity
+so long vouchsafed, no prayer said except by the crippled Jamie, who,
+remembering the Savior of whom Morris Grant had told him when across the
+sea, whispered his childish prayer, thanking him most for bringing back
+the uncle so dearly loved, the Wilford who, on his way to his own room,
+had stopped as he always did to say good-night to Jamie, folding his
+arms around him and kissing his sweet face with a fondness in which
+there was something half regretful, half sad, as well as pleasing.
+
+It took but a short time for Wilford to fall back into his old way of
+living, passing a few hours of each day in his office, driving with his
+mother, reading to little Jamie, sparring with his imperious sister,
+Juno, and teasing his blue sister, Bell, but never after that first
+night breathing a word to any one of Katy Lennox. And still Katy was not
+forgotten, as his mother sometimes believed. On the contrary, the very
+silence he kept concerning her increased his passion, until he began
+seriously to contemplate a trip to Silverton. The family's removal to
+Newport, however, diverted his attention for a little, making him decide
+to wait and see what Newport might have in store for him. But Newport
+was dull this season, at least to him, though Juno and Bell both found
+ample scope for their different powers of attraction, and his mother was
+always happy when showing off her children and knowing that they were
+appreciated. With Wilford it was different. Listless and taciturn, he
+went through with the daily routine, wondering how he had ever found
+happiness there, and finally, at the close of the season, casting all
+policy and prudence aside, he wrote to Katy Lennox that he was coming
+to Silverton on his way home, and that he presumed he should have no
+difficulty in finding his way to the farmhouse.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IV.
+
+PREPARING FOR THE VISIT.
+
+
+"Of course he will not, for I shall ask Dr. Morris to go after him in
+his carriage," Katy said, as out in the orchard where she was gathering
+the early harvest apples she read the letter brought her by Uncle
+Ephraim, her face crimsoning all over with happy blushes as she saw
+the dear affixed to her name.
+
+Katy had waited so anxiously for a letter, or some message which should
+say that she was not forgotten by Wilford Cameron, but as the weeks went
+by and it did not come, a shadow had fallen upon her spirits, and the
+family missed something from her ringing laugh and frolicsome ways,
+while she herself wondered why the household duties given to her should
+be so utterly distasteful. She used to enjoy them so much, but now she
+liked nothing except to go with Uncle Ephraim out into the fields where
+she could sit alone while he worked nearby, or to ride with Morris as
+she sometimes did when he made his round of calls. She was not as good
+as she used to be, she thought, and with a view of making herself better
+she took to teaching in Morris' and Helen's Sunday-school, greatly to
+the distress of Aunt Betsy, who groaned bitterly when both her nieces
+adopted the "Episcopal quirks," forsaking entirely the house where
+Sunday after Sunday her old-fashioned leghorn with its faded ribbon of
+green was seen, bending down in the humble worship which God so much
+approves. But teaching in Sunday-school, taken by itself, could not make
+Katy better, and the old restlessness remained until the morning when,
+sitting on the grass beneath the apple tree, she read that Wilford
+Cameron was coming. Then, as by magic, everything was changed, and Katy
+never forgot the brightness of that day when the robins sang so merrily
+above her head and all nature seemed to sympathize with her joy.
+Afterward there came to her dark, wretched hours, when in her young
+heart's agony she wished that day had never been, but there was no
+shadow around her now, nothing but hopeful sunshine, and with a bounding
+step she sought out Helen, to tell her the good news. Helen's first
+remark, however, was a chill upon her spirits.
+
+"Wilford Cameron coming here? What will he think of us, we are so unlike
+him?"
+
+This was the first time Katy had seriously considered the difference
+between her surroundings and those of Wilford Cameron, or how it might
+affect him. But Aunt Betsy, who had never dreamed of anything like
+Wilford's home, and who thought her own quite as good as they would
+average, comforted her, telling her how "if he was any kind of a chap he
+wouldn't be looking round, and if he did, who cared; she guessed they
+was as good as he, and as much thought of by the neighbors."
+
+Wilford's letter had been delayed so that the morrow was the day
+appointed for his coming, and never sure was there a busier afternoon
+at the farmhouse than the one which followed the receipt of the letter.
+Everything that was not spotlessly clean before was made so now. Aunt
+Betsy in her petticoat and short gown going down upon her knees to scrub
+the door sill of the back room, as if the city guest were expected to
+sit in there. On Aunt Hannah and Mrs. Lennox devolved the duty of
+preparing for the wants of the inner man, while Helen and Katy bent
+their energies to beautifying their humble home and making the most of
+their plain furniture.
+
+"If Uncle Ephraim had only let me move the chimney, we could have had
+a nice spare sleeping-room instead of this little tucked up hole," Mrs.
+Lennox said, coming in with her hands covered with flour, and casting a
+rueful look at the small room kept for company, and where Wilford was to
+sleep.
+
+It was not very spacious, being only large enough to admit the high post
+bed, a single chair, and the old-fashioned washstand with the hole in
+the top for the bowl and a drawer beneath for towels, the whole
+presenting a most striking contrast to those handsome chambers on Fifth
+Avenue, or, indeed, to the one at the Ocean House where Wilford sat
+smoking and wishing the time away, while Helen and Katy held a
+consultation as to whether it would not be better to dispense with the
+parlor altogether and give that room to their visitor. But this was
+vetoed by Aunt Betsy, who, having finished the back door sill, had now
+come around to the front, and, with her scrubbing brush in one hand and
+her saucer of sand in the other, held forth upon the foolishness of the
+girls.
+
+"Of course if they had a beau, they'd want a t'other room, else where
+would they do their sparkin'."
+
+That settled it. The parlor should remain as it was, Katy said, and Aunt
+Betsy went on with her scouring, while Helen and Katy consulted together
+how to make the huge feather bed seem more like the mattresses such as
+Morris had, and such as Mr. Cameron must be accustomed to. Helen's mind
+being the most suggestive solved the problem first, and a large
+comfortable was brought from the box in the garret and folded carefully
+over the bed, which, thus hardened and flattened, "seemed like a
+mattress," Katy said, for she tried it, pronouncing it good, and feeling
+quite well satisfied with the room when it was finished. And certainly
+it was not wholly uninviting with its snowy bed, whose covering almost
+swept the floor, its strip of bright carpeting in front, its vase of
+flowers upon the stand and its white fringed curtain sweeping back from
+the narrow window.
+
+"I'd like to sleep here myself. It looks real nice," was Katy's comment,
+while Helen offered no opinion, but followed her sister into the yard
+where they were to sweep the grass and prune the early September
+flowers.
+
+This afforded Aunt Betsy a chance to reconnoiter and criticise, which
+last she did unsparingly.
+
+"What have they done to that bed to make it look so flat? Put on a
+bed-quilt, as I'm alive! What children! It would break my back to lie
+there, and this Cannon is none the youngest, accordin' to their
+tell--nigh on to thirty, if not turned. It will make his bones ache, of
+course. I am glad I know better than to treat visitors that way. The
+comforter may stay, but I'll be bound I'll make it softer!" and stealing
+up the stairs, Aunt Betsy brought down a second feather bed, much
+lighter than the one already on, but still large enough to suggest the
+thought of smothering. This she had made herself, intending it as a part
+of Katy's "setting out," should she ever marry, and as things now seemed
+tending that way, it was only right, she thought, that Mr. Cannon, as
+she called him, should begin to have the benefit of it. Accordingly, the
+handiwork of the girls was destroyed, and two beds, instead of one, were
+placed beneath the comfortable, which Aunt Betsy permitted to remain.
+
+"I'm mighty feared they'll find me out," she said, stroking, and
+patting, and coaxing the beds to lie down, taking great pains in the
+making, and succeeding so well that when her task was done there was no
+perceptible difference between Helen's bed and hers, except that the
+latter was a few inches higher than the former, and more nearly
+resembled a pincushion in shape.
+
+Carefully shutting the door, Aunt Betsy hurried away, feeling glad that
+her nieces were too much engaged in training a vine over a frame to
+afford them time for discovering what she had done. Katy, she knew, was
+going to Linwood by and by, after various little things which Mrs.
+Lennox thought indispensable to the entertaining of so great a man as
+Wilford Cameron, and which the farmhouse did not possess, and as Helen
+too would be busy, there was not much danger of detection.
+
+It was late when the last thing was accomplished, and the sun was quite
+low ere Katy was free to start on her errand, carrying the market basket
+in which she was to put the articles borrowed of Morris.
+
+He was sitting out on his piazza enjoying the fine prospect he had of
+the sun shining across the pond, on the Silverton hill, and just gilding
+the top of the little church nestled in the valley. At sight of Katy he
+arose and greeted her with the kind, brotherly manner now habitual with
+him, for since we last looked upon Morris Grant he had fought a fierce
+battle with his selfishness, coming off conqueror, and learning to
+listen quite calmly while Katy talked to him, as she often did, of
+Wilford Cameron, never trying to conceal from him how anxious she was
+for some word of remembrance, and often asking if he thought Mr. Cameron
+would ever write to her. It was hard at first for Morris to listen, and
+harder still to hold back the passionate words of love trembling on his
+lips, to keep himself from telling her how improbable it was that one
+like Mr. Cameron should cherish thoughts of her after mingling again
+with the high-born city belles, and to beg of her to take him in
+Cameron's stead--him who had loved her so long, ever since he first knew
+what it was to love, and who would cherish her so tenderly, loving her
+the more because of the childishness which some men might despise. But
+Morris had kept silence, and, as weeks went by, there came insensibly
+into his heart a hope, or rather conviction, that Cameron had forgotten
+the little girl who might in time turn to him, gladdening his home just
+as she did every spot where her fairy footsteps trod. Morris did not
+fully know that he was hugging this fond dream, until he felt the keen
+pang which cut like a dissector's knife as Katy, turning her bright,
+eager face up to him, whispered softly: "He's coming to-morrow--he
+surely is; I have his letter to tell me so."
+
+Morris did not see the sunshine then upon the distant hills, although it
+lay there just as purple as before Katy came, bringing blackness and
+pain when heretofore she had only brought him joy and gladness. There
+was a moment of darkness, in which the hills, the pond, the sun
+setting, and Katy seemed a great ways off to Morris, trying so hard to
+be calm, and mentally asking for help to do so. But Katy's hat, which
+she swung in her hand, had become entangled in the vines encircling one
+of the pillars of the piazza, and so she did not notice him until all
+traces of his agitation were past, and he could talk with her concerning
+Wilford, and then playfully lifting her basket he asked what she had
+come to get.
+
+This was not the first time the great house had rendered a like service
+to the little house, and so Katy did not blush when she explained how
+her mother wanted Morris' forks, and saltcellars, and spoons, and would
+he be kind enough to bring the castor over himself, and come to dinner
+to-morrow at two o'clock?--and would he go after Mr. Cameron? The forks,
+and saltcellars, and spoons, and castor were cheerfully promised, while
+Morris consented to go for the guest; and then Katy came to the rest of
+her errand, the part distasteful to her, inasmuch as it might look like
+throwing disrespect upon Uncle Ephraim--honest, unsophisticated Uncle
+Ephraim--who would come to the table in his shirt sleeves. This was the
+burden of her grief--the one thing she dreaded most, inasmuch as she
+knew by experience how such an act was looked upon by Mr. Cameron, who,
+never having lived in the country a day in his life, except as he was
+either guest or traveler, could not make due allowance for these little
+departures from refinement, so obnoxious to people of his training.
+
+"What is it, Katy?" Morris asked, as he saw how she hesitated, and
+guessed her errand was not done.
+
+"I hope you will not think me foolish or wicked," Katy began, her eyes
+filling with tears, as she felt that she might be doing Uncle Ephraim
+a wrong by even admitting that in any way he could be improved. "I
+certainly love Uncle Ephraim dearly, and I do not mind his ways, but Mr.
+Cameron may--that is, oh, Cousin Morris! did you ever notice how Uncle
+Ephraim will persist in coming to the table in his shirt sleeves."
+
+"Persist is hardly the word to use," Morris replied, smiling comically,
+as he readily understood Katy's misgivings. "Persist would imply his
+having been often remonstrated with for that breach of etiquette;
+whereas I doubt much whether the idea that it was not in strict
+accordance with politeness was ever suggested to him."
+
+"Maybe not," Katy answered. "It was never necessary till now, and I feel
+so disturbed, for I want Mr. Cameron to like him, and if he does that I
+am sure he won't."
+
+"Why do you think so?" Morris asked, and Katy replied: "He is so
+particular, and was so very angry at a little hotel between Lakes
+George and Champlain, where we took our dinner before going on the
+boat. There was a man along--a real good-natured man, too, so kind to
+everybody--and, as the day was warm, he carried his coat on his arm, and
+sat down to the table that way, right opposite me. Mr. Cameron was so
+indignant, and said such harsh things, which the man heard, I am sure,
+for he put on his coat directly; and I saw him afterward on the boat,
+sweating like rain, and looking sorry as if he had done something wrong.
+I am sure, though, he had not?"
+
+This last was spoken interrogatively, and Morris replied: "There is
+nothing wrong or wicked in going without one's coat. Everything depends
+upon the circumstances under which it is done. For me to appear at table
+in my shirt sleeves would be very impolite; but for an old man like
+Uncle Ephraim, who has done it all his life and who never gave it a
+thought, would, in my estimation, be a very different thing. Still, Mr.
+Cameron may see from another standpoint. But I would not distress
+myself. That love is not worth much which would think the less of you
+for anything _outre_ which Uncle Ephraim may do. If Mr. Cameron cannot
+stand the test of seeing your relatives as they are, he is not worth the
+long face you are wearing," and Morris pinched her cheek playfully.
+
+"Yes, I know," Katy replied; "but if you only could manage Uncle Eph I
+should be so glad."
+
+Morris had little hope of breaking a habit of years, but he promised to
+try if an opportunity should occur, and as Mrs. Hull, the housekeeper,
+had by this time gathered up the articles required for the morrow,
+Morris himself took the basket in his own hands and went back with Katy
+across the fields, which had never seemed so desolate as to-night, when
+he felt how vain were all the hopes he had been cherishing.
+
+"God bless you, Katy, and may Mr. Cameron's visit bring you as much
+happiness as you anticipate," he said as he set her basket upon the
+doorstep and turned back without entering the house.
+
+Katy noticed the peculiar tone of his voice, and again there swept over
+her the same thrill she had felt when Morris first said to her, "And did
+Katy like this Mr. Cameron?" but so far was she from guessing the truth
+that she only feared she might have displeased him by what she had said
+of Uncle Ephraim; and as an unkind word breathed against a dear friend,
+even to a mutual friend, always leaves a scar, so Katy, though saying
+nothing ill, still felt that in some way she had wronged her uncle; and
+the good old man, resting from his hard day's toil, in his accustomed
+chair, with not only his coat, but his vest and boots cast aside, little
+guessed what prompted the caresses which Katy bestowed upon him, sitting
+in his lap and parting lovingly his snowy hair, as if thus she would
+make amends for any injury done. Little Katy-did he called her, looking
+fondly into her bright, pretty face, and thinking how terrible it would
+be to see that face shadowed with pain and care. Somehow, of late, Uncle
+Ephraim was always thinking of such a calamity as more than possible for
+Katy, and when that night she knelt beside him, his voice was full of
+pleading earnestness as he prayed that God would keep them all in
+safety, and bring to none of them more grief, more suffering, than was
+necessary to purify them for His own. "Purified by suffering" came
+involuntarily into Katy's mind as she listened, and then remembered the
+talk down in the meadow, when she sat on the rock beneath the butternut
+tree. But Katy was far too thoughtless yet for anything serious to abide
+with her long; and the world, while it held Wilford Cameron as he seemed
+to her now, was too full of joy for her to be sad, and so she arose from
+her knees, thinking only how long it would be before to-morrow noon,
+wondering if Wilford would surely be there next time their evening
+prayers were said, and if he would notice Uncle Ephraim's shocking
+grammar!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER V.
+
+WILFORD'S VISIT.
+
+
+Much surprise was expressed by all the Cameron family, save the mother,
+when told that instead of accompanying them to New York, Wilford would
+take another route, and one directly out of his way; while, what was
+stranger than all, he did not know when he should be home; it would
+depend upon circumstances, he said, evincing so much annoyance at being
+questioned with regard to his movements, that the quick-witted Juno
+readily divined that there was some girl in the matter, teasing him
+unmercifully to tell her who she was, and what the fair one was like.
+
+"Don't, for pity's sake, bring us a verdant specimen," she said, as she
+at last bade him good-by, and turned her attention to Mark Ray, her
+brother's partner, who had been with them at Newport, and whom she was
+bending all her energies to captivate.
+
+With his sister's bantering words ringing in his ears, Wilford kept on
+his way until the last change was made, and when he stopped again it
+would be at Silverton. He did not expect any one to meet him, but as he
+remembered the man whom he had seen greeting Katy, he thought it not
+unlikely that he might be there now, laughing to himself as he pictured
+Juno's horror, could she see him driving along in the corn-colored
+vehicle which Uncle Ephraim drove. But that vehicle was safe at home
+beneath the shed, while Uncle Ephraim was laying a stone wall upon the
+huckleberry hill, and the handsome carriage waiting at Silverton depot
+was certainly unexceptionable; while in the young man who, as the train
+stopped and Wilford stepped out upon the platform, came to meet him,
+bowing politely, and asking if he were Mr. Cameron, Wilford recognized
+the true gentleman, and his spirits arose as Morris said to him: "I am
+Miss Lennox's cousin, deputed by her to meet and take charge of you for
+a time."
+
+Wilford had heard of Dr. Morris Grant, for his name was often on
+Jamie's lips, while his proud Sister Juno, he suspected, had tried her
+powers of fascination in vain upon the grave American, met in the
+saloons of Paris; but he had no suspicion that his new acquaintance
+was the one until they were driving toward the farmhouse and Morris
+mentioned having met his family in France, inquiring after them all, and
+especially for Jamie. Involuntarily then Wilford grasped again the hand
+of Morris Grant, exclaiming: "And are you the doctor who was so kind to
+Jamie? I did not expect this pleasure?"
+
+After that the ride seemed very short, and Wilford was surprised when as
+they turned a corner in the sandy road, Morris pointed to the farmhouse,
+saying: "We are almost there--that is the place."
+
+"That!" and Wilford's voice indicated his disappointment, for in all his
+mental pictures of Katy Lennox's home he had never imagined anything
+like this:
+
+Large, rambling and weird-like, with something lofty and imposing, just
+because it was so ancient, was the house he had in his mind, and he
+could not conceal his chagrin as his eye took in the small, low
+building, with its high windows and tiny panes of glass, paintless and
+blindless, standing there alone among the hills, Morris understood it
+perfectly; but, without seeming to notice it, remarked: "It is the
+oldest house probably in the country, and should be invaluable on that
+account. I think we Americans are too fond of change and too much
+inclined to throw aside all that reminds us of the past. Now I like
+the farmhouse just because it is old and unpretentious."
+
+"Yes, certainly," Wilford answered, looking ruefully around him at the
+old stone wall, half tumbled down, the tall well-sweep, and the patch of
+sunflowers in the garden, with Aunt Betsy bending behind them, picking
+tomatoes for dinner, and shading her eyes with her hand to look at him
+as he drove up.
+
+It was all very rural, no doubt, and very charming to people who liked
+it, but Wilford did not like it, and he was wishing himself safely in
+New York when a golden head flashed for an instant before the window and
+then disappeared as Katy emerged into view, waiting at the door to
+receive him and looking so sweetly in her dress of white with the
+scarlet geranium blossoms in her hair, that Wilford forgot the
+homeliness of her surroundings, thinking only of her and how soft and
+warm was the little hand he held as she led him into the parlor. He did
+not know she was so beautiful, he said to himself, and he feasted his
+eyes upon her, forgetful for a time of all else. But afterward when
+Katy left him for a moment he noticed the well-worn carpet, the six
+cane-seated chairs, the large stuffed rocking chair, the fall-leaf
+table, with its plain wool spread, and, lastly, the really expensive
+piano, the only handsome piece of furniture the room contained, and
+which he rightly guessed must have come from Morris.
+
+"What would Juno or Mark say?" he kept repeating to himself, half
+shuddering as he recalled the bantering proposition to accompany him
+made by Mark Ray, the only young man whom he considered fully his equal
+in New York.
+
+Wilford knew these feelings were unworthy of him and he tried to shake
+them off, listlessly turning over the books upon the table, books which
+betokened in some one both taste and talent of no low order.
+
+"Mark's favorite," he said, lifting up a volume of Schiller, and turning
+to the fly-leaf he read, "Helen Lennox, from Cousin Morris," just as
+Katy returned and with her Helen, whom she presented to the stranger.
+
+Helen was prepared to like him just because Katy did, and her first
+thought was that he was splendid-looking, but when she met fully his
+cold glance and knew how closely he was scrutinizing her, there arose
+in her heart a feeling of dislike for Wilford Cameron, which she could
+never wholly conquer. He was very polite to her, but something in his
+manner annoyed and provoked her, it was so cool, so condescending, as
+if he endured her merely because she was Katy's sister, nothing more.
+
+"Rather pretty, more character than Katy, but odd, and self-willed, with
+no kind of style."
+
+This was Wilford's running comment on Helen as he took her in from the
+plain arrangement of her dark hair to the fit of her French calico and
+the cut of her linen Collar.
+
+Fashionable dress would improve her very much, he thought, turning from
+her with a feeling of relief to Katy, whom nothing could disfigure, and
+who was now watching the door eagerly for the entrance of her mother.
+That lady had spent a good deal of time at her toilet, and she came in
+at last, flurried, fidgety, and very red, both from exercise and the
+bright-hued ribbons streaming from her cap and sadly at variance with
+the color of her dress. Wilford noticed the discrepancy at once, and
+noticed too how little style there was about the nervous woman greeting
+him so deferentially and evidently regarding him as something infinitely
+superior to herself. Wilford had looked with indifference upon Helen,
+but it would take a stronger word to express his opinion of the mother.
+Had he come accidentally upon her without ever having met with Katy, he
+would have regarded her as a plain, common country woman, who meant well
+if nothing more; but now, alas! with Katy in the foreground, he was
+weighing her in a far different balance and finding her sadly wanting.
+He had not seen Aunt Hannah, nor yet Aunt Betsy, for they were in the
+kitchen, making the last preparations for the dinner to which Morris was
+to remain. He was in the parlor now and in his presence Wilford felt
+more at ease, more as if he had found an affinity. Uncle Ephraim was not
+there, having eaten his bowl of milk and gone back to his stone wall, so
+that upon Morris devolved the duties of host, and he courteously led the
+way to the little dining-room, which Wilford confessed was not
+uninviting, with its clean floor and walls, and the table so loaded with
+the good things Aunt Hannah had prepared, burning and browning her
+wrinkled face, which nevertheless smiled pleasantly upon the stranger
+presented as Mr. Cameron.
+
+About Aunt Hannah there was something naturally ladylike, and Wilford
+saw it; but when it came to Aunt Betsy, of whom he had never heard, he
+felt for a moment as if by being there in such promiscuous company he
+had somehow fallen from the Cameron's high estate. By way of pleasing
+the girls and doing honor to their "beau," as she called Wilford, Aunt
+Betsy had donned her very best attire, wearing the slate-colored pongee
+dress, bought twenty years before, and actually sporting a set of
+Helen's cast off hoops, which being quite too large for the dimensions
+of her scanty skirt, gave her anything but the stylish appearance she
+intended.
+
+"Oh, auntie!" was Katy's involuntary exclamation, while Helen bit her
+lip with vexation, for the hoop had been an after thought to Aunt Betsy
+just before going in to dinner.
+
+But the good old lady never dreamed of shocking any one with her
+attempts at fashion; and curtseying very low to Mr. Cameron, she hoped
+for a better acquaintance, and then took her seat at the table, just
+where each movement could be distinctly seen by Wilford, scanning her so
+intently as scarcely to hear the reverent words with which Morris asked
+a blessing upon themselves and the food so abundantly prepared. They
+could hardly have gotten through that first dinner without Morris, who
+adroitly tried to divert Wilford's mind from what was passing around
+him. But with all his vigilance he could not prevent his hearing Aunt
+Betsy as, in an aside to Helen, she denounced the heavy fork she was
+awkwardly trying to use, first expressing her surprise at finding it by
+her plate instead of the smaller one to which she was accustomed.
+
+"The land! if you didn't borry Morris' forks! I'd as soon eat with the
+toastin' iron," she said, in a tone of distress, but Helen's foot
+touching hers warned her to keep silence, which she did after that, and
+the dinner proceeded quietly, Wilford discovering ere its close that
+Mrs. Lennox, now that she was more composed, had really some pretensions
+to a lady, while Helen's dress and collar ceased to be obnoxious, as he
+watched the play of her fine features and saw her eyes kindle as she
+took a modest part in the conversation when it turned on books and
+literature.
+
+Meanwhile Katy kept very still, her cheeks flushing and her eyes cast
+down whenever she met Wilford's gaze; but when, after dinner was over
+and Morris had gone, she went with him down to the shore of the pond,
+her tongue was loosed, and Wilford found again the little fairy who had
+so bewitched him a few weeks before. And yet there was a load upon his
+mind--a shadow made by the actual knowledge that between Katy's family
+and his there was a gulf which never could be crossed by either party.
+He might bear Katy over, it was true, but would she not look longingly
+back to the humble home, and might he not sometimes be greatly chagrined
+by the sudden appearing of some one of this old-bred family who did not
+seem to realize how ignorant they were, how far below him in the social
+scale? Poor Wilford! he winced and shivered when he thought of Aunt
+Betsy, in her antiquated pongee, and remembered that she was a near
+relative of the little maiden sporting so playfully around him, stealing
+his heart away in spite of family pride, and making him more deeply in
+love than ever. It was very pleasant down by the pond, and Wilford, who
+liked staying there better than at the house, kept Katy with him until
+the sun was going down and they heard in the distance the tinkle of a
+bell as the deacon's cows plodded slowly homeward. Supper was waiting
+for them, and with his appetite sharpened by his walk, Wilford found no
+cause of complaint against Aunt Hannah's viands, though he smiled
+mentally as he accepted the piece of apple pie Aunt Betsy offered him,
+saying by way of recommendation that "she made the crust but Catherine
+peeled and sliced the apples."
+
+The deacon had not returned from his work, and so Wilford did not see
+him until he came suddenly upon him, seated in the woodshed door,
+washing his feet after the labor of the day. Ephraim Barlow was a man to
+command respect, and to a certain extent Wilford recognized the true
+worth embodied in that unpolished exterior. He did not, however, see
+much of him that night, for, as the deacon said, apologetically: "The
+cows is to milk and the chores all to do, for I never keep no boy," and
+when at last the chores were done the clock pointed to half-past eight,
+the hour for family worship. Unaccustomed as Wilford was to such things,
+he felt the influence of the deacon's voice as he read from the Word of
+God, and involuntarily found himself kneeling when Katy knelt, noticing
+the deacon's grammar, it is true, but still listening patiently to the
+rather lengthy prayer which included him as well as the rest of mankind.
+
+There was no chance of seeing Katy alone, and so full two hours before
+his usual custom Wilford retired to the little room to which the deacon
+conducted him, saying as he put down the lamp: "You'll find it pretty
+snug quarters, I guess, for such a close, muggy night as this, but if
+you can't stand it you must lie on the floor."
+
+And truly they were snug quarters, Wilford thought; but there was no
+alternative, and a few moments found him in the center of two feather
+beds, neither Helen nor Katy having discovered the addition made by Aunt
+Betsy, and which came near being the death of the New York guest, who,
+wholly unaccustomed to feathers, was almost smothered in them, besides
+being nearly melted. To sleep was impossible, as the September night
+was hot and sultry, and never for a moment did Wilford lose his
+consciousness or forget to accuse himself of being an idiot for coming
+into that heathenish neighborhood after a wife when at home there were
+so many girls ready and waiting for him.
+
+"I'll go back to-morrow morning," he said, and, striking a match, he
+read in his Railway Guide when the first train passed Silverton, feeling
+comforted to think that only a few hours intervened between him and
+freedom.
+
+But alas! for Wilford. He was but a man, subject to man's caprices, and
+when next morning he met Katy Lennox, looking in her light muslin as
+pure and fair as the white blossoms twined in her wavy hair, his
+resolution began to waver. Perhaps there was a decent hotel in
+Silverton; he would inquire of Dr. Grant; at all events he would not
+take the first train as he had intended doing; and so he stayed, eating
+fried apples and beefsteak, but forgetting to criticise, in his
+appreciation of the rich thick cream poured into his coffee, and the
+sweet, golden butter, which melted in soft waves upon the flakey rolls.
+Again Uncle Ephraim was absent, having gone to the mill before Wilford
+left his room, nor was he visible to the young man until after dinner,
+for Wilford did not go home, but drove instead with Katy in the carriage
+which Morris sent around, excusing himself from coming on the plea of
+being too busy, but saying he would join them at tea, if possible.
+Wilford's mind was not yet fully made up, so he concluded to remain
+another day and see more of Katy's family. Accordingly, after dinner, he
+bent his energies to read them all, from Helen down to Aunt Betsy, the
+latter of whom proved the most transparent of the four. Arrayed again
+in the pongee, but this time without the hoop, she came into the parlor,
+bringing her calico patchwork, which she informed him was pieced in the
+"herrin' bone pattern" and intended for Katy; telling him, further, that
+the feather bed on which he slept was also a part of "Catherine's
+setting out," and was made from feathers she picked herself, showing him
+as proof a mark upon her arm, left there by the gray goose, which had
+proved a little refractory when she tried to draw a stocking over its
+head.
+
+Wilford groaned, and Katy's chance for being Mrs. Cameron was growing
+constantly less and less as he saw more and more how vast was the
+difference between the Barlows and himself. Helen, he acknowledged, was
+passable, though she was not one whom he could ever introduce into New
+York society; and he was wondering how Katy came to be so unlike the
+rest, when Uncle Ephraim came up from the meadow, and announced himself
+as ready now to visit, apologizing for his apparent neglect, and seeming
+so absolutely to believe that his company was, of course, desirable,
+that Wilford felt amused, wondering again what Juno, or even Mark Ray,
+would think of the rough old man, sitting with his chair tipped back
+against the wall, and going occasionally to the outside door to relieve
+himself of his tobacco juice, for chewing was one of the deacon's
+weaknesses. His pants were faultlessly clean, and his vest was buttoned
+nearly up to his throat, but his coat was hanging on a nail out by the
+kitchen door, and, to Katy's distress and Wilford's horror, he sat among
+them in his shirt sleeves, all unconscious of harm or of the disquiet
+awakened in the bosom of the young man, who on that point was foolishly
+fastidious, and who showed by his face how much he was annoyed. Not even
+the presence of Morris, who came in about tea time, was of any avail to
+lift the cloud from his brow, and he seemed moody and silent until
+supper was announced. This was the first opportunity Morris had had of
+trying his powers of persuasion upon the deacon, and now, at a hint
+from Katy, he said to him in an aside, as they were passing into the
+dining-room: "Suppose, Uncle Ephraim, you put on your coat for once. It
+is better than coming to the table so."
+
+"Pooh," was Uncle Ephraim's innocent rejoinder, spoken loudly enough
+for Wilford to hear, "I don't need it an atom. I shan't catch cold, for
+I am used to it; besides that, I never could stand the racket this hot
+weather."
+
+In his simplicity he did not even suspect Morris' motive, but imputed it
+wholly to his concern lest he should take cold. And so Wilford Cameron
+found himself seated next to a man who willfully trampled upon all rules
+of etiquette, shocking him in his most sensitive parts, and making him
+thoroughly disgusted with the country and country people generally. All
+but Morris and Katy--he did make an exception in their favor, leaning
+most to Morris, whom he admired more and more as he became better
+acquainted with him, wondering how he could content himself to settle
+down quietly in Silverton, when he would surety die if compelled to live
+there for a week. Something like this he said to Dr. Grant when that
+evening they sat together in the handsome parlor at Linwood, for Morris
+kindly invited him to spend the night with him:
+
+"I stay at Silverton, first, because I think I can do more good here
+than elsewhere, and, secondly, because I really like the country and the
+country people, for, strange and uncouth as they may seem to you, who
+never lived among them, they have kinder, truer hearts beating beneath
+their rough exteriors, than are often found in the city."
+
+This was Morris' reply, and in the conversation which ensued Wilford
+Cameron caught glimpses of a nobler, higher phase of manhood than he had
+thought existed, feeling an unbounded respect for one who, because he
+believed it to be his duty, was, as it seemed to him, wasting his life
+among people who could not appreciate his character, though they might
+idolize the man. But this did not reconcile Wilford one whit the more to
+Silverton. Uncle Ephraim had completed the work commenced by the two
+feather beds, and at the breakfast, spread next morning in the coziest
+of breakfast-rooms, he announced his intention of returning to New York
+that day. To this Morris offered no objection, but asked to be
+remembered to the mother, the sisters, and little Jamie, and then
+invited Wilford to stop altogether at Linwood when he came again to
+Silverton.
+
+"Thank you; but it is hardly probable that I shall be here very soon,"
+Wilford replied, adding, as he met the peculiar glance of Morris' eye:
+"I found Miss Katy a delightful traveling acquaintance, and on my way
+from Newport thought I would renew it and see a little of rustic life."
+
+Poor Katy! how her heart would have ached could she have heard those
+words and understood their meaning, just as Morris did, feeling a rising
+indignation for the man with whom he could not be absolutely angry, he
+was so self-possessed, so pleasant and gentlemanly, while better than
+all, was he not virtually giving Katy up? and if he did, might she not
+turn at last to him?
+
+These were Morris' thoughts as he walked with Wilford across the fields
+to the farmhouse, where Katy met them with her sunniest smile, singing
+to them, at Wilford's request, her sweetest song, and making him half
+wish he could revoke his hasty decision and tarry a little longer. But
+it was now too late for that; the carriage which would take him to the
+depot was already on its way from Linwood; and when the song was ended
+he told her of his intentions to leave on the next train, feeling a pang
+when he saw how the blood left her cheek and lip, and then came surging
+back as she said timidly: "Why need you leave so soon?"
+
+"Oh, I have already outstayed my time. I thought of going yesterday,
+and my partner, Mr. Ray, will be expecting me," Wilford replied,
+involuntarily laying his hand upon Katy's shining hair, while Morris
+and Helen stole quietly from the room.
+
+Thus left to himself, Wilford continued:
+
+"Maybe I'll come again some time. Would you like to have me?"
+
+"Yes," and Katy's blue eyes were lifted pleadingly to the young man, who
+had never loved her so well as that very moment when resolving to cast
+her off.
+
+And as for Katy, she mentally called herself a fool for suffering
+Wilford Cameron to see what was in her heart; but she could not help it,
+for she loved him with all the strength of her impulsive nature, and to
+have him leave her so suddenly hurt her cruelly.
+
+For a moment Wilford was strongly tempted to throw all family pride
+aside, and ask that young girl to be his; but thoughts of his mother,
+of Juno and Bell, and more than all, thoughts of Uncle Ephraim and his
+Sister Betsy, arose in time to prevent it, and so he only kissed her
+forehead caressingly as he said good-by, telling her that he should not
+soon forget his visit to Silverton, and then as the carriage drove up,
+going out to where the remainder of the family were standing together
+and commenting upon his sudden departure.
+
+It was not sudden, he said, trying to explain. He really had thought
+seriously of going yesterday, and feeling that he had something to atone
+for, he tried to be unusually gracious as he shook their hands, thanking
+them for their kindness, but seeming wholly oblivious to Aunt Betsy's
+remark that "she hoped to see him again, if not at Silverton, in New
+York, where she wanted dreadfully to visit, but never had on account
+of the 'bominable prices charged to the taverns, and she hadn't no
+acquaintances there."
+
+This was Aunt Betsy's parting remark, and after Katy, simple-hearted
+Aunt Betsy liked Wilford Cameron better than any one of the group which
+watched him as he drove rapidly from their door. Aunt Hannah thought him
+too much stuck up for farmer's folks, while Mrs. Lennox, whose ambition
+would have accounted him a most desirable match for her daughter, could
+not deny that his manner toward them, though polite in the extreme, was
+that of a superior to people greatly beneath him; while Helen, who saw
+clearer than the rest, read him tolerably aright, and detected the
+struggle between his pride and his love for poor little Katy, whom she
+found sitting on the floor, just where Wilford left her standing, her
+head resting on the chair and her face hidden in her hands as she sobbed
+quietly, hardly knowing why she cried or what to answer when Helen asked
+what was the matter.
+
+"It was so queer in him to go so soon," she said; "just as if he were
+offended about something."
+
+"Never mind, Katy," Helen said, soothingly. "If he's for you he will come
+back again. He could not stay here always, of course; and I must say I
+respect him for attending to his business, if he has any. He has been
+gone from home for weeks, you know."
+
+This was Helen's reasoning; but it did not comfort Katy, whose face
+looked white and sad, as she moved listlessly about the house, almost
+crying again when she beard in the distance the whistle of the train
+which was to carry Wilford Cameron away, and end his first visit to
+Silverton.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VI.
+
+IN THE SPRING.
+
+
+Katy Lennox had been very sick, and the bed where Wilford slept had
+stood in the parlor during the long weeks while the obstinate fever ran
+its course; but she was better now, and sat nearly all day before the
+fire, sometimes trying to crochet a little, and again turning over the
+books which Morris had brought to interest her--Morris, the kind
+physician, who had attended her so faithfully, never leaving her while
+the fever was at its height, unless it was necessary, but staying with
+her day and night, watching her symptoms carefully, and praying so
+earnestly that she might not die--not, at least, until some token had
+been given that again in the better world he should find her, where
+partings were unknown and where no Wilford Camerons could contest the
+prize with him. Not that he was greatly afraid of Wilford now; that fear
+had mostly died away just as the hope had died from Katy's heart that
+she would ever meet him again.
+
+Since the September morning when he left her, she had not heard from him
+except once, when in the winter Morris had been to New York, and having
+a few hours' leisure on his hands had called at Wilford's office,
+receiving a most cordial reception, and meeting with young Mark Ray, who
+impressed him as a man quite as highly cultivated as Wilford; and
+possessed of more character and principle. This call was not altogether
+of Morris' seeking, but was made rather with a view to pleasing Katy,
+who, when she learned that he was going to New York, had said
+inadvertently: "Oh, I do so hope you'll meet with Mr. Cameron, for then
+we shall know that he is neither sick nor dead, as I have sometimes
+feared."
+
+And so, remembering this, Morris had sought out his rival, feeling more
+than repaid for the mental effort it had cost him, when he saw how
+really glad Wilford seemed to meet him. The first commonplaces over,
+Wilford inquired for Katy. Was she well, and how was she occupying her
+time this winter?
+
+"Both Helen and Katy are pupils of mine," Morris replied, "reciting
+their lessons to me every day when the weather will admit of their
+crossing the fields to Linwood. We have often wondered what had become
+of you, that you did not even let us know of your safe arrival home," he
+added, looking Wilford fully in the eye, and rather enjoying his
+confusion as he tried to apologize.
+
+He had intended writing, but an unusual amount of business had occupied
+his time. "Mark will tell you how busy I was," and he turned appealingly
+to his partner, in whose expressive eyes Morris read that Silverton was
+not unknown to him.
+
+But if Wilford had told him anything derogatory of the farmhouse or its
+inmates, it did not appear in Mr. Ray's manner, as he replied that Mr.
+Cameron had been very busy ever since his return from Silverton, adding:
+"From what Cameron tells me of your neighborhood there must be some
+splendid hunting and fishing there, and I had last fall half a mind to
+try it."
+
+This time there was something comical in the eyes turned so
+mischievously upon Wilford, who colored scarlet for an instant, but soon
+recovered his composure, and invited Morris home with him to dinner.
+
+"I shall not take a refusal," he said, as Morris began to decline.
+"Mother and the young ladies will be delighted to see you again, while
+Jamie--well, Jamie, I believe, worships the memory of the physician who
+was so kind to him in France. You did Jamie a world of good, Dr. Grant,
+and you must see him. Mark will go with us, of course."
+
+There was something so hearty in Wilford's invitation that Morris did
+not again object, and two hours later found him in the drawing-room at
+No. ---- Fifth Avenue, receiving the friendly greetings of Mrs. Cameron
+and her daughter, each of whom vied with the other in their polite
+attentions to him, while little Jamie, to whose nursery he was admitted,
+wound his arms around his neck and laying his curly head upon his
+shoulder, cried quietly, whispering as he did so: "I am so glad, Dr.
+Grant, so glad to see you again. I thought I never should, but I've not
+forgotten the prayer you taught me, and I say it often when my back
+aches so I cannot sleep and there's no one around to hear but Jesus. I
+love Him now, if he did make me lame, and I know that He loves me."
+
+Surely the bread cast upon the waters had returned again after many
+days, and Morris Grant did not regret the time spent with the poor
+crippled boy, teaching him the way of life and sowing the seed which
+now was bearing fruit. Nor did he regret having accepted Wilford's
+invitation to dinner, as by this means he saw the home which had
+well-nigh been little Katy Lennox's. She would be sadly out of place
+here with these people, he thought, as he looked upon all their
+formality and ceremony and then contrasted it with what Katy had been
+accustomed to. Juno would kill her outright, was his next mental
+comment, as he watched that haughty young lady, dressed in the extreme
+of fashion and dividing her coquetries between himself and Mr. Ray, who,
+being every way desirable both in point of family and wealth, was
+evidently her favorite. She had colored scarlet when first presented to
+Dr. Grant, and her voice had trembled as she took his offered hand, for
+she remembered the time when her liking had not been concealed, and was
+only withdrawn at the last because she found how useless it was to waste
+her affections upon one who did not prize them.
+
+When Wilford first returned from Silverton he had, as a sore means of
+forgetting Katy, told his mother and sisters something of the farmhouse
+and its inmates; and Juno, while ridiculing both Helen and Katy, had
+felt a fierce pang of jealousy in knowing they were cousins to Morris
+Grant, who lived so near that he could, if he liked, see them every day.
+In Paris Juno had suspected that somebody was standing between her and
+Dr. Grant and how with the quick insight of a smart, bright woman, she
+guessed that it was one of these same cousins, Katy most likely, her
+brother having described Helen as very commonplace, and for a time she
+had hated poor, innocent Katy most cordially for having come between her
+and the only man for whom she had ever really cared. Gradually, however,
+the feeling died away, but was revived again at sight of Morris Grant,
+and at the table she could not forbear saying to him:
+
+"By the way, Dr. Grant, why did you never tell us of those charming
+cousins, when you were in Paris? Why, Brother Will describes one of them
+as a little water lily, she is so fair and pretty. Katy, I think is her
+name. Wilford, isn't it Katy Lennox whom you think so beautiful, and
+with whom you are more than half in love?"
+
+"Yes, it is Katy," and Wilford spoke sternly, for he did not like Juno's
+bantering tone, but he could not stop her, and she went on:
+
+"Are they your cousins, Dr. Grant?"
+
+"No, they are removed from me two or three degrees, their father having
+been only my second cousin."
+
+The fact that Katy Lennox was not nearly enough related to Dr. Grant to
+prevent his marrying her if he liked, did not improve Juno's amiability,
+and she continued to ask questions concerning both Katy and Helen, the
+latter of whom she persisted in thinking was strong-minded, until Mark
+Ray came to the rescue, diverting her attention by adroitly
+complimenting her in some way, and so relieving Wilford and Morris,
+both of whom were exceedingly annoyed.
+
+"When Will visits Silverton again I mean to go with him," she said to
+Morris at parting, but he did not tell her that such an event would give
+him the greatest pleasure. On the contrary, he merely replied:
+
+"If you do you will find plenty of room at Linwood for those four trunks
+which I remember seeing in Paris, and your brother will tell you whether
+I am a hospitable host or not."
+
+Biting her lip with chagrin, Juno went back to the drawing-room, while
+Morris returned to his hotel, accompanied by Wilford, who passed the
+entire evening with him, appearing somewhat constrained, as if there was
+something on his mind which he wished to say; but it remained unspoken,
+and there was no allusion to Silverton until as Wilford was leaving, he
+said:
+
+"Remember me kindly to the Silverton friends, and say I have not
+forgotten them."
+
+And this was all there was to carry back to the anxious Katy, who on the
+afternoon of Morris' return from New York was over at Linwood waiting to
+pour his tea and make his toast, she pretended, though the real reason
+was shining all over her telltale face, which grew so bright and eager
+when Morris said:
+
+"I dined at Mr. Cameron's, Kitty."
+
+But the brightness gradually faded as Morris described his call and then
+repeated Wilford's message.
+
+"And that was all," Katy whispered sorrowfully as she beat the damask
+cloth softly with her fingers, shutting her lips tightly together to
+keep back her disappointment.
+
+When Morris glanced at her again there was a tear on her long eyelashes,
+and it dropped upon her cheek, followed by another and another, but he
+did not seem to see it, talking of New York and the fine sights in
+Broadway until Katy was herself again, able to take part in the
+conversation.
+
+"Please don't tell Helen that you saw Wilford," she said to Morris as he
+walked home with her after tea, and that was the only allusion she made
+to it, never after that mentioning Wilford's name or giving any token of
+the wounded love still so strong within her heart, and waiting only for
+some slight token to waken it again to life and vigor.
+
+This was in the winter, and Katy had been very sick since then--so sick
+that even to her the thought had sometimes come: "What if I should die?"
+but she was too weak, too nearly unconscious, to go further and reflect
+upon the terrible reality death would bring if it found her unprepared.
+She had only strength and sense enough to wonder if Wilford would care
+when he heard that she was dead; and once, as she grew better, she
+almost worked herself into a second fever with assisting at her own
+obsequies, seeing only one mourner, and that one Wilford Cameron. Even
+he was not there in time to see her in her coffin, but he wept over her
+little grave and called her "darling Katy." So vividly had Katy pictured
+all this scene, that Morris, when he called, found her flushed and hot,
+with traces of tears on her face.
+
+In reply to his inquiries as to what was the matter, she had answered
+laughingly: "Oh, nothing much--only I have been burying myself," and so
+Morris never dreamed of the real nature of her reveries, or guessed that
+Wilford Cameron was mingled with every thought. She had forgotten him,
+he believed; and when, as she grew stronger, he saw how her eyes
+sparkled at his coming, and how impatient she seemed if he was obliged
+to hurry off, hope whispered that she would surely be his, and his
+usually grave face wore a look of happiness which even his patients
+noticed, feeling themselves better after one of his cheery visits. Poor
+Morris! he was little prepared for the terrible blow in store for him,
+when one day early in April he started, as usual, to visit Katy, saying
+to himself: "If I find her alone, perhaps I'll tell her of my love, and
+ask if she will come to Linwood this summer;" and Morris paused a moment
+beneath a beechwood tree to still the throbbings of his heart, which
+beat so fast as he thought of going home some day from his weary work
+and finding Katy there, his little wife--his own--whom he might caress
+and love all his affectionate nature would prompt him to. He knew that
+in some points she was weak--a silly little thing she called herself
+when comparing her mind with Helen's--but there was about her so much
+of purity, innocence, and perfect beauty, that few men, however strong
+their intellect, could withstand her, and Morris, though knowing her
+weakness, felt that in possessing her he should have all he needed to
+make this life desirable. She would improve as she grew older, and it
+would be a most delightful task to train her into what she was capable
+of becoming. Alas! for Dr. Morris! He was very near the farmhouse now,
+and there were only a few minutes between him and the cloud which would
+darken his horizon so completely. Katy was alone, sitting up in her
+pretty dressing gown of blue, which was so becoming to her pure
+complexion. Her hair, which had been all cut away during her long
+sickness, was growing out again somewhat darker than before, and lay in
+rings upon her head, making her look more childish than ever. But to
+this Morris did not object. He liked to have her a child, and he
+thought he had never seen her so wholly beautiful as she was this
+morning, when, with glowing cheek and dancing eyes, she greeted him as
+he came in.
+
+"Oh, Dr. Morris!" she began, holding up a letter she had in her hand,
+"I am so glad you've come, for I wanted to tell you so badly Wilford has
+not forgotten me, as I used to think, and as I guess you thought, too,
+though you did not say so. He has written, and he is coming again, if I
+will let him; and, oh, Morris! I am so glad! Ain't you? Seeing you knew
+all about it, and never told Helen, I'll let you read the letter."
+
+And she held it toward the young man leaning against the mantel and
+panting for the breath which came so heavily.
+
+Something he said apologetically about being snow blind, for there
+was that day quite a fall of soft spring snow; and then with a mighty
+effort, which made his heart quiver with pain, Morris was himself once
+more, and took the letter in his hand.
+
+"Perhaps I had better not read it," he said, but Katy insisted that he
+might, and thinking to himself: "It will cure me sooner perhaps," he
+read the few lines Wilford Cameron had written to his "dear little
+Katy."
+
+That was the way he addressed her, going on to say that circumstances
+which he could not explain to her had kept him silent ever since he left
+her the previous autumn; but through all he never for a moment had
+forgotten her, thinking of her the more for the silence he had
+maintained. "And now that I have risen above the circumstances," he
+added, in conclusion, "I write to ask if I may come to Silverton again.
+If I may, just drop me one word, 'come,' and in less than a week I shall
+be there. Yours very truly, W. Cameron."
+
+Morris read the letter through, feeling that every word was separating
+him further and further from Katy, to whom he said: "You will answer
+this?"
+
+"Yes, oh yes; perhaps to-day."
+
+"And you will tell him to come?"
+
+"Why, yes--what else should I tell him?" and Katy's blue eyes looked
+wonderingly at Morris, who hardly knew what he was doing, or why he said
+to her next: "Listen to me, Katy. You know why Wilford Cameron comes
+here a second time, and what he will probably ask you ere he goes away;
+but, Katy, you are not strong enough yet to see him under so exciting
+circumstances, and, as your physician, I desire that you tell him to
+wait at least three weeks before he comes. Will you do so, Katy?"
+
+"That is just as Helen talked," Katy answered, mournfully. "She said I
+was not able."
+
+"And will you heed us?" Morris asked again, while Katy after a moment
+consented; and glad of this respite from what he knew to a certainty
+would be, Morris dealt out her medicine, and for an instant felt her
+rapid pulse, but did not retain her hand within his own, nor lay his
+other upon her head, as he had sometimes done.
+
+He could not do that now, and so he hurried away, finding the world into
+which he went far different from what it had seemed an hour ago. Then
+all was bright and hopeful; but now, alas! a darker night was gathering
+around him than any he had ever known, and the patients visited that day
+marveled at the whiteness of his face, asking if he were ill? Yes, he
+answered them truly, and for two days he was not seen again, but
+remained at home alone, where none but his God was witness to what he
+suffered; but when the third day came he went again among his sick,
+grave, quiet and unchanged to outward appearance, unless it was that
+his voice, always so kind, had now a kinder tone and his manner was
+tenderer, more sympathizing. Inwardly, however, there was a change, for
+Morris Grant had lain himself upon the sacrificial altar, willing to be
+and to endure whatever God should appoint, knowing that all would
+eventually be for his good. To the farmhouse he went every day, talking
+most with Helen now, but never forgetting who it was sitting so demurely
+in the armchair, or flitting about the room, for Katy was gaining
+rapidly. Love perhaps had had nothing to do with her dangerous illness,
+but it had much to do with her recovery, and those not in the secret
+wondered to see how she improved, her cheeks growing round and full and
+her eyes shining with returning health and happiness.
+
+At Helen's instigation Katy had deferred Wilford's visit four weeks
+instead of three, but in that time there had come two letters from him,
+letters so full of anxiety and sympathy for "his poor little Katy who
+had been so sick," that even Helen began to think she had done injustice
+to him, that he was not as proud and heartless as she supposed, and that
+he did love her sister after all.
+
+"If I supposed he meant to deceive her I should wish I was a man to
+cowhide him," she said to herself, with flashing eye, as she heard Katy
+exulting that he was coming "to-morrow."
+
+This time he would stop at Linwood, for Katy had asked Morris if he
+might, while Morris had told her "yes," feeling his heart wound throb
+afresh, as he thought how hard it would be to entertain his rival. Of
+himself Morris could do nothing, but with the help he never sought in
+vain he could do all things, and so he gave orders that the best chamber
+should be prepared for his guest, bidding Mrs. Hull, his housekeeper,
+see that no pains were spared for his entertainment, and then with Katy
+he waited for the day, the last one in April, which should bring Wilford
+Cameron a second time to Silverton.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VII.
+
+WILFORD'S SECOND VISIT.
+
+
+Wilford Cameron had tried to forget Katy Lennox, while his mother and
+sisters had done their best to help to forget, or at least sicken of
+her; and as the three, Juno, Bell and the mother, were very differently
+constituted, they had widely different ways of assisting him in his
+dilemma, the mother complimenting his good sense in drawing back from
+an alliance which could only bring him mortification; Bell, the blue
+sister, ignoring the idea of Wilford's marrying that country girl as
+something too preposterous to be contemplated for a moment, much less to
+be talked about; while Juno spared neither ridicule nor sarcasm, using
+the former weapon so effectually that her brother at one time nearly
+went over to the enemy; and Katy's tears, shed so often when no one
+could see her, were not without a reason. Wilford was trying to forget
+her, both for his sake and her own, for he foresaw that she could not
+be happy with his family, and he came to think it might be a wrong to
+her, transplanting her into a soil so wholly unlike that in which her
+habits and affections had taken root.
+
+His father once had abruptly asked him if there was any truth in the
+report that he was about to marry and make a fool of himself, and when
+Wilford had answered "No," he had replied with a significant:
+
+"Umph! Old enough, I should think, if you ever intend to marry.
+Wilford," and the old man faced square about: "I know nothing of the
+girl, except what I gathered from your mother and sisters. You have not
+asked my advice. I don't suppose you want it, but if you do, here it is.
+If you love the girl and she is respectable, marry her if she is poor as
+poverty and the daughter of a tinker; but if you don't love her, and
+she's rich as a nabob, for thunder's sake keep away from her."
+
+This was the elder Cameron's counsel, and Katy's cause arose fifty per
+cent, in consequence. Still Wilford was sadly disquieted, so much so
+that his partner, Mark Ray, could not fail to observe that something was
+troubling him, and at last frankly asked what it was. Wilford knew he
+could trust Mark, and he confessed the whole, telling him far more of
+Silverton than he had told his mother, and then asking what his friend
+would do were the case his own.
+
+Fond of fun and frolic, Mark laughed immoderately at Wilford's
+description of Aunt Betsy bringing her "herrin' bone" patchwork into the
+parlor, and telling him it was a part of Katy's "settin' out," but when
+it came to her hint for an invitation to visit in New York, the amused
+young man roared with laughter, wishing so much that he might live to
+see the day when poor Aunt Betsy Barlow stood ringing for admittance at
+No. ---- Fifth Avenue.
+
+"Wouldn't it be rich, though, the meeting between your Aunt Betsy and
+Juno?" and the tears fairly poured down the young man's face.
+
+But Wilford was too serious for trifling, and after his merriment had
+subsided, Mark talked with him candidly, sensibly, of Katy Lennox, whose
+cause he warmly espoused, telling Wilford that he was far too sensitive
+with regard to family and position.
+
+"You are a good fellow on the whole, but too outrageously proud," he
+said. "Of course this Aunt Betsy in her pongee, whatever that may be,
+and the uncle in his shirt sleeves, and this mother whom you describe as
+weak and ambitious, are objections which you would rather should not
+exist; but if you love the girl, take her, family and all. Not that you
+are to transport the whole colony of Barlows to New York," he added, as
+he saw Wilford's look of horror, "but make up your mind to endure what
+cannot be helped, resting yourself upon the fact that your position is
+such as cannot well be affected by any marriage you might make, provided
+the wife were right."
+
+This was Mark Ray's advice, and it had great weight with Wilford, who
+knew that Mark came, if possible, from a better line of ancestry than
+himself, inasmuch as his maternal grandmother was a near relative of the
+English Percys, and the daughter of a lord. And still Wilford hesitated,
+waiting until the winter was over before he came to the decision which
+when it was reached was firm as a granite rock. He had made up his mind
+at last to marry Katy Lennox if she would accept him, and he told his
+mother so in the presence of his sisters, when one evening they were all
+kept at home by the rain. There was a sudden uplifting of Bell's
+eyelashes, a contemptuous shrug of her shoulders, and then she went on
+with the book she was reading, wondering if Katy was at all inclined to
+literature, and thinking if she were that it might be easier to tolerate
+her. Juno, who was expected to say the sharpest things, turned upon him
+with the exclamation:
+
+"If you can stand those two feather beds, you can do more than I
+supposed," and as one means of showing her disapproval, she quitted the
+room, while Bell, who had taken to writing articles on the follies of
+the age, soon followed her sister to elaborate an idea suggested to her
+mind by her brother's contemplated marriage.
+
+Thus left alone with her son, Mrs. Cameron tried all her powers of
+persuasion upon him in vain. But nothing she said influenced him in the
+least, seeing which she suddenly confronted him with the question:
+"Shall you tell her all? A husband should have no secrets of that kind
+from his wife."
+
+Wilford's face was white as ashes, and his voice trembled as he replied:
+"Yes, mother, I shall tell her all; but, oh! you do not know how hard it
+has been for me to bring my mind to that, or how sorry I am that we ever
+kept that secret--when Genevra died--"
+
+"Hush-h!" came warningly from the mother as Juno reappeared, the warning
+indicating that Genevra, whoever she might be, was a personage never
+mentioned, except by mother and son.
+
+As Juno remained the conversation was not resumed, and the next morning
+Wilford wrote to Katy Lennox the letter which carried to her so much of
+joy, and to Dr. Grant so much of grief. To wait four weeks, as Katy said
+he must, was a terrible trial to Wilford, who counted every moment which
+kept him from her side. It was all owing to Dr. Grant and that
+perpendicular Helen, he knew, for Katy in her letter had admitted that
+the waiting was wholly their suggestion; and Wilford's thoughts
+concerning them were anything but complimentary, until a new idea was
+suggested, which drove every other consideration from his mind.
+
+Wilford was naturally jealous, but that fault had once led him into so
+deep a trouble that he had struggled hard to overcome it, and now, at
+its first approach, after he thought it dead, he tried to shake it
+off--tried not to believe that Morris cared especially for Katy. But
+the mere possibility was unendurable, and in a most feverish state of
+excitement he started again for Silverton.
+
+As before, Morris was waiting for him at the station, his cordial
+greeting and friendly manner disarming him from all anxiety in that
+quarter, and making him resolve anew to trample the demon jealousy under
+his feet, where it could never rise again. Katy's life should not be
+darkened by the green monster, he thought, and her future would have
+been bright indeed had it proved all that he pictured it as he drove
+along with Morris in the direction of the farmhouse, for he was to stop
+there first and then at night go over to sleep at Linwood.
+
+Katy was waiting for him, and as he met her alone, he did not hesitate
+to kiss her more than once as he kept her for a moment in his arms, and
+then held her off to see if her illness had left any traces upon her. It
+had not, except it were in the increased delicacy of her complexion and
+the short hair now growing out in silky rings. She was very pretty in
+her short hair, but Wilford felt a little impatient as he saw how
+childish it made her look, and thought how long it would take for it to
+attain its former length. He was already appropriating her to himself,
+and devising ways of improving her. In New York, with Morris Grant
+standing before his jealous gaze, he could see no fault in Katy, and
+even now, with her beside him, and the ogre jealousy gone, he saw no
+fault in her; it was only her dress, and that could be so easily
+remedied. Otherwise she was perfect, and in his delight at meeting her
+again he forgot to criticise the farmhouse and its occupants, as he had
+done before.
+
+They were very civil to him--the mother overwhelmingly so--insomuch that
+Wilford could not help detecting her anxiety that all should be settled
+this time. Helen, on the contrary, was unusually cool, confirming him in
+his opinion that she was strong-minded and self-willed, and making him
+resolve to remove Katy as soon as possible from her strait-laced
+influence. When talking with his mother he had said that if Katy had
+told him "yes," he should probably place her at some fashionable school
+for a year or two; but on the way to Silverton he had changed his mind.
+He could not wait a year, and if he married Katy at all, it should he
+immediately. He would then take her to Europe, where she could have the
+best of teachers, besides the advantage of traveling; and it was a very
+satisfactory picture he drew of the woman whom he should introduce into
+New York society as his wife, Mrs. Wilford Cameron. It is true that Katy
+had not yet said the all-important word, but she was going to say it,
+and when late that afternoon they came up from the walk he had asked her
+to take, she was his promised wife.
+
+They had sat together on the very rock where Katy sat that day when
+Uncle Ephraim told her of the different paths there were through life,
+some pleasant and free from care, some thorny and full of grief. Katy
+had never forgotten the conversation, and, without knowing why, she had
+always avoided that rock beneath the butternut as a place where there
+had been revealed to her a glimpse of something sad; and so, when
+Wilford proposed resting there, she at first objected, but yielded at
+last, and, with his arm around her, listened to the story of his love.
+It was what she had expected and thought herself prepared for, but when
+it came it was so real, so earnest, that she could only clasp her hands
+over her face, which she hid on Wilford's shoulder, weeping passionately
+as she thought how strange it was for a man like Wilford Cameron to seek
+her for his wife. Katy was no coquette; whatever she felt she expressed,
+and when she could command herself she frankly confessed to Wilford her
+love for him, telling him how the fear that he had forgotten her had
+haunted her all the long, long winter; and then with her clear, truthful
+blue eyes looking into his, asking him why he had not sent her some
+message if, as he said, he loved her all the time.
+
+For a moment Wilford's lip was compressed and a flush overspread his
+face, as, drawing her closer to him, he replied: "My little Katy will
+remember that in my first note I spoke of certain circumstances which
+had prevented my writing earlier. I do not know that I asked her not to
+seek to know those circumstances; but I ask it now. Will Katy trust me
+so far as to believe that all is right between us, and never allude to
+these circumstances?"
+
+He was kissing her fondly, and his voice was so winning that Katy
+promised all that was required; and then came the hardest, the trying to
+tell her all, as he had said to his mother he would. Twice he essayed to
+speak, and as often something sealed his lips, until at last he began:
+"You must not think me perfect, Katy, for I have faults, and perhaps if
+you knew my past life you would wish to revoke your recent decision and
+render a different verdict to my suit. Suppose I unfold the blackest
+leaf for your inspection?"
+
+"No, no, oh, no," and Katy playfully stopped his mouth with her hand.
+"Of course you have some faults, but I would rather find them out
+myself. I could not hear anything against you now. I am satisfied to
+take you as you are."
+
+Wilford felt his heart throb wildly with the feeling that he was in some
+way deceiving the young girl; but if she would not suffer him to tell
+her, he was not to be censured if she remained in ignorance. And so the
+golden moment fled, and when he spoke again he said: "If Katy will not
+now read that leaf I offered to show her, she must not shrink back in
+horror if ever it does meet her eye."
+
+"I don't, I promise," Katy answered, a vague feeling of fear creeping
+over her as to what the reading of that mysterious page involved. But
+this was soon forgotten, as Wilford, remembering his suspicions of Dr.
+Grant, thought to probe a little by asking if she had ever loved any one
+before himself?
+
+"No, never," she answered. "I never dreamed of such a thing until I saw
+you, Mr. Cameron;" and Wilford believed the trusting girl, whose loving
+nature shone in every lineament of her face, upturned to receive the
+kisses he pressed upon it, resolving within himself to be to her what
+he ought to be.
+
+"By the way," he continued, "don't call me Mr. Cameron again, as you did
+just now. I would rather be your Wilford. It sounds more familiar. And
+still," he added, "it may be better at present to reserve that name for
+the time when we are alone. To your family I may as well remain Mr.
+Cameron."
+
+This was an after thought, suggested by his knowing how he should shiver
+to hear Aunt Betsy call him "Wilford," as she surely would if Katy did.
+Then he told her of his projected tour to Europe, and Katy felt her
+pulses quicken as she thought of London, Paris and Rome, as places which
+her plain country eyes might yet look upon. But when it came to their
+marriage, which Wilford said must be soon--within a few weeks--she
+demurred, for this arrangement was not in accordance with her desires.
+She should so much enjoy a long courtship with Wilford coming often to
+Silverton, and such quantities of letters passing between them as should
+make her the envy of all Silverton. This was Katy's idea, and she
+opposed her lover with all her strength, telling him she was so young,
+not eighteen till July, and she knew so little of housekeeping. He must
+let her stay at home until she learned at least the art of making bread!
+
+Poor, ignorant Katy! Wilford could not forbear a smile as he thought how
+different were her views from his, and tried to explain that the art of
+bread-making, though very desirable in most wives, was not an essential
+accomplishment for his. Servants would do that; besides he did not
+intend to have a house of his own at once; he should take her first to
+live with his mother, where she could learn what was necessary much
+better than there in Silverton.
+
+Wilford Cameron expected to be obeyed in every important matter by the
+happy person who should be his wife, and as he possessed the faculty of
+enforcing perfect obedience without seeming to be severe, so he silenced
+Katy's arguments, and when they left the shadow of the butternut tree
+she knew that in all human probability six weeks' time would find her on
+the broad ocean alone with Wilford Cameron. So perfect was Katy's faith
+and love that she had no fear of Wilford now, but as his affianced wife
+walked confidently by his side, feeling fully his equal, nor once
+dreaming how great the disparity his city friends would discover between
+the fastidious man of fashion and the unsophisticated country girl. And
+Wilford did not seek to enlighten her, but suffered her to talk of the
+delight it would be to live in New York, and how pleasant for mother and
+Helen to visit her, especially the latter, who would thus have a chance
+to see something of the world.
+
+"When I get a house of my own I mean she shall live with me all the
+while," she said, stooping to gather a tuft of wild bluebells growing in
+a marshy spot.
+
+Wilford winced a little, for in his estimation Helen Lennox formed no
+part of that household to be established on Madison Square, but he would
+not so soon tear down Katy's castles, and so he merely remarked as she
+asked if it would not be nice to have Helen with them.
+
+"Yes, very nice, but do not speak of it to her yet, as it will probably
+be some time before she will come to us, and she had better not have it
+in anticipation."
+
+And so Helen never knew the honor in store for her as she stood in the
+doorway anxiously waiting for her sister, who, she feared, would take
+cold from being out so long. Something though in Katy's face made her
+guess that to her was lost forever the bright little sister whom she
+loved so dearly, and fleeing up the narrow stairway to her room she
+wept bitterly as she thought of the coming time when she would share
+that room alone, and know that never again would a little golden head
+lie upon her neck just as it had lain, for there would be a new love, a
+new interest between them, a love for the man whose voice she could hear
+now talking to her mother in the peculiar tone he always assumed when
+speaking to any one of them excepting Morris or Katy.
+
+"I wish it were not wrong to hate him," she exclaimed passionately; "it
+would be such a relief; but if he is only kind to Katy, I do not care
+how much he despises us," and bathing her face in water Helen sat down
+by her window, gazing out upon the fresh green earth, where the young
+grass was springing, wondering if Mr. Cameron took her sister, when it
+would probably be. "Not this year or more," she said, "for Katy is so
+young;" but on this point she was soon set right by Katy herself, who,
+leaving her lover alone with her mother, stole up to tell her sister the
+good news.
+
+"Yes, I know; I guessed as much when you came back from the meadows,"
+and Helen's voice was very unsteady in its tone as she smoothed back the
+soft rings clustering around her sister's brow.
+
+"Crying. Helen! oh, don't. I shall love you just the same, and you are
+coming to live with us in the new house on Madison Square," Katy said,
+forgetting Wilford's instructions in her desire to comfort Helen, who
+broke down again, while Katy's tears were mingled with her own.
+
+It was the first time Katy had thought what it would be to leave forever
+the good, patient sister, who had been so true, so kind, treating her
+like a petted kitten and standing between her and every hardship.
+
+"Don't cry, Nellie," she said, twining her arms around her neck; "New
+York is not far away, and I shall come so often--that is, after we
+return from Europe. Did I tell you we are going there first, and Wilford
+will not wait, but says we must be married the tenth of June; that's his
+birthday--thirty--and he is telling mother now."
+
+"So soon--oh, Katy! and you so young!" was all Helen could say, as with
+quivering lip she kissed her sister's hand raised to wipe her tears
+away.
+
+"Yes, it is soon, and I am young; but Wilford is in such a hurry; he
+don't care," Katy replied, trying to comfort Helen, and begging of her
+not to cry so hard.
+
+No, Wilford did not care, as it would seem, how much he wrung the hearts
+of Katy's family by taking her from them at once, and by dictating to a
+certain extent the way in which he would take her. There must be no
+invited guests, he said; no lookers-on, except such as chose to go to
+the church where the ceremony would, of course, be performed, and from
+which place he should go directly to the Boston train. It was his wish,
+too, that the matter should be kept as quiet as possible, and not be
+generally discussed in the neighborhood, as he disliked being a subject
+for gossip. And Mrs. Lennox, to whom this was said, promised compliance
+with everything, or if she ventured to object she found herself borne
+down by a stronger will than her own, and weakly yielded, her manner
+fully testifying to her delight at the honor conferred upon her by this
+high marriage of her child. Wilford knew just how pleased she was, and
+her obsequious manner annoyed him far more than did Helen's blunt,
+straightforwardness, when, after supper was over, she told him how
+averse she was to his taking Katy so soon, adding still further that if
+it must be, she saw no harm in inviting a few of their neighbors. It was
+customary--it would be expected, she said, while Mrs. Lennox, emboldened
+by Helen's boldness, chimed in, "at least your folks will come; I shall
+be glad to meet your mother."
+
+Wilford was very polite to them both; very good-humored, but he kept to
+his first position, and poor Mrs. Lennox saw fade into airy nothingness
+all her visions of roasted fowls and frosted cake trimmed with myrtle
+and flowers, with hosts of the Silverton people there to admire and
+partake of the marriage feast. It was too bad, and so Aunt Betty said,
+when, after Wilford had gone to Linwood, the family sat together around
+the kitchen stove, talking the matter over.
+
+"Yes, it was too bad, when there was that white hen turkey she could fat
+up so easy before June, and she knew how to make 'lection cake that
+would melt in your mouth, and was enough sight better than the black
+stuff they called weddin' cake. Vum! she meant to try what she could do
+with Mr. Cameron."
+
+And next morning when he came again she did try, holding out as
+inducements why he should be married the night before starting for
+Boston, the "white hen, turkey, the 'lection cake, and the gay old times
+the young folks would have playing snap-and-catchem; or if they had a
+mind, they could dance a bit in the kitchen. She didn't believe in it,
+to be sure--none of the orthodox did; but as Wilford was a 'Piscopal,
+and that was a 'Piscopal quirk, it wouldn't harm for once."
+
+Wilford tried not to show his disgust, and only Helen suspected how hard
+it was for him to keep down his utter contempt. She saw it in his eyes,
+which resembled two smoldering volcanoes as they rested upon Aunt Betsy
+during her harangue.
+
+"Thank you, madam, for your good intentions, but I think we will
+dispense with the turkey and the cake," was all he said, though he did
+smile at the old lady's definition of dancing, which for once she might
+allow.
+
+Even Morris, when appealed to, decided with Wilford against Mrs. Lennox
+and Aunt Betsy, knowing how unequal he was to the task which would
+devolve on him in case of a bridal party at the farmhouse. In
+comparative silence he had heard from Wilford of his engagement,
+offering no objection when told how soon the marriage would take place,
+but congratulating him so quietly that, if Wilford had retained a
+feeling of jealousy, it would have disappeared; Morris was so seemingly
+indifferent to everything except Katy's happiness. But Wilford did not
+observe closely, and failed to detect the hopeless look in Morris' eyes,
+or the whiteness which settled about his mouth as he fulfilled the
+duties of host and sought to entertain his guest. Those were dark hours
+for Morris Grant, and he was glad when at the end of the second day
+Wilford's visit expired, and he saw him driven from Linwood around to
+the farmhouse, where he would say his parting words to Katy and then go
+back to New York.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER VIII.
+
+GETTING READY TO BE MARRIED.
+
+
+"Miss Helen Lennox, Silverton, Mass."
+
+This was the superscription of a letter, postmarked New York, and
+brought to Helen within a week after Wilford's departure. It was his
+handwriting, too; and wondering what he could have written to her, Helen
+broke the seal, starting as there dropped into her lap a check for five
+hundred dollars.
+
+"What does it mean?" she said, her cheek flushing with anger and
+insulted pride as she read the following brief lines:
+
+"NEW YORK, May 8th.
+
+"MISS HELEN LENNOX: Please pardon the liberty I take in inclosing the sum
+of five hundred dollars, to be used by you in procuring whatever Katy may
+need for present necessities. Presuming that the country seamstresses
+have not the best facilities for obtaining the latest fashions, my mother
+proposes sending out her own private dressmaker, Mrs. Ryan. You may look
+for her the last of the week.
+
+"Yours truly, WILFORD CAMERON."
+
+It would be impossible to describe Helen's indignation as she read this
+letter, which roused her to a pitch of anger such as Wilford Cameron had
+never imagined when he wrote the offensive lines. He had really no
+intention of insulting her. On the contrary, the gift of money was
+kindly meant, for he knew very well that Uncle Ephraim was poor, while
+the part referring to the dressmaker was wholly his mother's
+proposition, to which he had acceded, knowing how much confidence Juno
+had in her taste, and that whatever she might see at the farmhouse would
+remain a secret with her, or at most be confined to the ears of his
+mother and sisters. He wished Katy to look well, and foolishly fancying
+that no country artiste could make her look so, he consented to Mrs.
+Ryan's going, never suspecting the storm of anger it would rouse in
+Helen, whose first impulse was to throw the check into the fire. Her
+second, however, was soberer. She would not destroy it, nor tell any one
+she had it but Morris--he should know the whole. Accordingly, without a
+word to any one, she repaired to Linwood, finding Morris at home, and
+startling him with the vehemence of her anger as she explained the
+nature of her errand.
+
+"If I disliked Wilford Cameron before, I hate him now. Yes, hate him,"
+she said, stamping her little foot in fury.
+
+"Why, Helen!" Morris exclaimed, laying his hand reprovingly on her
+shoulder. "Is this the right spirit for one who professes better things?
+Stop a moment and think."
+
+"I know it is wrong," Helen answered, the tears glittering in her eyes;
+"but somehow since he came after Katy, I have grown so hard, so wicked
+toward Mr. Cameron. He seems so proud, so unapproachable. Say, Cousin
+Morris, do you think him a good man--that is, good enough for Katy?"
+
+"Most people would call him too good for her," Morris replied. "And, in
+a worldly point of view, she is doing well, while Mr. Cameron, I
+believe, is better than three-fourths of the men who marry our girls. He
+is very proud; but that results from his education and training. Looking
+only from a New York standpoint he misjudges country people, but he will
+appreciate you by and by. Do not begin by hating him so cordially."
+
+"Yes, but this money. Now, Morris, we do not want him to get Katy's
+outfit. I would rather go without clothes my whole life. Shall I send it
+back?"
+
+"I think that the best disposition to make of it," Morris replied. "As
+your brother, I can and will supply Katy's needs."
+
+"I knew you would, Morris. What should we do without you?" and Helen
+smiled gratefully upon the doctor, who in word and deed was to her like
+a dear brother. "And I'll send it to-day, in time to keep that dreadful
+Mrs. Ryan from coming; for, Morris, I won't have any of Wilford
+Cameron's dressmakers in the house."
+
+Morris could not help smiling at Helen's energetic manner as she
+hurried to his library and taking his pen wrote to Wilford Cameron as
+follows:
+
+"SILVERTON, May 9th.
+
+"Mr. WILFORD CAMERON: I give you credit for the kindest of motives in
+sending the check, which I now return to you, with my compliments. We are
+not as poor as you suppose, and would almost deem it sacrilege to let
+another than ourselves provide for Katy so long as she is ours. And
+furthermore, that Mrs. Ryan's services will not be needed, so it is not
+worth her while to make a journey here for nothing. Yours,
+
+"HELEN LENNOX."
+
+Helen felt better after this letter had gone, wondering often how it
+would be received, and if Wilford would be angry. She hoped he would,
+and his mother too. "The idea of sending that Ryan woman to us, as if we
+did not know anything!" and Helen's lip curled scornfully as she thus
+denounced the Ryan woman, whose trunk was all packed with paper patterns
+and devices of various kinds when the letter arrived saying she was not
+needed. Being a woman of few words, she quietly unpacked her patterns
+and went back to the work she was engaged upon when Mrs. Cameron
+proposed her going into the country. Juno, on the contrary, flew into a
+violent passion to think their first friendly advances should be thus
+received. Bell laughed immoderately, saying she rather liked Helen
+Lennox's spirit, and almost wished her brother had chosen her instead of
+the other, who, she presumed, was a milk and water thing, even if Mrs.
+Woodhull did extol her so highly. Mrs. Cameron felt the rebuff keenly,
+wincing under it, and saying "that Helen Lennox must be a very rude,
+ill-bred girl," and hoping her son would draw the line of division
+between his wife and her family so tightly that the sister could never
+pass over it. She had received the news of her son's engagement without
+opposition, for she knew the time for that was passed. Wilford would
+marry Katy Lennox, and she must make the best of it, so she offered no
+word of remonstrance, but, when they were alone, she said to him: "Did
+you tell her? Does she know it all?"
+
+"No, mother," and the old look of pain came back into Wilford's face.
+"I meant to do so, and I actually began, but she stopped me short,
+saying she did not wish to hear my faults, she would rather find them
+out herself. Away from her it is very easy to think what I will do, but
+when the trial comes I find it hard, we have kept it so long; but I
+shall tell her yet; not till after we are married though, and I have
+made her love me even more than she does now. She will not mind it then.
+I shall take her where I first met Genevra, and there I will tell her.
+Is that right?"
+
+"Yes, if you think so," Mrs. Cameron replied.
+
+Whatever it was which Wilford had to tell Katy Lennox, it was very
+evident that he and his mother looked at it differently, he regarding it
+as a duty he owed to Katy not to conceal from her what might possibly
+influence her decision, while his mother only wished the secret told in
+hopes that it would prevent the marriage; but now that Wilford had
+deferred it till after the marriage, she saw no reason why it need be
+told at all. At least Wilford could do as he thought best, and she
+changed the conversation from Genevra to Helen's letter, which had so
+upset her plans. That her future daughter-in-law was handsome she did
+not doubt, for Wilford said so, and Mrs. Woodhull said so in her letter
+of congratulation; but she, of course, had no manner, no style, and as a
+means of improving her in the latter respect, and making her presentable
+at the altar and in Boston, she had proposed sending out Ryan, as she
+was called in the family; but that project had failed, and Helen Lennox
+did not stand very high in the Cameron family, though Wilford in his
+heart felt an increased respect for her independent spirit,
+notwithstanding that she had thwarted his designs.
+
+"I have another idea," Mrs. Cameron said to her daughters that
+afternoon, when talking with them upon the subject. "Wilford tells me
+Katy and Bell are about the same size and figure, and Ryan shall make up
+a traveling suit proper for the occasion. Of course there will be no one
+at the wedding for whom we care, but in Boston, at the Revere, it will
+be different. Cousin Harvey boards there, and she is very stylish. I saw
+some elegant gray poplins, of the finest luster, at Stewarts yesterday.
+Suppose we drive down this afternoon."
+
+This was said to Juno as the more fashionable one of the sisters, but
+Bell answered quickly: "Poplin, mother, on Katy? It will not become her
+style, I am sure, though suitable for many. If I am to be fitted I shall
+say a word about the fabric. Get a little checked silk, as expensive as
+you like. It will suit her better than a heavy poplin."
+
+Perhaps Bell was right, Mrs. Cameron said; they would look at both, and
+as the result of this looking, two dresses, one of the finest poplin,
+and one of the softest, richest, plaided silk were given the next day
+into Mrs. Ryan's hands, with injunctions to spare no pains or expense in
+trimming and making both. And so the dressmaking for Katy's bridal was
+proceeding in New York, in spite of Helen's letter; while down in
+Silverton, at the farmhouse, there were numerous consultations as to
+what was proper and what was not, Helen sometimes almost wishing she had
+thrown off her pride and suffered Mrs. Ryan to come. Katy would look
+well in anything, but Helen knew there were certain styles preferable to
+others, and in a maze of perplexity she consulted with this and that
+individual, until all Silverton knew what was projected, each one
+offering the benefit of her advice until Helen and Katy both were nearly
+distracted. Aunt Betsy suggested a blue delaine and round cape, offering
+to get it herself, and actually purchasing the material with her own
+funds, saved from drying apples. That would answer for one dress, Helen
+said, but not for the wedding; and she was becoming more and more
+undecided, when Morris came to the rescue, telling Katy of a young woman
+who had for some time past been his patient, but who was now nearly well
+and anxious to obtain work again. She had evidently seen better days, he
+said; was very ladylike in her manner, and possessed of a great deal of
+taste, he imagined; besides that, she had worked in one of the largest
+shops in New York. "As I am going this afternoon over to North
+Silverton," he added, in conclusion, "and shall pass Miss Hazelton's
+house, you or Helen might accompany me and see for yourself."
+
+It was decided that Helen should go, and about four o'clock she found
+herself ringing at the cottage over whose door hung the sign: "Miss M.
+Hazelton, Fashionable Dressmaker." She was at home, so said the little
+slipshod girl who answered the ring, and in a few moments Helen was
+talking with Marian Hazelton, whose face showed signs of recent illness,
+but, nevertheless, very attractive, from its peculiarly sad expression
+and the soft liquid eyes of dark blue, which looked as if they were not
+strangers to tears. At twenty she must have been strikingly beautiful;
+and even now, at thirty, few ladies could have vied with her had she
+possessed the means for gratifying her taste and studying her style.
+About the mouth, so perfect in repose, there was when she spoke a
+singularly sweet smile, which in a measure prepared one for the low,
+silvery voice, which had a strange note of mournful music in its tone,
+making Helen start as it asked: "Did you wish to see me?"
+
+"Yes; Dr. Grant told me you were--" Helen paused here, for though
+Marian Hazelton's dress indicated poverty, the words "were wanting work"
+seemed at variance with her whole being, and so she changed her form of
+speech, and said instead: "Told me you could make dresses, and I drove
+around with him to secure your services, if possible, for my sister, who
+is soon to be married. We would like it so much if you could go to our
+house instead of having Katy come here."
+
+Marian Hazelton was needing work, for there was due more than three
+months' board, besides the doctor's bill, and so, though it was not
+her custom to go from house to house, she would, in this instance,
+accommodate Miss Lennox, especially as during her illness her customers
+had many of them gone elsewhere, and her little shop was nearly broken
+up. "Was it an elaborate trousseau she was expected to make?" and she
+bent down to turn over some fashion plates lying upon the table.
+
+"Oh, no! we are plain country people. We cannot afford as much for Katy
+as we would like; besides, I dare say Mr. Cameron will prefer selecting
+most of her wardrobe himself, as he is very wealthy and fastidious,"
+Helen replied, repenting the next instant the part concerning Mr.
+Cameron's wealth, as that might look like boasting to Miss Hazelton,
+whose head was bent lower over the magazine as she said: "Did I
+understand that the gentleman's name was Cameron?"
+
+"Yes, Wilford Cameron, from New York," Helen answered, holding up her
+skirts and s-s-kt-ing at the kitten which came running toward her,
+evidently intent upon springing into her lap.
+
+Fear of cats was Helen's weakness, if weakness it can be called, and in
+her efforts to frighten her tormentor she did not look again at Miss
+Hazelton until startled by a gasping cry and heavy fall. Marian had
+fainted, and Helen was just raising her head from the floor to her lap
+when Morris appeared, relieving her of her burden, of whom he took
+charge until she showed signs of life. In her alarm Helen forgot
+entirely what they were talking about when the faint came on, and her
+first question put to Marian was: "Were you taken suddenly ill? Why did
+you faint?"
+
+There was no answer at first, except tears, which quivered on the long
+eyelashes, and then rolled down the cheeks; but when she did speak she
+said: "I am still so weak that the least exertion affects me, and I was
+bending over the table; it will soon pass off."
+
+If she was so weak, she was not able to work, Helen said, proposing that
+the plan be for the present abandoned; but to this Marian would not
+listen; her great eager eyes had in them so scared a look that Helen
+said no more on that subject, but made arrangements for her coming to
+them at once. Morris was to leave his patient some medicine, and while
+he was preparing it Helen had time to notice her more carefully,
+admiring her ladylike manners, and thinking her smile the sweetest she
+had ever seen. Especially was this the case when it was given to Morris,
+and Helen felt that in his presence Miss Hazelton was, if possible,
+softer, sweeter, more gracious than before; and still there was nothing
+immodest or unwomanly in her manner, nothing but that peculiar air which
+attractive women sometimes put on before the other sex. She might not
+have been conscious of it herself; and yet, when once she met Helen's
+eyes as she was smiling gratefully upon Dr. Morris, there came a sudden
+change into her face, and she bit her lip with evident vexation. Could
+it be that she was fascinated by the young physician who had attended
+her so long, and who, within the last few months, had grown so popular?
+Helen asked herself this question several times on her way home, and
+inquired of Morris what he knew of her.
+
+"Nothing, except that she came to North Silverton a year ago, opening
+her shop, and by her faithfulness, and pleasant, obliging manners,
+winning favor with all who employed her. Previous to her sickness she
+had a few times attended St. Paul's at South Silverton, that being the
+church of her choice. Had Helen never observed her?"
+
+No, Helen had not. And then she spoke of her fainting, telling how
+sudden it was and wondering if she was subject to such turns. Marian
+Hazelton had made a strong impression on Helen's mind, and she talked
+of her so much that Katy waited her appearance at the farmhouse with
+feverish anxiety. It was evening when she came, looking very white, and
+seeming to Helen as if she had changed since she saw her first. In her
+eyes there was a kind of hopeless, weary expression, while her smile
+made one almost wish to cry, it was so sad, and yet so strangely sweet.
+Katy felt its influence at once, growing very confidential with the
+stranger, who, during the half hour in which they were accidentally left
+alone, drew from her every particular concerning her intended marriage.
+Very closely the dark blue eyes scrutinized little Katy, taking in first
+the faultless beauty of her face, and then going away down into the
+inmost depths of her character, as if to find out what was there.
+
+"Pure, loving, innocent, and unsuspecting," was Marian Hazelton's
+verdict, and she followed wistfully every movement of the young girl as
+she flitted around the room, chatting as familiarly with the dressmaker
+as if she were a friend long known instead of an entire stranger.
+
+"You look very young to be married," said Miss Hazelton to her once, and
+shaking back her short rings of hair Katy answered: "Eighteen next
+Fourth of July; but Mr. Cameron is thirty."
+
+"Is he a widower?" was the next question, which Katy answered with a
+merry laugh. "Mercy, no! I marry a widower! How funny! I don't believe
+he ever cared a fig for anybody but me. I mean to ask him."
+
+"I would," and the pale lips shut tightly together, while a resentful
+gleam shot for a moment across Marian's face; but it quickly passed
+away, and her smile was as sweet as ever as she at last bade the family
+good-night and repaired to the little room where Wilford Cameron once
+had slept.
+
+A long time she stood before the glass, brushing her dark, abundant
+hair, and intently regarding her own features, while in her eyes there
+was a hard, terrible look, from which Katy Lennox would have shrunk
+abashed. But that too passed, and the eyes grew soft with tears as she
+turned away, and falling on her knees moaned sadly: "I never will--no, I
+never will, God help me to keep the promise. Were it the other--Helen--I
+might, for she could bear it; but Katy, that child---no, I never will,"
+and as the words died on her lips there came struggling up from her
+heart a prayer for Katy Lennox's happiness, as fervent and sincere as
+any which had ever been made for her since she was betrothed.
+
+They grew to liking each other rapidly, Marian and Katy, the latter of
+whom thought her new friend greatly out of place as a dressmaker,
+telling her she ought to marry some rich man, calling her Marian
+altogether, and questioning her very closely of her previous life. But
+Marian only told her that she was born in London; that she learned her
+trade on the Isle of Wight, near to the Osborne House, where the royal
+family sometimes came, and that she had often seen the present Queen,
+thus trying to divert Katy's mind from asking what there was besides
+that apprenticeship to the Misses True on the Isle of Wight. Once,
+indeed, she went further, learning that Marian's friends were dead; that
+she had come to America in hopes of doing better than she could at home;
+that she had stayed in New York until her health began to fail, and then
+had tried what country air would do, coming to North Silverton because
+a young woman who worked in the same shop was acquainted there, and
+recommended the place. This was all Katy could learn, and Marian's heart
+history, if she had one, was guarded carefully. One day as they sat
+together alone, when Helen had gone to the village to do some shopping
+for Katy, Marian abruptly said: "I have lived in New York, you know,
+and why do you not ask if I ever saw these Camerons?"
+
+"You! did you?--have you, really?--and what are they like?" Katy almost
+screamed, skipping across the floor and seating herself by Marian, who
+replied: "Much like other ladies of their stamp--proud and fashionable.
+The father I never saw, but your Mr. Cameron I used to see in the street
+driving his handsome bays."
+
+Anything relating to the pride and fashion of her future relations made
+Katy uncomfortable, and she remained silent, cutting into bits a piece
+of silk, until Marian continued: "Sometimes there was a child in the
+Cameron carriage. Do you know who it was?"
+
+Delighted that she too could impart information, Katy hastened to say
+that it was probably "little Jamie, the orphan grandchild, whose parents
+died in Italy. Morris told me he met them in Paris, and he said Jamie's
+father died of consumption, and the mother, too, either then or
+afterward. At all events Jamie is an orphan and a cripple. He will never
+walk, Morris says; and he told me so much about him--how patient he was
+and how good."
+
+Katy did not see the tears which threatened to mar the silk on which
+Marian Hazelton was working, for they were brushed away almost as
+quickly as they came, while in her usual voice she asked: "What was the
+cause of his lameness?"
+
+"I don't know just how it happened," Katy replied, "but believe it
+resulted from the carelessness of a servant in leaving him alone, or
+something."
+
+"A servant!" Marian repeated, a flush rising to her cheek and a strange
+light flashing on her eye.
+
+She had heard all she cared to hear of the Camerons that day, and
+she was glad when Helen returned from the village, as her appearance
+diverted Katy's mind into another channel, and in examining the dress
+trimmings which Helen had brought, she forgot to talk of Jamie Cameron.
+The trimmings, fringe and buttons were for the wedding dress, the one in
+which Katy was to be married, and which Helen reserved the right to make
+to herself. Miss Hazelton must fit it, of course, but to her belonged
+the privilege of making it, every stitch; Katy would think more of it if
+she did it all, she said; but she did not confess how the bending over
+that one dress, both early and late, was the escape valve for the
+feeling which otherwise would have found vent in passionate tears. Helen
+was very wretched during the pleasant May days she usually enjoyed so
+much, but over which now a dark pall was spread, shutting out all the
+brightness and leaving only the terrible certainty that Katy was lost to
+her forever--bright, frolicsome Katy, who, without a shadow on her heart
+sported amid the bridal finery, unmindful of the anguish tugging at the
+hearts of both the patient women, Marian and Helen, who worked on so
+silently, reserving their tears for the night time, when Katy lay
+sweetly sleeping and dreaming of Wilford Cameron. Helen had ceased to
+think that Hiss Hazelton had any designs on Dr. Grant, for her manner
+toward Uncle Ephraim was just as soft and conciliating, and she
+dismissed that subject from her mind with the reflection that it was the
+nature of some girls to be very pretty to the gentlemen, without meaning
+any harm. She liked Marian on the whole, regarding her as a quiet woman,
+who knew her business and kept to it, but never guessing that her
+feelings, too, were stirred to their very depths as the bridal
+preparations progressed. She only knew how wretched she was herself, and
+how hard it was to fight her tears back as she bent over the plaided
+silk, weaving in with every stitch a part of the clinging love which
+each day grew stronger for the only sister, who would soon be gone,
+leaving her alone. Only once did she break entirely down, and that was
+when the dress was done and Katy tried it on, admiring its effect, and
+having a second glass brought that she might see it behind.
+
+"Isn't it lovely?" she exclaimed; "and the more valuable because you
+made it, I shall think of you every time I wear it," and the impulsive
+girl found her arms around Helen's neck, kissing her lovingly, while
+Helen sank into a chair and sobbed aloud: "Oh, Katy, darling Katy! you
+won't forget me when you are rich and admired and can have all you want?
+You will remember us here at home, so sad and lonely? You don't know how
+desolate it will be, knowing you are gone, never to come back again,
+just as you go away."
+
+In an instant Katy was on her knees before Helen whom she tried to
+comfort by telling her how she should come back, come often, too,
+staying a long while; and that when she had a city home of her own
+she should live with her for good, and they would be so happy.
+
+"I cannot quite give Wilford up to please you," she said, when that
+gigantic sacrifice suggested itself as something which it was possible
+Helen might require of her; "but I will do anything else, only please
+don't cry, darling Nellie--please don't cry. It spoils all my pleasure,"
+and Katy's soft hands wiped away the tears running so fast over her
+sister's face.
+
+After that Helen did not cry again in Katy's presence, but the latter
+knew she wanted to and it made her rather sad, particularly when she saw
+reflected in the faces of the other members of the family the grief she
+had witnessed in Helen. Even Uncle Ephraim was not as cheerful as usual,
+and once when Katy came upon him in the woodshed chamber, where he was
+shelling corn, she found him resting from his work and looking from the
+window far off across the hills, with a look which made her guess he was
+thinking of her, and stealing up beside him she laid her hand upon his
+wrinkled face, whispering softly: "Poor Uncle Eph, are you sorry, too?"
+
+He knew what she meant, and the aged chin quivered, while a big tear
+dropped into the tub of corn, as he replied: "Yes, Katy-did--very
+sorry."
+
+That was all he said, and Katy, after smoothing his cheek a moment
+kissed his silvery hair and then stole away, wondering if every girl's
+family felt so badly before she was married, and wondering next if the
+love to which she was going was equal to the love of home, which, as the
+days went by, grew stronger and stronger, enfolding her in a mighty
+embrace, which could only be severed by bitter tears and fierce
+heart-pangs, such as death itself sometimes brings. In that household
+there was, after Katy, no one glad of that marriage except the mother,
+and she was only glad because of the position it would bring to her
+daughter. But among them all Morris suffered most, and suffered more
+because he had to endure in secret, to cover up his sorrow so that no
+one guessed the pain it was for him to go each day where Katy was, and
+watch her as she sometimes donned a part of her finery for his benefit,
+asking him once if he did not almost wish he were in Wilford's place, so
+as to have as pretty a bride as she should make. Then Marian Hazelton
+glanced up in time to see the expression of his face, a look whose
+meaning she readily recognized, and when Dr. Grant left the farmhouse
+that day, another than himself knew of his love for Katy, drawing her
+breath hurriedly as she thought of taking back the words "I never will,"
+of revoking the decision and telling Katy what Wilford Cameron should
+have told her long before. But the wild wish fled, and Wilford's secret
+was safe, while Marian watched Morris Grant with a pitying interest as
+he came among them, speaking always in the same kind, gentle tone, and
+trying so hard to enter into Katy's joy.
+
+"His burden is greater than mine. God help us both," Marian said, as she
+resumed her work.
+
+And so amid joy and gladness, silent tears and breaking hearts the
+preparations went on until all was done, and only three days remained
+before the eventful tenth. Marian Hazelton was going home, for she would
+not stay at the farmhouse until all was over, notwithstanding Katy's
+entreaties, joined to those of Helen.
+
+"Perhaps she would come to the church," she said, "though she could not
+promise;" and her manner was so strange as she gathered up her things
+that Katy wondered if in any way she could have been offended, and at
+last said to her timidly, as she stood with her bonnet on waiting for
+Uncle Ephraim: "You are not angry with me for anything, are you?"
+
+"Angry with you!" and Katy never forgot the glitter of the tearful eyes,
+or their peculiar expression as they turned upon her. "No, oh, no; I
+could not be angry with you, and yet, Katy Lennox, some in my position
+would hate you, contrasting your prospects with their own; but I do not;
+I love you; I bless you, and pray that you may be happy with your
+husband; honor him, obey him if need be, and above all, never give him
+the slightest cause to doubt you. You will have admirers, Katy Lennox.
+In New York others than your husband will speak to you words of
+flattery, but don't you listen. Remember what I tell you; and now,
+again, God bless you."
+
+She touched her lips to Katy's forehead, and when they were withdrawn
+there were great tears there which she had left! Marian's tears on
+Katy's brow; and truly, it was very meet that just before her bridal day
+Wilford Cameron's bride should receive such baptism from Marian
+Hazelton.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER IX.
+
+BEFORE THE MARRIAGE.
+
+
+On the morning of the ninth day of June, 18--, Wilford Cameron stood in
+his father's parlor, surrounded by the entire family, who, after their
+usually early breakfast, had assembled to bid him good-by, for Wilford
+was going for his bride, and it would be months, if not a year, ere he
+returned to them again. They had given him up to his idol, asking only
+that none of the idol's family should be permitted to cross their
+threshold, and also that the idol should not often be allowed the
+privilege of returning to the place from whence she came. These
+restrictions had emanated from the female portion of the Cameron family,
+the mother, Juno and Bell. The father, on the contrary, had sworn
+roundly as he would sometimes swear at what he called the contemptible
+pride of his wife and daughters. Katy was sure of a place in his heart
+just because of the pride which was building up so high a wall between
+her and her friends, and when at parting he held his son's hand in his,
+he said:
+
+"I charge you, Will, be kind to that young girl, and don't, for Heaven's
+sake, go to cramming her with airs and nonsense which she does not
+understand. Tell her I'll be a father to her; her own, you say, is dead,
+and give her this as my bridal present."
+
+He held out a small-sized box containing a most exquisite set of pearls,
+such as he fancied would be becoming to the soft, girlish beauty Wilford
+had described. Something in his father's manner touched Wilford closely,
+making him resolve anew that if Kitty were not happy as Mrs. Cameron it
+should not be his fault. His mother had said all she wished to say,
+while his sisters had been gracious enough to send their love to the
+bride, Bell hoping she would look as well in the poplin and little plaid
+as she had done. Either was suitable for the wedding day, Mrs. Cameron
+said, and she might take her choice, only Wilford must see that she did
+not wear with the poplin the gloves and belt intended for the silk;
+country people had so little taste, and she did want Katy to look well,
+even if she were not there to see her. And with his brain a confused
+medley of poplins and plaids, belts and gloves, pearls and Katy, Wilford
+finally tore himself away, and at three o'clock that afternoon drove
+through Silverton village, past the little church which the Silverton
+maidens were decorating with flowers, pausing a moment in their work to
+look at him as he went by. Among them was Marian Hazelton, but she did
+not look up, she only bent lower over her work, thus hiding the tear
+which dropped from the delicate buds she was fashioning into the words,
+"Joy to the Bride," intending the whole as the center of the wreath to
+be placed over the altar just where all could see it.
+
+"The handsomest man I ever saw," was the verdict of most of the girls as
+they came hack to their work, while Wilford drove on to the farmhouse
+where Katy had been so anxiously watching for him.
+
+When he came in sight, however, and she knew he was actually there, she
+ran away to hide her blushes and the feeling of awe which had come
+suddenly over her for the man who was to be her husband. But Helen bade
+her go back, and so she went coyly in to Wilford, who met her with
+loving caresses, and then put upon her finger the superb diamond which
+he said he had thought to send as a pledge of their engagement, but had
+finally concluded to wait and present himself. Katy had heard much of
+diamonds, and seen some in Canandaigua; but the idea that she, plain
+Katy Lennox, would ever wear them, had never once entered her mind; and
+now as she looked at the brilliant gem sparkling upon her hand, she felt
+a thrill of something more than joy at that good fortune which had
+brought her to diamonds. Vanity, we suppose it was--such vanity as was
+very natural in her case, and she thought she should never tire of
+looking at the precious stone; but when Wilford showed her next the
+plain broad band of gold, and tried it on her third finger, asking if
+she knew what it meant, the true woman spoke within her, and she
+answered, tearfully:
+
+"Yes, I know, and I will try to prove worthy of what I shall be to you
+when I wear that ring for good."
+
+Katy was very quiet for a moment as she sat with her head nestled
+against Wilford's bosom, but when he observed that she was looking
+tired, and asked if she had been working hard, the quiet fit was broken,
+and she told him of the dress "we had made," that "we" referring solely
+to Helen and Marian, for Katy had hardly done a thing. But it did not
+matter; she fancied she had, and she asked if he did not wish to see her
+dresses. Wilford knew it would please Katy, and so, though he cared very
+little about it, he followed her into the adjoining room where they were
+still spread out upon the tables and chairs, with Helen in their midst,
+ready to pack them away. Wilford thought of Mrs. Ryan and the check, but
+he shook hands with Helen very civilly, saying to her, playfully:
+
+"I suppose that you are willing I should take your sister with me this
+time."
+
+Helen could not answer, but turned away to hide her face, while Katy
+showed to her lover one dress after another, until she came to the
+little plaid, which, with a bright blush she told him "was the very
+thing itself--the one intended for to-morrow, and asked if he did not
+like it."
+
+Wilford could not help telling her yes, for he knew she wished him to do
+so, but in his heart he was thinking bad thoughts against the wardrobe
+of his bride-elect--thoughts which would have won for him the title of
+hen-huzzy from Helen, could she have known them. And yet Wilford did not
+deserve that name. Accustomed all his life to hearing dress discussed in
+his mother's parlor, and in his sister's boudoir, it was natural he
+should think more of it and notice it more than Morris Grant would do,
+while for the last five weeks he had heard at home of little else than
+the probably _tout ensemble_ of Katy's wardrobe, bought and made in the
+country, his mother deciding finally to write to her cousin, Mrs.
+Harvey, who boarded at the Revere, and have her see it before Katy left
+the city. Under these circumstances, it was not strange that Wilford did
+not enter into Katy's delight, even after she told him how Helen had
+made every stitch of the dress herself, and that it would on that
+account be very dear to her. This was a favorable time for getting the
+poplin off his mind, and with a premonitory ahem, he said: "Yes, it is
+very nice, no doubt; but," and here he turned to Helen, "after Mrs.
+Ryan's services were declined, my mother determined to have two dresses
+fitted to Sister Bell, who I think is just Katy's size and figure. I
+need not say"--and his eyes still rested on Helen, who gave him back an
+unflinching glance--"I need not say that no pains have been spared to
+make these garments everything they should be in point of quality and
+style. I have them in my trunk," and, tuning now to Katy, "it is my
+mother's special request that one of them be worn to-morrow. You could
+take your choice, she said--either was suitable. I will bring them for
+your inspection."
+
+He left the room, while Helen's face resembled a dark thundercloud,
+whose lightnings shone in her flashing eyes as she looked after him and
+then back to where Katy stood, bewildered and wondering what was wrong.
+
+"Who is Mrs. Ryan?" she asked. "What does he mean?" but before Helen
+could command her voice to explain, Wilford was with them again,
+bringing the dresses, over which Katy nearly went wild.
+
+She had never seen anything as elegant as the rich heavy poplin or the
+soft lustrous silk, while even Helen acknowledged that there was about
+them a finish which threw Miss Hazelton's quite in the shade.
+
+"Beautiful!" Katy exclaimed; "and trimmed so exquisitely! I do so hope
+they will fit!"
+
+"I dare say they will," Wilford replied, enjoying her appreciation of
+his mother's gift. "At all events they will answer for to-morrow, and
+any needful alterations can be made in Boston. Which will you wear?"
+
+"Oh, I don't know. I wish I could wear both. Helen, which shall I?" and
+Katy appealed to her sister, who could endure no more, but hid her head
+among the pillows of the bed and cried.
+
+Katy understood the whole, and dropping upon the floor the silk to
+which she inclined the most, she flew to Helen's side, and whispered to
+her: "Don't, Nellie, right before Wilford. I won't wear either of them.
+I'll wear the one you made. It was mean and vain in me to think of doing
+otherwise."
+
+During this scene Wilford had stolen from the room, and with him gone
+Helen was herself, capable of judging candidly and sensibly. She knew
+the city silk, which cost three dollars per yard, and was fastened with
+buttons of gold, having Katy's initial upon their face, was handsomer
+and better suited for Wilford Cameron's bride than the country plaid,
+costing one dollar per yard, and trimmed with buttons at eighteen pence
+per dozen, and so she said to Katy: "I would rather you should wear the
+one they sent. It will become you better. Suppose you try it on," and in
+seeking to gratify her sister Helen forgot in part her own cruel
+disappointment, and that her work of days had been for naught. The dress
+fitted well, though Katy pronounced it too tight and too long. A few
+moments, however, accustomed her to the length, and then her mother,
+Aunt Hannah, and Aunt Betsy came to see and admire, while Katy proposed
+going out to Wilford, but Helen kept her back. Aunt Betsy remarking,
+under her breath, that "she didn't see for the life on her how Catherine
+could be so free and easy with that man when just the sight of him was
+enough to take away a body's breath."
+
+"More free and easy than she will be by and by," was Helen's mental
+comment as she proceeded quietly to pack the trunk which Morris had
+brought for the voyage across the sea, dropping into it many a tear as
+she folded away one article after another, and wondered under what
+circumstances she should see them again if she saw them ever.
+
+Helen was a Christian girl, and many a time had she prayed in secret
+that He who rules the deep would keep its waters calm and still while
+her sister was upon them, and she prayed so now, constantly, burying her
+face once in her hands, and asking that Katy might come back to them
+unchanged, if possible, and asking next that God would remove from her
+heart all bitterness toward the bridegroom, who was to be her brother,
+and whom, after that short, earnest prayer, she found herself liking
+better. He loved Katy, she was sure, and that was all she cared for,
+though she did wish he would release her before twelve o'clock on that
+night, the last she would spend with them for a long, long time. But
+Wilford kept her with him in the parlor, kissing away the tears which
+flowed so fast when she recalled the prayer said that night by Uncle
+Ephraim, with her kneeling by him as she might never kneel again. He had
+called her by her name and his voice was very sad as he commended her to
+God, asking that he would "be with our little Katy wherever she might
+go, keeping her in all the mewandering scenes of life, and bringing her
+at last to his own heavenly home."
+
+Wilford himself was touched, and though he noticed the deacon's
+pronunciation, he did not even smile, and his manner was very
+respectful, when after the prayer over and they were alone, the
+white-haired deacon felt it incumbent upon him to say a few words
+concerning Katy.
+
+"She's a young, rattle-headed creature, not much like your own kin, I
+guess; but, young man, she is as dear as the apple of our eyes, and I
+charge you to treat her well. She has never had a crossways word spoke
+to her all her life, and don't you be the first to speak it, nor let
+your folks browbeat her."
+
+As they were alone, and it was easier for Wilford to be humble and
+conciliatory, he promised all the old man required, and then went back
+to Katy, going into raptures over the beautiful little Geneva watch
+which Morris had just sent over as her bridal gift from him. Even Mrs.
+Cameron herself could have found no fault with this, and Wilford praised
+it as much as Katy could desire, noticing the inscription: "Katy, from
+Cousin Morris, June 10th, 18--," wishing that after the "Katy" had come
+the name Cameron, and wondering if Morris had any design in omitting it.
+Wilford had not yet presented his father's gift, but he did so now, and
+Katy's tears dropped upon the pale, soft pearls as she whispered: "I
+shall like your father. I never thought of having things like these."
+
+Nor had she, but she would grow to them very soon, while even the family
+gathering around and sharing in her joy began to realize how great a
+lady their Katy was to be. It was late that night ere anybody slept, if
+sleep at all they did, which was doubtful, unless it were the bride, who
+with Wilford's kisses warm upon her lips, crept up to bed just as the
+clock was striking twelve, nor woke until it was again chiming for six,
+and over her Helen bent, a dark ring about her eyes and her face very
+white as she whispered: "Wake, Katy darling, this is your wedding day."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER X.
+
+MARRIAGE AT ST. JOHN'S.
+
+
+There were more than a few lookers-on to see Katy Lennox married, and
+the church was literally jammed for full three-quarters of an hour
+before the appointed time. Back by the door, where she commanded a full
+view of the middle aisle, Marian Hazelton sat, her face as white as
+ashes, and her eyes gleaming strangely wild even from beneath the
+thickly dotted veil she wore over her hat. Doubts as to her wisdom in
+coming there were agitating her mind, but something kept her sitting
+just as others sat waiting for the bride until the sexton, opening wide
+the doors, and assuming an added air of consequence, told the anxious
+spectators that the party had arrived--Uncle Ephraim and Katy, Wilford
+and Mrs. Lennox, Dr. Morris and Helen, Aunt Hannah and Aunt Betsy--that
+was all, and they came slowly up the aisle, while countless eyes were
+turned upon them, every woman noticing Katy's dress sweeping the carpet
+with so long a trail, and knowing by some queer female instinct that it
+was city-made, and not the handiwork of Marian Hazelton, panting for
+breath in that pew near the door, and trying to forget herself by
+watching Dr. Grant. She could not have told what Katy wore; she would
+not have sworn that Katy was there, for she saw only two, Wilford and
+Morris Grant. She could have touched the former as he passed her by, and
+she did breathe the odor of his garments while her hands clasped each
+other tightly, and then she turned to Morris Grant, growing content with
+her own pain, so much less than his as he stood before the altar with
+Wilford Cameron between him and the bride which should have been his.
+How pretty she was in her wedding garb, and how like a bird her voice
+rang out as she responded to the solemn question:
+
+"Will you have this man to be thy wedded husband?" etc.
+
+Upon Uncle Ephraim devolved the duty of giving her away, a thing which
+Aunt Betsy denounced as a "'Piscopal quirk," classing it in the same
+category with dancing. Still if Ephraim had got it to do she wanted him
+to do it well, and she had taken some pains to study that part of the
+ceremony, so as to know when to nudge her brother in case he failed of
+coming up to time.
+
+"Now, Ephraim, now; they've reached the quirk," she whispered, audibly,
+almost before Katy's "I will" was heard, clear and distinct; but Ephraim
+did not need her prompting, and his hand rested lovingly upon Katy's
+shoulder as he signified his consent, and then fell back to his place
+next to Hannah. But when Wilford's voice said: "I, Wilford, take thee
+Katy to be my wedded wife," there was a slight confusion near the door,
+and those sitting by said to those in front that some one had fainted.
+
+Looking around, the audience saw the sexton leading Marian Hazelton out
+into the open air, where, at her request, he left her, and went hack to
+see the closing of the ceremony which made Katy Lennox a wife. Morris'
+carriage was at the door, and the newly married pair moved slowly out,
+Katy smiling upon all, kissing her hand to some and whispering a good-by
+to others, her diamond flashing in the light and her rich silk rustling
+as she walked, while at her side was Wilford, proudly erect, and holding
+his head so high as not to see one of the crowd around him, until
+arrived at the vestibule he stopped a moment and was seized by a young
+man with curling hair, saucy eyes, and that air of ease and assurance
+which betokens high breeding and wealth.
+
+"Mark Ray!" was Wilford's astonished exclamation, while Mark Ray
+replied:
+
+"You did not expect to see me here, neither did I expect to come until
+last night, when I found myself in the little village where you know
+Scranton lives. Then it occurred to me that as Silverton was only a few
+miles distant I would drive over and surprise you, but I am too late for
+the ceremony, I see," and Mark's eyes rested admiringly upon Katy, whose
+graceful beauty was fully equal to what he had imagined.
+
+Very modestly she received his congratulatory greeting, blushing
+prettily when he called her by the new name she had not heard before,
+and then at a motion from Wilford, entered the carriage waiting for her.
+Close behind her came Morris and Helen, the former quite as much
+astonished at meeting Mark as Wilford had been. There was no time for
+conversation, and hurriedly introducing Helen as Miss Lennox, Morris
+followed her into the carriage with the bridal pair, and was driven to
+the depot, where they were joined by Mark, whose pleasant, good-humored
+sallies did much toward making the parting more cheerful than it would
+otherwise have been. It was sad enough at the most, and Katy's eyes were
+very red, while Wilford was beginning to look chagrined and impatient,
+when at last the train swept around the corner and the very last good-by
+was said. Many of the village people were there to see Katy off, and in
+the crowd Mark had no means of distinguishing the Barlows from the
+others except it were by the fond caresses given to the bride. Aunt
+Betsy he had observed from all the rest, both from the hanging of her
+pongee and the general quaintness of her attire, and thinking it just
+possible that it might be the lady of herrin' bone memory, he touched
+Wilford's arm as she passed them by, and said:
+
+"Tell me, Will, quick, who is that woman in the poke bonnet and short,
+slim dress?"
+
+Wilford was just then too much occupied in his efforts to rescue Katy
+from the crowd of plebeians who had seized upon her to hear his friend's
+query, but Helen heard it, and with a cheek which crimsoned with anger,
+she replied:
+
+"That, sir, is my aunt, Miss Betsy Barlow."
+
+"I beg your pardon, I really do, I was not aware--" Mark began,
+lifting his hat involuntarily, and mentally cursing himself for his
+stupidity in not observing who was near to him before asking personal
+questions.
+
+With a toss of her head Helen turned away, forgetting her resentment
+in the more absorbing thought that Katy was really leaving her.
+
+The bell had rung, the heavy machinery groaned and creaked, and the long
+train was under way, while from an open window a little white hand was
+thrust, waving its handkerchief until the husband quietly drew it in,
+experiencing a feeling of relief that all was over, and that unless he
+chose, his wife need never go back again to that vulgar crowd standing
+upon the platform and looking with tearful eyes and aching hearts after
+the fast receding train.
+
+For a moment Mark talked with Morris Grant, explaining how he came
+there, and adding that on the morrow he, too, intended going on to
+Boston, to remain for a few days before Wilford sailed; then, feeling
+that he must in some way atone for his awkward speech regarding Aunt
+Betsy, he sought out Helen, still standing like a statue and watching
+the feathery line of smoke rising above the distant trees. Her bonnet
+had partially fallen from her head, revealing her bands of rich brown
+hair and the smooth, broad forehead, while her hands were locked
+together, and a tear trembled on her dark eyelashes. Taken as a whole
+she made a striking picture standing apart from the rest and totally
+oblivious to them all, and Mark gazed at her a moment curiously; then as
+her attitude changed and she drew her hat back to its place he advanced
+toward her, and making some pleasant remark about the morning and the
+appearance of the country generally. He knew he could not openly
+apologize, but he made what amends he could by talking to her so
+familiarly that Helen almost forgot how she hated him and all others who
+like him lived in New York and resembled Wilford Cameron. It was Mark
+who led her to the carriage which Morris said was waiting, Mark who
+handed her in, smoothing down carefully the folds of her dress, and then
+stood leaning against the door, chatting with Morris, who thought once
+of asking him to enter and go back to Linwood. But when he remembered
+how unequal he was to entertaining any one that day, he hesitated,
+saying merely:
+
+"On your way from Boston call and see me. I shall be glad of your
+company then."
+
+"Which means that you do not wish it now," Mark laughingly rejoined, as,
+offering his hand to both Morris and Helen, he again touched his hat
+politely and walked away.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XI.
+
+AFTER THE MARRIAGE.
+
+
+"Why did you invite him to Linwood?" Helen began. "I am sure we have
+had city guests enough. Oh, if Wilford Cameron had only never come, we
+should have had Katy now," and the sister-love overcame every other
+feeling, making Helen cry bitterly as they drove back to the farmhouse.
+
+Morris could not comfort her then, for he needed it the most, and so in
+silence he left her and went on his way to Linwood, which seemed as if a
+funeral train had left it, bearing away all Morris' life and love, and
+leaving only a cheerless blank. It was well for him that there were many
+sick ones on his list, for in attending to them he forgot himself in
+part so that the day with him passed faster than at the farmhouse, where
+life and its interests seemed suddenly to have stopped. Nothing had
+power to rouse Helen, who never realized how much she loved her young
+sister until now, when, with swelling heart she listlessly put to rights
+the room which had been theirs so long, but which was now hers alone. It
+was a sad task picking up that disordered chamber bearing so many traces
+of Katy, and Helen's heart ached terribly as she hung away the little
+pink calico dressing gown in which Katy had looked so pretty, and picked
+up from the floor the pile of skirts lying just where they had been left
+the previous night; but when it came to the little half-worn slippers
+which had been thrown one here and another there as Katy danced out of
+them, she could control herself no longer, and stopping in her work
+sobbed bitterly: "Oh, Katy, Katy, how can I live without you?" But tears
+could not bring Katy back, and knowing this, Helen dried her eyes ere
+long and joined the family below, who like herself were spiritless and
+sad.
+
+It was some little solace to them all that day to follow Katy in her
+journey, saying, she is at Worcester, or Framingham, or Newtown, and
+when at noon they sat down to their dinner in the tidy kitchen, they
+said: "She is in Boston," and the saying so made the time which had
+elapsed since the morning seem interminable. Slowly the hours dragged,
+and at last, before the sunsetting, Helen, who could bear the loneliness
+of home no longer, stole across the fields to Linwood, hoping in Morris'
+companionship to forget her own grief in part. But Morris was a sorry
+comforter then. If the day had been sad to Helen, it had been doubly so
+to him. He had ministered as usual to his patients, listening to their
+complaints and answering patiently their inquiries; but amid it all he
+walked as in a maze, hearing nothing except the words: "I, Katy, take
+thee, Wilford, to be my wedded husband," and seeing nothing but the airy
+little figure which stood up on tiptoe for him to kiss its lips at
+parting. His work for the day was over now, and he sat alone in his
+library when Helen came hurriedly in, staring at sight of his face, and
+asking if he was ill.
+
+"I have had a hard day's work," he said. "I am always tired at night,"
+and he tried to smile and appear natural. "Are you very lonely at the
+farmhouse?" he asked, and then Helen broke out afresh, mourning
+sometimes for Katy, and again denouncing Wilford as proud and heartless.
+
+"Positively, Cousin Morris," and Helen's eye flashed as she said it, "he
+acted all the while he was in the church as if he were doing something
+of which he was ashamed; and then did you notice how impatient he seemed
+when the neighbors were shaking hands with Katy at the depot and bidding
+her good-by? He looked as if he thought they had no right to touch her,
+she was so much their superior, just because she had married him, and he
+even hurried her away before Aunt Betsy had time to kiss her. And yet
+the people think it such a splendid match for Katy, because he is so
+rich and generous. Gave the clergyman fifty dollars and the sexton five,
+so I heard; but that does not help him with me. I know it's wicked,
+Morris, as well as you, but somehow I find myself taking real comfort
+in hating Wilford Cameron."
+
+"That is wrong, Helen, all wrong," and Morris tried to reason with her;
+but his arguments this time were not very strong, and he finally said to
+her, inadvertently: "If I can forgive Wilford Cameron for marrying our
+Katy, you surely ought to do so, for he has hurt me the most."
+
+"You, Morris! you, you!" Helen kept repeating, standing back still
+further and further front him, while strange, overwhelming thoughts
+passed like lightning through her mind as she marked the pallid face,
+where was written since the morning more than one line of suffering,
+and saw in the brown eyes a look such as they were not wont to wear.
+"Morris, tell me--tell me truly--did you love my Sister Katy?" and with
+an impetuous rush Helen knelt beside him, as, laying his head upon the
+table he answered:
+
+"Yes, Helen. God forgive me if it were wrong. I did love your Sister
+Katy, and love her yet, and that is the hardest to bear."
+
+All the tender, pitying woman was roused in Helen, and like a sister she
+smoothed the locks of damp, dark hair, keeping a perfect silence as the
+strong man, no longer able to bear up, wept like a very child. For a
+time Helen felt as if bereft of reason, while earth and sky seemed
+blended in one wild chaos as she thought: "Oh, why couldn't it have
+been? Why didn't you tell her in time?" and at last she said to him;
+"If Katy had known it! Oh, Morris, why didn't you tell her? She never
+guessed it, never! If she had--if she had," Helen's breath came
+chokingly: "I am very sure--yes, I know it might have been!"
+
+"Of all sad words of tongue or pen,
+The saddest are these--it might have been."
+
+Morris involuntarily thought of these lines, but they only mocked his
+sorrow as he answered Helen: "I doubt if you are right; I hope you are
+not; hope that it might not have been, as it is not now. Katy loved me
+as her brother, nothing more, I am confident. Had she waited till she
+was older, God only knows what might have been, but now she is gone and
+our Father will help me to bear, will help us both, if we ask him, as we
+must."
+
+And then as only he could do, Morris talked with Helen until she felt
+her hardness toward Wilford giving way, while she wondered how Morris
+could speak thus kindly of one who was his rival.
+
+"Not of myself could I do it," Morris said; "but I trust in One who
+says: 'As thy day shall thy strength be,' and He, you know, never
+fails."
+
+There was a fresh bond of sympathy now between Morris and Helen, and the
+latter needed no caution against repeating what she had discovered. The
+secret was safe with her, and by dwelling on what "might have been" she
+forgot to think so much of what was, and so the first days after Katy's
+departure were more tolerable than she had thought it possible for them
+to be. At the close of the fourth there came a short note from Katy, who
+was still in Boston at the Revere, and perfectly happy, she said, going
+into ecstasies over her husband, the best in the world, and certainty
+the most generous and indulgent. "Such beautiful things as I am having
+made," she wrote, "when I already had more than I needed, and so I told
+him, but he only smiled a queer kind of smile as he said: 'Very true;
+you do not need them.' I wonder then why he gets me more. Oh, I forgot
+to tell you how much I liked his cousin, Mrs. Harvey, who boards at the
+Revere, and whom Wilford consults about my dress. I am somewhat afraid
+of her, too, she is so grand, but she pets me a great deal and laughs at
+my speeches. Mr. Ray is here too, and I think him splendid.
+
+"By the way, Helen, I heard him tell Wilford that you had one of the
+best shaped heads he ever saw, and that he thought you decidedly good
+looking. I must tell you now of the only thing which troubles me in the
+least, and I shall get used to that, I suppose. It is so strange Wilford
+never told me a word until she came, my waiting maid. Think of that!
+little Katy Lennox with a waiting maid, who jabbers French half the
+time, for she speaks that language as well as her own, having been
+abroad with the family once before. That is why they sent her to me;
+they knew her services would be invaluable in Paris. Her name is Esther,
+and she came the day after we did and brought me such a beautiful
+mantilla from Wilford's mother, and the loveliest dress. Just the
+pattern was fifty dollars, she said.
+
+"The steamer sails in three days, and I will write again before that
+time, sending it by Mr. Ray, who is to stop over one train at Linwood.
+Wilford has just come in and says I have written enough for now, but
+I will tell you how he has bought me a diamond pin and earrings, which
+Esther, who knows the value of everything, says never cost less than
+five hundred dollars.
+
+"Yours, loving, KATY CAMERON."
+
+"Five hundred dollars!" and Aunt Betsy held up her hands in horror,
+while Helen sat a long time with the letter in her hand, cogitating upon
+its contents, and especially upon the part referring to herself, and
+what Mark Ray said of her.
+
+Every human heart is susceptible of flattery, and Helen was not an
+entire exception. Still with her ideas of city men she could not at once
+think favorably of Mark Ray, just for a few complimentary words which
+might or might not have been in earnest, and she found herself looking
+forward with nervous dread to the time when he would stop at Linwood,
+and of course call on her, as he would bring a letter from Katy.
+
+Very sadly to the inmates of the farmhouse rose the morning of the day
+when Katy was to sail, and as if they could really see the tall masts of
+the vessel which was to bear her away, the eyes of the whole family were
+turned often to the eastward with a wistful, anxious gaze, while on
+their lips and in their hearts were earnest prayers for the safety of
+that ship and the precious freight it bore. But hours, however sad, will
+wear themselves away, and so the day went on, succeeded by the night,
+until that too had passed and another day had come, the second of Katy's
+ocean life. At the farmhouse the work was all done up, and Helen in her
+neat gingham dress, with her bands of brown hair bound about her head,
+sat listlessly at her sewing, when she was startled by the sound of
+wheels, and looking up saw the boy employed to carry packages from the
+express office, driving to their door with a trunk, which he said had
+come that morning from Boston.
+
+In some surprise Helen hastened to unlock it with the key which she
+found appended to it. The trunk was full, and over the whole a linen
+towel was folded, while on the top of that lay a letter in Katy's
+handwriting, directed to Helen, who, sitting down upon the floor, broke
+the seal and read aloud as follows:
+
+"BOSTON, June--, Revere House,
+
+"Nearly midnight.
+
+"MY DEAR SISTER HELEN: I have just come in from a little party given by
+one of Mrs. Harvey's friends, and I am so tired, for you know I am not
+accustomed to such late hours. Wilford says I will get accustomed to
+them, that in New York they are seldom in bed before eleven or twelve,
+but I never shall. It will kill me, I am sure, and yet I rather enjoy
+the sitting up if I did not feel so wretchedly next day. The party was
+very pleasant indeed, and everybody was so kind to me, especially Mr.
+Ray, who stood by me all the time, and who somehow seemed to help me, so
+that I knew just what to do, and was not awkward at all. I hope not, at
+least for Wilford's sake.
+
+"You do not know how grand and dignified he is here in Boston among his
+own set; he is so different from what he was in Silverton that I should
+be afraid of him if I did not know how much he loves me. He shows that
+in every action, and I am perfectly happy, except when I think that
+to-morrow night at this time I shall be on the sea, going away from you
+all. Here it does not seem far to Silverton, and I often look toward
+home, wondering what you are doing, and if you miss me any. I wish I
+could see you once before I go, just to tell you all how much I love
+you--more than I ever did before, I am sure.
+
+"And now I come to the trunk. I know you will be surprised at its
+contents, but you cannot be more so than I was when Wilford said I must
+pack them up and send them back--all the dresses you and Marion made."
+
+"No, oh no," and Helen felt her strength leave her wrists in one sudden
+throb as the letter dropped from her hand, while she tore off the linen
+covering and saw for herself that Katy had written truly.
+
+She could not weep then, but her face was white as marble as she again
+took up the letter and commenced at the point where she had broken off.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"It seems that people traveling in Europe do not need many things, but
+what they have must be just right, and so Mrs. Cameron wrote for Mrs.
+Harvey to see to my wardrobe, and if I had not exactly what was proper
+she was to procure it. It is very funny that she did not find a single
+proper garment among them all, when we thought them so nice. They were
+not just the style, she said, and that was very desirable in Mrs.
+Wilford Cameron. Somehow she tries to impress me with the idea that Mrs.
+Wilford Cameron is a very different person from little Katy Lennox, but
+I can see no difference except that I am a great deal happier and have
+Wilford all the time.
+
+"Well, as I was telling you, I was measured and fitted, and my figure
+praised, until my head was nearly turned, only I did not like the horrid
+stays they put on me, squeezing me up and making me feel so stiff. Mrs.
+Harvey says no lady does without them, expressing much surprise that I
+had never worn them, and so I submit to the powers that be; but every
+chance I get here in my room I take them off and throw them on the
+floor, where Wilford has stumbled over them two or three times.
+
+"This afternoon the dresses came home, and they do look beautifully,
+while every one has belt, and gloves, and ribbons, and sashes, and laces
+or muslins to match--fashionable people are so particular about these
+things. I have tried them on, and except that I think them too tight,
+they fit admirably, and do give me a different air from what Miss
+Hazelton's did. But I really believe I like the old ones best, because
+you helped to make them; and when Wilford said I must send them home, I
+went where he could not see me and cried, because--well, I hardly know
+why I cried, unless I feared you might feel badly. Dearest Helen, don't,
+will you? I love you just as much, and shall remember you the same as if
+I wore the dresses. Dearest sister, I can fancy the look that will come
+on your face, and I wish I could be present to kiss it away. Imagine me
+there, will you? with my arms around your neck, and tell mother not to
+mind. Tell her I never loved her so well as now, and that when I come
+home from Europe I shall bring her ever so many things. There is a new
+black silk for her in the trunk, and one for each of the aunties, while
+for you there is a lovely brown, which Wilford said was just your style,
+telling me to select as nice a silk as I pleased, and this he did I
+think because he guessed I had been crying. He asked what made my eyes
+so red, and when I would not tell him he took me with him to the silk
+store and bade me get what I liked. Oh, he is the dearest, kindest
+husband, and I love him all the more because I am the least bit afraid
+of him.
+
+"And now I must stop, for Wilford says so. Dear Helen, dear all of you,
+I can't help crying as I say good-by. Remember little Katy, and if she
+ever did anything bad, don't lay it up against her. Kiss Morris and
+Uncle Ephraim, and say how much I love them. Darling sister, darling
+mother, good-by."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+This was Katy's letter, and it brought a gush of tears from the four
+women remembered so lovingly in it, the mother and the aunts stealing
+away to weep in secret, without ever stopping to look at the new dresses
+sent to them by Wilford Cameron. They were very soft, very handsome,
+especially Helen's rich golden brown, and as she looked at it she felt a
+thrill of satisfaction in knowing it was hers, but this quickly passed
+as she took out one by one the garments she had folded with so much
+care, wondering when Katy would wear each one and where she would be.
+
+"She will never wear them, never--they are not fine enough for her now!"
+she exclaimed, and as she just then came upon the little plaid, she laid
+her head upon the trunk lid, while her tears dropped like rain in among
+the discarded articles condemned by Wilford Cameron.
+
+It seemed to her like Katy's grave, and she was still sobbing bitterly,
+when a step sounded outside the window, and a voice called her name. It
+was Morris, and lifting up her head Helen said, passionately:
+
+"Oh, Morris, look! he has sent back all Katy's clothes, which you bought
+and I worked so hard to make. They were not good enough for his wife to
+wear, and so he insulted us. Oh, Katy, I never fully realized till now
+how wholly she is lost to us!"
+
+"Helen, Helen," Morris kept saying, trying to stop her, for close behind
+him was Mark Ray, who heard her distinctly, and glancing in, saw her
+kneeling before the trunk, her pale face stained with tears, and her
+dark eyes shining with excitement.
+
+Mark Ray understood it at a glance, feeling indignant at Wilford for
+thus unnecessarily wounding the sensitive girl, whose expression, as she
+sat there upon the floor, with her face upturned to Morris, haunted him
+for months. Mark was sorry for her--so sorry that his first impulse was
+to go quietly away, and so spare her the mortification of knowing that
+he had witnessed that little scene; but it was now too late. As she
+finished speaking her eye fell on him, and coloring scarlet she
+struggled to her feet, and covering her face with her hands wept still
+more violently. Mark was in a dilemma, and whispered softly to Morris:
+"I think I had better leave. You can tell her all I had to say;" but
+Helen heard him, and mastering her agitation she said to him:
+
+"Please, Mr. Ray, don't go--not yet at least, not till I have asked you
+of Katy. Did you see her off? Has she gone?"
+
+Thus importuned, Mark Ray came in, and sitting down where his boot
+almost touched the new brown silk, he very politely began to answer her
+rapid questions, putting her entirely at her ease by his pleasant,
+affable manner, and making her forget the littered appearance of the
+room as she listened to his praises of her sister, who, he said, seemed
+so very happy, attracting universal admiration wherever she went. No
+allusion whatever was made to the trunk during the time of Mark's stay,
+which was not long. If he took the next train to New York, he had but an
+hour more to spend, and feeling that Helen would rather he should spend
+it at Linwood he soon arose to go. Offering his hand to Helen, there
+passed from his eyes into hers a look which had over her a strangely
+quieting influence, and prepared her for a remark which otherwise might
+have seemed out of place.
+
+"I have known Wilford Cameron for years; he is my best friend, and I
+respect him as a brother. In some things he may be peculiar, but he
+will make your sister a kind husband. He loves her devotedly, I know,
+choosing her from the throng of ladies who would gladly have taken her
+place. I hope you will like him for my sake as well as Katy's."
+
+His warm hand unclasped from Helen's, and with another good-by he was
+gone, without seeing either Mrs. Lennox, Aunt Hannah or Aunt Betsy. This
+was not the time for extending his acquaintance, he knew, and he went
+away with Morris, feeling that the farmhouse, so far as he could judge,
+was not exactly what Wilford had pictured it. "But then he came for a
+wife, and I did not," he thought, while Helen's face came before him
+as it looked up to Morris, and he wondered, were he obliged to choose
+between the sisters, which he should prefer. During the few days passed
+in Boston he had become more than half in love with Katy himself, almost
+envying his friend the pretty little creature he had won. She was very
+beautiful and very fascinating in her simplicity, but there was
+something in Helen's face more attractive than mere beauty, and Mark
+said to Morris as they walked along:
+
+"Miss Lennox is not much like her sister."
+
+"Not much, no; but Helen is a splendid girl--more strength of character,
+perhaps, than Katy, who is younger than her years even. She has always
+been petted from babyhood; it will take time or some great sorrow to
+show what she really is."
+
+This was Morris' reply, and the two then proceeded on in silence until
+they reached the boundary line between Morris' farm and Uncle Ephraim's,
+where they found the deacon mending a bit of broken fence, his coat
+lying on a pile of stones, and his wide, blue cotton trousers hanging
+loosely around him. When told who Mark was and that he brought news of
+Katy, he greeted him cordially, and sitting down upon his fence listened
+to all Mark had to say. Between the old and young man there seemed at
+once a mutual liking, the former saying to himself as Mark went on, and
+he resumed his work:
+
+"I most wish it was this chap with Katy on the sea. I like his looks the
+best," while Mark's thoughts were:
+
+"Will need not be ashamed of that man, though I don't suppose I should
+really want him coming suddenly in among a drawing-room full of guests."
+
+Morris did not feel much like entertaining Mark, but Mark was fully
+competent to entertain himself, and thought the hour spent at Linwood a
+very pleasant one, half wishing for some excuse to tarry longer; but
+there was none, and so at the appointed time he bade Morris good-by and
+went on his way to New York.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XII.
+
+FIRST MONTH OF MARRIED LIFE.
+
+
+If Katy's letters, written, one on board the steamer and another from
+London, were to be trusted, she was as nearly perfectly happy as a young
+bride well can be, and the people at the farmhouse felt themselves more
+and more kindly disposed toward Wilford Cameron with each letter
+received. They were going soon into the northern part of England, and
+from thence into Scotland, Katy wrote from London, and two weeks after
+found them comfortably settled at the inn at Alnwick, near to Alnwick
+Castle. Wilford had seemed very anxious to get there, leaving London
+before Katy was quite ready to leave, and hurrying across the country
+until Alnwick was reached. He had been there before, years ago, he said,
+but no one seemed to recognize him, though all paid due respect to the
+distinguished-looking American and his beautiful young wife. An entrance
+into Alnwick Castle was easily obtained, and Katy felt that all her
+girlish dreams of grandeur and magnificence were more than realized
+here in this home of the Percys, where ancient and modern styles of
+architecture and furnishing were so blended together. She would never
+tire of that place, she thought, but Wilford's taste led him elsewhere,
+and he took more delight, it would appear, in wandering around St.
+Mary's Church, which stood upon a hill commanding a view of the castle
+and of the surrounding country for miles away. Here Katy also came,
+rambling with him through the village graveyard where slept the dust of
+centuries, the gray, mossy tombstones bearing date backward for more
+than a hundred years, their quaint inscriptions both puzzling and
+amusing Katy, who studied them by the hour.
+
+One quiet summer morning, however, when the heat was unusually great,
+she felt too listless to wander about, and so sat upon the grass,
+listening to the birds as they sang above her head, while Wilford, at
+some distance from her, stood leaning against a tree and thinking sad,
+regretful thoughts, as his eye rested upon the rough headstone at his
+feet.
+
+"Genevra Lambert, aged twenty-two," was the lettering upon it, and as he
+read it a feeling of reproach was in his heart, while he said: "I hope I
+am not glad to know that she is dead."
+
+He had come to Alnwick for the sole purpose of finding that humble
+grave, of assuring himself that after life's fitful fever, Genevra
+Lambert slept quietly, forgetful of the wrong once done to her by him.
+It is true he had not doubted her death before, but as seeing was
+believing, so now he felt sure of it, and plucking from the turf above
+her a little flower growing there, he went back to Katy and sitting down
+beside her with his arm around her waist, tried to devise some way of
+telling her what he had promised himself he would tell her there in that
+very yard, where Genevra was buried. But the task was harder now than
+before. Katy was so happy with him, trusting his love so fully that he
+dared not lift the veil and read to her that page hinted at once before
+in Silverton, when they sat beneath the butternut tree, with the fresh
+young grass springing around them. Then, she was not his wife, and the
+fear that she would not be if he told her all had kept him silent, but
+now she was his alone; nothing could undo that, and there, in the shadow
+of the gray old church through whose aisles Genevra had been borne out
+to where the rude headstone was gleaming in the English sunlight, it
+seemed meet that he should tell her sad story. And Katy would have
+forgiven him then, for not a shadow of regret had darkened her life
+since it was linked with his, and in her perfect love she could have
+pardoned much. But Wilford did not tell. It was not needful; he made
+himself believe--not necessary for her ever to know that once he met a
+maiden called Genevra, almost as beautiful as she, but never so beloved.
+No, never. Wilford said that truly, when that night he bent over his
+sleeping Katy, comparing her face with Genevra's, and his love for her
+with his love for Genevra.
+
+"That was a boyish fancy, this love of mature years," and Wilford
+pressed a kiss upon Katy's pure forehead, showing so white in the
+moonlight.
+
+Wilford was very fond of his girlish wife and very proud of her, too,
+when strangers paused, as they often did, to look back after her. Thus
+far nothing had arisen to mar the happiness of his first weeks of
+married life; nothing except the letters from Silverton, over which Katy
+always cried, until he sometimes wished that the family could not write.
+But they could and they did; even Aunt Betsy inclosed in Helen's letter
+a note, wonderful both in orthography and composition, and concluding
+with the remark that she would be glad when Catherine returned and was
+settled in a home of her own, as she would then have a new place to
+visit.
+
+There was a dark frown on Wilford's face, and for a moment he felt
+tempted to withhold the note from Katy, but this he could not do then,
+so he gave it into her hands, watching her as with burning cheeks, she
+read it through, and asking her at its close why she looked so red.
+
+"Oh, Wilford," and she crept closely to him, "Aunt Betsy spells so
+queerly, that I was wishing you would not always open my letters first.
+Do all husbands do so?"
+
+It was the only time Katy had ventured to question a single act of his,
+submitting without a word to whatever was his will. Wilford knew that
+his father would never have presumed to break a seal belonging to his
+mother, but he had broken Katy's and he should continue breaking them,
+so he answered, laughingly;
+
+"Why, yes, I guess they do. My little wife has surely no secrets to hide
+from me?"
+
+"No secrets," Katy answered, "only I did not want you to see Aunt
+Betsy's letter, that's all."
+
+"I did not marry Aunt Betsy--I married you," was Wilford's reply; which
+meant far more than Katy guessed.
+
+With three thousand miles between him and his wife's relatives, Wilford
+could endure to think of them; but whenever letters came to Katy bearing
+the Silverton postmark, he was conscious of a far different sensation
+from what he experienced when the postmark was New York and the
+handwriting that of his own family. But not in any way did this feeling
+manifest itself to Katy, who, as she always wrote to Helen, was very,
+very happy, and never more so, perhaps, than while they were at Alnwick,
+where, as if he had something for which to atone, he was unusually kind
+and indulgent, caressing her with unwonted tenderness, and making her
+ask him once if he loved her a great deal more now than when they were
+first married.
+
+"Yes, darling, a great deal more," was Wilford's answer, as he kissed
+her upturned face, and then went for the last time to Genevra's grave;
+for on the morrow they were to leave the neighborhood of Alnwick for the
+heather blooms of Scotland.
+
+There was a trip to Edinburgh, a stormy passage across the Straits of
+Dover, a two months' sojourn in Paris, and then they went to Rome, where
+Wilford intended to pass the winter, journeying in the spring through
+different parts of Europe. He was in no haste to return to America; he
+would rather stay where he could have Katy all to himself, away from her
+family and his own. But it was not so to be, and not very long after his
+arrival at Rome there came a letter from his mother apprising him of his
+father's dangerous illness, and asking him to come home at once. The
+elder Cameron had not been well since Wilford left the country, and the
+physician was fearful that the disease had assumed a consumptive form,
+Mrs. Cameron wrote, adding that her husband's only anxiety was to see
+his son again. To this there was no demur, and about the first of
+December, six months from the time he had sailed, Wilford arrived in
+Boston, having taken a steamer for that city. His first act was to
+telegraph for news of his father, receiving a reply that he was better;
+the alarming symptoms had disappeared, and there was now great hope of
+his recovery.
+
+"We might have stayed longer in Europe," Katy said, feeling a little
+chill of disappointment--not that her father-in-law was better, but at
+being called home for nothing, when her life abroad was so happy and
+free from care.
+
+Somehow the atmosphere of America seemed different from what it used
+to be. It was colder, bluer, the little lady said, tapping her foot
+uneasily and looking from her windows at the Revere out upon the snowy
+streets, through which the wintry wind was blowing in heavy gales.
+
+"Yes, it is a heap colder," she sighed, as she returned to the large
+chair which Esther had drawn for her before the cheerful fire, charging
+her disquiet to the weather once, never dreaming of imputing it to her
+husband, who was far more its cause than was the December cold.
+
+He, too, though glad of his father's improvement, was sorry to have been
+recalled for nothing to a country which brought his old life back again,
+with all its forms and ceremonies, reviving his dread lest Katy should
+not acquit herself as was becoming Mrs. Wilford Cameron. In his
+selfishness he had kept her almost wholly to himself, so that the polish
+she was to acquire from her travels abroad was not as perceptible as,
+now that he looked at her with his family's eyes, he could desire. Katy
+was Katy still, in spite of London, Paris, or Rome. To be sure there
+was about her a little more maturity and self-assurance, but in all
+essential points she was the same; and Wilford winced as he thought how
+the free, impulsive manner which, among the Scottish hills, where there
+was no one to criticise, had been so charming to him, would shock his
+lady mother and Sister Juno. And this it was which made him moody and
+silent, replying hastily to Katy when she said to him: "Please, Wilford,
+telegraph to Helen to be with mother at the West depot when we pass
+there to-morrow. The train stops five minutes, you know, and I want to
+see them so much. Will you, Wilford?"
+
+She had come up to him now, and was standing behind him, with her hands
+upon his shoulder; so she did not see the expression of his face as he
+answered quickly;
+
+"Yes, yes."
+
+A moment after he quitted the room, and it was then that Katy, standing
+before the window, charged the day with what was strictly Wilford's
+fault. Returning at last to her chair she went off into a reverie as to
+the new home to which she was going and the new friends she was to meet,
+wondering much what they would think of her, and wondering most if they
+would like her. Once she had said to Wilford:
+
+"Which of your sisters shall I like best?"
+
+And Wilford had answered her by asking:
+
+"Which do you like best, books or going to parties in full dress?"
+
+"Oh, parties and dress," Katy had said, and Wilford had then rejoined:
+
+"You will like Juno best, for she is all fashion and gayety, while
+Bluebell prefers her books and the quiet of her own room."
+
+Katy felt afraid of Bell, and in fact, now that they were so near, she
+felt afraid of them all, notwithstanding Esther's assurances that they
+could not help loving her. During the six months they had been together
+Esther had learned to feel for her young lady that strong affection
+which sometimes exists between mistress and servant. Everything which
+she could do for her she did, smoothing as much as possible the meeting
+which she also dreaded, for though the Camerons were too proud to
+express before her their opinion of Wilford's choice, she had guessed it
+readily, and pitied the young wife brought up with ideas so different
+from those of her husband's family. More accustomed to Wilford's moods
+than Katy, she saw that something was the matter, and it prompted her to
+unusual attentions, stirring the fire into a still more cheerful blaze
+and bringing a stool for Katy, who in blissful ignorance of her
+husband's real feelings, sat waiting his return from the telegraph
+office, whither she supposed he had gone, and building pleasant pictures
+of to-morrow's meeting with her mother and Helen, and possibly Dr.
+Morris, if not Uncle Ephraim himself.
+
+The voyage home had been long and wearisome, and Katy, who had suffered
+from seasickness, was feeling jaded and tired, wishing, as she told
+Esther, that instead of going to New York direct she could go straight
+to the farmhouse and "rest on mother's bed," that receptacle for all her
+childish ills.
+
+"I mean to ask Wilford if I may," she said to herself, and her cheeks
+grew brighter as she thought of really going home to mother and Helen
+and the kind old people who would pet and love her so much.
+
+So absorbed was she in her reverie as not to hear Wilford's step as he
+came in, but when he stood behind her and took her head playfully
+between his hands, she started up, feeling that the weather had changed;
+it was not as cold and dreary in Boston as she imagined, neither did
+mother's bed seem as desirable a place to rest upon as the shoulder
+where she laid her head, playing with Wilford's buttons, and saying to
+him at last:
+
+"You went out to telegraph, didn't you?"
+
+He had gone out with the intention of telegraphing as she desired, but
+in the hall below he had met with an old acquaintance who talked with
+him so long that he entirely forgot his errand until Katy recalled it to
+his mind, making him feel very uncomfortable as he frankly told her of
+his forgetfulness.
+
+"It is too late now," he added; "besides you could only see them for a
+moment, just long enough to make you cry--a thing I do not greatly
+desire, inasmuch as I wish my wife to look her best when I present her
+to my family, and with red eyes she couldn't, you know."
+
+Katy knew it was settled, and choking back her tears she tried to
+listen, while Wilford, having fairly broken the ice with regard to his
+family, told her how anxious he was that she should make a good first
+impression upon his mother. Did Katy remember that Mrs. Morey whom they
+met at Paris, and could she not throw a little of her air into her
+manner--that is, could she not drop her girlishness when in the presence
+of others and be a little more dignified? When alone with him he liked
+to have her just what she was, a loving, affectionate little wife, but
+the world looked on such things differently. Would Katy try?
+
+Wilford, when he commenced, had no definite idea as to what he should
+say, and without meaning it he made Katy moan piteously:
+
+"I don't know what you mean. I would do anything if I knew how. Tell me,
+how shall I be dignified?"
+
+She was crying so hard that Wilford, while mentally calling himself a
+fool and a brute, could only try to comfort her, telling her she need
+not be anything but what she was--that his mother and sisters would love
+her just as he did--and that daily association with them would teach her
+all that was necessary.
+
+Katy's tears were stopped at last; but the frightened, anxious look did
+not leave her face, even though Wilford tried his best to divert her
+mind. A nervous terror of her new relations had gained possession of her
+heart, and nearly the entire night she lay awake, pondering in her mind
+what Wilford had said, and thinking how terrible it would be if he
+should be disappointed in her after all. The consequence of this was
+that a very white, tired face sat opposite Wilford next morning at the
+breakfast served in their private parlor; nor did it look much fresher
+even after they were in the cars and rolling out of Boston. But when
+Worcester was reached, and the old home waymarks began to grow familiar,
+the color came stealing back, until the cheeks burned with an unnatural
+red, and the blue eyes fairly danced as they rested on the hills of
+Silverton.
+
+"Only three miles from mother and Helen! Oh, if I could go there!" Katy
+thought, working her fingers nervously; but the express train did not
+pause there, and it went so swiftly by the depot that Katy could hardly
+discover who was standing there, whether friend or stranger.
+
+But when at last they came to West Silverton, and the long train slowly
+stopped, the first object she saw was Dr. Morris, driving down from the
+village. He had no intention of going to the depot, and only checked his
+horse a moment, lest it should prove restive if too near the engine; but
+when a clear young voice called from the window: "Morris! oh, Cousin
+Morris! I've come!" his heart gave a great heavy throb, for he knew
+whose voice that was and whose the little hand beckoning to him. He had
+supposed her far away beneath Italian skies, for at the farmhouse no
+intelligence had been received of her intended return, and in much
+surprise he reined up to the rear door, and throwing his lines to a boy,
+went forward to where Katy stood, her face glowing with delight as she
+flew into his arms, wholly forgetful of the last night's lecture on
+dignity, also forgetful of Wilford, standing close beside her. He had
+not tried to hold her back when, at the sight of Morris, she sprang away
+from him; but he followed after, biting his lip, and wishing she had a
+little more discretion. Surely it was not necessary to half strangle Dr.
+Grant as she was doing, kissing his hand even after she had kissed his
+face a full half dozen times, and all the people looking on. But Katy
+did not care for people. She only knew that Morris was there--the Morris
+whom, in her great happiness abroad, she had perhaps slighted by not
+writing directly to him but once. In Wilford's sheltering care she had
+not felt the need of this good cousin, as she used to do; but she was so
+glad to see him, wondering why he looked so thin and sad. Was he sick?
+she asked, gazing up into his face with a pitying look, which made him
+shiver as he answered:
+
+"No, not sick, though tired, perhaps, as I have at present an unusual
+amount of work to do."
+
+And this was true--he was usually busy. But that was not the cause of
+the thin face, which others than Katy remarked. Helen's words: "It might
+have been," spoken to him on the night of Katy's bridal, had never left
+his mind, much as he had tried to dislodge them. Some men can love a
+dozen times; but it was not so with Morris. He could overcome his love
+so that it should not be a sin, but no other could ever fill the place
+where Katy had been; and as he looked along the road through life he
+felt that he must travel it alone. Truly, if Katy were not yet passing
+through the fire, he was, and it had left its mark upon him, purifying
+as it burned, and bringing his every act into closer submission to his
+God. Only Helen and Marian Hazelton interpreted aright that look upon
+his face, and knew it came from the hunger of his heart, but they kept
+silence; while others said that he was working far too hard, urging him
+to abate his unwearied labors, for they would not lose their young
+physician yet. But Morris smiled his patient, kindly smile on all their
+fears and went his way, doing his work as one who knew he must render
+strict account for the popularity he was daily gaining, both in his own
+town and those around. He could think of Katy now without a sin, but he
+was not thinking of her when she came so unexpectedly upon him, and for
+an instant she almost bore his breath away in her vehement joy.
+
+Quick to note a change in those he knew, he saw that her form was not
+quite so full, nor her cheeks so round; but she was weary with the
+voyage, she said, and knowing how seasickness will wear upon one's
+strength, Morris imputed it wholly to that, and believed she was, as
+she professed to be, perfectly happy.
+
+"Come, Katy, we must go now," Wilford said, as the bell rang its first
+alarm, and the passengers, some with sandwiches and some with fried
+cakes in their hands, ran back to find their seats.
+
+"Yes, I know, but I have not asked half I meant to. Oh, how I want to go
+home with you, Morris," Katy exclaimed, again throwing her arms around
+the doctor's neck as she bade him good-by, and sent fresh messages of
+love to the friends at home, who, had they known she was to be there at
+that time, would have walked the entire distance for the sake of looking
+once more into her dear face.
+
+"I intended to have brought them heaps of things," she said, "but we
+came home so suddenly I had no time. Here, take Helen this. Tell her
+it is real," and the impulsive creature drew from her finger a small
+diamond set in black enamel, which Wilford had bought in Paris. "She did
+not need it; she had two more, and she was sure Wilford would not mind,"
+she said, turning to him for his approbation.
+
+But Wilford did mind, and his face indicated as much, although he tried
+to be natural as he replied: "Certainly, send it if you like."
+
+In her excitement Katy did not observe it, but Morris did, and he at
+first declined taking it, saying Helen had no use for it and would be
+better pleased with something not half as valuable. Katy, however,
+insisted, appealing to Wilford, who, ashamed of his first emotion, now
+seemed quite as anxious as Katy herself, until Morris placed the ring
+in his purse, and then bade Katy hasten or she would certainly be left.
+One more wave of the hand, one more kiss thrown from the window, and the
+train moved on, Katy feeling like a different creature for having seen
+some one from home.
+
+"I am so glad I saw him--so glad I sent the ring, for now they will know
+I am the same Katy Lennox, and I think Helen sometimes feared I might
+get proud with you," she said, while Wilford pulled her rich fur around
+her, smiling to see how bright and pretty she was looking since that
+meeting with Dr. Grant. "It was better than medicine," Katy said, when
+beyond Springfield he referred to it a second time, and leaning her head
+upon his shoulder she fell into a refreshing sleep, from which she did
+not waken until New York was reached, and Wilford, lifting her gently
+up, whispered to her: "Come, darling, we are home at last."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIII.
+
+KATY'S FIRST EVENING IN NEW YORK.
+
+
+The elder Cameron was really better, and more than once he had regretted
+recalling his son, who he knew had contemplated a longer stay abroad.
+But that could not now be helped; Wilford had arrived in Boston, as
+his telegram of yesterday announced--he would be at home to-day; and
+No ---- Fifth Avenue was all the morning and a portion of the afternoon
+the scene of unusual excitement, for both Mrs. Cameron and her daughters
+wished to give the six months' wife a good impression of her new home.
+At first they thought of inviting company to dinner, but to this the
+father objected. "Katy should not be troubled the first day," he said;
+"it was bad enough for her to meet them all; they could ask Mark if they
+chose, but no one else."
+
+And so only Mark Ray was invited to the dinner, gotten up as elaborately
+as if a princess had been expected instead of little Katy, trembling in
+every joint, when, about four P.M., Wilford awoke her at the depot and
+whispered: "Come, darling, we are home at last."
+
+"Why do you shiver so?" he asked, wrapping her cloak around her, and
+almost lifting her from the car.
+
+"I don't--know. I guess--I'm cold," and Katy drew a long breath as she
+thought of Silverton and the farmhouse, wishing so much that she was
+going into its low-walled kitchen, where the cook-stove was, and where
+the chairs were all splint-bottomed, instead of into the handsome
+carriage, where the cushions were so soft and yielding, and the whole
+effect so grand.
+
+She knew it was the Cameron carriage, for Wilford had said it would meet
+them; but she had not expected it to be just what it was, and she bowed
+humbly to the polite coachman greeting Wilford and herself so
+respectfully. "What would our folks say?" she kept repeating to herself
+as she drove along the streets, where they were beginning to light the
+street lamps, for the December day was dark and cloudy. It seemed so
+like a dream that she, who once had picked huckleberries on the
+Silverton hills, and bound coarse, heavy shoes to buy herself a pink
+gingham dress, should now be riding in her carriage toward the home
+which she knew was magnificent; and Katy's tears fell like rain as,
+nestling close to Wilford, who asked what was the matter, she whispered:
+"I can hardly believe that it is I--it is so unreal."
+
+"Please don't cry," Wilford rejoined, brushing her tears away. "You know
+I don't like your eyes to be red."
+
+With a great effort, Katy kept her tears back, and was very calm when
+they reached the brownstone front, far enough uptown to save it from
+the slightest approach to plebeianism from contact with its downtown
+neighbors. In the hall the chandelier was burning, and as the carriage
+stopped a flame of light seemed suddenly to burst from every window as
+the gas heads were turned up, so that Katy caught glimpses of rich
+silken curtains and costly lace as she went up the steps, clinging to
+Wilford and looking ruefully around for Esther, who had disappeared
+through the basement door. Another moment and they stood within the
+marbled hall, Katy conscious of nothing definite--nothing but a vague
+consciousness of refined elegance, and that a handsome, richly-dressed
+lady came out to meet them, kissing Wilford quietly, and calling him her
+son--that the same lady later turned to her, saying, kindly: "And this
+is my new daughter?"
+
+Then Katy came to life, and did that at the very thought of which she
+shuddered when a few months' experience had taught her the temerity of
+the act--she wound her arms impulsively around Mrs. Cameron's neck,
+rumpling her point lace collar, and sadly displacing the coiffeur of the
+astonished lady, who had seldom received so genuine a greeting as that
+which Katy gave her, kissing her lips and whispering softly: "I love you
+now, because you are Wilford's mother, but by and by because you are
+mine. And you will love me some because I am his wife."
+
+Wilford was horrified, particularly when he saw how startled his mother
+looked as she tried to release herself and adjust her tumbled headgear.
+It was not what he had hoped, nor what his mother had expected, for she
+was unaccustomed to such demonstrations; but under the circumstances
+Katy could not have done better. There was a tender spot in Mrs.
+Cameron's heart, and Katy touched it, making her feel a throb of
+affection for the childish creature suing for her love.
+
+"Yes, darling, I love you now," she said, removing Katy's clinging arms
+and taking care that they should not enfold her a second time. "You are
+tired and cold," she continued; "you had better go at once to your
+rooms. You will find them in order, and I will send Esther up. There is
+plenty of time to dress for dinner," and with a wave of her hand she
+dismissed Katy up the stairs, noticing as she went the exquisite
+softness of her fur cloak; but thinking it too heavy a garment for her
+slight figure, and noticing, too, the graceful ankle and foot which the
+little high-heeled gaiter showed to good advantage. "I did not see her
+face distinctly, but she has a well-turned instep and walks easily," was
+the report she carried to her daughters, who in their own room, over
+Katy's, were dressing for dinner.
+
+"She will undoubtedly make a good dancer, then, unless like Dr. Grant,
+she is too blue for that," Juno said, while Bell shrugged her shoulders,
+congratulating herself that she had a mind above such frivolous matters
+as dancing and well-turned insteps, and wondering if Katy cared in the
+least for books.
+
+"Couldn't you see her face at all, mother?" Juno asked.
+
+"Scarcely; but the glimpse I did get was satisfactory. I think she is
+pretty."
+
+And this was all the sisters could ascertain until their toilets were
+finished, and they went down into the library, where their brother
+waited for them. He had seen his father and Jamie, and now he arose to
+meet his sisters, kissing them both affectionately, and complimenting
+them on their good looks.
+
+"I wish we could say the same of you," saucy Juno answered, playfully
+pulling his mustache; "but, upon my word, Will, you are fast settling
+down into an oldish married man, even turning gray," and she ran her
+fingers through his dark hair, where there was now and then a thread of
+silver. "Disappointed in your domestic relations, eh?" she continued,
+looking him archly in the face.
+
+Wilford was rather proud of his good looks, and during his sojourn
+abroad, Katy had not helped him any in overcoming this weakness, but, on
+the contrary, had fed his vanity by constant flattery. And still he was
+himself conscious of not looking quite as well as usual just now, for
+the sea voyage had tired him as well as Katy, but he did not care to be
+told of it, and Juno's ill-timed remarks aroused him at once,
+particularly as they reflected somewhat on Katy.
+
+"I assure you I am not disappointed," he answered, "and the six months
+of my married life have been the happiest I ever knew. Katy is more than
+I expected her to be."
+
+Juno elevated her eyebrows slightly, but made no direct reply, while
+Bell began to ask about Paris and the places he had visited.
+
+Meanwhile Katy had been ushered into her room, which was directly over
+the library and separated from Mrs. Cameron's only by a range of closets
+and presses, a portion of which were to be appropriated to her own use.
+Great pains had been taken to make her rooms attractive, and as the
+large bay window in the library below extended to the third story, it
+was really the pleasantest chamber in the house. To Katy it was perfect,
+and her first exclamation was one of delight.
+
+"Oh, how pleasant, how beautiful," she cried, skipping across the soft
+carpet to the warm fire blazing in the grate. "A bay window, too, when I
+like them so much, and such handsome curtains and furniture. I shall be
+happy here."
+
+But happy as she was, Katy could not help feeling tired, and she sank
+into one of the luxurious easy-chairs, wishing she could stay there all
+the evening, instead of going down to that formidable dinner with her
+new relations. How she dreaded it, especially when she remembered that
+Mrs. Cameron had said there would be plenty of time to dress, a thing
+which Katy hated, the process was so tiresome, particularly to-night.
+Surely, her handsome traveling dress, made in Paris, was good enough,
+and she was about settling in her own mind to venture upon wearing it,
+when Esther demolished her castle at once.
+
+"Wear your traveling habit!" she exclaimed, "when the young ladies,
+especially Miss Juno, are so particular about their dinner costume?
+There would be no end to the scolding I should get for suffering it. So
+there's no help, you see," and she began good-naturedly to remove her
+mistress' collar and pin, while Katy, standing up, sighed as she said;
+"I wish I was in Silverton to-night. I could wear anything there. What
+must I put on? How I dread it!" and she began to shiver again.
+
+Fortunately for Katy, Esther had been in the family long enough to know
+just what they regarded as proper, as by this means the dress selected,
+a delicate pearl-colored silk was sure to please. It was very becoming
+to Katy, and having been made in Paris, was not open to criticism.
+Esther's taste was perfect, so that Katy was never over-dressed, and she
+was very simple and pretty this night, with the rich, soft lace around
+her neck and around her white, plump arms, where the golden bands were
+shining.
+
+"Very pretty, indeed," was Mrs. Cameron's verdict when at half-past five
+she knocked at the door and then came in to see her daughter, kissing
+her cheek and stroking her head, wholly unadorned, except by the short,
+silken curls which could not be coaxed to grow faster than they chose,
+and which had sometimes annoyed Wilford. They made his wife seem so
+young beside him. Mrs. Cameron was annoyed, too, for she had no idea
+of a head, except as it was connected with a hairdresser, and her
+annoyance showed itself as she asked:
+
+"Did you have your hair cut on purpose?"
+
+But when Katy explained, she answered, pleasantly:
+
+"Never mind; it is a fault which will mend every day, only it makes you
+look like a child."
+
+"I am eighteen and a half," Katy said, feeling a lump rising in her
+throat, for she guessed that her mother-in-law was not quite pleased
+with her hair.
+
+For herself, she liked it; it was so easy to brush and fix. She should
+go wild if she had to submit to all Esther had told her of hairdressing
+and what it involved.
+
+Mrs. Cameron had asked if she would not like to see Mr. Cameron, the
+elder, before going down to dinner, and Katy had answered that she
+would; so as soon as Esther had smoothed a refractory fold and brought
+her handkerchief, she followed to the room where Wilford's father was
+sitting. He might not have felt complimented could he have known that
+something in his appearance reminded Katy of Uncle Ephraim. He was not
+nearly as old or as tall, nor was his hair as white, but the
+resemblance, if there were any, lay in the smile with which he greeted
+Katy, calling her his youngest child, and drawing her closely to him.
+
+It was remarked of Mr. Cameron that since their babyhood he had never
+kissed one of his own children; but when Katy, who looked upon such a
+salutation as a matter of course, put up her rosy lips, making the first
+advance, he could not resist them, and he kissed her twice. Hearty,
+honest kisses they were, for the man was strongly drawn toward the young
+girl, who said to him, timidly:
+
+"I am glad to have a father--mine died before I could remember him. May
+I call you so?"
+
+"Yes, yes; God bless you, my child," and Mr. Cameron's voice shook as he
+said it, for neither Bell nor Juno were wont to address him just as Katy
+did--Katy, standing close to him, with her hand upon his shoulder and
+her kiss yet fresh upon his lips.
+
+She had already crept a long way into his heart, and he took her hand
+from his shoulder and holding it between his own, said to her:
+
+"I did not think you were so small or young. You are my little
+daughter, my baby, instead of my son's wife. How do you ever expect
+to fulfill the duties of Mrs. Wilford Cameron?"
+
+"It's my short hair, sir. I am not so young," Katy answered, her eyes
+filling with tears as she began to wish back the heavy braids which
+Helen cut away when the fever was at its height.
+
+"Never mind, child," Mr. Cameron rejoined, playfully. "Youth is no
+reproach; there's many a one would give their right hand to be young
+like you. Juno, for instance, who is--"
+
+"Hus-band!" came reprovingly from Mrs. Cameron, spoken as only she could
+speak it, with a prolonged buzzing sound on the first syllable, and
+warning the husband that he was venturing too far.
+
+"It is time to go down if Mrs. Cameron sees the young ladies before
+dinner," she said, a little stiffly; whereupon her better half startled
+Katy with the exclamation:
+
+"Mrs. Cameron! Thunder and lightning, wife, call her Katy, and don't go
+into any nonsense of that kind."
+
+The lady reddened, but said nothing until she reached the hall, when she
+whispered to Katy, apologetically:
+
+"Don't mind it. He is rather irritable since his illness, and sometimes
+makes use of coarse language."
+
+Katy had been a little frightened at the outburst, but she liked Mr.
+Cameron, notwithstanding, and her heart was lighter as she went down to
+the library, where Wilford met her at the door, and taking her on his
+arm led her in to his sisters, holding her back as he presented her,
+lest she should assault them as she had his mother. But Katy felt no
+desire to hug the tall, queenly girl whom Wilford introduced as Juno,
+and whose large, black eyes seemed to read her through as she offered
+her hand and very daintily kissed her forehead, murmuring something
+about a welcome to New York. Bell came next, broad-faced,
+plainer-looking Bell, who yet had many pretentions to beauty, but whose
+manner, if possible, was frostier, cooler, than her sister's. Of the
+two, Katy liked Juno best, for there was about her a flash and sparkle
+very fascinating to one who had never seen anything of the kind and did
+not know that much of this vivacity was the result of patient study and
+practice. Katy would have known they were high-bred, as the world
+defines high breeding, and something in their manner reminded her of the
+ladies she had seen abroad, ladies in whose veins lordly blood was
+flowing. She could not help feeling uncomfortable in their presence,
+especially as she felt that Juno's black eyes were on her constantly.
+Not that she could ever meet them looking at her, for they darted away
+the instant hers were raised, but she knew just when they returned to
+her again, and how closely they were scanning her.
+
+"Your wife looks tired, Will. Let her sit down," Bell said, herself
+wheeling the easy-chair nearer to the fire, while Wilford placed Katy in
+it; then, thinking she would get on better if he were not there, he left
+the room, and Katy was alone with her new sisters.
+
+Juno had examined her dress and found no fault with it, simply because
+it was Parisian make; while Bell had examined her head, deciding that
+there might be something in it, though she doubted it, but that, at all
+events, short hair was very becoming to it, showing all its fine
+proportions, and half deciding to have her own locks cut away. Juno had
+a similar thought, wondering if it were the Paris fashion, and if she
+would look as young in proportion as Katy did were her hair worn on her
+neck.
+
+With their brother's departure, the tongues of both the girls were
+loosened, and standing near to Katy, they began to question her of what
+she had seen, Juno asking if she did not hate to leave Italy, and did
+not wish herself back again. Wholly truthful, Katy answered: "Oh, yes,
+I was very sorry, I would rather be there than here."
+
+"Complimentary to us, very," Bell murmured audibly in French, blushing
+as Katy's eyes were lifted quickly to hers, and she knew she was
+understood.
+
+If there was anything which Katy liked more than another in the way of
+study, it was French. She had excelled in it at Canandaigua, and while
+abroad had taken great pains to acquire a pure pronunciation, so that
+she spoke it with a good deal of fluency, and readily comprehended Bell.
+
+"I did not mean to be rude," she said, earnestly. "I liked Italy so
+much, and we expected to stay longer; but that does not hinder my liking
+to be here. I hope I did not offend you."
+
+"Certainly not; you are an honest little puss," Bell replied, placing
+her hand caressingly upon the curly head laying back so wearily on the
+chair. "Here in New York we have a bad way of not telling the whole
+truth, but you will soon be used to it."
+
+"Used to not telling the truth! Oh, I hope not!" and this time the blue
+eyes lifted so wonderingly to Bell's face had in them a startled look.
+
+"Simpleton," was Juno's comment, while Bell's was: "I rather like the
+child," as she continued to smooth the golden curls and wound them
+around her finger, wondering if Katy had a taste for metaphysics, that
+being the last branch of science which she had taken up.
+
+"I suppose you will find Will a pattern husband," Juno said, after a
+moment's pause, and Katy replied: "There never could be a better, I am
+sure, and I have been very happy."
+
+"Has he never said one cross word to you in all these six months?" was
+Juno's next question, to which Katy answered, truthfully: "Never."
+
+"And lets you do as you please?"
+
+"Yes, just as I please," Katy replied, while Juno continued: "He must
+have changed greatly, then, from what he used to be; but marriage has
+probably improved him. He tells you all his secrets, too, I presume?"
+
+Anxious that Wilford should appear well in every light, Katy replied at
+random: "Yes, if he has any."
+
+"Well, then," and in Juno's black eyes there was a wicked look, "perhaps
+you will tell me who was or is the original of that picture he guards so
+carefully?"
+
+"What picture?" and Katy looked up inquiringly, while Juno, with a
+little sarcastic laugh, continued: "Oh, he has not told you, then. I
+thought he would not, he seemed so angry and annoyed when he saw me with
+it once three or four years ago. I found it in his room, where he had
+accidentally left it, and was looking at it when he came in. It was the
+picture of a young girl, who must have been very beautiful, and I did
+not blame Will for loving her, if he ever did, but he need not have been
+so indignant at me for wishing to know who it was. I never saw him so
+angry or so much disturbed. I hope you will ferret the secret out and
+tell me, for I have a great deal of curiosity, fancying that picture
+had something to do with his remaining so long a bachelor. I do not mean
+that he does not love you," she added, as she saw how white Katy grew.
+"It is not to be expected that a man can live to be thirty without
+loving more than one. There was Sybil Grey, a famous belle, whom I
+thought at one time he would marry; but when Judge Grandon offered she
+accepted, and Will was left in the lurch. I do not really believe he
+cared, though, for Sybil was too much of a flirt to suit his jealous
+lordship, and I will do him the justice to say that, however many
+fancies he may have had, he likes you best of all," and this Juno felt
+constrained to say because of the look in Katy's face, a look which
+warned her that in her thoughtlessness she had gone too far and pierced
+the young wife's heart with a pang as cruel as it was unnecessary.
+
+Bell had tried to stop her, but she had rattled on until now it was too
+late, and she could not recall her words, however much she might wish to
+do so. "Don't tell Will," she was about to say, when Will himself
+appeared, to take Katy out to dinner. Very beautiful and sad were the
+blue eyes which looked up at him so wistfully, and nothing but the
+remembrance of Juno's words, "He likes you best of all," kept Katy from
+crying outright, when he took her hand, passing it between his own and
+asking if she was tired.
+
+"Let us try what dinner will do for you," he said, and in silence Katy
+went with him to the pleasant dining-room, where the glare and the
+ceremony bewildered her, bringing a homesick feeling as she thought of
+Silverton, contrasting the elegance around her with the plain tea table,
+graced with the mulberry set instead of the costly china before her.
+
+Never had Katy felt so embarrassed in her life as she did this night,
+when seated for the first time at dinner in her husband's home, with all
+those criticising eyes upon her, as she knew they were. She had been
+very hungry, but her appetite was gone, and she almost loathed the rich
+food offered her, feeling so glad when the dinner was ended, and Wilford
+asked if she would go then to Jamie's room. He was sitting in his
+wheel-chair when they went in, and his eyes turned eagerly toward them,
+lighting up with pleasure when Wilford said: "This is your Aunt Katy.
+You will love each other, I am sure."
+
+That they would love each other was very apparent from the kisses Katy
+pressed upon his lips, and the way in which his arms clung around her
+neck as he said: "I am glad you have come, Aunt Katy, and you will tell
+me of the good doctor. He is your cousin, Uncle Wilford says."
+
+With Jamie Katy was perfectly at her ease. There was some affinity
+between him and herself, and she was glad when Wilford left them alone,
+as he wisely did, going back to where his mother and sisters were freely
+discussing his bride, his mother calling her a mere child, who would
+improve, and Juno saying she had neither manner nor style, while Bell
+offered no opinion, except that she was pretty. A part of these
+criticisms Wilford heard, and they made his blood tingle, for he had
+great faith in their opinions, even though he sometimes savagely
+combated them, and into his heart there crept a slight feeling of
+dissatisfaction toward Katy, now kneeling on the floor by Jamie's side,
+and with her head almost in his lap, talking to him of Morris Grant,
+whose very name had a strange power to soothe her.
+
+"You don't seem like an aunt," Jamie said at last, smoothing her short
+hair; "you look so like a girl. I wonder, must I call you so? I guess
+I must, though, for Uncle Will told me to, and we all mind him, grandma
+and all! Do you?" and the child looked curiously at her.
+
+Had Jamie's question been put to her two weeks ago, she would have
+hesitated in her answer, and even now she had not waked to the fact that
+in all essential points her husband's wish was the law she could not
+help obey, but she replied, laughingly: "Yes, I mind him," while Jamie
+continued: "I love him so much, and he loves us and you. I heard him
+tell grandma so, and by his voice I knew he was in earnest. He never
+loved any one half so well before, he said, not even--somebody--I forget
+who--a funny name it was."
+
+Katy felt almost as if she were doing wrong, but remembering what Juno
+had said of Sybil Grey, she faintly asked:
+
+"Was Sybil the name?"
+
+Jamie hardly thought it was. It seemed more like some town; still, it
+might have been, he said, and Katy's heart grew lighter, for Juno's idle
+words had troubled her, and Sybil Grey most of all; but if her husband
+now loved her best, she did not care so much; and when Wilford came for
+her to join them in the parlor, he found her like herself both in looks
+and spirits. Mark Ray had been obliged to decline Mr. Cameron's
+invitation to dinner, but he was now in the library, Wilford said, and
+Katy was glad, for she remembered how he had helped her during that week
+of gayety in Boston, when society was so new to her. As he had been
+then, so he was now, and his friendly, respectful manner put Katy as
+much at her ease as it was possible for her to be in the presence of
+Wilford's mother and sisters, who watched her so narrowly.
+
+"I suppose you have not seen your Sister Helen? You know I called there,
+of course?" Mark said to Katy; but before she could reply, a pair of
+black eyes shot a keen glance at the luckless Mark, and Juno's sharp
+voice said, quickly: "Called on her! When, pray? I did not know you had
+the honor of Miss Lennox's acquaintance."
+
+Mark was in a dilemma. He had kept his call at Silverton to himself, as
+he did not care to be questioned about Katy's family; and now, when it
+accidentally came out, he tried to make some evasive reply, pretending
+that he had spoken of it, and Juno had forgotten. But Juno knew better,
+and from that night dated a strong feeling of dislike, almost hatred,
+for Helen Lennox, whom she affected to despise, even though she could be
+jealous of her. Wisely changing the conversation, Mark asked Katy next
+to play, and as she seldom refused, she went at once to the piano,
+astonishing both Mrs. Cameron and her daughters with the brilliancy of
+her performance. Even Juno complimented her, saying she must have taken
+lessons very young.
+
+"When I was ten," Katy answered. "Cousin Morris gave me my first
+exercises himself. He plays sometimes."
+
+"Yes, I knew that," Juno replied. "Does your sister play as well as
+you?"
+
+Katy knew that Helen did not, and she answered frankly: "Morris thinks
+she does not. She is not as fond of it as I am." Then feeling that she
+must in some way make amends for Helen, she added: "But she knows a
+great deal more than I do about books. Helen is very smart."
+
+There was a smile on every lip at this ingenuous remark, but only Mark
+and Bell liked Katy the better for it. Wilford did not care to have her
+talking of her friends, and he kept her at the piano until she said her
+fingers were tired, and begged leave to stop.
+
+It was late ere Mark bade them good-night; so late that Katy began to
+wonder if he would never go, yawning once so perceptibly that Wilford
+gave her a reproving glance, which sent the hot blood to her face and
+drove from her every feeling of drowsiness. Even after he had gone the
+family were in no haste to retire, but sat chatting with Wilford until
+the city clock struck twelve and Katy was actually nodding in her chair.
+
+"Poor child, she is very tired," Wilford said, apologetically, gently
+waking Katy, who, really mortified, begged them to excuse her, and
+followed her husband to her room, where she was free to ask him what she
+must ask before she could ever be quite as happy as she had been before.
+
+Notwithstanding what Jamie had said, Juno's words kept recurring to her
+mind, and going up to the chair where Wilford was sitting before the
+fire, and standing partly behind him, she said, timidly: "Will you
+answer me one thing truly?"
+
+Alone with Katy, Wilford felt all his old tenderness returning, and
+drawing her into his lap, he asked her what it was she wished to know.
+
+"Did you love anybody three or four years ago, or ever--that is, love
+them well enough to wish to make them your wife?"
+
+Katy could feel how Wilford started, as he said: "What put that idea
+into your head? Who has been talking to you?"
+
+"Juno," Katy answered. "She told me she believed that it was some other
+love which kept you a bachelor so long. Was it, Wilford?" and Katy's
+lips quivered in a grieved kind of way as she put the question.
+
+"Juno be--"
+
+Wilford did not say what, for he seldom swore, and never in a lady's
+presence, even if the lady were his wife. So he said, instead:
+
+"It was very unkind in Juno to distress you thus with matters about
+which she knew nothing."
+
+"But did you?" Katy asked again. "Was there not a Sybil Grey, or some
+one of that name?"
+
+At mention of Sybil Grey, Wilford looked relieved, and answered her at
+once:
+
+"Yes, there was a Sybil Grey, Mrs. Judge Grandon now, and a dashing
+widow. Don't sigh so wearily," he continued, as Katy drew a gasping
+breath. "Knowing she was a widow, I chose you, thus showing which I
+preferred. Few men live to be thirty without more or less fancies, which
+under some circumstances might ripen into something stronger, and I am
+not an exception. I never loved Sybil Grey, nor wished to make her my
+wife. I admired her very much. I admire her yet, and among all my
+acquaintances there is not one upon whom I would care to have you make
+so good an impression as upon her, nor one whose manner you could better
+imitate."
+
+"Oh, will she call? Shall I see her?" Katy asked, beginning to feel
+alarmed at the very thought of Sybil Grey, with all her polish and
+manner.
+
+"She is spending the winter in New Orleans with her late husband's
+relatives. She will not return till spring," Wilford replied. "But do
+not look so distressed, for I tell you solemnly that I never loved
+another as I love you, my wife. Do you believe me?"
+
+"Yes," and Katy's head drooped upon his shoulder.
+
+She was satisfied with regard to Sybil Grandon, only hoping she would
+not have to meet her when she came home. But the picture. Whose was
+that? Not Sybil's certainly, else Juno would have known. The picture
+troubled her, but she dared not speak of it, Wilford had seemed so angry
+at Juno. Still, she would probe him a little further, and so she
+continued:
+
+"I do believe you, and if I ever see this Sybil I will try to imitate
+her; but tell me, if, after her, there was among your friends one better
+than the rest, one almost as dear as I am, one whom you sometimes
+remember even now--is she living, or is she dead?"
+
+Wilford thought of that humble grave far off in St. Mary's churchyard,
+the grave whose headstone bore the inscription: "Genevra Lambert, aged
+22," and he answered quickly:
+
+"If there ever was such a one, she certainly is not living. Are you
+satisfied?"
+
+Katy answered that she was, but perfect confidence in her husband's
+affection had been terribly shaken by Juno's avowal and his partial
+admission of an earlier love, and Katy's heart was too full to sleep,
+even after she had retired. Visions of Sybil Grey, blended with visions
+of another whom she called the "dead fancy," flitted before her mind, as
+she lay awake, while hour after hour went by, until tired nature could
+endure no longer, and just as the great city was waking up and the
+rattle of wheels was beginning to be heard upon the distant pavements,
+she fell away to sleep.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIV.
+
+EXTRACTS FROM BELL CAMERON'S DIARY.
+
+
+NEW YORK, December--.
+
+After German philosophy and Hamilton's metaphysics, it is a great relief
+to have introduced into the family an entirely new element--a character
+the dissection of which is at once a novelty and a recreation. It is
+absolutely refreshing, and I find myself returning to my books with
+increased vigor after an encounter with that simple-hearted,
+unsophisticated, innocent-minded creature, our sister-in-law, Mrs.
+Wilford Cameron. Such pictures as Juno and I used to draw of the stately
+personage who was one day coming to us as Wilford's wife, and of whom
+even mother was to stand in awe. Alas! how hath our idol fallen! Tell it
+not in Gath, nor yet in Gotham! And still I rather like the little
+creature, who, the very first night, nearly choked mother to death,
+giving her lace streamers a most uncomfortable twitch, and actually
+kissing father--a thing I have not done since I can remember. But, then,
+with the exception of Will and Jamie, the Camerons are all a set of
+icicles, encased in a refrigerator at that. If we were not, we should
+thaw out, when Katy leans on us so affectionately and looks up at us so
+wistfully, as if pleading for our love. Wilford does wonders; he used to
+be so grave, so dignified and silent, that I never supposed he would
+bear having a wife meet him at the door with cooing and kisses, and
+climbing into his lap right before us all. Juno says it makes her sick,
+while mother is dreadfully shocked; and even Will sometimes seems
+annoyed, gently shoving her aside and telling her he is tired.
+
+After all, it is a query in my mind whether it is not better to be like
+Katy than like Sybil Grandon, about whom Juno was mean enough to tell
+her the first day of her arrival. On the whole, I would rather be Katy,
+but better yet, would prefer remaining myself, Bell Cameron, the happy
+medium between the two extremes, of art perfected and nature in its
+primeval state, just as it existed among the Silverton hills. From my
+own standpoint, I can look on and criticise, giving my journal the
+benefit of my criticisms and conclusions.
+
+Very pretty, but shockingly insipid, is Juno's verdict upon Mrs.
+Wilford, while mother says less, but looks a great deal more, especially
+when she talks about "my folks," as she did to Mrs. General Reynolds the
+very first time she called. Mother and Juno were so annoyed, while Will
+looked like a thundercloud, particularly when she spoke of Uncle
+Ephraim, saying so and so. He was better satisfied with Katy in Europe,
+where he was not known, than he is here, where he sees her with other
+people's eyes. One of his weaknesses is a too great reverence for the
+world's opinion, as held and expounded by our very fashionable mother,
+and as in a quiet kind of way she has arrayed herself against poor Katy,
+while Juno is more open in her acts and sayings. I predict that it will
+not be many months before he comes to the conclusion that he has made a
+mesalliance, a thing of which no Cameron was ever guilty.
+
+I wonder if there is any truth in the rumor that Mrs. General Reynolds
+once taught a district school, and if she did, how much would that
+detract from the merits of her son, Lieutenant Bob. But what nonsense to
+be writing about him. Let me go back to Katy, who has no more idea of
+etiquette than Jamie in his wheel-chair. Still, there is something very
+attractive about her, and Mrs. General Reynolds took to her at once,
+petting her as she would a kitten, and laughing merrily at her naive
+speeches, as she called them--speeches which made Will turn black in the
+face, they betrayed so much of rustic life and breeding. I fancy that he
+has given Katy a few hints, and that she is beginning to be somewhat
+afraid of him, for she watches him constantly when she is talking, and
+she does not now slip her hand into his as she used to when guests are
+leaving and she stands at his side; neither is she quite so
+demonstrative when he comes up from the office at night, and there is a
+look upon her face which was not there when she came. They are taming
+her down, mother and Juno, and to-morrow they are actually going to
+commence a systematic course of training, preparatory to her _debut_
+into society, said _debut_ to occur on the night of the ----, when Mrs.
+General Reynolds gives the party talked about so long. I was present
+when they met in solemn conclave to talk it over, mother asking Will if
+he had any objections to Juno's instructing his wife with regard to
+certain things of which she was ignorant. Will's forehead knit itself
+together at first, and I half hoped he would veto the whole proceedings,
+but after a moment he replied:
+
+"No, providing Katy is willing. Her feelings must not be hurt."
+
+"Certainly not," mother said. "Katy is a dear little creature, and we
+all love her very much, but that does not blind us to her deficiencies,
+and as we are anxious that she should fill that place in society which
+Mrs. Wilford Cameron ought to fill, it seems necessary to tone her down
+a little before her first appearance at a party."
+
+To this Will assented, and then Juno went on to enumerate her
+deficiencies, which, as nearly as I can remember, are these: She laughs
+too much and too loud; is too enthusiastic over novelties, conducting as
+if she never saw anything before; has too much to say about Silverton
+and "my folks," quotes Uncle Ephraim and Sister Helen too often, and is
+even guilty at times of mentioning a certain Aunt Betsy, who must have
+floated with the Ark and snuffled the breezes of Ararat. She does not
+know how to enter, or cross, or leave a room properly, or receive an
+introduction; or, in short, do anything according to New York ideas as
+understood by the Camerons, etc.; she is to be taught--toned down,
+mother called it--dwelling upon her high spirits as something vulgar, if
+not absolutely wicked. How father would have sworn, for he calls her his
+little sunbeam, and says he never should have gained so fast if she had
+not come with her sunny face and lively, merry laugh to cheer his
+sickroom. Katy has a fast friend in him and Jamie. But mother and
+Juno--well, I shall be glad if they do not annihilate her altogether,
+and I am surprised that Will allows it. I wonder if Katy is really happy
+with us? She says she is, and is evidently delighted with New York life,
+clapping her hands when the invitation to Mrs. Reynolds' party was
+received, and running with it to Wilford as soon as he came home. It is
+her first big party, she says, she having never attended any except that
+little sociable in Boston, and those insipid schoolgirl affairs at the
+seminary. I may be conceited--Juno thinks I am--but really and truly,
+Bell Cameron's private opinion of herself is that at heart she is better
+than the rest of her family, and so I pity this little sister of ours,
+while at the same time I am exceedingly anxious to be present whenever
+Juno takes her in hand, for I like to see the fun. Were she at all
+bookish, I should avow myself her champion, and openly defend her; but
+she is not, and so I give her into the hands of the Philistines, hoping
+they will at least spare her hair and not worry her life out on that
+head. It is very becoming to her, and several young ladies have
+whispered their intention of trying its effect upon themselves, so that
+Katy may yet be a leader of the fashion.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XV.
+
+TONING DOWN.
+
+
+_Bell's Diary Continued_.
+
+Such fun as it was to see mother and Juno training Katy, showing her how
+to enter the parlor, how to arrange her dress, how to carry her hands
+and feet, and how to sit in a chair--Juno going through with the
+performance first, and then requesting Katy to imitate her, which I must
+say she did to perfection, even excelling her teacher, inasmuch as she
+is naturally very easy and graceful. Had I been Katy I should have
+rebelled, but she is far too sweet-tempered and anxious to please, while
+I half suspect that fear of my lord Wilford had something to do with it,
+for when the drill was over, she asked so earnestly if we thought he
+would be ashamed of her, and there were tears in her great blue eyes as
+she said it. Hang Wilford! Hang the whole of them! I am not sure but I
+shall espouse her cause myself, or else tell father, who will do it so
+much better.
+
+Dec.--th.--Another drill, with Juno commanding officer, while the
+poor little private seemed completely worried out. This time there were
+open doors, but so absorbed were mother and Juno as not to hear the
+bell, and just as Juno was saying, "Now, imagine me Mrs. General
+Reynolds, to whom you are being presented," while Katy was bowing almost
+to the floor, who should appear but Mark Ray, stumbling square upon that
+ludicrous rehearsal, and of course bringing it to an end. No explanation
+was made, nor was any needed, for Mark's face showed that he understood
+it, and it was as much as he could do to keep from roaring with
+merriment; I am sure he pitied Katy, for his manner toward her was very
+affectionate and kind, and when once she left the room he complimented
+her highly, repeating many things he had heard in her praise from those
+who had seen her both in the street and here at home. Juno's face was
+like a thundercloud, for she was as much in love with Mark Ray as she
+was once with Dr. Grant, and is even jealous of his praise of Katy. Glad
+am I that I never yet saw the man who could make me jealous, or for whom
+I cared a pin. There's Bob Reynolds up at West Point. I suppose I do
+think his epaulettes very becoming to him, but his hair is too light and
+he cannot raise whiskers big enough to cast a shadow on the wall, while
+I know he looks with contempt upon females who write, even though their
+writings never see the light of day; thinks them strong-minded,
+self-willed, and all that. He is expected to be present at the party,
+but I shall not be. I had rather stay at home and finish that article
+entitled "Women of the Present Century," and suggested to my mind by my
+Sister Katy, who stands for the picture I am drawing of a pretty woman,
+with more heart than brains, contrasting her with such a one as Juno,
+her opposite extreme.
+
+January 10.--The last time I wrote in my journal was just before the
+party, which is over now, the long-talked-of affair at which Katy was
+the reigning belle. I don't know how it happened, but happen it did, and
+Juno's glory faded before that of her rival, whose merry, ringing laugh
+frequently penetrated to every room, and made more than one look up in
+some surprise. But when Mrs. Humphreys said: "It's that charming little
+Mrs. Cameron, the prettiest creature I ever saw, her laugh is so
+refreshing and genuine," the point was settled, and Katy was free to
+laugh as loudly as she pleased.
+
+She did look beautiful, in lace and pearls, with her short hair curling
+on her neck. She would not allow us to put so much as a bud in her hair,
+showing in this respect a willfulness we never expected; but as she was
+perfectly irresistible, we suffered her to have her way, and when she
+was dressed, sent her in to father, who had asked to see her. And now
+comes the strangest thing in the world.
+
+"You are very beautiful, little daughter," father said. "I almost wish
+I was going with you to see the sensation you are sure to create."
+
+Then straight into his lap climbed Katy--father's lap--where none of us
+ever sat, I am sure, and began to coax him to go, telling him she should
+appear better if he were there, and that she should need him when
+Wilford left her, as of course he must a part of the time. And father
+actually dressed himself and went. But Katy did not need him after the
+people began to understand that Mrs. Wilford Cameron was the rage. Even
+Sybil Grey, in her palmiest days, never received such homage as was paid
+to the little Silverton girl, whose great charm was her perfect
+enjoyment of everything, and her perfect faith in what people said to
+her. Juno was nothing, and I worse than nothing, for I did go, wearing
+a plain black silk, with high neck and long sleeves, looking, as Juno
+said, like a Sister of Charity. But Bell Cameron can afford to dress
+plainly if she chooses, and I am glad, as it saves a deal of trouble,
+and somehow people seem to like me quite as well in my Quakerish dress
+as they do the fashionable Juno in diamonds and flowers, with uncovered
+neck and shoulders.
+
+Lieutenant Bob was there; his light hair lighter than ever, and his
+chin as smooth as my hand. He likes to dance, and I do not, but somehow
+he persisted in staying where I was, notwithstanding that I said my
+sharpest things in hopes to get rid of him. He left me at last to
+dance with Katy, who makes up in grace and airiness what she lacks in
+knowledge. Once upon the floor, she did not lack for partners, but, I
+verily believe, danced every set, growing prettier and fairer as she
+danced, for hers is a complexion which does not get red and blowsy with
+exercise.
+
+Mark Ray was there, too, and I saw him smile comically when Katy met the
+people with that bow she was making at the time he came so suddenly upon
+us. Mark is a good fellow, and I really think we have him to thank in a
+measure for Katy's successful _debut_. He was the first to take her from
+Wilford, walking with her up and down the hall by way of reassuring her,
+and once as they passed me I heard her say:
+
+"I feel so timid here--so much afraid of doing something
+wrong--something countrified."
+
+"Never mind," he answered. "Act yourself just as you would were you
+at home in Silverton, where you are known. That is far better than
+affecting a manner not natural to you."
+
+After that Katy brightened wonderfully. The stiffness which at first
+was perceptible passed off, and she was Katy Lennox, queening it over
+all the city belles, who, because she was married, would not be
+jealous--drawing after her a host of gentlemen, and between the sets
+holding a miniature court at one end of the room, where the more
+desirable of the guests crowded around; flattering her until her little
+head ought to have been turned if it was not. To do her justice, she
+bore her honors well, and when we were in the carriage, and father
+complimented her upon her success, she only said:
+
+"If I pleased you all I am glad."
+
+So many calls as we had the next day, and so many invitations as there
+are now on our table for Mrs. Wilford Cameron, while our opera box
+between the scenes is packed with beaus, until one would suppose Wilford
+might be jealous; but Katy takes it all so quietly and modestly, seeming
+only gratified for his sake, that I really believe he enjoys it more
+than she does. At all events, he persists in her going, even when she
+would rather stay at home, so if she is spoiled, the fault will rest
+with him.
+
+February--th.--Poor Katy. Dissipation is beginning to wear upon her,
+for she is not accustomed to our late hours, and sometimes falls asleep
+while Esther is dressing her. But go she must, for Wilford wills it so,
+and she is but an automaton to do his bidding.
+
+Why can't mother let her alone, when everybody seems so satisfied with
+her? Somehow, she does not believe that people are as delighted as they
+pretend, and so she keeps training and tormenting her until I do not
+wonder that Katy sometimes hates to go out, lest she shall unconsciously
+be guilty of an impropriety. I pitied her last night, when, after she
+was ready for the opera, she came into my room, where I was indulging in
+the luxury of a loose dressing gown, with my feet on the sofa. Latterly
+she has taken to me, and now sitting down before the fire into which her
+blue eyes looked with a steady stare, she said:
+
+"I wish I might stay here with you to-night. I have heard this opera
+before, and it will be so tiresome. I get so sleepy while they are
+singing, for I never care to watch the acting. I did at first, when it
+was new, but now it seems insipid to see them make-believe, while the
+theatre is worse yet," and she gave a weary yawn.
+
+In less than three months she has exhausted fashionable life, and I
+looked at her in astonishment, asking what would please her if the opera
+did not. What would she like?
+
+Turning her eyes full upon me, she exclaimed:
+
+"I do like it some, I suppose, only I get so tired. I like to ride, I
+like to skate, I like to shop, and all that; but, oh, you don't know how
+I want to go home to mother and Helen. I have not seen them for so long,
+but I am going in the spring--going in May. How many days are there in
+March and April? Sixty-one," she continued; "then I may safely say that
+in eighty days I shall see mother, and all the dear old places. It is
+not a grand home like this. You, Bell, might laugh at it. Juno would, I
+am sure, but you do not know how dear it is to me, or how I long for a
+sight of the huckleberry hills and the rocks where Helen and I used to
+play, Helen is a darling sister, and I know you will like her."
+
+Just then Will called to say the carriage was waiting, and Katy was
+driven away, while I sat thinking of her and the devoted love with which
+she clings to her home and friends, wondering if it were the kindest
+thing which could have been done, transplanting her to our atmosphere,
+so different from her own.
+
+March 1st.--As it was in the winter, so it is now; Mrs. Wilford Cameron
+is the rage--the bright star of society--which quotes and pets and
+flatters, and even laughs at her by turns; and Wilford, though still
+watchful, lest she should do something _outre_, is very proud of her,
+insisting upon her accepting invitations, sometimes two for one evening,
+until the child is absolutely worn out, and said to me once, when I told
+her how well she was looking and how pretty her dress was: "Yes, pretty
+enough, but I am so tired. If I could lie down on mother's bed, in a
+shilling calico, just as I used to do!"
+
+Mother's bed seems at present to be the height of her ambition--the
+thing she most desires; and as Juno fancied it must be the feathers she
+is sighing for, she wickedly suggests that Wilford either buy a feather
+bed for his wife, or else send to that Aunt Betsy for the one which was
+to be Katy's setting out! They go to housekeeping in May, and on Madison
+Square, too, I think Wilford would quite as soon remain with us, for he
+does not fancy change; but Katy wants a home of her own, and I never saw
+anything more absolutely beautiful than her face when father said to
+Wilford that No. ---- Madison Square was for sale, advising him to
+secure it. But when mother intimated that there was no necessity for the
+two families to separate at present--that Katy was too young to have
+charge of a house--there came into her eyes a look of such distress that
+it went straight to father's heart, and calling her to him, he said:
+
+"Tell me, sunbeam, what is your choice--to stay with us, or have a home
+of your own?"
+
+Katy was very white, and her voice trembled as she replied:
+
+"You have been kind to me here, and it is very pleasant; but I guess--I
+think--I'm sure--I should like the housekeeping best. I am not so young,
+either. Nineteen in July, and when I go home next month I can learn so
+much of Aunt Betsy and Aunt Hannah."
+
+Mother looked at Wilford then; but he was looking into the fire, with an
+expression anything but favorable to that visit home, fixed now for
+April instead of May. But Katy has no discernment, and believes she is
+actually going home to learn how to make apple dumplings and pumpkin
+pies. In spite of mother, the house is bought, and now she is gone all
+day, deciding how it shall be furnished, always leaving Katy out of the
+question, as if she were a cipher, and only consulting Wilford's choice.
+They will be happier alone, I know. Mrs. General Reynolds says that it
+is the way for young people to live; that her son's wife shall never
+come home to her, for of course their habits could not be alike; and
+then she looked queerly at me, as if she knew I was thinking of
+Lieutenant Bob and who his wife might be.
+
+Sybil Grandon is coming home in April or May, and Mrs. Reynolds wonders
+will she flirt as she used to do. Just as if Bob would care for a widow.
+There is more danger from Will, who thinks Mrs. Grandon a perfect
+paragon, and who is very anxious that Katy may appear well before her,
+saying nothing and doing nothing which shall in any way approximate to
+Silverton and the shoes which Katy told Esther she used to bind when a
+girl. Will need not be disturbed, for Sybil Grandon was never half as
+pretty as Katy, or half as much admired. Neither need Mrs. General
+Reynolds fret about Bob, as if he would care for her. Sybil Grandon,
+indeed!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVI.
+
+KATY.
+
+
+For nearly four months Katy had been in New York, drinking deep draughts
+from the cup of folly and fashion held so constantly to her lips; but
+she cloyed of it at last, and what at first had been so eagerly grasped,
+began, from daily repetition, to grow insipid and dull. To be the belle
+of every place, to know that her dress, her style, and even the fashion
+of her hair, was copied and admired, was gratifying to her, because she
+knew how much it pleased her husband, who was never happier or prouder
+than when, with Katy on his arm, he entered some crowded parlor and
+heard the buzz of admiration as it circled around, while Katy,
+simple-hearted and guileless still, smiled and blushed like a little
+child, wondering at the attentions lavished upon her, and attributing
+them mostly to her husband, whose position she thoroughly understood,
+marveling more and more that he should have chosen her to be his wife.
+That he had so honored her made her love him with a strange kind of
+grateful, clinging love, which as yet would acknowledge no fault in him,
+no wrong, no error; and if ever a shadow did cloud her heart, she was
+the one to blame, not Wilford; he was right--he the idol she
+worshiped--he the one for whose sake she tried so hard to drop her
+country ways and conform to the rules his mother and sister taught,
+submitting with the utmost good-nature to what Bell in her journal had
+called the drill, but it must be confessed not succeeding very well in
+imitating Juno. Katy could hardly be other than her own easy, graceful
+self, and though the drills had their effect, and taught her many
+things, they could not divest her of that natural, playful, airy manner
+which so charmed the city people and made her the reigning belle. As
+Marian Hazleton had predicted, others than her husband had spoken words
+of praise in Katy's ear; but such was her nature that the shafts of
+flattery glanced aside, leaving her unharmed, so that her husband,
+though sometimes startled and disquieted, had no cause for jealousy,
+enjoying Katy's success far more than she did herself, urging her out
+when she would rather have stayed at home, and evincing so much
+annoyance if she ventured to remonstrate that she gave it up at last
+and floated on with the tide.
+
+Mrs. Cameron had at first been greatly shocked at Katy's want of
+propriety, looking on aghast when she wound her arms around Wilford's
+neck, or sat upon his knee; but to the elder Cameron the sight was a
+pleasant one, bringing back sunny memories of a summer time years ago,
+when he was young, and a fair bride had for a few brief weeks made this
+earth a paradise to him. But fashion had entered his Eden--that summer
+time was gone, and only the dim leaves of autumn lay where the buds
+which promised so much had been. The girlish bride was a stately matron
+now, doing nothing amiss, but making all her acts conform to a
+prescribed rule of etiquette, and frowning majestically upon the
+frolicsome, impulsive Katy, who had crept so far into the heart of
+the eccentric man that he always found the hours of her absence long,
+listening intently for the sound of her bounding footsteps, and feeling
+that her coming to his household had infused into his veins a better,
+healthier life than he had known for years. Katy was very dear to him,
+and he felt a thrill of pain, while a shadow lowered on his brow when
+first the toning down process commenced. He had heard them talk about
+it, and in his wrath he had hurled a cut-glass goblet upon the marble
+hearth, breaking it in atoms, while he called them a pair of precious
+fools, and Wilford a bigger one because he suffered it. So long as his
+convalescence lasted, he was some restraint upon his wife, but when he
+was well enough to resume his duties in his Wall Street office, there
+was nothing in the way, and Katy's education progressed accordingly. For
+Wilford's sake, Katy would do anything, and as from some things he had
+dropped she guessed that her manner was not quite what suited him, she
+submitted to much which would otherwise have been excessively annoying.
+But she was growing tired now, and it told upon her face, which was
+whiter than when she came to New York, while her figure was, if
+possible, slighter and more airy; but this only enhanced her loveliness,
+Wilford thought, and so he paid no heed to her complaints of weariness,
+but kept her in the circle which welcomed her so warmly, and would have
+missed her so much.
+
+Little by little it had come to Katy that she was not quite as
+comfortable in her husband's family as she would be in a house of her
+own. The constant watch kept over her by Mrs. Cameron and Juno irritated
+and fretted her, making her wonder what was the matter, and why she
+should so often feel lonely and desolate when surrounded by every luxury
+which wealth could purchase. "It is his folks," she always said to
+herself when cogitating upon the subject. "Alone with Wilford I shall
+feel as light and happy as I used to do in Silverton."
+
+And so Katy caught eagerly at the prospect of a release from the
+restraint of No. ----, seeming so anxious that Wilford, almost before he
+was aware of it himself, became the owner of one of the most desirable
+situations on Madison Square; and Katy was the envy of the belles, who
+had copied and imitated her, even to the cutting off their hair, which
+fashion may be fairly said to have originated from Katy herself, whose
+short curls had ceased to be obnoxious to the fastidious Mrs. Cameron,
+for Juno had tried the effect, looking, as Bell said, "like a fool,"
+while Juno would have given much to have again the long black tresses,
+the cutting of which did not make her look like Katy. Of all the
+household, after Katy, Juno was perhaps the only one glad of the new
+house. It would be a change for herself, for she meant to spend much
+of her time on Madison Square, where everything was to be on the most
+magnificent scale. Fortunately for Katy, she knew nothing of Juno's
+intentions and built many a castle of her new home, where mother could
+come with Helen and Dr. Grant. Somehow she never saw Uncle Ephraim, nor
+his wife, nor yet Aunt Betsy there. She knew how out of place they would
+appear, and how they would annoy Wilford: but surely to her mother and
+Helen there could be no objection, and when she first went over the
+house, she designated mentally this room as mother's, and another one as
+Helen's, thinking how each should be fitted up with direct reference to
+their tastes, Helen's containing a great many books, while her mother's
+should have easy-chairs and lounges, with a host of drawers for holding
+things. And Wilford heard it all, making no reply, but considering how
+he could manage best so as to have no scene, for he had not the
+slightest intention of inviting either Mrs. Lennox or Helen to visit
+him, much less to become a part of his household. That he did not marry
+Katy's relatives was a fact as fixed as the laws of the Medes and
+Persians, and Katy's anticipations were answering no other purpose than
+to divert her mind for the time being, keeping her bright and cheerful.
+
+Very pleasant indeed were the pictures Katy drew of the new house where
+Helen was to come, but pleasanter far were her pictures of that visit to
+Silverton, to occur in April, and about which she thought so much,
+dreaming of it many a night, and waking in the morning with the belief
+that she had actually been where the young buds were swelling and the
+fresh grass was springing by the door. Poor Katy, how much she thought
+about that visit when she should see them all and go again with Uncle
+Ephraim down into the meadows, making believe she was Katy Lennox
+still--when she could climb the ladder in the barn after new-laid eggs,
+or steal across the fields to Linwood, talking with Morris as she used
+to talk in the days which seemed so long ago. Morris she feared was not
+liking her as well as of old, thinking her very frivolous and silly, for
+he had only written her one short note in reply to the letter she had
+sent, telling him of the opera, the parties she attended, and the gay,
+happy life she led, for to him she would not then confess that in her
+cup of joy there was a single bitter dreg. All was bright and fair, she
+said, and Morris had replied that he was glad. "But do not forget that
+death can find you even there amid your splendor, or that after death
+the judgment comes, and then what shall it profit you if you gain the
+whole world and lose your own soul."
+
+These words had rung in Katy's ears for many a day, following her to
+the dance and to the opera, where even the music was drowned by the
+echo of the words, "lose your own soul." But the sting grew less and
+less, till Katy no longer felt it, and now was only anxious to talk with
+Morris and convince him that she was not as thoughtless as he might
+suppose, that she still remembered his teachings, remembered the Sunday
+school and the little church in the valley, preferring it to the
+handsome, aristocratic house where she went with the Camerons once on
+every Sunday, and would willingly go twice if Wilford would go with her.
+But the Camerons were merely fashionable churchgoers, and so their
+afternoons were spent at home, Katy enjoying them vastly because she
+usually had Wilford all to herself in her own room, a thing which did
+not often occur during the weekdays.
+
+There was a kind of peace to be made with Helen, too, Katy feared; for
+Helen had sent back the diamond ring, saying it was not suitable for
+her, but never hinting that she had drawn from Morris the inference that
+Wilford was not well pleased at having his wife thus dispose of his
+costly presents. Katy had cried when she received the ring, feeling that
+something was wrong and longing so much for the time when she could make
+it right.
+
+"One more week and then it is April," she said to Wilford one evening
+after they had retired to their room, and she was talking of Silverton.
+"I guess I had better go about the tenth. Shall you stay as long as I
+do?"
+
+Wilford bit his lip, and after a moment replied:
+
+"I have been talking with mother, and we think April is not a good time
+for you to be in the country; it is so wet and cold. You had better not
+till summer, and then I want you here to help order our furniture."
+
+"Oh, Wilford," and Katy's voice trembled, for from past experience
+she knew that for Wilford to object to her plans was equivalent to
+a refusal, and her heart throbbed with disappointment as she tried
+to listen while Wilford urged many reasons why she should not go,
+convincing her at last that of all times for visiting Silverton spring
+was the worst, that summer or autumn were better, and that it was her
+duty to remain where she was until such time as he saw fit for her to
+do otherwise.
+
+This was the meaning of what he said, and though his manner was guarded
+and his words kind, they were very conclusive, and with one gasping sob
+Katy gave up Silverton, charging it more to Mrs. Cameron than to
+Wilford, and writing next day to Helen that she could not come just
+then, but after she was settled they might surely expect her.
+
+With a bitter pang Helen read this letter to the three women who had so
+much anticipated Katy's visit, and each of whom cried quietly over her
+disappointment, while even Uncle Ephraim went back to his work that
+afternoon with a sad, heavy heart, for now his labor was not lightened
+by thoughts of Katy's being there so soon.
+
+"Please God she may come to us some time," he said, pausing beneath the
+butternut in the meadow, and remembering just how Katy looked on that
+first day of her return from Canandaigua, when she sat on the flat stone
+while he piled up the hay and talked with her of different paths through
+life, one of which she must surely tread.
+
+She had said, "I will choose the straight and pleasant," and some would
+think she had; but Uncle Ephraim was not so sure, and leaning against a
+tree, he asked silently that, whether he ever saw his darling again or
+not, God would care for her and keep her unspotted from the world.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVII.
+
+THE NEW HOUSE.
+
+
+It was a cruel thing for Wilford Cameron to try thus to separate Katy
+from the hearts which loved her so much: and, as if he felt reproached,
+there was an increased tenderness in his manner toward her, particularly
+as he saw how sad she was for a few days after his decision. But Katy
+could not be sorry long, and in the excitement of settling the new house
+her spirits rallied, and her merry laugh thrilled like a bird through
+the rooms where the workmen were so busy, and where Mrs. Cameron was the
+real superintendent, though there was always a show of consulting Katy,
+who nevertheless was a mere cipher in the matter. In everything the
+mother had her way, until it came to the room designed for Helen, and
+which Mrs. Cameron was for converting into a kind of smoking or lounging
+room for Wilford and his associates. Katy must not expect him to be
+always as devoted to her as he had been during the winter, she said. He
+had a great many bachelor friends, and now that he had a house of his
+own, it was natural that he should have some place where they could
+spend an hour or so with him without the restraint of ladies' society,
+and this was just the room--large, airy, quiet, and so far from the
+parlors that the odor of the smoke could not reach them.
+
+"Oak and green will do nicely here," turning to Wilford, "but you must
+have some very handsome cigar sets, and one or two boxes of chess. Shall
+I see to that?"
+
+Katy had submitted to much without knowing that she was submitting; but
+something Bell had dropped that morning had awakened a suspicion that
+possibly she was being ignored, and the wicked part of Helen would have
+enjoyed the look in her eye as she said, decidedly, not to Mrs. Cameron,
+but to Wilford: "I have from the very first decided this chamber for
+Helen, and I cannot give it up for a smoking room. You never had one
+at home. Why did you not, if it is so necessary?"
+
+Wilford could not tell her that his mother would as soon have brought
+into her house one of Barnum's shows as to have had a room set apart for
+smoking, which she specially disliked; neither could he at once reply at
+all, so astonished was he at this sudden flash of spirit. Mrs. Cameron
+was the first to rally, and in her usual quiet tone she said: "Indeed, I
+did not know that your sister was to form a part of your household. When
+do you expect her?" and her cold gray eyes rested steadily upon Katy,
+who never before so fully realized the distance there was between her
+husband's friends and her own. But as the worm will turn when trampled
+on, so Katy, though hitherto powerless to defend herself, aroused in
+Helen's behalf, and in a tone as quiet and decided as that of her
+mother-in-law, replied: "She will come whenever I write for her. It was
+arranged from the first. Wasn't it, Wilford?" and she turned to her
+husband, who, unwilling to decide between a wife he loved and a mother
+whose judgment he considered infallible, affected not to hear her, and
+stole from the room, followed soon by Mrs. Cameron, so that Katy was
+left mistress of the field.
+
+After that no one interfered in her arrangement of Helen's room, which,
+with far less expense than Mrs. Cameron would have done, she fitted up
+so cosily that Wilford pronounced it the pleasantest room in the house,
+while Bell went into ecstasies over it, and even Juno might have unbent
+enough to praise it, were it not that Mark Ray, who from being tacitly
+claimed by Juno was frequently admitted to their counsels, had asked
+the privilege of contributing to Helen's room a handsome volume of
+German poetry, such as he fancied she might enjoy. So long as Mark's
+attentions were not bestowed in any other quarter Juno was comparatively
+satisfied, but the moment he swerved a hair's breadth from the line she
+had marked out, her anger was aroused; and now, remembering his
+commendations of Helen Lennox, she hated her as cordially as one jealous
+girl can hate another whom she has not seen, making Katy so
+uncomfortable, without knowing what was the matter, that she hailed the
+morning of her exit from No. ---- as the brightest since her marriage.
+
+It was a very happy day for Katy, and when she first sat down to dinner
+in her own handsome home her face shone with a joy which even the
+presence of her mother-in-law could not materially lessen. She would
+rather have been alone with Wilford, it is true, but as her choice was
+not consulted she submitted cheerfully, proudly taking her rightful
+place at the table, and doing the honors so well that Mrs. Cameron, in
+speaking of it to her daughters, acknowledged that Wilford had little to
+fear if Katy always appeared as much at ease as she did that day. A
+thought similar to this passed through the mind of Wilford, who was very
+observant of such matters, and that night, after his mother was gone, he
+warmly commended Katy, but spoiled the pleasure his commendation would
+have given by telling her next, as if one thought suggested the other,
+that Sybil Grandon had returned, that he saw her on Broadway, accepting
+her invitation to a seat in her carriage which brought him to his door.
+She had made many inquiries concerning Katy, he said, expressing a great
+curiosity to see her, and saying that as she drove past the house that
+morning, she was strongly tempted to waive all ceremony and run in,
+knowing she should be pardoned for the sake of Auld Lang Syne, when she
+was privileged to take liberties with the Camerons. All this Wilford
+repeated to Katy, but he did not tell her how at the words Auld Lang
+Syne, Sybil had turned her fine eyes upon him with an expression which
+made him color, for he knew she was referring to the time when her name
+and his were always coupled together.
+
+Wilford would not have exchanged Katy for a dozen Sybils, but there was
+about the latter a flash and sparkle very fascinating to most men, and
+Wilford felt himself so much exhilarated in her society that he half
+regretted leaving it, wishing as he did so that in some things Katy was
+more like the brilliant woman of the world, who, flashing upon him her
+most bewitching smile, leaned back in her handsome carriage with a
+careless, easy abandon, while he ran up the steps of his own dwelling,
+where Katy waited for him. In this state of mind her achievement at the
+dinner table was exceedingly gratifying. Sybil herself could not have
+done better. But alas, there were many points where Katy fell far below
+this standard; so after speaking of Sybil's inquiries for his wife, he
+went on to talk of Sybil herself, telling how much she was admired and
+how superior she was to the majority of ladies whom Katy had met, adding
+that he felt more anxious that Katy should make a favorable impression
+upon her than any one of his acquaintance, as she would be sure to note
+the slightest departure from her code of etiquette. How Katy hated the
+words etiquette, and style and manner, wishing they might be stricken
+from the language, and how she dreaded this Sybil Grandon, who seemed to
+her like some ogress, instead of the charming creature she was described
+to be. Thoughts of the secret picture and the dread fancy did not
+trouble her now, for she was sure of Wilford's love; but she had
+sometimes dreaded the return of Sybil Grandon, and now that she had
+come, she felt for a moment a chill at her heart and a terror at meeting
+her which she tried to shake off, succeeding at last, for perfect faith
+in Wilford was to her a strong shield of defense, and her only trouble
+was a fear lest she should fall in the scale of comparison which might
+be instituted between herself and Mrs. Grandon.
+
+Nestling close to Wilford, she said, half earnestly, half playfully:
+
+"I will try not to disgrace you when I meet this Mrs. Grandon."
+
+Then, anxious to change the conversation to something more agreeable to
+herself, she began to talk of their house, thus diverting her own mind
+from Sybil Grandon, who after a few days ceased to be a bugbear, Wilford
+never mentioning her again, and Katy only hearing of her through Juno
+and Bell, the first of whom went into raptures over her, while the
+latter styled her a silly, coquettish widow, who would appear much
+better to have worn her weeds a little longer, and not throw herself
+quite so soon into the market. That she should of course meet her some
+time, Katy knew, but she would not distress herself till the time
+arrived, and so she dismissed her fears, or rather lost them in the
+excitement of her new dignity as mistress of a house.
+
+In her girlhood Katy had evinced a taste for housekeeping, which now
+developed so rapidly that she won the respect of all the servants, from
+the man who answered the bell to the accomplished cook, hired by Mrs.
+Cameron, and who, like most accomplished cooks, was sharp and cross and
+opinionated, but who did not find it easy to scold the blithe little
+woman who every morning came flitting into her dominions, not asking
+what they would have for dinner, as she had been led to suppose she
+would, but ordering it with a matter of course air, which amused the
+usually overbearing Mrs. Phillips. But when the little lady, rolling her
+sleeves above her dimpled elbows and donning the clean white apron which
+Phillips was reserving for afternoon, announced her intention of
+surprising Wilford, who was very particular about dessert, with a
+pudding such as Aunt Betsy used to make, there were signs of rebellion,
+Phillips telling her bluntly that she couldn't be bothered--that it was
+not a lady's place in the kitchen under foot--that the other Mrs.
+Cameron never did it, and would not like it in Mrs. Wilford.
+
+For a moment Katy paused and looked straight at Mrs. Phillips; then
+without a word of reply to that worthy's remarks, said, quietly: "I have
+only six eggs here--the receipt is ten. Bring me four more, please."
+
+There was something in the blue eyes which compelled obedience, and the
+dessert progressed without another word of remonstrance. But when the
+door bell rang, and word came down that there were ladies in the
+parlor--Juno with some one else--Phillips would not tell her of the
+flour on her hair; and as Katy, after casting aside her apron and
+putting down her sleeves, only glanced hastily at herself in the hall
+mirror as she passed it, she appeared in the parlor with this mark upon
+her curls, and greatly to her astonishment was presented to "Mrs. Sybil
+Grandon," Juno explaining, that as Sybil was very anxious to see her,
+and they were passing the house, she had presumed upon her privilege as
+a sister and brought her in.
+
+For a moment the room turned dark, and Katy felt that she was falling;
+it was so sudden, so unexpected, and she so unprepared; but Sybil's
+familiar manner soon quieted her, and she was able at last to look fully
+at her visitor, finding her not as handsome as she expected, nor as
+young but in all other points she had not perhaps been exaggerated.
+Cultivated and self-possessed, she was still very pleasing in her
+manner, making Katy feel wholly at ease by a few well-timed compliments,
+which had the merit of seeming genuine, so perfect was she in the art of
+deception, practicing it with so much skill that few saw through the
+mask, and knew it was put on.
+
+To Katy she was very gracious, admiring her house, admiring herself,
+admiring everything, until Katy wondered how she could ever have dreaded
+to meet her, laughing and chatting as familiarly as if the fashionable
+woman were not criticising every movement and every act and every
+feature of her face, wondering most at the flour upon her hair!
+
+Juno wondered, too, but knowing Katy's domestic propensities, suspected
+the truth, and feigning some errand with Phillips, she excused herself
+for a moment and descended to the kitchen, where she was not long in
+hearing about Katy's queer ways, coming where she was not needed, and
+making country puddings after some heathenish aunt's rule.
+
+"Was it Aunt Betsy?" Juno asked, her face betokening its disgust when
+told that she was right, and her manner on her return to the parlor very
+frigid toward Katy, who had discovered the flour on her hair, and was
+laughing merrily over it, telling Sybil how it happened--how cross
+Phillips was--and lastly, how "our folks" often made the pudding, and
+that was why she wished to surprise Wilford with it.
+
+There was a sarcastic smile upon Sybil's lip as she wished Mrs. Cameron
+success and then departed, leaving Katy to finish the dessert, which,
+when ready for the table, was certainly very inviting, and would have
+tempted the appetite of any man who had not been listener to matters
+not wholly conducive to his peace of mind.
+
+On his way home Wilford had stopped at his father's, finding Juno, who
+had just come in, relating the particulars of her call upon his wife,
+and as she did not think it necessary to stop for him, he heard of
+Katy's misdoings, and her general appearance in the presence of Sybil
+Grandon, whom she entertained with a description of "our folks'"
+favorite dishes, together with Aunt Betsy's receipts. This was the straw
+too many, and since his marriage Wilford had not been as angry as he was
+while listening to Juno, who reported Sybil's verdict on his wife, "A
+domestic little body and very pretty."
+
+Wilford did not care to have his wife domestic; he did not marry her
+for that, and in a mood anything but favorable to the light, delicate
+dessert Katy had prepared with so much care, he went to his luxurious
+home, where Katy ran as usual to meet him, her face brimming with the
+surprise she had in store for him, and herself so much excited that she
+did not at first observe the cloud upon his brow, as he moodily answered
+her rapid questions. But when the important moment arrived, and the
+dessert was brought on, he promptly declined it, even after her
+explanation that she made it herself, just to gratify and astonish him,
+urging him to try it for the sake of pleasing her, if nothing more. But
+Wilford was not hungry then, and even had he been, he would have chosen
+anything before a pudding formed from a receipt of Betsy Barlow, so the
+dessert was untasted even by Katy herself, who, knowing now that
+something had gone wrong, sat fighting back her tears until the servant
+left the room, when she timidly asked: "What is it, Wilford? What makes
+you seem so--". She would not say cross, and substituted "queer,"
+while Wilford plunged at once into the matter by saying, "Juno tells me
+she called here this afternoon with Mrs. Grandon."
+
+"Yes, I forgot to mention it," Katy answered, feeling puzzled to know
+why that should annoy her husband; but his next remarks disclosed the
+whole, and Katy's tears flowed fast as Wilford asked what he supposed
+Mrs. Grandon thought, to see his wife looking as if fresh from the flour
+barrel, and to hear her talk about Aunt Betsy's receipts and our folks.
+"That is a bad habit of yours, Katy," he continued, "one of which I wish
+you to break yourself, if possible. I have never spoken to you directly
+on the subject before, but it annoys me exceedingly, inasmuch as it is
+an indication of low breeding."
+
+There was no answer from Katy, whose heart was too full to speak, and
+so Wilford went on: "Our servants were selected by mother with a direct
+reference to your youth and inexperience, and it is not necessary for
+you to frequent the kitchen, or, indeed, to go there oftener than once a
+week. Let them come to you for orders, not you go to them. Neither need
+you speak quite so familiarly to them, treating them almost as if they
+were your equals. Try to remember your true position, that whatever you
+may have been you are now Mrs. Wilford Cameron, equal to any lady in New
+York."
+
+They were in the library now, and the soft May breeze came stealing
+through the open window, stirring the fleecy curtain and blowing across
+the tasteful bouquet which Katy had arranged; but Katy was too wretched
+to care for her surroundings. It was the first time Wilford had ever
+spoken to her just in this way, and his manner hurt her more than his
+words, making her feel as if she were an ignorant, ill-bred creature,
+whom he had raised to a position she did not know how to fill. It was
+cruel thus to repay her attempts to please, and so, perhaps, Wilford
+thought, as with folded arms he sat looking at her weeping so bitterly
+upon the sofa; but he was too indignant to make any concession then, and
+he suffered her to weep in silence until he remembered that his mother
+had requested him to bring her around that evening, as they were
+expecting a few of Juno's friends, and among them Sybil Grandon. If Katy
+went he wished her to look her best, and he unbent so far as to try to
+check her tears. But Katy could not stop, and she wept so passionately
+that Wilford's anger subsided, leaving only tenderness and pity for the
+wife he tried so hard to soothe, telling her he was sorry, and suing for
+forgiveness, until the sobbing ceased, and Katy lay passively in his
+arms, her face so white and the dark rings about her eyes showing so
+distinctly that Wilford did not press her when she declined his mother's
+invitation. He could go, she said, urging so many reasons why he
+should, that, for the first time since their marriage, he left her
+alone, and went to where Sybil Grandon smiled her sunniest smile, and
+put forth her most persuasive powers to keep him at her side, expressing
+so much regret that he did not bring his charming little wife, who
+completely won her heart, she was so childlike and simple-hearted,
+laughing so merrily when she discovered the flour on her hair, but not
+seeming to mind it in the least. Really, she did not see how it happened
+that he was fortunate enough to win such a domestic treasure. Where did
+he find her?
+
+If Sybil Grandon meant this to be complimentary it was not received as
+such, Wilford almost grating his teeth with vexation as he listened to
+it, and feeling doubly mortified with Katy, whom he found waiting for
+him, when at a late hour he left the society of Sybil Grandon and
+repaired to his home.
+
+To Katy the time of his absence had seemed an age, for her thoughts had
+been busy with the past, gathering up every incident connected with her
+married life since she came to New York, and deducing from them the
+conclusion that "Wilford's folks" were ashamed of her, and that Wilford
+himself might perhaps become so, if he were not already. That would be
+worse than death itself, and the darkest hours she had ever known were
+those she spent alone that night, sobbing so violently as to bring on a
+racking headache, which showed itself upon her face and touched Wilford
+at once.
+
+Sybil Grandon was forgotten in those moments of contrition, when he
+ministered so tenderly to his suffering wife, whom he felt that he had
+wronged. But somehow he could not tell her so then. It was not natural
+for him to confess his errors. There had already been a struggle between
+his duty and his pride when he had done so, and now the latter
+conquered, especially as Katy, grown more calm, began to take the
+censure to herself, lamenting her shortcomings, and promising to do
+better, even to the imitating of Sybil Grandon, if that would make him
+forget the past and love her as before.
+
+Wilford could accord forgiveness far more graciously than he could ask
+it, and so peace was restored again, and Katy's face next day looked
+bright and happy when seen in her new carriage, which took her down
+Broadway to Stewart's, where she encountered Sybil Grandon, and with her
+Juno Cameron.
+
+From the latter Katy instinctively shrank, but she could not resist the
+former, who greeted her so familiarly that Katy readily forgave her the
+pain of which she had been the cause, and could even speak of her to
+Wilford without a pang when he next came home to dinner. Still she could
+not overcome her dread of meeting her, and she grew more and more averse
+to mingling in society, where she might do many things to mortify her
+husband or his family, and thus provoke a scene she hoped never again to
+pass through.
+
+"Oh, if Helen were only here," she thought, as she began to experience a
+sensation of loneliness she had never felt before.
+
+But Helen was not there, nor yet coming there at present. One word from
+Wilford had settled that, convincing Katy that it was better to wait
+until the autumn, inasmuch as they were going so soon to Saratoga and
+Newport, which Katy had so much wished to visit, but from which she now
+shrank, especially after she knew that Mrs. Cameron and Juno were to be
+of the party, and probably Sybil Grandon. Katy did not dislike the
+latter, but she was never quite easy in her presence, and was conscious
+of appearing to disadvantage whenever they were together, while she
+could not deny to herself that since Sybil's return Wilford had not been
+quite the same as before. In company he was more attentive than ever,
+but at home he was sometimes moody and silent, while Katy strove in vain
+to ascertain the cause.
+
+They were not as happy in the new home as she had expected to be, but
+the fault did not lie with Katy. She performed well her part, and more,
+taking upon her young shoulders the whole of the burden which her
+husband should have helped her bear. Housekeeping far more than boarding
+brings out a husband's nature, for whereas in the latter case one
+rightfully demands the services for which he pays, in the former he is
+sometimes expected to do and think, and even wait upon himself. But this
+was not Wilford's nature. The easy, indolent life he had led so long as
+a petted son of a partial mother unfitted him for care, and he was as
+much a boarder in his own home as he had ever been in the hotels in
+Paris, thoughtlessly requiring of Katy more than he should have
+required, so that Bell was not far from right when in her journal she
+described her sister-in-law as "a little servant whose feet were never
+supposed to be tired, and whose wishes were never consulted." It is true
+Bell had put it rather strongly, but the spirit of what she said was
+right, Wilford seldom considering Katy, or allowing her wishes to
+interfere with his own plans, while accustomed to every possible
+attention from his mother, he exacted the same from his wife, whose life
+was not one of unmixed happiness, notwithstanding that every letter home
+bore assurance to the contrary.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XVIII.
+
+MARIAN HAZELTON.
+
+
+The last days of June had come, and Wilford was beginning to make
+arrangements for removing Katy from the city before the warmer weather.
+To this he had been urged by Mark Ray's remarking that Katy was not
+looking as well as when he first saw her, one year ago, "She had grown
+thin and pale," he said. "Had Wilford remarked it?"
+
+Wilford had not. She complained much of headache; but that was only
+natural. Still he wrote to the Mountain House that afternoon to secure
+rooms for himself and wife, and then at an earlier hour than usual went
+home to tell her of the arrangement. Katy was out shopping, Esther said,
+and had not yet returned, adding: "There is a note for her upstairs,
+left by a woman who insisted on seeing the house, until I took her over
+it, showing her every room."
+
+"A strange woman went over my house in Mrs. Cameron's absence! Who was
+it?" Wilford asked, hastily, visions of Helen, or possibly Aunt Betsy,
+rising before his mind.
+
+"She said she was a friend of Mrs. Cameron, and that she knew she would
+allow the liberty," Esther replied, thus confirming Wilford in his
+suspicions that some country acquaintance had thrust herself upon them,
+and hastening up to Katy's room, where the note was lying, he took it up
+and examined the superscription, examined it closely, holding it up to
+the light full a minute, and forgetting to open it in his perplexity and
+the train of thought it awakened.
+
+"They are singularly alike," he said, and still holding the note in his
+hand he went downstairs to the library, and opening a drawer of his
+writing desk, which was always kept locked, he took from it a picture
+and a bit of soiled paper, on which was written: "I am not guilty,
+Wilford, and God will never forgive the wrong you have done to me."
+
+There was no name or date, but Wilford needed neither, for he knew well
+whose hand had penned those lines, and he sat looking at them, comparing
+them at last with the "Mrs. Wilford Cameron" which the strange woman had
+written. Then opening the note, he read that, having returned to New
+York, and wishing employment either as seamstress or dressmaker, Marian
+Hazelton had ventured to call upon Mrs. Cameron, remembering her promise
+to give her work if she should desire it. The note concluded by saying:
+
+"I am sure you will pardon me for the liberty I took of going over the
+house. It was a temptation I could not resist. You have a delightful
+home. God grant you may be happy in it. You see I have also made bold
+to write this in your library, for which I beg pardon,
+
+"Yours truly, MARIAN HAZELTON,
+
+"No. ---- Fourth St., 4th floor, N.Y."
+
+"Who is Marian Hazelton?" Wilford asked himself as he threw down the
+missive. "Some of Katy's country friends, I dare say. Seems to me I have
+heard that name. She certainly writes as Genevra did, except that this
+Hazelton's is more decided and firm. Poor Genevra!"
+
+There was a pallor about Wilford's lips as he said this, and taking up
+the picture he gazed for a long time upon the handsome, girlish face,
+whose dark eyes seemed to look reproachfully upon him, just as they must
+have looked when the words were penned: "God will never forgive the
+wrong you have done to me."
+
+"Genevra was mistaken," he said. "At least, if God has not forgiven, he
+has prospered me, which amounts to the same thing;" and without a single
+throb of gratitude to Him who had thus prospered him, Wilford laid
+Genevra's picture and Genevra's note back with the withered grass and
+flowers plucked from Genevra's grave, and then went again upstairs, just
+as Katy's ring was heard and Katy herself came in.
+
+As thoughts of Genevra always made Wilford kinder toward his wife, so
+now he kissed her white cheek, noticing that, as Mark had said, it was
+whiter than last year in June. But mountain air would bring back the
+roses, he thought, as he handed her the note.
+
+"Oh, yes, from Marian Hazelton," Katy said, glancing first at the name
+and then hastily reading it through.
+
+"Who is Marian Hazelton? Some intimate friend, I judge, from the liberty
+she took."
+
+"Not very intimate, though I liked her so much, and thought her above
+her position," Katy replied, repeating all she knew of Marian, and how
+she chanced to know her at all. "Don't you remember Helen wrote that she
+fainted at our wedding, and I was so sorry, fearing I might have
+overworked her."
+
+Wilford did remember something about it, and satisfied that Marian
+Hazelton had no idea of intruding herself upon them, except as she might
+ask for work, he dismissed her from his mind and told Katy of his plan
+for taking her to the Mountain House a few weeks before going to
+Saratoga.
+
+"Would you not like it?" he asked, as she continued silent, with her
+eyes fixed upon the window opposite.
+
+"Yes," and Katy drew a long and weary breath. "I shall like any place
+where there are birds, and rocks, and trees, and real grass, such as
+grows of itself in the country; but Wilford," and Katy crept close to
+him now, "if I might go to Silverton, I should get strong so fast. You
+don't know how I long to see home once more. I dream about it nights and
+think about it days, knowing just how pleasant it is there, with the
+roses in bloom and the meadows so fresh and green. May I go, Wilford?
+May I go home to mother?"
+
+Had Katy asked for half his fortune, just as she asked to go home,
+Wilford would have given it to her, but Silverton had a power to lock
+all the softer avenues of his heart, and so he answered that the
+Mountain House was preferable, that the rooms were engaged, and that as
+he should enjoy it so much better he thought they would make no change.
+
+Katy did not cry, nor utter a word of remonstrance; she was fast
+learning that quiet submission was better than useless opposition, and
+so Silverton was again given up. But there was one consolation. Seeing
+Marian Hazelton would be almost as good as going home, for had she not
+recently come from that neighborhood, bringing with her the odor from
+the hills and freshness from the woods. Perhaps, too, she had lately
+seen Helen or Morris at church, and had heard the music of the organ
+which Helen played, and the singing of the children just as it sometimes
+came to Katy in her dreams, making her start in her sleep and murmur
+snatches of the sacred songs which Dr. Morris taught. Yes, Marian could
+tell her of all this, and very impatiently Katy waited for the morning
+when she would drive around to Fourth Street with the piles of sewing
+she was going to take to Marian.
+
+"Dear Marian, I wonder is she very poor?" Katy thought, as she next day
+made her preparations for the call, and had Wilford been parsimoniously
+inclined, he might have winced could he have seen the numerous stores
+gathered up for Marian and packed away in the carriage with the bundle
+of cambric and linen and lace, all destined for that fourth-story
+chamber where Marian Hazelton sat that summer morning, looking drearily
+out upon the dingy court and contrasting its sickly patch of grass,
+embellished with rain water barrels, coal hods and ash pails, with the
+country she had so lately left, the wooded hills and blooming gardens of
+Silverton, which had been her home for nearly two years.
+
+It was a fault of Marian's not to remain long contented in any place,
+and so tiring of the country she had returned to the great city, urged
+on by a strange desire it may be to see Mrs. Wilford Cameron, to know
+just how she lived, to judge if she were happy, and perhaps--some time
+see Wilford Cameron, herself unknown, for not for the world would she
+have met face to face the man who had so often stood by Genevra
+Lambert's grave in the churchyard beyond the sea. Thinking she might
+succeed better alone, she had hired a room far up the narrow stairway of
+a high, somber-looking building, and then from her old acquaintances, of
+whom she had several in the city, she had solicited work. More than once
+she had passed the handsome house on Madison Square where Katy lived,
+walking slowly and gazing with dim eyes which could not weep at Wilford
+Cameron's luxurious home, and contrasting it with hers, that one room,
+which yet was not wholly uninviting, for where Marian went there was
+always an air of humble comfort; and Katy, as she crossed the threshold,
+uttered an exclamation of delight at the cheerful, airy aspect of the
+apartment, with its bright ingrain carpet, its simple shades of white,
+its chintz-covered lounge, its one rocking-chair, its small parlor
+stove, and its pots of flowers upon the broad window sill.
+
+"Oh, Marian," she exclaimed, tripping across the floor, and impulsively
+throwing her arms around Miss Hazelton's neck, "I am so glad to meet
+some one from home. It seems almost like Helen I am kissing," and her
+lips again met those of Marian Hazelton, who amid her own joy at finding
+Katy unchanged, wondered what the Camerons would say to see their Mrs.
+Wilford kissing a poor seamstress whom they would have spurned.
+
+But Katy did not care for Camerons then, or even think of them, as in
+her rich basquine and pretty hat, with emeralds and diamonds sparkling
+on her fingers, she sat down by Marian, whose hands, though delicate and
+small, showed marks of labor such as Katy had never known.
+
+"You must forgive me for going over your house," Marian said, after they
+had talked together a moment, and Katy had told how sorry she was to
+miss the call. "I could not resist the temptation, and it did me so much
+good, although I must confess to a good cry when I came back and thought
+of the difference between us."
+
+There was a quiver of her lip and a tone in her voice which touched
+Katy's heart, and she tried to comfort her, forgetting entirely whether
+what she said was proper or not, and impetuously letting out that even
+in houses like hers there was trouble. Not that she was unhappy in the
+least, for she was not; but, oh! the fuss it was to be fashionable and
+keep from doing anything to shock his folks, who were so particular
+about every little thing, even to the way she tied her bonnet and sat
+in a chair.
+
+This was what Katy said, and Marian, looking straight into Katy's face,
+felt that she would not exchange places with the young girl-wife whom so
+many envied.
+
+"Tell me of Silverton," was Katy's next remark. "You don't know how
+I want to go there; but Wilford does not think it best--that is, at
+present. Next fall I am surely going. I picture to myself just how it
+will look; Morris' garden, full of the autumnal flowers--the ripe
+peaches in our orchard, the grapes ripening on the wall, and the long
+shadows on the grass, just as I used to watch them, wondering what made
+them move so fast, and where they could be going. Will it be unchanged,
+Marian? Do places seem the same when once we have left them?" and Katy's
+eager eyes looked wistfully at Marian, who replied: "Not always--not
+often, in fact; but in your case they may. You have not been long away."
+
+"Only a year," Katy said. "I was as long as that in Canandaigua; but
+this past year is different. I have seen so much, and lived so much,
+that I feel ten years older than I did last spring, when you and Helen
+made my wedding dress. Darling Helen! When did you see her last?"
+
+"I was there five weeks ago," Marian replied. "I saw them all, and told
+them I was coming to New York."
+
+"Do they miss me any? Do they talk of me? Do they wish me back again?"
+Katy asked, and Marian replied: "They talked of little else--that is,
+your own family. Dr. Morris, I think, did not mention your name. He
+has grown very silent and reserved," and Marian's eyes were fixed
+inquiringly upon Katy, as if to ascertain how much she knew of the
+cause for Morris' reserve.
+
+But Katy had no suspicion, and only replied: "Perhaps he is vexed that
+I do not write to him oftener, but I can't. I think of him a great deal,
+and sometimes have so wished I could sit in his public library, and
+forget that there are such things as dinner parties, where you are in
+constant terror lest you should do something wrong--evening parties,
+where your dress and style are criticised--receptions or calls, and all
+the things which make me so confused. Morris could always quiet me. It
+rested me just to hear him talk, and I respect him more than any living
+man, except, of course, Wilford; but when I try to write, something
+comes in between me and what I wish to say, for I want to convince him
+that I am not as frivolous as I fear he thinks I am. I have not
+forgotten the Sunday school, nor the church service, which I so loved to
+hear, especially when Morris read it, as he did in Mr. Browning's
+absence; but in the city it is so hard to be good, particularly when one
+is not, you know--that is, good like you and Helen and Morris--and the
+service and music seem all for show, and I feel so hateful when I see
+Juno and Wilford's mother making believe, and putting their heads down
+on velvet cushions, knowing as I do that they both are thinking either
+of their own bonnets or those just in front."
+
+"Are you not a little uncharitable?" Marian asked, laughing in spite of
+herself at the picture Katy drew of fashion trying to imitate religion
+in its humility.
+
+"Perhaps so," Katy answered. "I grow bad from looking behind the scenes,
+and the worst is that I do not care. But tell me, do you think Morris
+likes me less than formerly?"
+
+Marian did not, and assured on that point, Katy went back to the
+farmhouse, asking numberless questions about its inmates, and at last
+coming to the business which had brought her to Marian's room.
+
+There were perceptible spots on Marian's neck, and her lips were very
+white, while her hands grasped the bundles tossed into her lap--the
+yards and yards of lace and embroidery, linen, and cambric, which she
+was expected to make for the wife of Wilford Cameron; and her voice was
+husky as she asked directions or made suggestions of her own.
+
+"It's because she has no such joy in expectation. I should feel so, too,
+if I were thirty and unmarried," Katy thought, as she noticed Marian's
+agitation, and tried to divert her mind by telling her as delicately as
+possible that she had brought with her sundry stores of which she had
+such an abundance.
+
+"I knew you were not an object of charity," she said, as she saw the
+flush on Marian's brow, "but when I have so much I like to share it with
+others, and you seem like our folks."
+
+"Did Wilf--did Mr. Cameron know?" Marian asked, and Katy answered "No;
+but it does not matter. He lets me do as I like in these matters, and
+the greatest pleasure I have is giving. You are not offended?" she
+continued, as she saw a tear drop from Marian's eyelids.
+
+"No--oh, no," and Marian quietly laid aside the packages which would
+find their way to many an humble garret or cellar, where biting poverty
+had its abode.
+
+It would choke her to eat whatever came from Wilford Cameron, but she
+could not tell Katy so, though she did say: "I will keep these because
+you brought them, but do not do so again. There are many far more needy.
+I saved something in Silverton. I shall not suffer so long as my health
+is spared."
+
+Then after a few more inquiries concerning the work, about which she
+could now talk calmly, she asked where Katy went when she was abroad,
+her blue eyes growing almost black as Katy talked of Rome, of Venice, of
+Paris, and then of Alnwick, where they had stopped so long.
+
+"By the way, you were born in England? Were you ever at Alnwick?" Katy
+asked, and Marian replied: "Once, yes. I've seen the castle and the
+church. Did you go there--to St. Mary's, I mean?"
+
+"Oh, yes, and I was never tired of that old churchyard, Wilford liked
+it, too, and we wandered by the hour among the sunken graves and quaint
+headstones."
+
+"Do you remember any of the names upon the stones? Perhaps I may know
+them?" Marian asked; but Katy did not remember any, or if she did, it
+was not "Genevra Lambert, aged twenty-two." And so Marian asked her no
+more questions concerning St. Mary's, at Alnwick, but talked instead of
+London and other places, until three hours went by, and down in the
+street the coachman chafed and fretted at the long delay, wandering what
+kept his mistress in that neighborhood so long. Had she friends, or had
+she come on some errand of mercy? The latter most likely, he concluded,
+and so his face was not quite so cross when Katy at last appeared,
+looking at her watch and exclaiming at the lateness of the hour. But
+when, as they turned into the avenue, Katy called to him to stop,
+bidding him drive back, as she had forgotten something, he showed
+unmistakable signs of irritation, but nevertheless obeyed, and Katy was
+soon mounting a second time to the fourth story of No. ----, where Marian
+Hazelton knelt upon the floor, her head resting upon the costly fabrics
+and her frame quivering with the anguish of the sobs which reached
+Katy's ear even before she opened the unbolted door.
+
+"What is it, Marian?" she asked, in great distress, while Marian,
+struggling to her feet, remained for a moment speechless.
+
+She had not expected Katy to return, else she had never given way as she
+did, calling on her God to help her bear what she now knew she was not
+prepared to bear. She had thought the heart struggle conquered, and that
+she could calmly look upon Wilford Cameron's wife; but the sight of
+Katy, together with the errand on which she came, had unnerved her, and
+she wept bitterly in her desolation, until Katy's reappearance startled
+her from her position on the floor, making her stammer out some excuse
+about "homesickness and the seeing Katy bringing back the past."
+
+Very lovingly Katy tried to comfort her, putting into her manner just
+enough of pretty patronage to amuse without annoying Marian, who soon
+grew calm, and then listened while Katy told why she returned. She
+feared she had talked too much of her own affairs--too much of his
+folks, who, after all, were nice, kind people, and she came to take
+it back, asking Marian never to speak of it, as it might get to them
+indirectly, and Wilford would be angry.
+
+With a smile, as she thought how improbable it was that anything said to
+her up in that humble room should reach to No. ---- Fifth Avenue, Marian
+promised silence; and with a good-by kiss, given to convince Marian that
+she was not proud, Katy again departed, and was soon driving toward
+Madison Square. She was very happy that morning, for seeing Marian had
+brought Silverton near to her, and airy as a bird she ran up the steps
+of her own dwelling, where the door opened as by magic, and Wilford
+himself confronted her, asking, with the tone which always made her
+heart beat, where she had been, and he waiting for her two whole hours.
+Surely it was not necessary to stop so long with a seamstress, he
+continued when she tried to explain. Ten minutes would suffice for
+directions, and he could not imagine what attractions there were in Miss
+Hazelton to keep her there three hours, and then the real cause of his
+vexation came out. He had come expressly for the carriage to take her
+and Sybil Grandon to a picnic up the river, whither his mother, Juno and
+Bell had already gone. Mrs. Grandon must wonder why he stayed so long,
+and perhaps give up going. Could Katy be ready soon; and Wilford walked
+rapidly up and down the parlor as he talked, with a restless motion of
+his hands which always betokened impatience. Poor Katy, how the
+brightness of the morning faded, and how averse she felt to joining that
+picnic, which she knew had been in prospect for some time, and had
+fancied she should enjoy. But not to-day, not with that cold, proud look
+on Wilford's face, and the feeling that he was vexed. Still she could
+think of no reasonable excuse, and so an hour later found her driving
+into the country with Sybil Grandon, who received her apologies with as
+much good-natured grace as if she had not worked herself into a passion
+at the delay, for Sybil had been very cross and impatient; but all this
+vanished when she met Wilford and saw that he, too, was disturbed and
+irritated. Soft and sweet and smooth was she both in word and manner, so
+that by the time the pleasant grove was reached Wilford's ruffled
+spirits had been soothed, and he was himself again, ready to enjoy the
+pleasures of the day as keenly as if no harsh word had been said to
+Katy, who, silent and unhappy, listened to the graceful badinage between
+Sybil and her husband, thinking how differently his voice had sounded
+when addressing her only a little while before.
+
+"Pray put some animation into your face, or Mrs. Grandon will certainly
+think we have been quarreling," Wilford whispered, as he lifted his wife
+from the carriage, and with a great effort Katy tried to be gay and
+natural.
+
+But all the while was she fighting back her tears and wishing she were
+away. Even Marian's room, looking into the dingy court, was preferable
+to that place, and she was glad when the long day came to an end, and
+she with a fearful headache was riding back to the city.
+
+The next morning was dark and rainy; but in spite of the weather Katy
+found her way to Marian's room, this time taking the ---- avenue cars,
+which left her independent as regarded the length of her stay. About
+Marian there was something more congenial than about her city friends,
+and day after day found her there, watching while Marian fashioned into
+shape the beautiful little garments, the sight of which had over Katy a
+strangely quieting influence, sobering her down and maturing her more
+than all the years of her life had done. Those were happy hours spent
+with Marian Hazelton, the happiest of the entire day, and Katy felt it
+keenly when Wilford at last interfered, telling her she was growing
+quite too familiar with that sewing woman, and her calls had best be
+discontinued, except, indeed, such as were necessary to the work in
+progress.
+
+There was a grieved look on Katy's face, but she uttered no word of
+remonstrance; while her husband went on to say, that of course he did
+not wish to be unreasonable, nor interfere between her and her
+acquaintances as a general thing, but when the acquaintance chosen was a
+sewing woman, whose antecedents no one knew, and whose society could not
+be improving, the case was different.
+
+After this there were no more mornings spent in Marian's room, no more
+talks of Silverton and Morris Grant; talks which did Katy a world of
+good, and kept her heart open to better influences, which might
+otherwise have been wholly choked and destroyed by the life she saw
+around her. With one great gush of tears, when there was no one to see
+her, Katy gave Marian up, writing her a note, in which were sundry
+directions for the work, which would go on even after she had left for
+the Mountain House, as she intended doing the last of June. And Marian,
+reading this note, guessed at more than Katy meant she should, and with
+a bitter sigh laid it in her basket, and then resumed the work, which
+seemed doubly monotonous now that there was no more listening for the
+little feet tripping up the stairs, or for the bird-like voice which had
+brought so much of music and sunshine to her lonely room.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XIX.
+
+SARATOGA AND NEWPORT.
+
+
+For three weeks Katy had been at the Mountain House, growing stronger
+every day, until now she was much like the Katy of one year ago, and
+Wilford was very proud of her, as he saw how greatly she was admired by
+those whose admiration he deemed worth having. But their stay among the
+Catskills was ended, and on the morrow they were going to Saratoga,
+where Mrs. Cameron and her daughter were, and where, too, was Sybil
+Grandon, the reigning belle of the United States. So Bell had written to
+her brother, bidding him hasten on with Katy, as she wished to see "that
+chit of a widow in her proper place." And Katy had been weak enough for
+a moment to feel a throb of satisfaction in knowing how effectually
+Sybil's claims to belleship would be put aside when she was once in the
+field; even glancing at herself in the mirror as she leaned on Wilford's
+shoulder, and feeling glad that mountain air and mountain exercise had
+brought the roses back to her white cheeks and the brightness to her
+eyes. But Katy wept passionate tears of repentance for that weakness,
+when an hour later she read the letter which Dr. Grant had sent in
+answer to one she had written from the Mountain House, and in which she
+had told him much of her life in New York, confessing her shortcomings,
+and lamenting that the evils and excesses which shocked her once did not
+startle her now. To this letter Morris had replied as a brother might
+write to an only sister, first expressing his joy at her happiness, and
+then coming to the subject which lay nearest his heart, warning her
+against temptation, reminding her of that other life to which this is
+only a preparation, and beseeching her so to use the good things of this
+world, given her in such profusion, as not to lose the life eternal.
+
+This was the substance of Morris' letter, which Katy read with
+streaming eyes, forgetting Saratoga as Morris' solemn words of warning
+and admonition rang in her ears, and shuddering as she thought of losing
+the life eternal of going where Morris would never come, nor any of
+those she loved the best, unless it were Wilford, who might reproach her
+with having dragged him there when she could have saved him.
+
+"Keep yourself unspotted from the world," Morris had said, and she
+repeated it to herself, asking: "How shall I do that? How can one be
+good and fashionable, too?"
+
+Then laying her hand upon the rock where she was sitting, Katy tried to
+pray as she had not prayed in months, asking that God would teach her
+what she ought to know, and keep her unspotted from the world. But at
+the Mountain House it is easier to pray that one be kept from temptation
+than it is at Saratoga, which this summer was crowded to overflowing,
+its streets presenting a fitting picture of Vanity Fair, so full were
+they of show and gala dress. At the United States, where Mrs. Cameron
+stopped, two rooms, for which an enormous price was paid, had been
+reserved for Mr. and Mrs. Wilford Cameron, and this of itself would have
+given them a certain _eclat_, even if there had not been present many
+who remembered the proud, fastidious bachelor, and were proportionately
+anxious to see his wife. She came, she saw, she conquered; and within
+three days after her arrival Katy Cameron was the acknowledged belle of
+Saratoga, from the United States to the Clarendon. And Katy, alas! was
+not quite the same who on the mountain ridge had sat with Morris' letter
+in her hand, praying that its teachings might not be all forgotten. Nor
+were they, but she did not heed them here where all was so bright and
+gay, and where the people thought her so perfect. Saratoga seemed
+different to her from New York, and she plunged into its gayeties, never
+pausing, never tiring, and seldom giving herself time to think, much
+less to pray, as Morris had bidden her do. And Wilford, though hardly
+able to recognize the usually timid Katy in the brilliant woman who led
+rather than followed, was sure of her faith to him, and so was only
+proud and gratified to see her bear off the palm from every competitor,
+while even Juno, though she quarreled with the shadow into which she
+was so completely thrown, enjoyed the _eclat_ cast upon their party by
+the presence of Mrs. Wilford, who had passed beyond her criticism. Sybil
+Grandon, too, stood back in wonder that a simple country girl should win
+and wear the laurels she had so long claimed as her own; but as there
+was no help for it she contented herself as best she could with the
+admiration she did receive, and whenever opportunity occurred, said
+bitter things of Mrs. Wilford, whose parentage and low estate were
+through her pretty generally known. But it did not matter there what
+Katy had been; the people took her for what she was now, and Sybil's
+glory faded like the early dawn in the coming of the full day.
+
+As it had been at Saratoga, so it was at Newport. Urged on by Mrs.
+Cameron and Bell, who greatly enjoyed her notoriety, Katy plunged into
+the mad excitement of dancing and driving and coquetting, until Wilford
+himself became uneasy, locking her once in her room, where she was
+sleeping after dinner, and conveniently forgetting to release her until
+after the departure at evening of some young men from Cambridge, whose
+attentions to the Ocean House belle had been more strongly marked than
+was altogether agreeable to him. Of course it was a mistake--the locking
+of the door--and a great oversight in him not to have remembered it
+sooner, he said to Katy, by way of apology; and Katy, with no suspicion
+of the truth, laughed merrily at the joke, repeating it downstairs to
+the old dowagers, who shrugged their shoulders meaningly and whispered
+to each other that it might be well if more young, handsome wives were
+locked into their rooms and thus kept out of mischief.
+
+Though flattered, caressed and admired, Katy was not doing herself much
+credit at Newport, but after Wilford there was no one to raise a warning
+voice, until Mark Ray came down for a few days' respite from the heated
+city, where he spent the entire summer, taking charge of the business
+which belonged as much to Wilford as to himself. But Wilford had a wife;
+it was more necessary that he should leave, Mark had argued; his time
+would come by and by. And so he had remained at home until the last of
+August, when he appeared suddenly at the Ocean House one night when
+Katy, in her airy robes and childlike simplicity, was breaking hearts by
+the score. Like others, Mark was charmed, and not a little proud, for
+Katy's sake, to see her thus appreciated; but when one day's experience
+had shown him more and given him a look behind the scenes, he trembled
+for her, knowing how hard it would be for her to come out of that sea of
+dissipation as pure and spotless as she went in.
+
+"If I were her brother I would warn her that her present career, though
+very delightful now, is not one upon which she will look back with
+pleasure when the excitement is over," he said to himself; "but if
+Wilford is satisfied it is not for me to interfere. It is surely nothing
+to me what Katy Cameron does," he kept repeating to himself; but as
+often as he said it there came up before him a pale, anxious face,
+shaded with Helen Lennox's bands of hair, and Helen Lennox's voice
+whispered to him: "Save Katy, for my sake;" and so next day, when Mark
+found himself alone with Katy, while most of the guests were at the
+beach, he questioned her of her life at Saratoga and Newport, and
+gradually, as he talked, there crept into Katy's heart a suspicion that
+he was not altogether pleased with her account, or with what he had seen
+of her since his arrival.
+
+For a moment Katy was indignant, but when he said to her kindly: "Would
+Helen he pleased?" her tears started at once, and she attempted an
+excuse for her weak folly, accusing Sybil Grandon as the first cause of
+the ambition for which she hated herself.
+
+"She had been held up as my pattern," she said, half bitterly, and
+forgetting to whom she was talking--"she the one whom I was to imitate;
+and when I found that if I would I could go beyond her, I yielded to the
+temptation, and exulted to see how far she was left behind. Besides
+that," she continued, "is it no gratification, think you, to let
+Wilford's proud mother and sister see the poor country girl, whom
+ordinarily they would despise, stand where they cannot come, and even
+dictate to them if she chooses so to do? I know it is wrong--I know it
+is wicked--but I rather like the excitement, and so long as I am with
+these people I shall never be any better. Mark Ray, you don't know what
+it is to be surrounded by a set who care for nothing but fashion and
+display, and how they may outdo each other. I hate New York society.
+There is nothing there but husks."
+
+Katy's tears had ceased, and on her white face there was a new look of
+womanhood, as if in that outburst she had changed, and would never again
+be just what she was before.
+
+"Say," she continued, "do you like New York society?"
+
+"Not always--not wholly," Mark answered; "and still you misjudge it
+greatly, for all are not like the people you describe. Your husband's
+family represent one extreme, while there are others equally high in the
+social scale who do not make fashion the rule of their lives--sensible,
+cultivated, intellectual people, of whose acquaintance one might be
+glad--people whom I fancy your Sister Helen would enjoy. I have only met
+her twice, it is true, but my impression is that she would not find New
+York utterly distasteful."
+
+Mark did not know why he had dragged Helen into that conversation,
+unless it were that she seemed very near to him as he talked with Katy,
+who replied:
+
+"Yes, Helen finds some good in all. She sees differently from what I do,
+and I wish so much that she was here."
+
+"Why not send for her?" Mark asked, casting about in his mind whether in
+case Helen came, he, too, could tarry for a week and leave that business
+in Southbridge, which he must attend to ere returning to the city.
+
+It would be a study to watch Helen Lennox there at Newport, and in
+imagination Mark was already her sworn knight, shielding her from
+criticism, and commanding her respect from those who respected him, when
+Katy tore his castle down by answering impulsively:
+
+"I doubt if Wilford would let me send for her here, nor does it matter,
+as I shall not remain much longer. I do not need her now, since you have
+showed me how foolish I have been. I was angry at first, but now I thank
+you for it, and so would Helen. I shall tell her when I am in Silverton.
+I am going there from here, and oh, I so wish it was to-day."
+
+The guests were beginning to return from the beach by this time, and as
+Mark had said all he had intended saying, and even more, he left Katy
+with Wilford, who had just come in and joined a merry party of
+Bostonians only that day arrived. That night at the Ocean House the
+guests missed something from their festivities; the dance was not so
+exhilarating or the small-talk between them so lively, while more than
+one white-kidded dandy swore mentally at the innocent Wilford, whose
+wife declined to join in the gayeties, and in a plain white muslin, with
+only a pond lily in her hair, kept by her husband's side,
+notwithstanding that he more than once bade her leave him and accept
+some of her numerous invitations to join the giddy dance. This sober
+phase of Katy did not on the whole please Wilford as much as her gayer
+ones had done. Perfectly sure of her devotion to himself, he liked to
+watch her as she glided amid the throng which paid her so much homage.
+All he had ever dreamed of the sensation his bride would create was more
+than verified. Katy had fulfilled his highest expectations, reaching a
+point from which, as she had said to Mark, she could even dictate to his
+mother, if she chose, and he did not care to see her relinquish it.
+
+But Katy remained true to herself. Dropping her girlish playfulness she
+assumed a quiet, gentle dignity, which became her even better than her
+gayer mood had done, making her ten times more popular and more sought
+after, until she begged to go away, persuading Wilford at last to name
+the day for their departure, and then, never doubting for a moment that
+her destination was Silverton, she wrote to Helen that she was coming on
+such a day, and as they would come by way of Providence and Worcester,
+they would probably reach West Silverton at ten o'clock, A.M.
+
+"Wilford," she added, in a postscript, "has gone down to bathe, and as
+the mail is just closing, I shall send this letter without his seeing
+it. Of course it can make no difference, for I have talked all summer of
+coming, and he understands it."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XX.
+
+MARK RAY AT SILVERTON.
+
+
+The last day of summer was dying out in a fierce storm of rain which
+swept in sheets across the Silverton hills, hiding the pond from
+view, and beating the windows of the farmhouse, whose inmates were
+nevertheless unmindful of the storm save as they hoped the morrow would
+prove bright and fair, such as the day should be which brought them back
+their Katy. Nearly worn out with constant reference was her letter, the
+mother catching it up from time to time to read the part referring to
+herself, the place where Katy had told how blessed it would be "to rest
+again on mother's bed," just as she had often wished to do, "and hear
+mother's voice;" the deacon spelling out by his spluttering tallow
+candle, with its long, smoky wick, what she had said of "darling old
+Uncle Eph," and the rides into the fields which she should have with
+him; Aunt Betsy, too, reading mostly from memory the words: "Good old
+Aunt Betsy, with her skirts so limp and short, tell her she will look
+handsomer to me than the fairest belle at Newport;" and as often as Aunt
+Betsy read it she would ejaculate: "The land! what kind of company must
+the child have kept?" wondering next if Helen had never written of the
+hoop, for which she had paid a dollar, and which was carefully hung in
+her closet, waiting for the event of to-morrow, while the hem of her
+pongee had been let down and one breadth added to accommodate the hoop.
+On the whole, Aunt Betsy expected to make a stylish appearance before
+the little lady of whom she stood slightly in awe, always speaking of
+her to the neighbors as "My niece, Miss Cameron, from New York," and
+taking good care to report what she had heard of "Miss Cameron's" costly
+dress and the grandeur of her house, where the furniture of the best
+chamber cost over fifteen hundred dollars.
+
+"What could it be--gold?" Aunt Betsy had asked in her simplicity,
+feeling an increased respect for Katy, and consenting the more readily
+to the change in her pongee, as suggested to her by Helen.
+
+But that was for to-morrow when Katy came; to-night she only wore a
+dotted brown, whose hem just reached the top of her "bootees," as she
+stood by the window, wondering, first, if the rain would ever stop, and
+wondering, secondly, where all them fish worms, squirming on the grass
+by the back door, did come from. Needn't tell her they crawled out of
+the ground; she knew better--they rained from the clouds, though she
+should s'pose that somebody would sometime have catched one on their
+bunnet or umberill. Dammed if she didn't mean to stand out o' doors some
+day till she was wet to the skin, and see what would come, and having
+thus settled a way by which to decide the only question, except that of
+the "'Piscopal Church and its quirks," on which she was still obstinate,
+Aunt Betsy went to strain the milk just brought by Uncle Ephraim, while
+Helen took her position near the window, looking drearily out upon the
+leaden clouds, and hoping it would brighten before the morrow. Like the
+others, Helen had read Katy's letter many times, dwelling longest upon
+the part which said: "I have been so bad, so frivolous and wicked here
+at Newport, that it will be a relief to make you my confessor,
+depending, as I do, upon your love to grant me absolution."
+
+From a family at Silverton, who had spent a few days at a private house
+in Newport, Helen had heard something of her sister's life; the lady had
+seen her once driving a tandem team, or as Aunt Betsy had it, "driving
+tanterum," down the avenue, with Wilford at her side giving her
+instructions. Since then there had been some anxiety felt for her at the
+farmhouse, and more than Dr. Grant had prayed that she might be kept
+unspotted from the world; but when her letter came, so full of love and
+self-reproaches, the burden was lifted, and there was nothing to mar
+the anticipations of the events for which they had made so many
+preparations, Uncle Ephraim going to the expense of buying at auction a
+half-worn, covered buggy, which he fancied would suit Katy better than
+the corn-colored wagon in which Katy used to ride. To pay for this the
+deacon had parted with the money set aside for the "greatcoat" he so
+much needed for the coming winter, his old gray one having done him
+service for fifteen years. But his comfort was nothing compared with
+Katy's happiness, and so, with his wrinkled face beaming with delight,
+he had brought home his buggy, which he designated a carriage, putting
+it carefully in the barn, and saying no one should ride in it till
+Katy came, the corn-color was good enough for them, but Katy was
+different--Katy was Mrs. Cameron, and used to something better. With
+untiring patience the old man mended up his harness, for what he had
+heard of Katy's driving had impressed him strongly with her powers of
+horsemanship, and, truth to tell, raised her somewhat in his respect.
+Could he have afforded it Uncle Ephraim in his younger days would have
+been a horse jockey, and even now he liked nothing better than to make
+Old Whitey run when alone in the strip of woods between the house and
+the head of the pond.
+
+"Katy inherits her love of horses from me," he said, complacently, and
+with a view of improving Whitey's style and metal, he took to feeding
+him on corn and oats, talking to him at times, and telling him who was
+coming.
+
+Dear, simple-hearted Uncle Ephraim, the days which he must wait seemed
+long to him as they did to the female portion of his family, to Mrs.
+Lennox, Aunt Hannah and Aunt Betsy, who each did what she could to make
+the house attractive. They were ready for Katy at last, or could be
+early on the morrow, and with the shutting in of night the candles were
+lighted in the sitting-room, and Helen sat down to her work, wishing it
+was to-night that Katy was coming. As if in answer to her wish there was
+the sound of wheels, which stopped before the house, and dropping her
+work, Helen ran quickly to the door, just as from under the dripping
+umbrella held by a driver boy, a tall young man, sprang upon the step,
+nearly upsetting her, but passing an arm around her shoulders in time to
+keep her from falling.
+
+"I beg pardon for this assault upon you," the stranger said; and then,
+turning to the boy, he continued: "It's all right, you need not wait."
+
+With a chirrup and a blow the horse started forward, and the
+mud-bespattered vehicle was rapidly moving down the road ere Helen had
+recovered her surprise at recognizing Mark Ray, who shook the raindrops
+from his hair, and offering her his hand said in reply to her
+involuntary exclamation: "I thought it was Katy." "Shall I infer,
+then, that I am the less welcome?" and his bright, saucy eyes looked
+laughingly into hers. "Business had brought him to Southbridge," he
+said, "and it was his intention to take the cars that afternoon for New
+York, but having been detained longer than he expected, and not liking
+the looks of the hotel arrangements, he had decided to presume upon his
+acquaintance with Dr. Grant and spend the night at Linwood. But," and
+again his eyes looked straight at Helen, "it rained so hard and the
+light from your window was so inviting that I ventured to stop, so here
+I am, claiming your hospitality until morning, if convenient; if not, I
+will find my way to Linwood."
+
+There was something in this pleasant familiarity which won Uncle Ephraim
+at once, and he bade the young man stay, as did Aunt Hannah and Mrs.
+Lennox, who now for the first time were presented to Mark Ray. Always
+capable of adapting himself to the circumstances around him, Mark did so
+now with so much ease and courteousness as to astonish Helen, and partly
+thaw the reserve she had assumed when she found the visitor was from the
+hated city.
+
+"Are you expecting Mrs. Cameron?" he asked, adding as Helen explained
+that she was coming to-morrow: "That is strange. Wilford wrote decidedly
+that he should be in New York to-morrow. Possibly, though, he does not
+intend himself to stop."
+
+"I presume not," Helen replied, a weight suddenly lifting from her heart
+at the prospect of not having to entertain the formidable brother-in-law
+who, if he stayed long, would spoil all her pleasure.
+
+Thus at her ease on this point, she grew more talkative, half wishing
+that her dress was not a shilling calico, or her hair combed back quite
+so straight, giving her that severe look which Morris had said was
+unbecoming. It was very smooth and glossy, and even Sybil Grandon would
+have given her best diamond to have had in her own natural right the
+long heavy coil of hair bound so many times around the back of Helen's
+head, ornamented with neither ribbon, comb, nor bow--only a single
+geranium leaf, with a white and scarlet blossom, was fastened just
+below the ear, and on the side where Mark could see it best, admiring
+its effect and forgetting the arrangement of the hair in his admiration
+of the well-shaped head, bending so industriously over the work which
+Helen had resumed--not crocheting, nor yet embroidery, but the very
+homely work of darning Uncle Ephraim's socks, a task which Helen always
+did, and on that particular night. Helen knew it was not delicate
+employment and there was a moment's hesitancy as she wondered what Mark
+would think--then with a grim delight in letting him see that she did
+not care, she resumed her darning needle, and as a kind of penance of
+the flash of pride in which she had indulged, selected from the basket
+the very coarsest, ugliest sock she could find, stretching out the huge
+fracture at the heel to its utmost extent, and attacking it with a right
+good will, while Mark, with a comical look on his face, sat watching
+her. She knew he was looking at her, and her cheeks were growing very
+red, while her hatred of him was increasing, when he said, abruptly:
+"You follow my mother's custom, I see. She used to mend my socks on
+Tuesday nights."
+
+"Your mother mend socks!" and Helen started so suddenly as to run the
+point of her darning needle a long way into her thumb, the wound
+bringing a stream of blood which she tried to wipe away with her
+handkerchief.
+
+"Bind it tightly around. Let me show you, please," Mark said, and ere
+she was aware of what she was doing Helen was quietly permitting the
+young man to wind her handkerchief around her thumb which he held in his
+hand, pressing it until the blood ceased flowing, and the sharp pain had
+abated.
+
+Perhaps Mark Ray liked holding that small, warm hand, even though it
+were not as white and soft as Juno's; at all events he did hold it until
+Helen drew it from him with a quick, sudden motion, telling him it would
+now do very well, and she would not trouble him. Mark did not look as if
+he had been troubled, but went back to his seat and took up the
+conversation just where the needle had stopped it.
+
+"My mother did not always mend herself, but she caused it to be done,
+and sometimes helped. I remember she used to say a woman should know
+how to do everything pertaining to a household, and she carried out her
+theory in the education of my sister."
+
+"Have you a sister?" Helen asked, now really interested, and listening
+intently while Mark told her of his only sister, Julia, now Mrs. Ernst,
+whose home was in New Orleans, though she at present was in Paris, and
+his mother was there with her. "After Julia's marriage, nine years ago,
+mother went to live with her," he said, "but latterly, as the little
+Ernsts increase so fast, she wishes for a more quiet home, and this
+winter she is coming to New York to keep house for me."
+
+Helen thought she might like Mark's mother, who, he told her, had been
+twice married, and was now Mrs. Banker, and a widow. She must be
+different from Mrs. Cameron; and Helen let herself down to another
+degree of toleration for the man whose mother taught her daughter to
+mend the family socks. Still there was about her a chilling reserve,
+which Mark wondered at, for it was not thus that ladies were accustomed
+to receive his advances. He did not guess that Wilford Cameron stood
+between him and Helen's good opinion; but when, after the family came
+in, the conversation turned upon Katy and her life in New York, the
+secret came out in the sharp, caustic mariner with which she spoke of
+New York and its people.
+
+"It's Will and the Camerons," Mark thought, blaming Helen less than he
+would have done, if he, too, had not known something of the Cameron
+pride.
+
+It was a novel position in which Mark found himself that night; an
+inmate of a humble farmhouse, where he could almost touch the ceiling
+with his hand, and where his surroundings were so different from what he
+had been accustomed to; but, unlike Wilford Cameron, he did not wish
+himself away, nor feel indignant at Aunt Betsy's odd, old-fashioned
+ways, or Uncle Ephraim's grammar. He noticed Aunt Betsy's oddities, it
+is true, and noticed Uncle Ephraim's grammar, too; but the sight of
+Helen sitting there, with so much dignity and self-respect, made him
+look beyond all else, straight into her open face and clear brown eyes,
+where there was nothing obnoxious or distasteful. Her grammar was
+correct, her manner, saving a little stiffness, ladylike and refined;
+and Mark rather enjoyed his situation as self-invited guest, making
+himself so agreeable that Uncle Ephraim forgot his hour of retiring, nor
+discovered his mistake until, with a loud yawn, Aunt Betsy told him that
+it was half-past nine, and she was "desput sleepy."
+
+Owing to Helen's influence there had been a change of the olden customs,
+and instead of the long chapter, through which Uncle Ephraim used to
+plod so wearily, there was now read the Evening Psalms, Aunt Betsy
+herself joining in the reading, which she mentally classed with the
+"quirks," but confessed to herself that it "was most as good as the
+Bible."
+
+As there were only Prayer Books enough for the family, Helen, in
+distributing them, purposely passed Mark by, thinking he might not care
+to join them. But he did, and when the verse came around to Helen he
+quickly drew his chair near to hers, and taking one side of her book,
+performed his part, while Helen's face grew red as the blossoms in her
+hair, and her hand so near to Mark's trembled visibly.
+
+"A right nice chap, and not an atom stuck up," was Aunt Betsy's mental
+comment, and then, as he often will do, Satan followed the saintly woman
+even to her knees, making her wonder if "Mr. Ray hadn't some notion
+after Helen." She hoped not, for she meant that Morris should have
+Helen, "though if 'twas to be it was, and she should not go agin' it;"
+and while Aunt Betsy thus settled the case, Uncle Ephraim's prayer
+ended, and the conscience-smitten woman arose from her knees with the
+conviction that "the evil one had got the better of her once," mentally
+asking pardon for her wandering thoughts, and promising to do better.
+
+Mark was in no haste to retire, and when Uncle Ephraim offered to
+conduct him to his room, he frankly answered that he was not sleepy,
+adding, as he turned to Helen: "Please let me stay until Miss Lennox
+finishes her socks. There are several pairs yet undarned. I will not
+detain you, though," he continued, bowing to Uncle Ephraim, who, a
+little uncertain what to do, finally departed, as did Aunt Hannah and
+his sister, leaving Helen and her mother to entertain Mark Ray. It had
+been Mrs. Lennox's first intention to retire also, but a look from
+Helen detained her, and she sat down by that basket of socks, while Mark
+wished her away. Still it was proper for her to remain, he knew, and he
+respected Helen for keeping her, as he knew she did. A while they talked
+of Katy and New York, Mark laboring to convince Helen that its people
+were not all heartless and fickle, and at last citing his mother as an
+instance.
+
+"You would like mother, Miss Lennox. I hope you will know her some
+time," he said, and then they talked of books, Helen forgetting that
+Mark was city bred in the interest with which she listened to him, while
+Mark forgot that the girl who appreciated and understood his views
+almost before they were expressed was country born, and sitting there
+before him clad in homely garb, with no ornaments save those of her fine
+mind and the sparkling face turned so fully toward him.
+
+"Mark Ray is not like Wilford Cameron," Helen said to herself, when as
+the clock was striking eleven she bade him good-night and went up to her
+room. "But of course in his heart he feels above us all," and opening
+her window she leaned her hot cheek against the wet casement, and looked
+out upon the night, now so beautiful and clear, for the rain was over,
+and up in the heavens the bright stars were shining, each one bearing
+some resemblance to Mark's eyes as they kindled and grew bright with his
+excitement, resting always kindly on her--on Helen, who, leaning thus
+from the window, felt stealing over her that feeling which, once born,
+can never be quite forgotten.
+
+Helen did not recognize the feeling, for it was a strange one to her.
+She was only conscious of a sensation half pleasurable, half sad, of
+which Mark Ray had been the cause, and which she tried in vain to put
+aside, wondering what he thought of them all, and if he did not secretly
+despise them even while making himself so familiar. And then there swept
+over her a feeling of desolation such as she had never experienced
+before, a shrinking from living all her life in Silverton, as she fully
+expected to do, and laying her head upon the little stand, she cried
+passionately.
+
+"This is weak, this is folly," she suddenly exclaimed, as she became
+conscious of acting as Helen Lennox was not wont to act, and with a
+strong effort of the will she dried her tears and crept quietly to bed
+just as Mark was falling into his first sleep, and dreaming of
+smothering.
+
+Helen would not have acknowledged it, and yet it was a truth not to be
+denied, that she stayed next morning a much longer time than usual
+before her glass, arranging her hair, which was worn more becomingly
+than on the previous night, softening the somewhat too intellectual
+expression of her face, and making her seem more womanly and modest.
+Once she thought to wear the light buff gown in which she looked so
+well, but the thought was repudiated as soon as formed, and donning the
+same dark calico she would have worn if Mark had not been there, she
+finished her simple toilet and went downstairs, just as Mark came in at
+the side door, his hands full of water lilies and his boots bearing
+marks of what he had been through to get them.
+
+"Early country air is healthful," he said, "and as I do not often have a
+chance to try it I thought I would improve the present opportunity! So I
+have been down by the pond, and spying these lilies I persevered until I
+reached them, in spite of mud and mire. There is no blossom I like so
+well. Were I a young girl I would always wear one in my hair, just as
+your sister did one night at Newport, and I never saw her look better.
+Just let me try the effect on you;" and selecting a half-opened bud,
+Mark placed it among Helen's braids as if hairdressing were one of his
+accomplishments. "The effect is good," he continued, turning her
+blushing face to the glass and asking if it were not.
+
+"Yes," Helen stammered, seeing more the saucy eyes looking over her head
+than the lily in her hair. "Yes, good enough, but hardly in keeping with
+this old dress," and vanity whispered the wish that the buff had really
+been worn.
+
+"Your dress is suitable for morning, I am sure," Mark replied, turning
+a little more to the right the lily and noticing as he did so how very
+white and pretty was the neck and throat seen above the collar.
+
+Mark liked a pretty neck, and he was glad to know that Helen had one,
+though why he should care was a puzzle. He could hardly have analyzed
+his feelings then, or told what he did think of Helen. He only knew
+that by her efforts to repel him she attracted him the more, she was so
+different from any young ladies he had known; so different from Juno,
+into whose hair he had never twined a water lily. It would not become
+her as it did Helen, he thought, as he sat opposite her at the table,
+admiring his handiwork, which even Aunt Betsy observed, remarking that
+"Helen was mightily spruced up for morning," a compliment which Helen
+acknowledged with a painful blush, while Mark began a disquisition upon
+the nature of lilies generally, which lasted until breakfast was ended.
+
+It was arranged that Mark should ride to the cars with Uncle Ephraim
+when he went for Katy, and as this gave him a good two hours of leisure,
+he spoke of Dr. Grant, asking Helen if she did not suppose he would call
+around. Helen thought it possible, and then remembering how many things
+were to be done that morning, she excused herself from the parlor, and
+repairing to the platform out by the back door, where it was shady and
+cool, she tied on a broad check apron, and rolling her sleeves above her
+elbows, was just bringing the churn-dasher to bear vigorously upon the
+thick cream she was turning into butter, when, having finished his
+cigar, Mark went out into the yard, and following the winding path came
+suddenly upon her. Helen's first impulse was to stop, but with a strong
+nerving of herself she kept on while Mark, coming as near as he dared,
+said to her: "Why do you do that? Is there no one else?"
+
+"No," Helen answered; "that is, we keep no servant, and my young arms
+are stronger than the others."
+
+"And mine are stronger still," Mark laughingly rejoined, as he put Helen
+aside and plied the dasher himself, in spite of her protestations that
+he would certainly ruin his clothes.
+
+"Tie that apron around me, then," he said, with the utmost nonchalance,
+and Helen obeyed, tying her check apron around the young man's neck, who
+felt her hands as they touched his hair and knew that they were brushing
+queer fancies into his brain, fancies which made him wonder what his
+mother would think of Helen, or what she would say if she knew just how
+he was occupied that morning, absolutely churning cream until it turned
+to butter, for Mark persisted until the task was done, standing by while
+Helen gathered up the golden lumps, and admiring her plump, round arms
+quite as much as he had done her neck.
+
+She would be a belle like her sister, though of a different stamp, he
+thought, as he again bent down his head while she removed the apron and
+disclosed more than one big spot upon his broadcloth. Mark assured her
+that it did not matter; his coat was nearly worn out; and anyway he
+never should regret that he had churned once in his life, or forget
+it either; and then he asked if Helen would be in New York the coming
+winter, talking of the pleasure it would be to meet her there until
+Helen herself began to feel what she never before had felt, a desire to
+visit Katy in her own home.
+
+"Remember if you come that I am your debtor for numerous hospitalities,"
+he said, when he at last bade her good-by, and sprang into the covered
+buggy, which Uncle Ephraim had brought out in honor of Katy's arrival.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Old Whitey was hitched at a safe distance from all possible harm. Uncle
+Ephraim had returned from the store nearby, laden with the six pounds
+of crush sugar and the two pounds of real old Java, he had been
+commissioned to purchase with a view to Katy's taste, and now upon the
+platform at West Silverton, he stood with Mark Ray, waiting for the
+arrival of the train just appearing in view across the level plain.
+
+"It's fifteen months since she went away," he said, and Mark saw that
+the old man's form trembled with the excitement of meeting her again,
+while his eyes scanned eagerly every window and door of the cars now
+slowly stopping before him. "There, there," and he laid his hand
+nervously on Mark's shoulder as a white, jaunty feather appeared in
+view; but no, that was not Katy, and the dim eyes ran again along the
+whole line of the cars, from which so many were alighting, for that was
+an eating house.
+
+But Katy did not come, and with a long breath of wonder and
+disappointment the deacon said: "Can it be she is asleep. Young
+man, you are spryer than I. Go through the cars and find her."
+
+Mark knew there was plenty of time, and so he made the tour of the cars,
+but found, alas! no Katy.
+
+"She's not there," was the report carried to the poor old man, who
+tremblingly repeated his words: "Not there, not come," while over his
+aged face there broke a look of touching sadness, which Mark never
+forgot, remembering it always just as he remembered the big tear drops
+which from his seat by the window he saw the old man wipe away with his
+coat sleeve, whispering softly to Whitey of his disappointment as he
+unhitched the horse and drove away alone.
+
+"Maybe she's writ. I'll go and see," he said, and driving to their
+regular office he found a letter directed by Wilford Cameron, but
+written by Katy.
+
+This last he knew, for he tore the envelope open; but he could not read
+it then, and thrusting it into his pocket he went slowly back to the
+home where the tempting dinner was prepared, and the family waiting
+so eagerly for him. Even before he reached there they knew of the
+disappointment, for from the garret window Helen had watched the road by
+which he would come, and when the buggy appeared in sight she saw he was
+alone.
+
+There was a mistake; Katy had missed the train, she said to her mother
+and aunts, who hoped she might be right. But Katy had not missed the
+train, as was indicated by the letter which Uncle Ephraim without a word
+put into Helen's hand, leaning on old Whitey's neck while she read aloud
+the attempt at an explanation which Katy had hurried written, a stain on
+the paper where a tear had fallen attesting her distress at the bitter
+disappointment.
+
+"Wilford did not know of the other letter," she said, "and had made
+arrangements for her to go back with him to New York, inasmuch as the
+house was already opened, and the servants there wanting ahead; besides
+that, Wilford had been absent so long that he could not possibly stop at
+Silverton himself, and as he would not think of living without her, even
+for a few days, there was no alternative but for her to go with him on
+the boat directly to New York. I am sorry, oh, so sorry, but indeed I
+am not to blame," she added, in conclusion, and this was the nearest
+approach there was to an admission that anybody was to blame for this
+disappointment which cut so cruelly, making even Uncle Ephraim cry as
+out in the barn he hung away the mended harness and covered the new
+buggy, which had been bought for naught.
+
+"I might have had the overcoat, for Katy will never come home again,
+never. God grant that it's the Cameron pride, not hers, that kept her
+from us," the old man said, as on the hay he knelt down and prayed that
+Katy had not learned to despise the home where she was so beloved.
+
+"Katy will never come to us again," seemed the prevailing opinion at
+Silverton, where more than Uncle Ephraim felt a chilling doubt at times
+as to whether she really wished to come or not. If she did, it seemed
+easy of accomplishment to those who knew not how perfect and complete
+were the fetters thrown around her, and how unbending the will which
+governed hers. Could they have seen the look in Katy's face when she
+first understood that she was not going to Silverton, their hearts would
+have bled for the thwarted creature who fled up the stairs to her own
+room, where Esther found her twenty minutes later, cold and fainting
+upon the bed, her face as white as ashes, and her hands clinched so
+tightly that the nails left marks upon the palms.
+
+"It was not strange that the poor child should faint--indeed, it was
+only natural that nature should give way after so many weeks of gayety,
+and she very far from being strong," Mrs. Cameron said to Wilford, who
+was beginning to repent of his decision, and who but for that remark
+perhaps might have revoked it.
+
+Indeed, he made an attempt to do so when, as consciousness came back,
+Katy lay so pale and still before him; but Katy did not understand him
+or guess that he wished her to meet him more than half the way, and so
+the verdict was unchanged, and in a kind of bewilderment, Katy wrote the
+hurried letter, feeling less actual pain than did its readers, for the
+disappointment had stunned her for a time, and all she could remember of
+the passage home on that same night when Mark Ray sat with Helen in the
+sitting-room at Silverton, was that there was a fearful storm of rain
+mingled with lightning flashes and thunder peals, which terrified the
+other ladies, but brought to her no other sensation save that it would
+not be so very hard to perish in the dark waters dashing so madly about
+the vessel's side.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXI.
+
+A NEW LIFE.
+
+
+"NEW YORK, December 16th.
+"To Miss HELEN LENNOX, Silverton, Mass.:
+
+"Your sister is very ill. Come as soon as possible.
+
+"W. CAMERON."
+
+This was the purport of a telegram received at the farmhouse toward the
+close of a chill December day, and Helen's heart almost stopped its
+beating as she read it aloud, and then looked in the white, scared faces
+of those around her. Katy was very ill--dying, perhaps--or Wilford had
+never telegraphed. What could it be? What was the matter? Had it been
+somewhat later, they would have known; but now all was conjecture worse
+than useless, and in a half-distracted state Helen made her hasty
+preparations for the journey on the morrow, and then sent for Morris,
+hoping he might offer some advice or suggestion for her to carry to that
+sickroom in New York.
+
+"Perhaps you will go with me," Helen said. "You know Katy's
+constitution. You might save her life."
+
+But Morris shook his head. If he was needed they might send and he would
+come, but not without; and so next day he carried Helen to the cars,
+saying to her, as they were waiting for the train: "I hope for the best,
+but it may be Katy will die. If you think so, tell her. Oh, tell her! of
+the better world, and ask if she is prepared. I cannot lose her in
+heaven."
+
+And this was all the message Morris sent, though his heart and prayers
+went after the rapid train which bore Helen safely onward, until
+Hartford was reached, where there was a long detention, so that the
+dark wintry night had closed over the city ere Helen had reached it,
+timid, anxious, and wondering what she should do if Wilford was not
+there to meet her. "He will be, of course," she kept repeating to
+herself, looking around in dismay, as passenger after passenger left,
+seeking in stages and street cars a swifter passage to their homes.
+
+"I shall soon be all alone," she said, feeling some relief as the car in
+which she was seated began at last to move, and she knew she was being
+taken whither the others had gone, wherever that might be.
+
+"Is Miss Helen Lennox here?" sounded cheerily in her ears as she stopped
+before the depot, and Helen uttered a cry of joy, for she recognized the
+voice of Mark Ray, who was soon grasping her hand, and trying to
+reassure her, as he saw how she shrank from the noise and clamor of New
+York, heard now for the first time. "Our carriage is here," he said, and
+in a moment she found herself in a close-covered vehicle, with Mark
+sitting opposite, tucking the warm blanket around her, asking if she
+were cold, and paying those numberless little attentions so gratifying
+to one always accustomed to act and think for herself.
+
+Helen could not see Mark's face distinctly; but full of fear for Katy,
+she fancied there was a sad tone in his voice, as if he were keeping
+something back, something he dreaded to tell her; and then, as it
+suddenly occurred to her that Wilford should have met her, not Mark, her
+great fear found utterance in words, and leaning forward so that her
+face almost touched Mark's, she said: "Tell me, Mr. Ray, is Katy dead?"
+
+"Not dead, oh, no, nor yet very dangerous, my mother hopes; but she kept
+asking for you, and so my--that is, Mr. Cameron, sent the telegram."
+
+There was an ejaculatory prayer of thankfulness, and then Helen
+continued: "Is it long since she was taken sick?"
+
+"Her little daughter will be a week old to-morrow," Mark replied; while
+Helen, with an exclamation of surprise she could not repress, sank back
+into the corner, faint and giddy with the excitement of this fact, which
+invested little Katy with a new dignity, but drew her, oh, so much
+nearer to the sister who could scarcely wait for the carriage to stop,
+so anxious was she to be where Katy was, to kiss her dear face once
+more, and whisper the words of love she knew she must have longed to
+hear.
+
+Awe-struck, bewildered and half terrified, Helen looked up at the huge
+brown structure, which Mark designated as "the place." It was so lofty,
+so high, so like the Camerons, and so unlike the farmhouse far away,
+that Helen trembled as she followed Mark into the rooms flooded with
+light, and seeming to her like fairyland. They were so different from
+anything she had imagined, so much handsomer than even Katy's vivid
+descriptions had implied, that for the moment the sight took her breath
+away, and she sank passively into the chair Mark brought for her,
+himself taking her muff and tippet, and noting, as he did so, that they
+were not mink, nor yet Russian sable, but well-worn, well-kept fitch,
+such as Juno would laugh at and criticise. But Helen's dress was a
+matter of small moment to Mark, as he thought more of the look in her
+dark eyes as she said to him: "You are very kind, Mr. Ray. I cannot
+thank you enough," than of all the furs in Broadway. This remark had
+been wrung from Helen by the feeling of homesickness and desolation
+which swept over her, as she thought how really alone she should be
+there, in her sister's house, on this first night of her arrival, if
+it were not for Mark, thus virtually taking the place of the
+brother-in-law, who should have been there to greet her.
+
+"He was with Mrs. Cameron," the servant said, and taking out a card Mark
+wrote down a few words, and handing it to the servant who had been
+looking curiously at Helen, he continued standing until a step was heard
+on the stairs and Wilford came quietly in.
+
+It was not a very loving meeting, but Helen was civil and Wilford was
+polite, offering her his hand and asking some questions about her
+journey.
+
+"I was intending to meet you myself," he said, "but Mrs. Cameron does
+not like me to leave her, and Mark kindly offered to take the trouble
+off my hands."
+
+This was the most gracious thing he had said; this the nearest approach
+to friendliness, and Helen felt herself hating him less than she had
+supposed she should. He was looking very pale and anxious, while there
+was on his face the light of a new joy, as if the little life begun so
+short a time ago had brought an added good to him, softening his haughty
+manner and making him even endurable to the prejudiced sister watching
+him so closely!
+
+"Does Phillips know you are here?" he asked, answering his own query by
+ringing the bell and bidding Esther, who appeared, tell Phillips that
+Miss Lennox had arrived and wished for supper, explaining to Helen that
+since Katy's illness they had dined at three, as that accommodated them
+the best.
+
+This done and Helen's baggage ordered to her room, he seemed to think he
+had discharged his duty as host, and as Mark had left he began to grow
+fidgety, for a _tete-a-tete_ with Helen was not what he desired. He had
+said to her all he could think to say, for it never once occurred to him
+to inquire after the deacon's family. He had asked for Dr. Grant, but
+his solicitude went no further, and the inmates of the farmhouse might
+have been dead and buried for aught he knew to the contrary. The
+omission was not made purposely, but because he really did not feel
+enough of interest in people so widely different from himself even to
+ask for them, much less to suspect how Helen's blood boiled as she
+detected the omission and imputed it to intended slight, feeling so glad
+when he at last excused himself, saying he must go back to Katy, but
+would send his mother down to see her. His mother. Then she was there,
+the one whom Helen dreaded most of all, whom she had invested with every
+possible terror, hoping now that she would not be in haste to come down.
+She might have spared herself anxiety on this point, as the lady in
+question was not anxious to meet a person who, could she have had her
+way, would not have been there at all.
+
+From the first moment of consciousness after the long hours of
+suffering, Katy had asked for Helen, rather than her mother, feeling
+that the former would be more welcome, and could more easily conform
+to their customs.
+
+"Send for Helen; I am so tired, and she could always rest me," was her
+reply, when asked by Wilford what he could do for her. "Send for Helen;
+I want her so much," she had said to Mrs. Cameron, when she came,
+repeating the wish until a consultation was held between the mother and
+son, touching the propriety of sending for Helen. "She would be of no
+use whatever, and might excite our Katy. Quiet is highly important just
+now," Mrs. Cameron had said, thus veiling under pretended concern for
+Katy her aversion to the girl whose independence in declining her
+dressmaker had never been forgiven, and whom she had set down in her
+mind as rude and ignorant.
+
+She was well suited with Katy now, petting and caressing and talking
+constantly of her; but it did not follow that she must like the sister,
+too, and so she checked the impulse which would have prompted Wilford to
+send for her as Katy so much desired.
+
+"If her coming would do Katy harm she ought not to come," and so
+Wilford's conscience was partially quieted, white Katy in her darkened
+room moaned on.
+
+"Send for Sister Helen, please send for Sister Helen."
+
+At last on the fourth day came Mrs. Banker, Mark Ray's mother, to the
+house, and in consideration of the strong liking she had evinced for
+Katy ever since her arrival in New York, and the great respect felt for
+her by Mrs. Cameron, she was admitted to the chamber and heard the
+plaintive pleadings: "Send for Sister Helen," until her motherly heart
+was touched, and as she sat with her son at dinner she spoke of the
+young girl-mother moaning so for Helen.
+
+Whether it was Mark's great pity for Katy, or whether he was prompted
+by some more selfish motive, we do not profess to say, but that he was
+greatly excited was very evident from his manner, as he exclaimed:
+
+"Why not send for Helen, then? She is a splendid girl, and they idolize
+each other. Talk of her injuring Katy, that's all a humbug. She is just
+fitted for a nurse. Almost the sight of her would cure one of
+nervousness, she is so calm and quiet."
+
+This was what Mark said, and again the next morning Mrs. Banker's
+carriage stood at the door of No. ---- Madison Square, while Mrs. Banker
+herself was talking to Wilford in the library, and urging that Helen be
+sent for at once.
+
+"It may save her life. She is more feverish to-day than yesterday, and
+this constant asking for her sister will wear her out so fast," she
+added, and that last argument prevailed.
+
+Helen was sent for and now sat waiting in the parlor for the coming of
+Mrs. Cameron. Wilford did not mean Katy to hear him as he whispered to
+his mother that Helen was below; but she did, and her blue eyes flashed
+brightly as she started from her pillow, exclaiming:
+
+"I am so glad, so glad. Kiss me, Wilford, because I am so glad. Does she
+know? Have you told her? Wasn't she surprised, and will she come up
+quick?"
+
+They could not quiet her at once, and only the assurance that unless she
+were more composed Helen should not see her that night had any effect
+upon her; but when they told her that, she lay back upon her pillow
+submissively, and Wilford saw the great tears dropping from her hot
+cheeks, while the pallid lips kept softly whispering "Helen." Then the
+sister love took another channel, and she said:
+
+"She has not been to supper, and Phillips is always cross at extras.
+Will somebody see to it? Send Esther to me, please. Esther knows and is
+good-natured."
+
+"Mother will do all that is necessary. She is going down," Wilford said;
+but Katy had quite as much fear of leaving Helen to "mother" as to
+Phillips, and insisted upon Esther until the latter came, receiving
+numerous injunctions as to the jam, the sweetmeats, the peaches and the
+cold ham Helen must have, each one being remembered as her favorite.
+
+Wholly unselfish, Katy thought nothing of herself or the effort it cost
+her thus to care for Helen, but when it was over and Esther had gone,
+she seemed so utterly exhausted that Mrs. Cameron did not leave her, but
+stayed at her bedside, ministering to her until the extreme paleness was
+gone, and her eyes were more natural. Meanwhile the supper, which as
+Katy feared had made Phillips cross, had been arranged by Esther, who
+conducted Helen to the dining-room, herself standing by and waiting upon
+her because the one whose duty it was had gone out for the evening, and
+Phillips had declined the "honor," as she styled it.
+
+There was a homesick feeling tugging at Helen's heart, while she tried
+to eat, and only the certainty that Katy was not far away kept her tears
+back. To her the very grandeur of the house made it desolate, and she
+was so glad it was Katy who lived there and not herself as she went up
+the soft carpeted stairway, which gave back no sound, and through the
+marble hall to the parlor, where by the table on which her cloak and
+furs were still lying, a lady stood, as dignified and unconscious as
+if she had not been inspecting the self-same fur which Mark Ray had
+observed, but not like him thinking it did not matter, for it did matter
+very materially with her, and a smile of contempt had curled her lip as
+she turned over the tippet which even Phillips would not have worn.
+
+"I wonder how long she means to stay, and if Wilford will have to take
+her out," she was thinking, just as Helen appeared in the door and
+advanced into the room.
+
+By herself, it was easy to slight Helen Lennox, but in her presence Mrs.
+Cameron found it very hard to appear as cold and distant as she had
+meant to do, for there was something about Helen which commanded her
+respect, and she went forward to meet her, offering her hand, and
+saying, cordially:
+
+"Miss Lennox, I presume--my daughter Katy's sister?"
+
+Helen had not expected this, and the warm flush which came to her cheeks
+made her very handsome, as she returned Mrs. Cameron's greeting, and
+then asked more particularly for Katy than she had yet done. For a while
+they talked together, Mrs. Cameron noting carefully every item of
+Helen's attire, as well as the purity of her language and her perfect
+repose of manner after the first stiffness had passed away.
+
+"Naturally a lady as well as Katy; there must be good blood somewhere,
+probably on the Lennox side," was Mrs. Cameron's private opinion, while
+Helen, after a few moments, began to feel far more at ease with Mrs.
+Cameron than she had done in the dining-room with Esther, waiting on
+her, and the cross Phillips stalking once through the room for no
+ostensible purpose except to get a sight of her.
+
+Helen wondered at herself as much as Mrs. Cameron wondered at her,
+trying to decide whether it were ignorance, conceit, obtuseness, or
+what, which made her so self-possessed when she was expected to appear
+so different.
+
+"Strong-minded," was her final decision, as she said at last: "We
+promised Katy she should see you to-night. Will you go now?"
+
+Then the color left Helen's face and lips, and her limbs shook
+perceptibly, for the knowing she was soon to meet her sister unnerved
+her; but by the time the door of Katy's room was reached she was herself
+again, and there was no need for Mrs. Cameron to whisper: "Pray do not
+excite her."
+
+Katy heard her coming, and it required all Wilford's and the nurse's
+efforts to keep her quiet, so great was her joy.
+
+"Helen, Helen, darling, darling sister," she cried, as she wound her
+arms around Helen's neck, and laid her golden head on Helen's bosom,
+sobbing in a low, mournful way which told Helen more how much she was
+beloved and had been longed for than did the weak, childish voice which
+whispered: "I've wanted you so much, oh, Helen; you don't know how much
+I've missed you all the years I've been away. You will not leave me
+now," and Katy clung closer to the dear sister who gently unclasped the
+clinging arms and put back upon the pillow the quivering face, which she
+kissed so tenderly, whispering in her own old half-soothing,
+half-commanding way: "Be quiet now, Katy. It's best that you should.
+No, I will not leave you."
+
+Next to Dr. Grant, Helen had more influence over Katy than any living
+being, and it was very apparent now, for as if her presence had a power
+to soothe, Katy grew very quiet, and utterly wearied out, slept for a
+few moments with Helen's hand fast locked in hers. When she awoke the
+tired look was gone, and turning to her sister, she said: "Have you seen
+my baby?" while the young mother love which broke so beautifully over
+her pale face, made it the face of an angel.
+
+"It seems so funny that it is Katy's baby," Helen said, taking the puny
+little thing, which with its wrinkled face and red, clinched fists was
+not very attractive to her, save as she looked at it with Katy's eyes.
+
+She did not even kiss it, but her tears dropped upon its head as she
+thought how short the time since up in the old garret at home she had
+dressed rag dolls for the Katy who was now a mother. And still in a
+measure she was the same, hugging Helen fondly when she said good-night,
+and welcoming her so joyfully in the morning when she came again,
+telling her how just the sight of her sitting there by baby's crib
+did her so much good.
+
+"I shall get well so fast," she said; and she was right, for Helen was
+worth far more to her than all the physician's powders, and Wilford,
+when he saw how she improved, was glad that Helen came, even if she did
+sometimes shock him with her independent ways, upsetting all his plans
+and theories with regard to Katy, and meeting him on other grounds with
+an opposition as puzzling as it was new to him.
+
+To Mrs. Cameron, Helen was also a study, she seemed to care so little
+for what others might think of her, evincing no hesitation, no timidity,
+when told one day, the second day after her arrival, that Mrs. Banker
+was in the parlor and had asked to see Miss Lennox. Mrs. Cameron did not
+suspect how under that calm, unmoved exterior, Helen was hiding a heart
+which beat most painfully as she went down to meet the mother of Mark
+Ray, going first to her own room to make some little change in her
+toilet, and wishing that her dress was more like the dress of those
+around her--like Mrs. Cameron's, or even Esther's and the fashionable
+nurse's. One glance she gave to the brown silk, Wilford's gift, but her
+good sense told her that the plain merino she wore was far more suitable
+to the sickroom, where she spent her time, and so with a fresh collar
+and cuffs, and another brush of her rich hair, she went to Mrs. Banker,
+forgetting herself in her pleasure at finding in the stranger a lady so
+wholly congenial and familiar, whose mild, dark eyes, so like Mark
+Ray's, rested so kindly on her, and whose pleasant voice had something
+motherly in its tone, putting her wholly at her ease, and making her
+appear at her very best.
+
+Mrs. Banker was pleased with Helen, while she felt a kind of pity for
+the young girl thrown so suddenly among strangers, without even her
+sister to aid and assist her.
+
+"Have you been out at all?" she asked, and upon Helen's replying that
+she had not, she answered: "That is not right. Accustomed to the fresh
+country air, you will suffer from too close confinement. Suppose you
+ride with me. My carriage is at the door, and I have a few hours'
+leisure. Tell your sister I insist," she continued, as Helen hesitated
+between inclination and what she fancied was her duty.
+
+To see New York with Mrs. Banker was a treat indeed, and Helen's heart
+bounded high as she ran up to Katy's room with the request.
+
+"Yes, by all means," Katy said. "It is so kind in Mrs. Banker, and so
+like her, too. I meant that Wilford should have driven with you to-day,
+and spoke to him about it, but Mrs. Banker will do better. Tell her I
+thank her so much for her thoughtfulness," and with a kiss Katy sent
+Helen away, while Mrs. Cameron, after twisting her rings nervously for
+a moment, said to Katy:
+
+"Perhaps your sister would do well to wear your furs. Hers are small and
+common fitch."
+
+"Yes, certainly. Take them to her," Katy answered, knowing intuitively
+the feeling which had prompted this suggestion from her mother-in-law,
+who hastened to Helen's room with the rich sable she was to wear in
+place of the old fitch.
+
+Helen appreciated the difference at once between her furs and Katy's,
+and felt a pang of mortification as she saw how old and poor and dowdy
+hers were beside the others. But they were her own; the best she could
+afford. She would not begin by borrowing, and so she declined the offer,
+and greatly to Mrs. Cameron's horror went down to Mrs. Banker clad in
+the despised furs, which Mrs. Cameron would on no account have had
+beside her on Broadway in an open carriage. Mrs. Banker noticed them,
+too, but the eager, happy face, which grew each moment brighter as they
+drove down the street, more than made amends; and in watching that and
+pointing out the places which they passed, Mrs. Banker forgot the furs
+and the coarse straw hat whose strings of black had undeniably been
+dyed. Never in her life had Helen enjoyed a ride as she did that
+pleasant winter day, when her kind friend took her wherever she wished
+to go, showing her Broadway in its glory from Union Square to Wall
+Street, where they encountered Mark in a bustling crowd. He saw them,
+too, and beckoned to them, while Helen's face grew red as, lifting his
+hat to her, he came up to the carriage, and at his mother's suggestion
+took a seat just opposite, asking where they had been and jocosely
+laughing at his mother's taste in selecting such localities as the
+Bowery, the Tombs and Barnum's Museum, when there were so many finer
+places to be seen.
+
+Helen felt the hot blood pricking the roots of her hair, for the Bowery,
+the Tombs and Barnum's Museum had been her choice as the points of which
+she had heard the most. So when Mark continued:
+
+"You shall ride with me, Miss Lennox, and I will show you something
+worth your seeing," she frankly answered:
+
+"Your mother is not in fault, Mr. Ray. She asked me where I wished to
+go, and I mentioned these places; so please attribute it wholly to my
+country breeding, and not to your mother's lack of taste."
+
+There was something in the frank speech which won Mrs. Banker's heart,
+while she felt an increased respect for the young girl, who, she saw,
+was keenly sensitive, even with all her strength of character.
+
+"You were quite right to commence as you have," she said, "for now you
+have a still greater treat in store, and Mark shall drive you to the
+park some day. I know you will like that."
+
+Helen felt that she should like anything with that friendly voice to
+reassure her, and leaning back she was thinking how pleasant it was to
+be in New York, how different from what she had expected, when a bow
+from Mark made her look up in time to see that they were meeting a
+carriage, in which sat Wilford, and with two gayly-dressed ladies, both
+of whom gave her a supercilious stare as they passed by, while the
+younger of the two half turned her head, as if for a more prolonged
+gaze.
+
+"Mrs. Grandon and Juno Cameron," Mrs. Banker said, making some further
+remark to her son; while Helen felt that the brightness of the day
+changed, for she could not be unconscious of the look with which she had
+been regarded by these two fashionable ladies, and again her furs came
+up before her, bringing a feeling of which she was ashamed, especially
+as she had fancied herself above all weakness of the kind.
+
+But Helen was a woman, with a woman's nature, and so that ride was not
+without its annoyance, though her face was very bright as she bade Mrs.
+Banker and Mark good-by, and then ran up the steps to Katy's home. That
+night at the dinner, from which Mrs. Cameron was absent, Wilford was
+unusually gracious, asking "had she enjoyed her ride, and if she did
+not find Mrs. Banker a very pleasant acquaintance."
+
+The fact was, Wilford felt a little uncomfortable himself for having
+suffered a stranger to do for Katy's sister what devolved upon himself.
+Katy had asked him to drive with Helen; but he had found it very
+convenient to forget it, and take a seat instead with Juno and Mrs.
+Grandon, the latter of whom complimented "Miss Lennox's fine
+intellectual face," after they had passed, and complimented it the more
+as she saw how it vexed Juno, who could see nothing "in those bold eyes
+and that masculine forehead," just because their _vis-a-vis_ chanced to
+be Mark Ray's. Juno was not pleased with Helen's first appearance in the
+street, but nevertheless she called upon her next day, with Sybil
+Grandon and her sister, Bell. To this she was urged by Sybil, who,
+having a somewhat larger experience of human nature, foresaw that Helen
+would be popular just because Mrs. Banker had thus early taken her up,
+and who, besides, had conceived a capricious fancy to patronize Miss
+Lennox. But in this she was foiled, for Helen was not to be patronized,
+and she received her visitors with that calm, assured manner so much a
+part of herself.
+
+"Diamond cut diamond," Bell thought, as she saw how frigidly polite
+both Juno and Helen were, each recognizing in the other something
+antagonistic, which could never harmonize.
+
+Had Juno never cared for Dr. Grant, or suspected Helen of standing
+between herself and him, and had Mark Ray never stopped at Silverton, or
+been seen on Broadway with her, she might have judged her differently,
+for there was something attractive in Helen's face and appearance as
+she sat talking to her guests, not awkwardly nor timidly, but with as
+much quiet dignity as if she had never mended Uncle Ephraim's socks, or
+made a pound of butter among the huckleberry hills. Bell was delighted,
+detecting at once traces of the rare mind which Helen Lennox possessed,
+and wondering to find it so.
+
+"I hope we shall see each other often," she said, at parting. "I do not
+go out a great deal myself--that is, not as much as Juno--but I shall be
+always glad to welcome you to my den. You may find something there to
+interest you."
+
+This was Bell's leave-taking, while Sybil's was, if possible, even more
+friendly, for aside from really fancying Helen, she took a perverse kind
+of pleasure in annoying Juno, who wondered "what she or Bell could see
+to like in that awkward country girl, whom she knew had on one of Katy's
+cast-off collars, and her wardrobe was the most ordinary she ever saw;
+fitch furs, think of that!" and Juno gave a little pull at the
+fastenings of her rich ermine collar, showing so well over her velvet
+basquine.
+
+"Fitch furs or not, they rode with Mark Ray on Broadway," Bell retorted,
+with a wicked look in her eyes, which aroused Juno to a still higher
+pitch of anger, so that by the time the carriage stopped at No. ----,
+the young lady was in a most unamiable frame of mind as regarded both
+Helen Lennox and the offending Mark.
+
+That evening there was at Mrs. Reynolds' a little company of thirty
+or more, and as Mark was present, Juno seized the opportunity for
+ascertaining, if possible, his real opinion of Helen Lennox, joking him
+first about his having taken her to ride so soon, and insinuating that
+he must have a penchant for every new and pretty face.
+
+"Then you think her pretty? You have called on her?" Mark replied, his
+manner evincing so much pleasure that Juno bit her lip to keep down her
+wrath, and flashing upon him her scornful eyes, replied: "Yes, Sybil and
+Bell insisted that I should. Of myself I would never have done it, for I
+have now more acquaintances than I can attend to, and do not care to
+increase the list. Besides that, I do not imagine that Miss Lennox can
+in any way add to my happiness, brought up as she has been among the
+woods and hills, you know."
+
+"Yes, I have been there--to her home, I mean," Mark rejoined, and Juno
+continued:
+
+"Only for a moment, though. You should have stayed, like Will, to
+appreciate it fully. I wish you could hear him describe the feather beds
+in which he slept--that is, describe them before he decided to take
+Katy; for after that he was chary of his remarks, and the feathers by
+some marvelous process were changed into hair, for what he knew or
+cared."
+
+Mark hesitated a moment, and then said, quietly:
+
+"I have stayed there all night, and have tested that feather bed, but
+found nothing disparaging to Helen, who was as much a lady in the
+farmhouse as here in the city."
+
+There was a look of withering scorn on Juno's face as she replied:
+
+"As much a lady as here! That may very well be; but, pray, how long
+since you took to visiting Silverton so frequently--becoming so familiar
+as to spend the night?"
+
+There was no mistaking the jealousy which betrayed itself into every
+tone of Juno's voice as she stood before Mark a fit picture of the
+enraged goddess whose name she bore. Soon recollecting herself, however,
+she changed her mode of attack, and said, laughingly:
+
+"Seriously, though, this Miss Lennox seems a very nice girl, and is
+admirably fitted, I think, for the position she is to fill--that of a
+country physician's wife," and in the black eyes there was a wicked
+sparkle as Juno saw that her meaning was readily understood, Mark
+looking quickly at her and asking if she referred to Dr. Grant.
+
+"Certainly; I imagine that was settled as long ago as we met him in
+Paris. Once I thought it might have been our Katy, but was mistaken. I
+think the doctor and Miss Lennox well adapted to each other--it is an
+excellent match."
+
+There was for a moment a dull, heavy pain at Mark's heart, caused by
+that little item of information which made him so uncomfortable. On the
+whole he did not doubt it, for everything he could recall of Morris had
+a tendency to strengthen the belief. Nothing could he more probable,
+thrown together as they had been, without other congenial society, and
+nothing could be more suitable.
+
+"They are well matched," Mark thought, as he walked listlessly through
+Mrs. Reynolds' parlors, seeing only one face, and that the face of Helen
+Lennox, with the lily in her hair, just as it looked when she had tied
+the apron about his neck and laughed at his appearance.
+
+Helen was not the ideal which in his boyhood Mark had cherished of the
+one who was to be his wife, for that was of a more brilliant, beautiful
+woman, a woman more like Juno, with whom he had always been on the best
+of terms, giving her some reason, it is true, for believing herself the
+favored one; but ideals change as years go on, and Helen Lennox had more
+attractions for him now than the most dashing belle of his acquaintance.
+
+"I do not believe I am in love with her," he said to himself that night,
+when, after his return from Mrs. Reynolds' he sat for a long time before
+the fire in his dressing-room, cogitating upon what he had heard, and
+wondering why it should affect him so much. "Of course I am not," he
+continued, feeling the necessity of reiterating the assertion by way of
+making himself believe it. "She is not at all what I used to imagine the
+future Mrs. Mark Ray to be. Half my friends would say she had no style,
+no beauty, and perhaps she has not. Certainly she does not look just
+like the ladies at Mrs. Reynolds' to-night, but give her the same
+advantages and she would surpass them all."
+
+And then Mark Ray went off into a reverie, in which he saw Helen Lennox
+his wife, and with the aids by which he would surround her rapidly
+developing into as splendid a woman as little Katy Cameron, who did not
+need to be developed, but took all hearts at once by that natural,
+witching grace so much a part of herself. It was a very pleasant picture
+which Mark painted upon the mental canvas; but there came a great blur
+blotting out its brightness as he remembered Dr. Grant, and felt that
+Linwood was one day to be Helen's home.
+
+"But it shall not interfere with my being just as kind to her as before.
+She will need some attendant here, and Wilford, I know, will be glad to
+shove her off his hands. He is so infernal proud," Mark said, and taking
+a fresh cigar he finished his reverie with the magnanimous resolve that
+were Helen a hundred times engaged she should be his especial care
+during her sojourn in New York.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXII.
+
+HELEN IN SOCIETY.
+
+
+It was three days before Christmas, and Katy was talking confidentially
+to Mrs. Banker, whom she had asked to see the next time she should call.
+
+"I want so much to surprise her," she said, speaking in a whisper, "and
+you have been so kind to us both that I thought it might not trouble you
+very much if I asked you to make the selection for me, and see to the
+engraving. Wilford gave me fifty dollars, all I needed, as I had fifty
+more of my own, and now that I have a baby, I am sure I shall never
+again care to go out. My darling baby, how small the whole world seems
+to me now when compared with her," and the little mother glanced
+lovingly at the crib where slept the baby, worth more than all the
+world.
+
+"Yes," Mrs. Banker said, thoughtfully, as she rolled up the bills,
+"you wish me to get as heavy bracelets as I can find--for the hundred
+dollars."
+
+"Yes," Katy replied, "I think that will please her, don't you?"
+
+Mrs. Banker knew Katy's fondness for jewelry, and knowing, too, that her
+girlhood was spent in comparative poverty, she could readily understand
+how she would gratify her taste when circumstances were favorable; but
+Helen was different, and she felt certain that the hundred dollars could
+be spent to better advantage and in a manner more satisfactory to her.
+Still she hardly liked to interfere until Katy, observing her hesitancy,
+asked again if she did not think Helen would be pleased.
+
+"Yes, pleased with anything you choose to give her, but--excuse me, dear
+Mrs. Cameron, if I speak as openly as if I were the mother of you both.
+Bracelets are suitable for you who can have everything else, but is
+there not something your sister needs more, something which will do more
+good? Now, allowing me to suggest, I should say, buy her some furs, and
+let the bracelets go. In Silverton her furs were well enough, but here,
+as the sister of Mrs. Wilford Cameron, she is deserving of better."
+
+It was the first time that Katy had thought that in New York her sister
+might need more than at home. Seeing her only in the dim sickroom, the
+contrast between Helen and her and her husband's sisters had not struck
+her, or if it had, she gave the preference to Helen in her dark merino
+and linen collar, rather than to Juno in her silks and velvet; but she
+understood Mrs. Banker at once, her cheeks reddening as there flashed
+upon her the reason why Wilford had never yet been in the street with
+Helen, notwithstanding that she had more than once requested it.
+
+"You are right," she said. "It was thoughtless in me not to think of
+this myself. Helen shall have the furs, and whatever else is necessary.
+I am so glad you reminded me of it. You are kind as my own mother," and
+Katy kissed her friend fondly as she bade her good-by, charging her a
+dozen times not to let Helen know the surprise in store for her.
+
+There was little need of this caution, for Mrs. Banker understood human
+nature too well to divulge a matter which might wound one as sensitive
+as Helen. Between the latter and herself there was a strong bond of
+friendship, and to the kind patronage of this lady Helen owed most of
+the attentions she had as yet received from her sister's friends; while
+Mark Ray did much toward lifting her to the place she held in spite of
+the common country dress, which Juno unsparingly criticised, and which,
+in fact, kept Wilford from taking her out, as his wife so often asked
+him to do. And Helen, too, keenly felt the difference between herself
+and those with whom she came in contact, crying over it more than once,
+but never dreaming of the surprise in store for her, when on Christmas
+morning she went as usual to Katy's room, finding her alone, her face
+all aglow with excitement, and her bed a perfect showcase of dry goods,
+which she bade Helen examine and say how she liked them.
+
+Wilford was no niggard with his money, and when Katy had asked for more,
+it had been given unsparingly, even though he knew the purpose to which
+it was to be applied.
+
+"Oh, Katy, Katy, why did you do it?" Helen cried, her tears falling
+like rain through the fingers she clasped over her eyes.
+
+"You are not angry?" Katy said, in some dismay, as Helen continued to
+sob without looking at the handsome furs, the stylish hat, the pretty
+cloak, and rich patterns of blue and black silk, which Mrs. Banker had
+selected.
+
+"No, oh, no!" Helen replied. "I know it was all meant well; but there is
+something in me which rebels against taking this from Wilford. He had
+better have sent to Silverton for that trunk. Its contents have never
+been disturbed, and surely there might be something found good enough
+for me."
+
+It was the first time Helen had alluded to that trunk; but Katy did not
+think that anything ill-natured was meant by the remark. She only felt
+that Helen shrank from receiving so much from Wilford, as it was natural
+she should, and she hastened to reassure her, using all her powers to
+comfort her until she at last grew calm enough to examine and admire the
+Christmas gifts upon which no expense had been spared. Much as we may
+ignore dress, and sinful as is an inordinate love for it, there is yet
+about it an influence for good, when the heart of the wearer is right,
+holding it subservient to all higher, holier affections. At least Helen
+Lennox found it so, when, clad in her new garments, which added so much
+to her good looks, she drove with Mrs. Banker, or returned Sybil
+Grandon's call, feeling that there was about her nothing for which Katy
+need to blush, or even Wilford, who blandly invited her one pleasant day
+to drive with him to the Park, seeming so disappointed when told that he
+had been forestalled by Mr. Ray, whose fine turnout attracted less
+attention that afternoon than did the handsome lady at his side, Helen
+Lennox, who bade fair to rival even her Sister Katy tarrying at home,
+and listening with delight to the flattering things which Wilford
+reported as having been said of Helen by those for whose opinion he
+cared the most. He was not afraid to be seen with her now, and Helen,
+while knowing the reason of the change, did not feel like quarreling
+with him for it, but accepted with a good-natured grace of what made her
+life in New York very happy. With Bell Cameron she was on the best of
+terms; while Sybil Grandon, always going with the tide, professed for
+her an admiration, which, whether fancied or real, did much toward
+making her popular; and when, as the mistress of her brother's house,
+she issued cards of invitation for a large party, she took especial
+pains to insist upon Helen's attending, even if Katy were not able. But
+from this Helen shrank. She could not meet so many strangers alone, she
+said, and so the matter was dropped, until Mrs. Banker offered to
+chaperone her, when Helen began to waver, changing her mind at last
+and promising to go.
+
+Never since the days of her first party had Katy been so wild with
+excitement as she was in deciding upon Helen's dress, which well became
+the wearer, who scarcely knew herself when, before the mirror, with the
+blaze of the chandelier falling upon her, she saw the picture of a young
+girl arrayed in rich pink silk, with an overskirt of lace, and the light
+pretty cloak, just thrown upon her uncovered neck, where Katy's pearls
+were shining. Even Wilford was pleased, and stood by admiring her almost
+as much as Katy.
+
+"What would they say at home if they could only see you?" Katy
+exclaimed, throwing back the handsome cloak so as to show more of the
+well-shaped neck, gleaming so white beneath it.
+
+"Aunt Betsy would say I had forgotten half my dress," Helen replied,
+blushing as she glanced at the uncovered arms, which never since her
+childhood had been thus exposed to view, except at such times as her
+household duties had required it.
+
+Even this exception would not apply to the low neck, at which Helen long
+demurred, yielding finally to Katy's entreaties, but often wondering
+what Mark Ray would think, and if he would not be shocked. Mark Ray had
+been strangely blended with all Helen's thoughts as she submitted
+herself to Esther's practiced hands, and when the hairdresser, summoned
+to her aid, asked what flowers she would wear, it was a thought of him
+which led her to select a single water lily, which looked as natural as
+if its bed had really been the bosom of Fairy Pond.
+
+"Nothing else? Surely mademoiselle will have these few green leaves?"
+Celine had said, but Helen would have nothing save the lily, which was
+twined tastefully amid the heavy braids of the brown hair, whose length
+and luxuriance had thrown the hairdresser into ecstasies of delight,
+and made Esther lament that in these days of false tresses no one would
+give Miss Lennox credit for what was wholly her own.
+
+"You will be the belle of the evening," Katy said, as she kissed her
+sister good-night and then ran back to her baby, while Wilford, yielding
+to her importunities that he should not remain with her, followed Mrs.
+Banker's carriage in his own private conveyance, and was soon set down
+at Sybil Grandon's door.
+
+Meanwhile, at the elder Cameron's there had been a discussion touching
+the propriety of their taking Helen under their protection, instead of
+leaving her to Mrs. Banker to chaperone, Bell insisting that it ought to
+be done, while the father swore roundly at the imperious Juno, who would
+not "be bothered with that country girl."
+
+"You would rather leave her wholly to Mark Ray and his mother, I
+suppose," Bell said, adding, as she saw the flush on Juno's face. "You
+know you are dying of jealousy, and nothing annoys you so much as to
+hear people talk of Mark's attentions to Miss Lennox."
+
+"Do they talk?" Mrs. Cameron asked quickly, while in her gray eyes there
+gleamed a light far more dangerous and threatening to Helen than Juno's
+open scorn.
+
+Mrs. Cameron had long intended Mark Ray for her daughter, and accustomed
+to see everything bend to her wishes, she had come to consider the
+matter as almost certain, even though he had never proposed in words. He
+had done everything else, she thought, attending Juno constantly and
+frequenting their house so much that it was a standing joke for his
+friends to seek him there when he was not at home or at his office.
+Latterly, however, there had been a change, and the ambitious mother
+could not deny that since Helen's arrival in New York Mark had visited
+them less frequently and stayed a shorter time, while she had more than
+once heard of him at her son's in company with Helen. Very rapidly a
+train of thought passed through her mind; but it did not manifest itself
+upon her face, which was composed and quiet as she decided with Juno
+that Helen should not trouble them. With the utmost care Juno arrayed
+herself for the party, thinking with a great deal of complacency how
+impossible it was for Helen Lennox to compete with her in point of
+dress.
+
+"She is such a prude, I daresay she will go in that blue silk with the
+long sleeves and high neck, looking like a Dutch doll," she said to
+Bell, as she shook back the folds of her rich crimson, and turned her
+head to see the effect of her wide braids of hair.
+
+"I am not certain that a high dress is worse than bones," Bell retorted,
+playfully touching Juno's neck, which, though white and gracefully
+formed, was shockingly guiltless of flesh.
+
+There was an angry reply, and then wrapping her cloak about her Juno
+followed to their carriage, and was ere long one of the gay crowd
+thronging Sybil Grandon's parlors. Helen had not yet arrived, and Juno
+was hoping she would not come, when there was a stir at the door and
+Mrs. Banker, in her velvet and diamonds, appeared, and with her Helen
+Lennox, but so transformed that Juno hardly knew her, looking twice ere
+she was sure that the beautiful young lady, so wholly self-possessed,
+was indeed the country girl she affected to despise.
+
+"Who is she?" was asked by many, who at once acknowledged her claims to
+their attention, and as soon as practicable sought her acquaintance, so
+that Helen suddenly found herself the center of a little court of which
+she was the queen and Mark her sworn knight.
+
+Presuming upon his mother's chaperonage, he claimed the right of
+attending her, and Juno's glory waned quite as effectually as it had
+done when Katy was the leading star to which New York paid homage.
+
+Juno had been annoyed then, but now fierce jealousy took possession
+of her heart as she watched the girl whom all seemed to admire, even
+Wilford feeling a thrill of pride that the possession of so attractive
+a sister-in-law reflected credit upon himself.
+
+He was not ashamed of her now, nor did he retain a single thought of the
+farmhouse or Uncle Ephraim as he made his way to her side, standing
+protectingly at her left, just as Mark was standing at her right, and
+at last asking her to dance.
+
+With a heightened color Helen declined, saying frankly:
+
+"I have never learned."
+
+"You miss a great deal," Wilford rejoined, appealing to Mark for a
+confirmation of his words.
+
+But Mark did not heartily respond. He, too, had solicited Helen as a
+partner when the dancing first commenced, and her quiet refusal had
+disappointed him a little, for Mark was fond of dancing, and though
+as a general thing he disapproved of waltzes and polkas when he was the
+looker-on, he felt that there would be something vastly agreeable and
+exhilarating in clasping Helen in his arm and whirling her about the
+room just as Juno was being whirled by a young cadet, a friend of
+Lieutenant Bob's. But when he reflected that not his arm alone would
+encircle her waist, or his breath touch her snowy neck, he was glad she
+did not dance, and professing a weariness he did not feel, he declined
+to join the dancers on the floor, but kept with Helen, enjoying what she
+enjoyed, and putting her so perfectly at her ease that no one would ever
+have dreamed of the curdy cheeses she had made, or the pounds of butter
+she had churned. But Mark thought of it as he secretly admired the neck
+and arms seen once before on that memorable day when he assisted Helen
+in the labors of the dairy. If nothing else had done so, the lily in
+her hair would have brought that morning to his mind, and once as they
+walked up and down the hall he spoke of the ornament she had chosen, and
+how well it became her.
+
+"Pond lilies are my pets," she said, "and I have kept one of those I
+gathered last fall when at Silverton. Do you remember them?" and his
+eyes rested upon Helen with a look that made her blush as she faintly
+answered "yes"; but she did not tell him of a little box at home, a box
+made of cones and acorns, and where was hidden a withered water lily,
+which she could not throw away, even after its beauty and fragrance had
+departed.
+
+Had she told him this it might have put to flight the doubts troubling
+Mark so much, and making him wonder if Dr. Grant had really a claim upon
+the girl stealing his heart so fast.
+
+"I mean to sound her," he thought, and as just then Lieutenant Bob
+passed by, making some jocose remark about his offending all the fair
+ones by the course he was taking, Mark said to Helen, who suggested
+returning to the parlor:
+
+"As you like, though it cannot matter; a person known to be engaged is
+above Bob Reynolds' jokes."
+
+Quick as thought the hot blood stained Helen's face and neck, for Mark
+had made a most egregious blunder, giving her only the impression that
+he was the engaged one referred to, not herself, and for a moment she
+forgot the gay scene around her in the sharpness of the pang with which
+she recognized all that Mark Ray was to her.
+
+"It was kind in him to warn me. I wish it had been sooner," she thought,
+and then with a bitter feeling of shame she wondered how much he had
+guessed of her real feelings, and who the betrothed one was. "Not Juno
+Cameron," she hoped, as after a few moments Mrs. Cameron came up, and
+adroitly detaching Mark from her side, took his place while he sauntered
+to a group of ladies and was ere long dancing merrily with Juno, whose
+crimson robe once brushed against Helen's pink, and whose black eyes
+looked exultingly into Helen's face.
+
+"They are a well-matched pair," Mrs. Cameron said, assuming a very
+confidential manner toward Helen, who assented to the remark, while the
+lady continued: "There is but one thing wrong about Mark Ray. He is a
+most unscrupulous flirt, pleased with every new face, and this of course
+annoys Juno."
+
+"Are they engaged?" came faintly and involuntarily from Helen's lips,
+while Mrs. Cameron's foot beat the carpet with a very becoming
+hesitancy, as she replied: "Oh, that was settled in our family a long
+time ago. Wilford and Mark have always been like brothers."
+
+If Helen had been on the watch for equivocations she would not have
+placed as much stress as she did on Mrs. Cameron's words, for that lady
+did not say positively "They are engaged." She could not quite bring
+herself to a deliberate falsehood, which, if detected, would reflect
+upon her character as a lady, but she could mislead Helen, and she did
+so effectually, as was evinced by the red spot which burned on her
+cheeks, and by her uncertain way of replying to a gentleman who stood by
+her for a moment, addressing to her some casual remark and departing
+with the impression that Miss Lennox was very timid and shy. After he
+was gone, Mrs. Cameron continued, "It is not like us to bruit our
+affairs abroad, and were my daughter ten times engaged, the world would
+be none the wiser. I doubt if even Katy suspects what I have admitted;
+but knowing how fascinating Mark can be, and that just at present he
+seems to be pleased with you, I have acted as I should wish a friend to
+act toward my own child. Were it not that you are one of our family, I
+might not have interfered, and I trust you not to repeat even to Katy
+what I have said."
+
+Helen nodded assent, while in her heart was a wild tumult of
+feelings--flattered pride, disappointment, indignation and mortification
+all struggling for the mastery---mortification to feel that she who had
+quietly ignored such a passion as love when connected with herself, had,
+nevertheless, been pleased with the attentions of one who was only
+amusing himself with her, as a child amuses itself with some new toy
+soon to be thrown aside--indignation at him for vexing Juno at her
+expense--disappointment that he should care for such as Juno, and
+flattered pride that Mrs. Cameron should include her in "our family."
+Helen had as few weak points as most young ladies, but she was not free
+from them all, and the fact that Mrs. Cameron had taken her into a
+confidence which even Katy did not share, was soothing to her ruffled
+spirits, particularly as after that confidence Mrs. Cameron was
+excessively gracious to her, introducing her to many whom she did not
+know before, and paying her numberless little attentions, which made
+Juno stare, while the clearer-seeing Bell arched her eyebrows, and
+wondered for what Helen was to be made a catspaw by her clever mother.
+Whatever it was, it did not appear, save as it showed itself in Helen's
+slightly changed demeanor when Mark again sought her society, and tried
+to bring back to her face the look he had left there. But something
+evidently had come between them, and the young man racked his brain to
+find the cause of this sudden indifference in one who had been pleased
+with him only a short half hour before.
+
+"It's that confounded waltzing which disgusted her," he said, "and no
+wonder, for if ever a man looks like an idiot, it is when he is kicking
+up his heels to the sound of a viol, and wheeling around some woman
+whose skirts sweep everything within the circle of a rod, and whose face
+wears that die-away expression I have so often noticed. I've half a mind
+to swear I'll never dance again."
+
+But Mark was too fond of dancing to quit it at once, and finding Helen
+still indifferent, he yielded to circumstances, and the last she saw of
+him, as at a comparatively early hour she left the gay scene, he was
+dancing again with Juno, whose face beamed with a triumphant look, as if
+she in some way guessed the aching heart her rival carried home. It was
+a heavy blow to Helen, for she had become greatly interested in Mark
+Ray, whose attentions had made her stay in New York so pleasant. But
+these were over now--at least the excitement they brought was over, and
+Helen, as she sat in her dressing-room at home, and thought of the
+future as well as the past, felt stealing over her a sense of desolation
+and loneliness such as she had experienced but once before, and that on
+the night when leaning from her window at the farmhouse where Mark Ray
+was stopping she had shuddered and shrank from living all her days among
+the rugged hills of Silverton. New York had opened an entirely new world
+to her, showing her much that was vain and frivolous, with much too,
+that was desirable and good; and if there had crept into her heart the
+vague thought that a life with such people as Mrs. Banker and those who
+frequented her house would be preferable to a life in Silverton, where
+only Morris understood her, it was but the natural result of daily
+intercourse with one who had studied to please and interest as Mark Ray
+had done. But Helen had too much good sense and strength of will long to
+indulge in what she would have called "love-sick regrets" in others, and
+she began to devise the best course for her to adopt hereafter,
+concluding finally to treat him much as she had done, lest he should
+suspect how deeply she had been wounded. Now that she knew of his
+engagement, it would be an easy matter, she thought, so to demean
+herself as neither to annoy Juno nor really to vex him. Thoroughly now
+she understood why Juno Cameron had seemed to dislike her so much.
+
+"It is natural," she said, "and yet I honestly believe I like her better
+for knowing what I do. There must be some good beneath that proud
+exterior, or Mark would never seek her."
+
+Still, look at it from any point she chose, it seemed a strange,
+unsuitable match, and Helen's heart ached sadly as she finally retired
+to rest, thinking what might have been had Juno Cameron found some other
+lover more like her than Mark could ever be.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIII.
+
+GENEVRA.
+
+
+Far more elated with her sister's success than Helen herself, Katy could
+talk of little else next morning, telling Helen how many complimentary
+things Wilford had said of her, and how much he had heard others say,
+while Mark Ray had seemed perfectly fascinated.
+
+"I never thought till last night how nice it would be for you to marry
+Mark and settle in New York," Katy said, never dreaming how she was
+wounding Helen, who, but for Mrs. Cameron's charge, would have
+proclaimed Mark's engagement with Juno.
+
+As it was, she felt the words struggling against her lips; but she
+forced them back, and tried to laugh at Katy's castles in the air, as
+she called them.
+
+"You looked beautiful, Wilford said," Katy continued, "and I am so glad,
+only," and Katy's voice fell, while her eyes rested upon the crib where
+the baby was sleeping, "only I think Wilford is more anxious than ever
+for me to go again into society. He will not hear of my staying home for
+the entire season, as I wish to do, for baby is better to me than all
+the parties in the world. I am so tired of it all, and have been ever
+since I was at Newport. I was so vain and silly there, and I have been
+so sorry since. But that summer cured me entirely, and you don't know
+how I loathe the very thought of entering society again. For your sake I
+should be willing to go sometimes, if there were no one else. But Mrs.
+Banker has kindly offered to take you under her charge, and so there is
+no necessity for me to matronize you."
+
+Helen laughed merrily at the idea of being matronized by the little
+girlish creature not yet twenty years of age, kissing fondly the white,
+thin cheek so much whiter and thinner than it used to be.
+
+"You are confining yourself too much," she said. "You are losing all
+your color. Fresh air will do you good, even if parties will not.
+Suppose we drive this afternoon to Marian Hazelton's and show her the
+baby."
+
+Nothing could please Katy better. Several times since baby's birth she
+sent a message to Fourth Street, begging of Marian to come and see her
+treasure, and once, urged by her entreaties, Wilford himself had written
+a brief note asking that Miss Hazleton would call if perfectly
+convenient. But there had always been some excuse, some plea of work,
+some putting off the coming, until Katy feared that something might he
+wrong, and entered heartily into Helen's propositions. It was a pleasant
+winter's day, and toward the middle of the afternoon the Cameron
+carriage stopped before the humble dwelling where Marian Hazleton was
+living.
+
+"You needn't go up," Katy said to the nurse, feeling that she would
+rather meet Marian without the presence of a stranger. "Miss Lennox will
+carry baby and you can wait here. It is not cold," she added, as the
+nurse showed signs of remonstrance, "and if it is, John can drive you
+around a square or two."
+
+After this there was no further demur, and Katy soon stood with Helen at
+the door of Marian's room. She was at home, uttering an exclamation of
+astonishment when she saw who her visitors were, and turning white as
+ashes, when Katy, taking her baby from Helen's arms, placed it in her
+lap, saying,
+
+"You would not come to see it and so I brought it to you. Isn't she a
+beauty?"
+
+There was a blur before Marian's eyes, a pressure about her heart which
+seemed congealing into stone, but she tried to stammer out something,
+bending over the tiny thing. Wilford Cameron's child, which she could
+not see for the thick blackness around her. Tears and bitter pangs of
+grief had the news of that child's birth wrung from Marian, bringing
+back all the dreadful past, and making her hear again as if it were but
+yesterday, the cold, decisive words:
+
+"If there were a child it would of course be different."
+
+There was a child now, and it lay in Marian's lap, clad in the garments
+she had made, the cambric and the lace, the flannel and the merino,
+which nevertheless could not take from it that look of sickly infancy,
+or make it beautiful to others beside the mother. But it was Wilford's
+child, and so when for a moment both Helen and Katy turned to examine a
+rosebush just in bloom, Marian Hazleton hugged the little creature to
+her bosom, whispering over it a blessing which, coming from one so
+wronged, was doubly valuable. There was a tear, one of Marian's, on its
+face, when Katy came back to it, and there were more in Marian's eyes,
+falling like rain, as Katy asked, "What makes you cry?"
+
+"I was thinking of what might have been," came struggling from Marian's
+pale lips, and Helen felt a throb of pain as she remembered Dr. Grant,
+and then thought of herself in connection with this sad "Might have
+been."
+
+Marian, too, knew the full meaning of those words, as was attested by
+the gush of tears which dropped so fast on baby's face that Katy,
+alarmed for the safety of the crimson cloak wrapped around it for
+effect, took the child in her own arms, commencing that cooing
+conversation which shows how much young mothers love their first born.
+Marian's tears ceased at last, and after questioning Helen of Silverton
+and its people, she turned abruptly to Katy, still rocking and talking
+to her child, and asked:
+
+"What do you intend to call her?"
+
+"Genevra," Katy said, and simultaneously with that word Marian Hazleton
+dropped without sound or motion to the floor.
+
+Had Helen and Katy been put upon their oath, both would have testified
+that even before the answer came, Marian had fainted, just as she did
+when Helen first went to secure her services for Katy's bridal wardrobe.
+This time, however, there was no Dr. Grant at hand, and so the
+frightened ladies did what they could, bathing her face and chafing
+her cold hands until the life came slowly back, and with a frightened
+expression Marian looked around her, asking what had happened?
+
+"Yes, I know now," she said, as baby's cry fell on her ear, but
+restoring her wholly to herself. "Fainting is one of my weaknesses,"
+she continued, turning to Helen. "You have seen me so before. It is my
+heart," and with this explanation she satisfied her visitors, though
+Katy expressed much solicitude and proposed to send her medical aid.
+
+But Marian declined, and when it was time for Katy to go, she took the
+child in her own arms again, and as if there was now a new link which
+bound her to it, she kissed it many times, while in the eyes fastened so
+lovingly, so wistfully upon its face, there was a strange, yearning look
+which neither Helen nor Katy could fathom. Certain it is they had no
+suspicion of the truth, and on their way home they spoke with much
+concern of these fainting attacks, wondering if nothing could be done
+to ward them off.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIV.
+
+THE NAME.
+
+
+Wilford had wished for a son, and in the first moment of disappointment
+he had almost been conscious of a half-resentful feeling toward Katy,
+who had given him only a daughter. A boy, a Cameron heir, was something
+of which to be proud, especially as Jamie would always remain a helpless
+cripple; but a little girl, scarcely larger than the last doll with
+which Katy had played, was a different thing, and it required all
+Wilford's philosophy and common sense to keep him from showing his
+chagrin to the girlish creature, whose love had fastened with an
+idolatrous grasp upon her child, clinging to it with a devotion which
+made Helen tremble as she thought what if God should take it from her.
+
+"He won't, oh, He won't," Katy had said, when once she suggested the
+possibility, and in the eyes usually so soft and gentle there was a
+fierce gleam, as Katy hugged her baby closer to her, and said:
+
+"God does not willfully torment us. He will not take my baby, when my
+whole life would die with it. I had almost forgotten to pray, there was
+so much else to do, till baby came, but now I never go to sleep at night
+or waken in the morning, that there does not come a prayer of thanks
+for baby given to me. I could hardly love God if He took her away."
+
+There was a chill feeling at Helen's heart as she listened to her sister
+and then glanced at the baby so passionately loved. In time it would be
+pretty, for it had Katy's perfect features, and the hair just beginning
+to grow was a soft, golden brown; but it was too small now, too puny to
+be handsome, while in its eyes there was a scared, hunted kind of look,
+which chafed Wilford more than aught else could have done, for that was
+the look which had crept into Katy's eyes at Newport when she found she
+was not going home. Still it was a Cameron, of royal lineage, loved at
+least by four, its mother, its grandfather, Helen and Jamie, while the
+others looked forward to a time when they should be proud of it, even if
+they were not so now.
+
+Many discussions had been held at the elder Cameron's concerning its
+name, Mrs. Cameron deciding finally that it should bear her own,
+Margaret Augusta, while Juno advocated that of Rose Marie, inasmuch as
+their new clergyman would Frenchify the pronunciation so perfectly,
+rolling the "_r_," and placing so much accent on the last syllable. At
+this the Father Cameron swore as cussed nonsense--"better call it
+Jemima, a grand sight, than saddle it with such a silly name as Rose
+Mah-ree, with a roll to the 'r,'" and with another oath the disgusted
+old man departed, while Bell suggested that Katy might wish to have a
+voice in naming her own child.
+
+This was a possibility that had formed no part of Mrs. Cameron's
+thoughts, or Juno's. Of course Katy would acquiesce in whatever Wilford
+said was best, and he always thought as they did. Consequently there
+would be no trouble whatever. It was time the child had a name--time it
+wore the elegant christening robe, Mrs. Cameron's gift, which cost more
+money than would have fed a hungry family for weeks. The matter must be
+decided, and so with a view of deciding it a family dinner party was
+held at No. ---- Fifth Avenue, the day succeeding the call on Marian
+Hazleton.
+
+Very pure and beautiful Katy looked as she once more took her old place
+in the chair they called hers at Father Cameron's, because it was the
+one she had always preferred to any other--a large, motherly
+easy-chair, which took in nearly the whole of her petite figure, and
+against whose soft cushioned back she leaned her curly head with a
+pretty air of importance, as after dinner was over, she came back to the
+parlor with the other ladies, waiting for the gentlemen to join them,
+when they were to talk up baby's name.
+
+Katy knew exactly what it would be called, but as Wilford had never
+asked her, she was keeping it a secret, not doubting that the others
+would be quite as much delighted as herself with the novel name,
+"Genevra." Not long before her illness she had read an English story,
+which had in it a Genevra, and she had at once seized upon it as the
+most delightful cognomen a person could well possess. "Genevra Cameron!"
+She had repeated it to herself many a time as she sat with her baby on
+her lap. She had written it on sundry slips of paper, which had
+afterward found their way into the grate; and once she had scratched
+with her diamond ring upon the window pane in her dressing-room, where
+it now stood in legible characters, "Genevra Cameron!" There should be
+no middle name to take from the sweetness of the first--only
+Genevra--that was sufficient; and the little lady tapped her foot
+impatiently upon the carpet, wishing Wilford and father would hurry and
+come in.
+
+Never for an instant had it entered her mind that she, as the mother,
+would not be permitted to call her baby what she chose; so when she
+heard Mrs. Cameron speaking to Helen of Margaret Augusta, she smiled
+complacently, tossing her curls of golden brown, and thinking to
+herself, "Maggie Cameron--pretty enough, but not like Genevra. Indeed
+I shall not have any Margarets now; next time perhaps I may."
+
+Since the party at Mrs. Grandon's, Mrs. Cameron had been very kind and
+gracious to Helen, while Juno, who understood that Helen believed her
+engaged to Mark, treated her with far more attention than before, and
+now both kept near to her, chatting familiarly, Mrs. Cameron about the
+opera, and Juno the matinee, to which they were to take her, without
+waiting for Katy. Helen's success at the party, together with Mrs.
+Banker's and Sybil's evident determination to bring her forward, had
+taught them that she could not well be longer ignored, and as Juno did
+not greatly dread her as a rival now, she could afford to be gracious;
+and she was, making herself so agreeable that Helen observed the change,
+imputing it to the fact that Mark had probably returned to his
+allegiance, and blaming herself for having unwittingly wounded Juno by
+receiving his attentions. The belief that she was adding to another's
+happiness made it easier to bear the pang, which would make itself felt
+whenever she recalled the kindly manner, the handsome face, and more
+than all the expressive eyes, which had looked whole volumes into hers;
+and Helen quite enjoyed her first dinner party at the Camerons, though
+she began to wish, with Katy, that the gentlemen would join them.
+
+They came at last, and Father Cameron drew his chair close to Katy's
+side, laying his hand on her little soft, warm one, giving it a squeeze
+as the bright face glanced lovingly into his. Father Cameron was a
+milder, gentler man than he was before Katy came, going much oftener
+into society, and not so frequently shocking his wife with expressions
+and opinions which she held as heterodox. Katy had a softening influence
+over him, and he loved her as well perhaps as he had ever loved his own
+children.
+
+"Better," Juno said, and now she touched Bell's arm, to have her see
+"how father was petting Katy."
+
+But Bell did not care, while Wilford was pleased, and drew himself
+nearer the chair, standing just behind it, so that Katy could not see
+him as he smoothed her curly head, and said, half indifferently, "Now
+for the all-important name. What shall we call our daughter?"
+
+"Let your mother speak first," Katy said, and thus appealed to Mrs.
+Cameron came up to Wilford and expressed her preference for Margaret, as
+being a good name--an aristocratic name, and her own.
+
+"Yes, but not half so pretty and striking as Rose Marie," Juno chimed
+in.
+
+"Rose Mary! Thunder!" Father Cameron exclaimed. "Call her a marygold, or
+a sunflower, just as much. Don't go to being fools by giving a child a
+heathenish name. Give us your opinion, Katy."
+
+"I have known from the first," Katy replied, "and I am sure you will
+agree with me. Tis such a beautiful name of a sweet young girl, and
+there was a great secret about her, too--Genevra, baby will be called,"
+and Katy looked straight into the fire, wholly unconscious of the effect
+that name had produced upon two of her auditors, Wilford and his mother.
+
+They did not faint, like Marian, but Wilford's face was white as marble,
+and his eyes turned quickly to his mother, who, in her first shock,
+started so violently as to throw down from the stand a costly vase,
+which was broken in many pieces. This occasioned a little diversion, and
+by the time the flowers and fragments were gathered up, Wilford's lips
+were not quite as livid, but he dared not trust his voice yet, and
+listened while his sisters gave their opinion of the name. Bell deciding
+for it at once, and Juno hesitating until she had heard from a higher
+power than Katy. One there was in that family council who seized upon it
+eagerly. Jamie had been brought into the parlor in his wheel-chair, and
+sat leaning his cheek upon his hand when the name was spoken. Then, with
+a sudden lighting up of his face, he exclaimed, "Genevra! I've heard it
+before. Where was it, grandma? Didn't you talk of it once with--"
+
+"Hush-h, Jamie. Don't interrupt us now," Wilford said, in a voice so
+much sterner than he was wont to use when addressing the little boy,
+that Jamie shrank back abashed and frightened; while Mrs. Cameron, still
+with her back to Katy, asked, what had put that fanciful name into her
+mind? Where had she heard it?
+
+Katy explained, and, with the removal of the fear which for a few
+moments had chilled his blood, Wilford grew calm again; while into his
+heart there crept the thought that by giving that name to his child some
+slight atonement might be made to the occupant of that grave in St.
+Mary's churchyard--to her above whose head the English daisies had
+blossomed and faded many a year. But not so with his mother--the child
+should not be called Genevra if she could prevent it; and she opposed it
+with all her powers, offering at last, as a great concession on her
+part, to let it bear the name of any of Katy's family--Hannah and Betsy
+mentally excepted, of course--Lucy Lennox, Helen Lennox, Katy Lennox,
+anything but Genevra. As usual, Wilford when he had learned her mind,
+joined with her, notwithstanding the secret preference, and the
+discussion became quite warm, especially as Katy evinced a willfulness
+for which Helen had never given her credit. Hitherto she had been as
+yielding as wax, but on this point she was firm, gathering strength from
+the fact that Wilford did not oppose her as he usually did. She could
+not, perhaps, have resisted him, but his manner was not very decided,
+and so she quietly persisted. "Genevra, or nothing," until the others
+gave up the contest, hoping she would feel differently after a few days'
+reflection. But Katy knew she shouldn't; and Helen could not overcome
+the exultation with which she saw her little sister put the Camerons to
+rout and remain master of the field.
+
+"After all it does not matter," Mrs. Cameron said to her daughters,
+when, after Mrs. Wilford had gone, she sat talking of Katy's queer fancy
+and her obstinacy in adhering to it. "It does not matter; and on the
+whole I had as soon the christening would be postponed until the child
+is more presentable than now. It will be prettier by and by, and the
+dress will become it better. We can afford to wait."
+
+This heartless view of the case was readily adopted by Juno, while Bell
+professed to be terribly shocked at hearing them talk thus of a baptism,
+as if it were a mere show and nothing more, wondering if the Savior
+thought either of dress or personal appearance when the Hebrew mothers
+brought their children to Him. But little did Mrs. Cameron or Juno care
+for the baptism except as a display, and as both would be much prouder
+of a fine looking child, they were well content to wait until such time
+as Katy should incline more favorably to their Margaret or Rose Marie.
+To Helen it seemed highly probable that after a private interview with
+Wilford Katy would change her mind, and she felt a wickedly agreeable
+degree of disappointment when, on the day following the dinner party,
+she found her sister even more resolved than ever upon having her own
+way. Like the Camerons, she did not feel the necessity of haste--time
+enough by and by, when she would not have so much opposition to
+encounter, she said; and as Wilford did not care, it was finally
+arranged that they would wait a while, ere they gave a cognomen to
+the little nameless child, only known as Baby Cameron.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXV.
+
+TROUBLE IN THE HOUSEHOLD.
+
+
+As soon as it was understood that Mrs. Wilford Cameron was able to go
+out, there were scores of pressing invitations from the gay world which
+had missed her so much, but Katy declined them all on the plea that baby
+needed her care. She was happier at home, and as a mother it was her
+place to stay there. At first Wilford listened quietly, but when he
+found it was her fixed determination to abjure society entirely, he
+interfered in his cool, decisive way, which always carried its point.
+
+"It was foolish to take that stand," he said. "Other mothers went and
+why should not she? She had already stayed in too much. She was injuring
+herself, and"--what was infinitely worse to Wilford--"she was losing her
+good looks."
+
+As proof of this he led her to the glass, showing her the pale, thin
+face and unnaturally large eyes, so distasteful to him. Wilford Cameron
+was very proud of his handsome house, proud to know that everything
+there was in keeping with his position and wealth, but when Katy was
+immured in the nursery, the bright picture was obscured, for it needed
+her presence to make it perfect, and he began to grow dissatisfied with
+his surroundings, while abroad he missed her quite as much, finding the
+opera, the party or the reception insipid where she was not, and feeling
+fully conscious that Wilford Cameron, without a wife, and that wife
+Katy, was not a man of half the consequence he had thought himself to
+be. Even Sybil Grandon did not think it worth her while to court his
+attention, especially if Katy were not present, for unless some one saw
+and felt her triumph it ceased directly to be one. On the whole Wilford
+was not well pleased with society, as he found it this winter, and
+knowing where the trouble lay he resolved that Katy should no longer
+remain at home, growing pale and faded and losing her good looks.
+Wilford would not have confessed it, and perhaps was not himself aware
+of the fact, that Katy's beauty was quite as dear to him as Katy
+herself. If she lost it her value was decreased accordingly, and so as
+a prudent husband it behooved him to see that what was so very precious
+was not unnecessarily thrown away. It did not take long for Katy to
+understand that her days of quiet were at an end, that neither crib nor
+cradle could avail her longer. Mrs. Kirby, selected from a host of
+applicants, was wholly competent for Baby Cameron, and Katy must throw
+aside the mother which sat so prettily upon her and become again the
+belle. It was a sad trial, but Katy knew that submission was the only
+alternative, and so when Mrs. Banker's invitation came, she accepted it
+at once, but there was a sad look upon her face as she kissed her baby
+for the twentieth time ere going to her dressing-maid.
+
+Never until this night had Helen realized how beautiful Katy was when in
+full evening dress, and her exclamations of delight brought a soft flush
+to Katy's cheek, while she felt a thrill of the olden vanity as she saw
+herself once more arrayed in all her costly apparel. Helen did not
+wonder now at Wilford's desire to have Katy with him, and very proudly
+she watched her young sister as Esther twined the flowers in her hair
+and then brought out the ermine cloak she was to wear as a protection
+against the cold.
+
+"If they could only see you at home," she said, while instantly there
+arose a thought of Dr. Grant, and Helen felt a throb of keen regret as
+she contrasted the gay, airy figure with the grave, quiet Morris, who
+found his chief delights in works of charity, and whose feet lingered
+amid the haunts of poverty and suffering, rather than such scenes as
+that to which she was going.
+
+But Katy's path lay far from Dr. Grant's, and only Wilford Cameron had
+A right to say whither she should go or when return. He was standing by
+her now, making a few suggestions and expressing his approbation in a
+way which reminded Helen of that night before the marriage, when Katy's
+dress had been condemned, and of that sadder, bitterer time when she
+had poured her tears like rain into that trunk returned. All she had
+thought of Wilford then was now more than confirmed, but he was kind to
+her and very proud of Katy, so she forced back her feelings of disquiet,
+which, however, were roused again when she saw the dark look on his
+face, as Katy, at the very last, ran to the nursery to kiss baby again,
+succeeding this time in waking it, as was proven by the cry that made
+Wilford scowl angrily and brought to his lips a word of rebuke for
+Katy's childishness.
+
+"You are like a girl with her first doll," he said, as he opened the
+door for her to pass, and Helen, though she felt the truth of the
+remark, knew there was no necessity for him to throw so much of lordly
+displeasure into his manner, and make poor Katy look so distressed and
+worried as they drove rapidly along the streets to Mrs. Banker's.
+
+The party was not so large as that at Sybil Grandon's, but it was more
+select, and Helen enjoyed it better, meeting people like Morris, who
+readily appreciated the peculiarities of her mind, and who would have
+made her forget all else around her if she had not been a guest at Mark
+Ray's house. It was the first time she had met him away from home since
+the night of Mrs. Grandon's, and as if forgetful of her reserve, he paid
+her numberless attentions, which, coming from the master of the house,
+were the more to be valued.
+
+With a quiet dignity Helen received them all, the thought once creeping
+into her heart that she was preferred, notwithstanding that engagement.
+But she soon repudiated this idea as unworthy of her. She could not be
+wholly happy with one who, to win her hand, had trampled upon the
+affections of another, even if that other were Juno Cameron.
+
+And so she kept out of his way as much as possible, watching her sister
+admiringly as she moved about with an easy, assured grace, or floated
+like a snow flake through the dance in which Wilford persuaded her to
+join, looking after her with a proud, all-absorbing feeling, which left
+no room for Sybil Grandon's coquettish advances.
+
+As if the reappearance of Katy had awakened all that was weak and silly
+in Sybil's nature, she now put forth her full powers of attraction, but
+met only with defeat. Katy, and even Helen, was preferred before
+her--both belles of a different type; but both winning golden laurels
+from those who hardly knew which to admire most--Katy, with her pure,
+delicate beauty and charming simplicity, or Helen, with her attractive
+face and sober, quiet manner. But Katy grew tired early. She could not
+endure what she once did; and when she came to Wilford with a weary look
+upon her face and asked him to go home, he did not refuse, though Mark,
+who was near, protested against their leaving so soon.
+
+"Surely Miss Lennox might remain; the carriage could be sent back for
+her; and he had hardly seen her at all."
+
+But Miss Lennox chose to go; and after her white cloak and hood passed
+down the stairs and through the door into the street, there was nothing
+attractive for Mark in his crowded parlors, and he was glad when the
+last guest had departed and he was left alone with his mother.
+
+Operas, parties, receptions, dinners, matinees, morning calls, drives,
+visits and shopping; how fast one crowded upon the other, leaving
+scarcely an hour of leisure to the devotee of fashion who attended to
+them all. How astonished Helen was to find what high life in New York
+implied, ceasing to wonder that so many of the young girls grew haggard
+and old before their time, or that the dowagers grew selfish and hard
+and scheming. She would die outright, she thought, and she pitied poor
+little Katy, who, having once returned to the world, seemed destined to
+remain there, in spite of her entreaties and the excuses she made for
+declining the invitations which poured in so fast.
+
+"Baby was not well--baby needed her," was the plea with which she met
+Wilford's arguments, until the mention of his child was sure to bring a
+scowl upon his face, and it became a question in Helen's mind whether he
+would not be happier if baby had never come between him and his
+ambition.
+
+To hear Katy's charms extolled, and know that she was admired, and he
+was envied the possession of so rare a gem, feeling all the while sure
+of her faith, was Wilford's great delight, and it is not strange that,
+without any very strong fatherly feeling or principle of right in that
+respect, he should be irritated by the little life so constantly
+interfering with his pleasure and so surely undermining Katy's health.
+For Katy did not improve, as Wilford hoped she might; and with his two
+hands he could almost span her slender waist, while the beautiful neck
+and shoulders, once his chiefest pride, were no longer worn uncovered,
+for Katy would not display her bones, whatever the fashion might be. In
+this dilemma Wilford sought his mother, and the result of that
+consultation brought a more satisfied look to his face than it had worn
+for many a day.
+
+"Strange he had never thought of it, when it was what so many people
+did," he said to himself as he hurried home. "It was the very best thing
+both for Katy and the child, and would obviate every difficulty."
+
+Next morning, as she sometimes did when more than usually fatigued, Katy
+breakfasted in bed; while Wilford's face, as he sat opposite Helen at
+the table, had on it a look of quiet determination, such as she had
+rarely seen there before. In a measure accustomed to his moods, she felt
+that something was wrong, and never dreaming that he intended honoring
+her with his confidence, she was wishing he would finish the coffee and
+leave, when, motioning the servant from the room, he said abruptly, and
+in a tone which roused Helen's antagonistic powers at once, it was so
+cool, so decided: "I believe you have more influence over your sister
+than I have; at least, she has latterly shown a willfulness in
+disregarding me and a willingness to listen to you, which confirms
+me in this conclusion--"
+
+"Well," and Helen twisted her napkin ring nervously, waiting for him to
+say more; but her manner, so different from Katy's, disconcerted him,
+making him a little uncertain what might be hidden behind that rigid
+face, confronting him so steadily, a little doubtful as to the
+expression it would put on when he had said all he meant to say.
+
+He did not expect it to wear a look as frightened and hopeless as Katy's
+did when he last saw it upon the pillow, for he knew how different the
+two sisters were, and much as he had affected to despise Helen Lennox,
+he was afraid of her now. It had never occurred to him before that he
+was somewhat uncomfortable in her presence, that her searching brown
+eyes held him often in check; but it came to him now that his wife's
+sister was in his way, for what could he do with a will almost as firm
+as his own, and she was sure to take Katy's part. He saw it in her face,
+even though she had no idea of what he meant to say.
+
+"Well;" that was the last sound heard in the quiet room; but since its
+utterance the relative positions of the two individuals sitting opposite
+each other had changed. Wilford regarding Helen as an obstacle in his
+path, and Helen regarding him as a tyrant contemplating some direful
+harm against her sister.
+
+He must explain some time, and so at last he continued: "You must have
+seen how opposed Katy is to complying with my wishes, setting them at
+naught, when she knows how much pleasure she would give me by yielding
+as she used to do."
+
+"I don't know what you mean," Helen replied, "unless it is her aversion
+to going out, as that I think is the only point where her obedience has
+not been absolute."
+
+Wilford did not like the words "obedience" and "absolute;" that is, he
+did not like the sound. Their definition suited him, but Helen's
+enunciation was at fault, and he answered quickly: "I do not require
+absolute obedience from Katy. I never did; but in the matter to which
+you refer, I think she might consult my wishes as well as her own. There
+is no reason for her secluding herself in the nursery as she does. Do
+you think there is?"
+
+He put the question direct, and Helen answered it.
+
+"I do not believe Katy means to displease you, but she has conceived a
+strong aversion for festive scenes, and besides baby is not healthy, you
+know, and like all young mothers she may be over-anxious, while I fancy
+she has not the fullest confidence in the nurse, and this may account
+for her unwillingness to leave the child with her."
+
+Kirby was all that was desirable, Wilford replied. His mother had taken
+her from a genteel, respectable house in Bond Street, and he paid her an
+enormous price, consequently she must be right; and then there came out
+the story how his mother had decided that neither Katy nor baby would
+improve so long as they remained together--that for both a separation
+was desirable--that she had recommended sending the child into the
+country, where it would be better cared for than it could be at home
+with Katy constantly undoing all Mrs. Kirby had done, disregarding her
+orders, waking it from sleep whenever the fancy took her, and in short
+treating it much as she probably did her doll when she was a little
+girl. With the child away there would be nothing to prevent Katy's going
+out as she used to do, and getting back her good looks, which were
+somewhat impaired.
+
+"Why, she looks older than you do," Wilford said, thinking thus to
+conciliate Helen, who quietly replied:
+
+"There is not two years difference between us, and I have always been
+well, keeping regular hours until I came here."
+
+Wilford's compliment had failed, and more annoyed than before, he asked,
+not what Helen thought of the arrangement, but if she would influence
+Katy to act and think rationally upon it; "at least you will not make it
+worse," he said, and this time there was something quite deferential and
+pleading in his manner.
+
+Helen knew the matter was fixed, that neither Katy's tears nor
+entreaties would avail to revoke the decision, and so, though her whole
+soul rose in indignation against a man who would deliberately send his
+nursing baby from his roof because it was in his way, and was robbing
+his bride's cheek of its girlish bloom, she answered composedly:
+
+"I will do what I can, but I must confess it seems to me an unnatural
+thing. I had supposed parents less selfish than that."
+
+Wilford did not care what Helen had supposed, and her opposition only
+made him more resolved. Still he did not say so, and he even tried to
+smile as he quitted the table and remarked to her:
+
+"I hope to find Katy reconciled when I come home. I think I had better
+not go up to her again, so tell her I send a good-by kiss by you. I
+leave her case in your hands."
+
+It was a far more difficult case than either he or Helen imagined, and
+the latter started back in alarm from the white face which greeted her
+view as she entered Katy's room, and then with a moan hid itself in the
+pillow.
+
+"Wilford thought he had better not come up, but he sent a kiss by me,"
+Helen said, softly touching the bright, disordered hair, all she could
+see of her sister.
+
+"It does not matter," Katy gasped. "Kisses cannot help me if they take
+my baby away. Did he tell you?" and she turned now partly toward Helen,
+who nodded affirmatively while Katy continued: "Had he taken a knife and
+cut a cruel gash it would not have hurt me half so badly. I could bear
+that, but my baby--oh, Helen, do you think they will take her away?"
+
+She was looking straight at Helen, who shivered as she met an expression
+so unlike Katy, and so like to that a hunted deer might wear if its
+offspring were in danger.
+
+"Say, do you think they will?" she continued, shedding back with her
+thin hand the mass of tangled curls which had fallen about her eyes.
+
+"Whom do you mean by 'they'?" Helen asked, coming near to her, and
+sitting down upon the bed.
+
+There was a resentful gleam in the blue eyes usually so gentle, as Katy
+answered:
+
+"Whom do I mean? His folks of course! They have been the instigators of
+every sorrow I have known since I left Silverton. Oh, Helen, never,
+never marry anybody who has folks, if you wish to be happy."
+
+Helen could not repress a smile, though she pitied her sister, who
+continued:
+
+"I don't mean Father Cameron, nor Bell, nor Jamie, for I love them all,
+and I believe that they love me. Father does, I know, and Jamie, while
+Bell has helped me so often; but Mrs. Cameron and Juno--oh, Helen, you
+will never know what they have been to me."
+
+"I notice you always say 'father' and 'Mrs. Cameron.' Why is that?"
+Helen asked, hoping thus to divert Katy's mind from her present trouble,
+and feeling a little anxious to hear Katy's real sentiments with regard
+to her husband's family.
+
+Since Helen came to New York there has been so much to talk about
+that, though Katy had told her of her fashionable life, she had said
+comparatively little of the Camerons. Now, however, there was no holding
+back on Katy's part, and beginning with the first night of her arrival
+in New York she told what is already known to the reader, and more,
+exonerating Wilford in word, but dealing out full justice to his mother
+and Juno, the former of whom controlled him so completely.
+
+"I tried so hard to love her," Katy said, "and if she had given me ever
+so little in return I would have been satisfied, but she never did--that
+is, when I hungered for it most, missing you at home, and the loving
+care which sheltered me in childhood. After the world took me into favor
+she too began to caress me, but I was wicked enough to think it all came
+of selfishness. I know I am hard and bad, for when I was sick Mrs.
+Cameron was really very kind, and I began to like her; but if she takes
+baby away, I shall surely die."
+
+Katy had come back to the starting point, and in her eye there was the
+same fierce look which Helen had at first observed.
+
+"Where is baby to be sent?" Helen asked, and Katy answered:
+
+"Up the river, to a house which Father Cameron owns, and which is kept
+by a farmer's family. I can't trust Kirby. I do not like her. She keeps
+baby asleep too long, and acts so cross if I try to wake her, or hint
+that she looks unnatural. I cannot give baby to her care, with no one to
+look after her, though Wilford says I must."
+
+"Why then do you try to resist, when you know how useless it is?" Helen
+asked, and something in her manner brought a sudden flush of shame to
+Katy's cheek, as she said:
+
+"What do you mean? Of what are you thinking?"
+
+Helen did not stop to consider the propriety of her remarks, but
+replied:
+
+"I was thinking that you reminded me of a bird beatings wings against
+the bars of its cage, vainly hoping to escape into the freedom which it
+feels is outside its prison house, but falling back bruised and bleeding
+with its efforts, and no nearer escape."
+
+For a moment Katy regarded her sister intently, while she seemed trying
+to digest the meaning of her words; then, as it vaguely flashed upon
+her, tears gathered on her eyelashes and rolled down her cheeks, while
+with a quivering lip she asked:
+
+"If you were that bird, what would you do?"
+
+"I? What would I do? I should beat my wings until I died; but your
+nature is different. You are more yielding, more loving, more
+submissive. You can bear it better."
+
+This was not the first time since she came to New York and saw how firm,
+how unbending was the will which held Katy in its grasp, that Helen had
+thought how surely she, with her high, imperious spirit, should die,
+from the very resistance she should offer to that will. But as she had
+truly expressed it, Katy's gentle, submissive nature saved her, for
+never had she offered so violent opposition to any plan as she did now
+to that of sending her child away.
+
+"I can't, I can't," she repeated constantly, and Mrs. Cameron's call,
+made that afternoon with a view to reconcile the matter, only made it
+worse, so that Wilford, on his return at night, felt a pang of
+self-reproach as he saw the drooping figure holding his child upon its
+lap and singing it a lullaby in a plaintive voice, which told how sore
+was its heart.
+
+Wilford did not mean to be either a savage or a brute. On the contrary
+he had made himself believe that he was acting only for the good of both
+mother and child; but the sight of Katy touched him, and he might have
+given up the contest had not Helen unfortunately taken up the cudgels in
+Katy's defense, neglecting to conceal the weapons, and so defeating her
+purpose. It was at the dinner from which Katy was absent that she
+ventured to speak, not asking that the plan be given up, but speaking of
+it as an unnatural one which seemed to her not only useless but cruel.
+
+Wilford did not tell her that her opinion was not desired, but his
+manner implied as much, and Helen felt the angry blood prickling through
+her veins as she listened to his reply, that it was neither unnatural
+nor cruel, that many people did it, and his would not be an isolated
+case.
+
+"Then if it must be," Helen said, "pray let it go to Silverton, and I
+will be its nurse. Katy will not object to that."
+
+In a very ironical tone Wilford thanked her for her offer, which he
+begged leave to decline, intimating a preference for settling his own
+matters according to his own ideas. Helen knew that further argument was
+useless, and but for Katy, wished herself at home, where there were no
+wills like this with which she had unwittingly come in contact, and
+which, ignoring Katy's tears and Katy's pleading face, would not retract
+one iota, or even stoop to reason with the suffering mother, except to
+reiterate, "It is only for your good, and every one with common sense
+will say so."
+
+Next morning Helen was surprised at Katy's proposition to drive around
+to Fourth Street, and call on Marian, whom they had not seen for several
+days.
+
+"I am always better after talking with her," Katy said, "And I have a
+strong presentiment that she can do me good."
+
+"Shall you tell her?" Helen asked in some surprise; and Katy replied,
+"perhaps I may. I'll see."
+
+An hour later, and Katy, up in Marian's room, sat with her hands clasped
+together upon the table, listening intently while Marian spoke of a
+letter received a few days since from an old friend who had worked with
+her at Madam ----'s, and to whom she had been strongly attached, keeping
+up a correspondence with her after her marriage and removal to New
+London, in Connecticut; and whose little child, born two months before
+Katy's, was dead, and the mother, finding her home so desolate, had
+written, beseeching Marian to come to her for the remainder of the
+winter, adding in conclusion: "If you know of any little homeless baby,
+bring it to me in place of mine, which God has taken. I shall thus be
+doing good, and in part forget my sorrow."
+
+Instantly Helen and Katy glanced at each other, the same thought
+flashing upon both, and finding form in Katy's vehement outburst, "If
+Mrs. Hubbell would take baby, and Marian would go, too, I should be so
+happy."
+
+In a few moments Marian had heard Katy's trouble--struggling hard to
+fight back the giddy faintness she felt stealing over her, as she
+thought of nursing Wilford Cameron's child.
+
+"Write to her, Marian--write to-day--now, before I go," Katy continued,
+clasping Marian's hand, with an expression which, more than aught else
+won Marian Hazelton's consent to a plan which seemed so strange.
+
+"Yes, I will write," she answered; "I will tell Amelia what you desire."
+
+"But, Marian, you, too, must go. I'll trust baby with you. Say, Marian,
+will you take care of my darling?"
+
+It was hard to refuse, with those great, wistful, pleading eyes looking
+so earnestly into hers; but Marian must have time to consider. She had
+thought of going to New London to open a shop, and if she did she should
+board with Mrs. Hubbell, and so be with the child. She would decide when
+the answer came to the letter.
+
+This was all the encouragement she would give; but it was enough to
+change the whole nature of Katy's feelings, and her face looked bright
+and cheerful as she tripped down the stairway, talking to Helen of what
+seemed to both like a direct interposition of Providence, and what she
+was sure would please Wilford quite as well as the farmhouse up the
+river.
+
+"Surely he will yield to me in this," she said. Nor was she wrong; for
+glad of an opportunity to make some concessions, and still in the main
+have his own way, Wilford raised no objection to the plan as
+communicated to him by Katy, when, at an earlier hour than usual, he
+came home to dinner, drawn thither by a remembrance of the face which
+had haunted him the entire day, and bringing as a peace offering to both
+wife and sister--a new book for the one, and for the other a set of
+handsome coral, which he had heard her admire only the week before.
+
+These he presented with that graceful, winning manner he knew so well
+how to assume, and with the harmony of his household once more restored,
+felt himself a model husband as he listened to Katy's plan of sending
+baby to New London. On the whole, it might be better even than the
+farmhouse up the river, he thought, for it was farther away, and Katy
+could not be tiring herself with driving out every few days, and keeping
+herself constantly uneasy and excited. The distance between New York
+and New London was the best feature of the whole; and he wondered Katy
+had not thought of it as an objection. But she had not, and but for the
+pain when she remembered the coming separation, she would have been very
+happy that evening, listening with Wilford and Helen to the opera of
+"Norma," and sympathizing so keenly with the poor distracted mother.
+
+Very differently from this was Marian's evening passed, and on her face
+there was a look such as Katy's had never worn, as on her knees she
+asked for guidance to choose the right, to lay all self aside, and if it
+were her duty and care for the child which had stirred the pulsations of
+her heart and made the old wound bleed and throb with bitter anguish as
+she remembered what she once hoped would be, and what but for a cruel
+wrong might still have been. And as she prayed there crept into her face
+another look which told that self was sacrificed at last, and Katy
+Cameron was safe with her.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Mrs. Hubbell was willing--aye, more than that--was glad to take the
+child, and the generous remuneration offered would make them so
+comfortable in their little cottage, she wrote to Marian, who hastened
+to confer by note with Katy, adding in a postscript, "Is it still your
+wish that I should go? if so, I am at your disposal."
+
+It was Katy's wish, and she hastened to reply, going next to the nursery
+to confer with Mrs. Kirby. Dark were the frowns and dire the displeasure
+of that lady when told that her services would soon be no longer needed
+on Madison Square--that instead of going up the river as she had hoped,
+she was free to return to the "genteel and highly respectable home on
+Bond Street," where Mrs. Cameron had found her.
+
+"Wait till the madam comes and then we'll see," she thought, referring
+to Mrs. Cameron, and feeling delighted when that very day she heard that
+lady's voice in the parlor.
+
+But Mrs. Cameron, though a little anxious with regard to both Mrs.
+Hubbell's and Marian's antecedents, and a little doubtful as to the
+effect a common dressmaker's nursing might have upon the child, saw at
+once that Wilford was in favor of New London and so voted accordingly,
+only asking that she might see and talk with Marian Hazelton herself.
+
+"One can judge so much better from hearing one converse. If her manner
+should be very bad and her grammar execrable, I should consider it my
+duty to withdraw my consent," she said, with as much deliberation as if
+the matter were wholly at her disposal. "Would Katy drive around with
+her to Marian Hazelton's to-morrow?"
+
+Katy would be delighted; and so next day Mrs. Cameron, the elder, was
+holding high her aristocratic skirts and glancing ruefully around as she
+followed Mrs. Cameron, the younger, up the three flights of stairs to
+Marian's door, which did not open to the assured knock, nor yet yield to
+the gentle pressure. Marian was out, and there was no alternative but
+for Katy to scribble a few lines upon the card she left upon the knob,
+telling Marian who had been there, and requesting her to call that
+evening at No. ---- Fifth Avenue, as the elder Mrs. Cameron was
+particularly anxious to see her before committing her grandchild to her
+care. "Please go, Marian, for my sake," Katy added, but in reading to
+Wilford's mother what she had written, she omitted that, and so escaped
+a lecture from that lady upon undue familiarity with inferiors.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVI.
+
+HOW IT ENDED.
+
+
+"Will Marian go to No. ---- Fifth Avenue?" Marian asked herself that
+question many times, as with Katy's card in her hand she stood pondering
+the subject and feeling glad of the good fortune which had sent her from
+home when Wilford's mother called.
+
+Yes, Marian would; and at the hour between the daylight and the dark,
+just as the lamps are lighted in the street, and before they are usually
+lighted in the parlors there was a ring at the door, whose massive plate
+bore the name of Cameron, and the colored man who answered that ring
+stared at the figure he ushered in, seating it in the dim hall and
+asking for the name.
+
+"Miss Hazelton wishes to see Mrs. Cameron," was the reply, and at the
+sound of that musical, well-bred voice, the servant half opened the
+parlor door, but closed it again as he went for his mistress, who
+expressed her surprise that Marian Hazelton should presume to enter
+where she did.
+
+"Maybe she is a lady, mother; Katy raves about her continually," Bell
+said; but with an air of incredulity at the lady part, Mrs. Cameron
+swept haughtily down the broad staircase, the rustle of her heavy silk
+sending a chill of fear through Marian's frame, but not affecting her so
+much as did the voice; the cold, proud, metallic voice, which said to
+her as she half arose to her feet, "Miss Hazelton, I believe?"
+
+At that sound there crept over her the same sensation she had felt years
+ago, whenever the tones of that voice fell on her ear, for this was not
+the first meeting of Mrs. Cameron and Marian Hazelton. But for all the
+former guessed or knew, it was the first, and she looked curiously at
+the graceful figure, but dimly seen in the shadowy twilight, noticing
+the thick green veil which so nearly concealed the face, and wondering
+why it was worn, or being worn, why it was kept so nearly down.
+
+"Miss Hazelton, I believe?" was all that had passed between them as yet,
+for at these words a great fear had come upon Marian lest her own voice
+should seem as natural as did the one which had just spoken to her.
+
+But she could not stand there long without answering, and so she
+ventured at last to say:
+
+"Yes, I found Mrs. Wilford Cameron's note, and came around as she
+requested."
+
+There was nothing objectionable in that remark, while the voice was
+very, very sweet and musical, so musical, indeed, so like a voice heard
+before, that Mrs. Cameron involuntarily went a step nearer to the
+stranger, and even thought of calling up a servant to light the gas. But
+that would perhaps be too great a civility, or at least betoken too
+great a curiosity, and so she forebore, while she began to question
+Marian of her own and Mrs. Hubbell's antecedents. Both were English,
+both had worked upon the Isle of Wight, and later in New York, at
+Madam ----'s; one had married, living now in New London, and the other
+Stood there as Marian Hazelton, puzzling and bewildering Mrs. Cameron,
+who tried to recall the person of whom she was reminded by that voice and
+that manner, so wholly ladylike and refined.
+
+Marian Hazelton pleased her, as was apparent from her expressing a wish
+that "as far as practicable Miss Hazelton should take charge of the
+child. We cannot tell how early life-long impression may be made, and it
+is desirable that they be of the right nature, and wholly in accordance
+with refinement and good-breeding."
+
+There was a curl on Marian's lip as she remembered another meeting with
+the proud lady whose words were not as complimentary as now, but she
+merely bent her head in supposed acquiescence to the belief that Baby
+Cameron was, or soon would be, capable of discriminating between a nurse
+refined and one the opposite. There was a moment's silence and then
+Marian asked if baby had been christened?
+
+"Not yet, we cannot decide upon a name," was the reply, while Marian
+continued:
+
+"I understood your daughter that it was to be Genevra."
+
+Marian Hazelton was growing too familiar, and so the lady deigned no
+answer, but stepped a little to one side, as if she would thus indicate
+that the conference was ended.
+
+Dropping her veil entirely over her face, for the servant was now
+lighting the parlor lamps, Marian turned toward the door which Mrs.
+Cameron opened, and she passed out just as up the steps came Wilford,
+Marian's skirts brushing him as she passed, and her heart beating
+painfully as she thought of her escape and began to realize the danger
+she incurred when she accepted the office of partial nurse to his child.
+
+"Dark, mother? How is that? Why is the hall not lighted?" she heard him
+say, and the old, familiar tones, so little changed, vibrated sadly in
+her ear, as she dashed away a tear, and then hurried on through the
+darkened streets toward her humble home, so different from the Cameron's.
+
+"Who was that, mother?" Wilford said, expressing regret that he had not
+happened in a little earlier, so as to have seen her himself, and
+asking what his mother thought of her.
+
+"I liked her. She seemed a well-bred person, and her voice is much like
+Genevra's."
+
+Wilford turned his eyes quickly upon his mother, who continued:
+
+"I did not think of her, it is true, until Miss Hazelton inquired about
+baby's name, and said she understood from Katy that it was to be
+Genevra. Then it came to me whose her voice was like. Genevra's, you
+know, was very musical."
+
+"Yes," Wilford answered, and in his eyes there was a look of pain, such
+as thoughts of Genevra always brought.
+
+She was in his mind when he ran up his father's steps, not Genevra
+living, but Genevra dead--she who slept in that lone corner of the
+churchyard across the sea. "Genevra Lambert, aged twenty-two," and not
+Genevra, aged nearly thirty-two, if she had been still living. Kindly,
+regretfully, he always spoke of her now, separating her entirely from
+the little fairy who was mistress of his house and love--Katy, who was
+preferred before Genevra, and to whom no wrong was done, he thought, by
+his sad memories of the beautiful English girl, whose grave was at St.
+Mary's, and whose picture was so securely hidden from every eye save his
+own. He never liked to talk of her now, and he changed the subject at
+once, asking when it would be best to send his child away.
+
+"Miss Hazelton is ready any time, and so I decided upon the day after
+to-morrow--that will be Saturday--thus giving Katy the benefit of Sunday
+in which to get over it and recover her usual spirits."
+
+"You are sure it is right?" Wilford asked, for now that the time drew
+near when the little crib at home would be empty, the nursery desolate,
+with no fretful, plaintive wail to annoy and worry him, he began to feel
+that after all that cry was not so very vexing as he had imagined it to
+be; that he might miss it when it was gone, and wish back the little
+creature which had been so greatly in his way.
+
+Besides this, there was a sense of injustice to Katy. Perhaps he had not
+been considerate enough of her feelings; at all events, his mother's
+arranging the time of baby's departure looked like ignoring Katy
+altogether, and he ventured a remonstrance. But his mother soon
+convinced him of her infallible judgment; not only in that matter, but
+in all others pertaining to his household; and so with his good opinion
+of himself restored, he went home to where Katy waited for him, with her
+baby in her lap, both tastefully attired, and making a most lovely
+picture. Wilford kissed them both, and took his daughter in his arms, an
+act he had not often been guilty of, for baby tending was not altogether
+to his taste.
+
+In the dark hours of agony which came to him afterward, he remembered
+that night, feeling again the touch of the velvet cheek and the warmth
+of the faint breath which floated across his face as he held his little
+girl for a moment to it, laughing at Katy's distress because "his
+whiskers scratched it."
+
+It was strange how much confidence Katy had in Marian Hazelton, and how
+the fact that she was going to New London reconciled her to the plan,
+making her even cheerful during the last day of baby's stay at home. But
+as the daylight waned and the night came on, a shadow began to steal
+across her sunny face, and her step was slower as it went up the stairs
+to the nursery, while only herself that night could disrobe the little
+creature and hush it into sleep.
+
+"'Tis the last time, you know," she said to Kirby, who readily yielded
+her post and went out, leaving the young mother and child alone.
+
+Mournfully sad and sweet was the lullaby Katy sang, and Helen, in the
+hall, listening to the low, sad moaning, half prayer, half benediction,
+likened it to a farewell between the living and the dead. Half an hour
+later, when she glanced into the room, lighted only by the moonbeams,
+baby was sleeping in her crib, which Katy knelt beside, her face buried
+in her hands, and her form quivering with the sobs she tried to smother
+as she softly prayed that her darling might come back again; that God
+would keep the little child and forgive the erring mother who had sinned
+so deeply since the time she used to pray in the home among the hills of
+Massachusetts. She was very white next morning, and to Helen she seemed
+to be expanding into something more womanly, more mature, as she
+disciplined herself to bear the pain welling up so constantly from her
+heart, and at last overflowing in a flood of tears when Marian was
+announced as in the parlor below waiting for her charge. Fortunately
+there was but little time for parting kisses and fond good-byes, for
+Marian had purposely waited as long as possible ere coming, and
+expedition was necessary if she reached the train.
+
+It was Katy who made her baby ready, trusting her to no one else, and
+repelling with a kind of fierce decision all offers of assistance made
+either by Helen, Mrs. Cameron, Bell, or the nurse, who were present.
+While Katy's hands drew on the little bright, soft socks of wool, tied
+the hood of satin and lace, and fastened the scarlet cloak, her tears
+falling like rain as she met the loving, knowing look the baby was just
+learning to give her, half smiling, half cooing, as she bent her face
+down to it.
+
+"Please all of you go out," she said, when baby was ready--"Wilford and
+all. I had rather be alone."
+
+They granted her request, but Wilford stood beside the open door,
+listening while the mother bade farewell to her baby.
+
+"Darling," she murmured, "what will poor Katy do when you are gone,
+or what will comfort her as you have done? Precious baby, my heart is
+breaking to give you up; but will the Father in Heaven who knows how
+much you are to me, keep you from harm and bring you back again? Some
+time I'd give the world to keep you, but I cannot do it, for Wilford
+says that you must go, and Wilford is your father."
+
+At that moment Wilford Cameron would have given half his fortune to have
+kept his child for Katy's sake, but it was now too late; the carriage
+was at the door, and Marian, whom no one had seen but Helen, was waiting
+in the hall, her thick green veil dropped before her face, and a muffler
+about her mouth as if suffering from the toothache. Helen had asked if
+it were so, but Marian's answer was prevented by the little procession
+filing down the stairs--Mrs. Cameron and Bell, Wilford and Katy, who
+carried the baby herself, her face bent over it and her tears still
+dropping like rain. But it was Wilford who put his child into Marian's
+extended arms, forgetting in his excitement to notice aught in the new
+nurse except the long, green veil which was not raised at all, even when
+Katy said, pleadingly, "You will care for her, Marian, as if she were
+your own."
+
+"Yes, I will, I will," was the response, spoken huskily and having in
+it no tone like Genevra's. "I will as if it were my own," were the last
+words Marian said as she went down the steps, followed by Wilford, to
+whom the thought had just occurred that he ought to see her off.
+
+Marian had not expected this, and the tension of her nerves was hardly
+equal to the task of sitting there with Wilford Cameron opposite, his
+baby in her lap, his voice in her ear, and his eyes turned upon her as
+if curious to know what manner of woman she was. But the thick veil did
+its duty well, while the muffler answered the purpose intended; it
+changed the voice which was only natural once, and that when it
+addressed the baby, which began to grow restless as they drew near the
+depot. Then Wilford was reminded of Genevra, and the thought carried him
+across the sea, so that he forgot all else until the station was reached
+and he was busy, procuring checks and ticket. He saw her into the car,
+procuring for her a double seat, and speaking a word for her to the
+conductor, whom he knew. And this he did partly for Katy's sake, and
+partly because in spite of the plain attire he recognized the lady and
+felt that Marian Hazelton was no ordinary person. He offered her his
+hand, wondering why hers trembled so in his grasp, wondering why it was
+so cold, and wondering, too, why, if she had never been a wife, she wore
+that plain gold circlet which glittered upon her third finger.
+
+"They certainly call her Miss Hazelton," he thought, as he bade her
+good-by and then left her alone, going back to the house which even to
+him seemed lonely, with all the paraphernalia of babyhood removed.
+Still, now that the worst was over, he rather enjoyed it, for Katy was
+free from care; there was nothing to hinder her gratifying his every
+wish, and with his spirits greatly enlivened as he reflected how
+satisfactory everything had been managed at the last, he proposed taking
+both Helen and Katy to the theatre that night. But Katy answered: "No,
+Wilford, not to-night; it seems too much like baby's funeral. I'll go
+next week, but not to-night."
+
+So Katy had her way, but among the worshipers who next day knelt in
+Grace Church with words of prayer upon their lips, there was not one
+more in earnest than she whose only theme was, "My child, my darling
+child."
+
+She did not get over it by Monday, as Mrs. Cameron had predicted. She
+did not get over it at all, though she went without a word where Wilford
+willed that she should go, and even Helen, with her sounder health and
+stronger constitution, grew tired of that endless round, which gave her
+scarcely a quiet hour at home. And Katy was a belle again, her name on
+every lip, her praise in every heart, for none could feel jealous, she
+bore her honors so meekly, wondering why people liked her so much and
+loving them because they did. And none admired her more than Helen, who,
+scarcely less a belle herself, yielded everything to her young sister
+whom she pitied while she admired, for nothing had power to draw one
+look from her blue eyes, the look which many observed, and which Helen
+knew sprang from the mother love, hungering for its child. Only once
+before had Helen seen a look like this, and that came to Morris' face on
+the sad night when she said to him, "It might have been." It had been
+there ever since, and Helen, though revering him before, felt that by
+the pangs with which that look was born he was a better man, just as
+Katy was growing better for that hunger in her heart. God was taking his
+own way to purify them both, but the process was going on and Helen
+watched it intently, wondering what the end would be.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVII.
+
+AUNT BETSY GOES ON A JOURNEY.
+
+
+Just through the woods, where Uncle Ephraim was wont to exercise old
+Whitey, was a narrow strip of land, extending from the highway to the
+pond, and fertile in nothing except the huckleberry bushes, where the
+large, dark fruit grew so abundantly, and the rocky ledges over which a
+few sheep roamed, seeking for the short grass and stunted herbs, which
+gave them a meager sustenance. As a whole it was comparatively
+valueless, but to Aunt Betsy Barlow it was of great importance, as it
+was her own--her property--her share--set off from the old estate--the
+land on which she paid taxes willingly--the real estate the deed of
+which was lying undisturbed in her hair trunk, where it had lain for
+years. Several dispositions the good old lady had mentally made of this
+property, sometimes dividing it equally between Helen and Katy,
+sometimes willing it all to the former, and again, when she thought of
+Mark Ray, leaving the interest of it to some missionary society in which
+she was greatly interested.
+
+How then was the poor woman amazed and confounded when suddenly there
+appeared a claimant to her property; not the whole, but a part, and that
+part taking in the big sweet apple tree and the very best of the berry
+bushes, leaving her nothing but rocks and bogs, a pucker cherry tree, a
+patch of tansy, and one small tree, whose gnarly apples were not fit,
+she said, to feed the pigs.
+
+Of course she was indignant, and all the more so because the claimant
+was prepared to prove that the line fence was not where it should be,
+but ran into his own dominions for the width of two or three rods, a
+fact he had just discovered by looking over a bundle of deeds, in which
+the boundaries of his own farm were clearly defined.
+
+In her distress Aunt Betsy's first thoughts were turned to Wilford as
+the man who could redress her wrongs if any one, and a long letter was
+written to him in which her grievances were told in detail and his
+advice solicited. Commencing with "My dear Wilford," closing with
+"Your respected ant," sealed with a wafer, stamped with her thimble,
+and directed bottom side up, it nevertheless found its way to
+No. ---- Broadway, and into Wilford's hands. But with a frown and pish of
+contempt he tossed it into the grate, and vain were all Aunt Betsy's
+inquiries as to whether there was any letter for her when Uncle Ephraim
+came home from the office. Letters there were from Helen, and sometimes
+one from Katy, but none from Wilford, none for her, and her days were
+passed in great perplexity and distress, until another idea took
+possession of her mind. She would go to New York herself! She had never
+traveled over half a dozen miles in the cars, it was true, but it was
+time she had, and now that she had a new bonnet and shawl, as good as
+anybody's, she could go to York as well as not!
+
+Wholly useless were the expostulations of the family, for she would not
+listen to them, nor believe that she would not be welcome at that house
+on Madison Square, to which even Mrs. Lennox had never been invited
+since Katy was fairly settled in it. Much at first had been said of her
+coming, and of the room she was to occupy; but all that had ceased, and
+in the mother's heart there had been a painful doubt as to the reason of
+the silence, until Helen's letters enlightened her, telling her it was
+not Katy, for she was still unchanged--was still the loving, impulsive
+creature who, if she could, would take all Silverton to her arms. It was
+Wilford who had built so high a wall between Katy and her friends;
+Wilford who at first had endured Helen because he must, but who now kept
+her with him from choice, even though she was sometimes greatly in his
+way, especially when her will clashed with his and her stronger
+arguments for the right swept his own aside. Far better than she used,
+did Mrs. Lennox understand her son-in-law, and she shrank in horror from
+suffering her aunt to go where she would be so serious an annoyance,
+frankly telling her the reason for her objections, and asking if she
+wished to mortify the girls.
+
+At this Aunt Betsy took umbrage at once.
+
+"She'd like to know what there was about her to mortify anybody? Wasn't
+her black silk dress made long and full, and the old pongee fixed into a
+Balmoral, and hadn't she a bran-new cap with purple ribbon, and couldn't
+she travel in her delaine, and didn't she wear hoops always now, except
+at cleanin' house times? Didn't she nuss both the girls, especially
+Catherine, carrying her in her arms one whole night when she had the
+canker-rash, and everybody thought she'd die; and when she swallered
+that tin whistle didn't she spat her on the back and swing her in the
+air till she came to and blew the whistle clear across the room? Tell
+her that Catherine would be ashamed? she knew better!"
+
+Then as a doubt began to cross her own mind as to Wilford's readiness to
+entertain her at his house, she continued:
+
+"At any rate, the Tubbses, who moved from Silverton last fall, and who
+were living in such style on the Bowery, wouldn't be ashamed, and I can
+stop with them at first, till I see how the land lies. They have invited
+me to come, both Miss Tubbs and 'Tilda, and they are nice folks, who
+belong to the Orthodox Church. Tom is in town now, and if I see him I
+shall talk with him about it, even if I never go."
+
+Most devoutly did Mrs. Lennox and Aunt Hannah hope that Tom would
+return to New York without honoring the farmhouse with a call; but
+unfortunately for them he came that very afternoon, and instead of
+throwing obstacles in Aunt Betsy's way, urged her warmly to make the
+proposed visit.
+
+"Mother would be so glad to see an old neighbor," the honest youth said,
+"for she did not know many folks in the city. 'Till had made some flashy
+acquaintances, of whom he did not think much, and they kept a few
+boarders, but nobody had called, and mother was real lonesome. He wished
+Miss Barlow would come; she would have no difficulty in finding them,"
+and on a bit of paper he marked out the route of the Fourth Avenue cars,
+which passed their door, and which Aunt Betsy would take after arriving
+at the New Haven depot. "If he knew when she was coming he would meet
+her," he said, but Aunt Betsy could not tell; she was not quite certain
+whether she should go at all, she was so violently opposed.
+
+Still she did not give it up entirely, and when, a few days after Tom's
+return to New York, there came a pressing invitation from the daughter
+Matilda, or Mattie, as she signed herself, the fever again ran high, and
+this time with but little hope of its abating.
+
+"We shall be delighted, both mother and me," Mattie wrote. "I will show
+you all the lions of the city, and when you get tired of us you can go
+up to Mrs. Cameron's. I know exactly where they live, and have seen her
+at the opera in full dress, looking like a queen."
+
+Over the last part of this letter Aunt Betsy pondered for some time.
+That as good an orthodox as Miss Tubbs should let her girl go to the
+opera, passed her. She had wondered at Helen's going, but then she was a
+'Piscopal, and them 'Piscopals had queer notions about usin' the world
+and not abusin' it. Still, as Helen did not attend the theatre and did
+attend the opera, there must be a difference in the two places, and into
+the old lady's heart there slowly crept the thought that possibly she
+might try the opera too, if 'Tilda Tubbs would go, and promise never to
+tell the folks at Silverton! She should like to see what it was, and
+also what full dress meant, though she s'posed it was pilin' on all the
+clothes you had so as to make a show; but if she wore her black silk
+gown with her best bunnet and shawl, she guessed that would be dress
+enough for her.
+
+This settled, Aunt Betsy began to devise the best means of getting off
+with the least opposition. Both Morris and her brother would be absent
+from town during the next week, and she finally resolved to take that
+opportunity for starting on her visit to New York, wisely concluding to
+keep her own counsel until she was quite ready. Accordingly, on the very
+day Morris and the deacon left Silverton, she announced her intention so
+quietly and decidedly that further opposition was useless, and Mrs.
+Lennox did what she could to make her aunt presentable. And Aunt Betsy
+did look very respectable in her dark delaine, with her hat and shawl,
+both Morris' gift, and both in very good taste. As for the black silk
+and the new cap, they were carefully folded away, one in a box and the
+other in a satchel she carried on her arm, and in one compartment of
+which were sundry papers of fennel, caraway, and catnip, intended for
+Katy's baby, and which could be sent to it from New York. There was also
+a package of dried plums and peaches for Katy herself, and a few cakes
+of yeast of her own make, better than any they had in the city! Thus
+equipped she one morning took her seat in the Boston and New York train,
+which carried her swiftly on toward Springfield.
+
+"If anybody can find their way in New York, it is Betsy," Aunt Hannah
+said to Mrs. Lennox, as the day wore on and their thoughts went after
+the lone woman, who with satchel, umbrella and capbox, was felicitating
+in the luxury of a whole seat, and the near neighborhood of a very nice
+young man, who listened with well-bred interest while she told of her
+troubles concerning the sheep pasture, and how she was going to New York
+to consult a first-rate lawyer.
+
+Once she thought to tell who the lawyer was, and perhaps enhance her own
+merits in the eyes of her auditors by announcing herself as aunt to Mrs.
+Wilford Cameron, of whom she had no doubt he had heard--nay, more, whom
+he possibly knew, inasmuch as his home was in New York, though he spent
+much of his time at West Point, where he had been educated. But certain
+disagreeable remembrances of Aunt Hannah's parting injunction, "not to
+tell everybody in the cars that she was Katy's aunt," kept her silent on
+that point, and so Lieutenant Bob Reynolds failed to be enlightened with
+regard to the relationship existing between the fastidious Wilford
+Cameron of Madison Square, and the quaint old lady whose very first act
+on entering the car amused him vastly. At a glance he saw that she was
+unused to traveling, and as the car was crowded, he had kindly offered
+his seat near the door, taking the side one under the window, and so
+close to her that she gave him her capbox to hold while she adjusted her
+other bundles. This done and herself comfortably settled, she was just
+remarking that she liked being close to the door in case of a fire, when
+the conductor appeared, extending his hand officially toward her as the
+first one convenient. For an instant Aunt Betsy scanned him closely,
+thinking she surely had never seen him before, but as he seemed to claim
+acquaintance she could not find it in her kind heart to ignore him
+altogether, and so she grasped the offered hand, which she tried to
+shake, saying apologetically:
+
+"Pretty well, thank you, but you've got the better of me, as I don't
+justly recall your name."
+
+Instantly the eyes of the young man under the window met those of the
+conductor with a look which changed the frown gathering in the face of
+the latter into a comical smile as he withdrew his hand and shouted:
+
+"Ticket, madam, your ticket!"
+
+"For the land's sake, have I got to give that up so quick, when it's at
+the bottom of my satchel," Aunt Betsy replied, somewhat crestfallen at
+her mistake, and fumbling in her pocket for the key, which was finally
+produced, and one by one the paper parcels of fennel, caraway, and
+catnip, dried plums, peaches and yeast cakes, were taken out, until at
+the very bottom, as she had said, the ticket was found, the conductor
+waiting patiently, and advising her, by way of avoiding future trouble,
+to pin the card to her shawl, where it could be seen.
+
+"A right nice man," was Aunt Betsy's mental comment, but for a long time
+there was a red spot on her cheeks as she felt that she had made herself
+ridiculous, and hoped the girls would never hear of it.
+
+The young man, however, helped to reassure her, and in telling him her
+troubles she forgot her chagrin, feeling very sorry that he was going on
+to Albany, and so down the river to West Point. West Point was
+associated in Aunt Betsy's mind with that handful of noble men who
+within the walls of Sumter were then the center of so much interest, and
+at parting with her companion she said to him:
+
+"Young man, you are a soldier, I take it, from your havin' been to
+school at West Point. Maybe you'll never have to use your learning, but
+if you do, stick to the old flag. Don't you go against that, and if an
+old woman's prayers for your safety can do any good, be sure you'll have
+mine."
+
+She raised her hand reverently, and Lieutenant Bob felt a kind of awe
+steal over him as if he might one day need that benediction, the first
+perhaps given in the cause now so terribly agitating all hearts both
+North and South.
+
+"I'll remember what you say," he answered, and then as a new idea was
+presented he took out a card, and writing a few lines upon it, bade her
+hand it to the conductor just as she was getting into the city.
+
+Without her glasses Aunt Betsy could not read, and thinking it did not
+matter now, she thrust the card into her pocket, and bidding her
+companion good-by, took her seat in the other train. Lonely and a very
+little homesick she began to feel; for her new neighbors were not
+one-half as willing to talk as Bob had been, and she finally relapsed
+into silence, which resulted in a quiet sleep, from which she awoke
+just as they were entering the long, dark tunnel, which she would have
+likened to Purgatory had she believed in such a place.
+
+"I didn't know we ran into cellars," she said, faintly; but nobody
+heeded her, or cared for the anxious and now timid-looking woman, who
+grew more and more anxious, until suddenly remembering the card, she
+drew it from her pocket, and the next time the conductor appeared handed
+it to him, watching him while he read that "Lieutenant Robert Reynolds
+would consider it as a personal favor if he would see the bearer into
+the Fourth Avenue cars."
+
+Surely there is a Providence which watches over all; and Lieutenant
+Reynolds' thoughtfulness was not a mere chance, but the answer to the
+simple trust Aunt Betsy had that God would take her safely to New York,
+never doubting until she reached it that she had been heard. And even
+then she did not doubt it long, for the conductor knew Lieutenant Bob,
+and attended as faithfully to his wishes as if it had been a born
+princess instead of Aunt Betsy Barlow whom he led to a street car,
+ascertaining the number on the Bowery where she wished to stop, and
+reporting to that conductor, who bowed in acquiescence, after glancing
+at the woman, and knowing intuitively that she was from the country.
+Could she have divested herself wholly of the fear that the conductor
+would forget to put her off at the right place, Aunt Betsy would have
+enjoyed that ride very much; and as it was, she looked around with
+interest, thinking New York a mightily cluttered-up place, and wondering
+if all the folks were in the streets. "They must be a gadding set," she
+thought; and then, as a lady in flaunting robes took a seat beside her,
+crowding her into a narrow space, the good old dame thought to show that
+she did not resent it, by an attempt at sociability, asking if she knew
+"Mrs. Peter Tubbs, whose husband kept a store on the Bowery?"
+
+"I have not that honor," was the haughty reply, the lady drawing up
+her costly shawl and moving a little away from her interlocutor, who
+continued: "I thought like enough you might have seen 'Tilda, or Mattie
+she calls herself now. She is a right nice girl, and Tom is a very
+forrard boy."
+
+To this there was no reply; and as the lady soon left the car, Aunt
+Betsy did not make another attempt at conversation, except to ask once
+how far they were from the Bowery, adding, as she received a civil
+answer, "You don't know Mr. Peter Tubbs?"
+
+The worthy man was evidently a stranger to the occupants of that car,
+and so Aunt Betsy employed her time in wondering if they kept up a sight
+of style. She presumed they did from what 'Tilda had written to one of
+Captain Perry's girls about their front parlor, and back parlor, and
+library; but she did so hope their boarders were not the stuck up kind.
+In Mrs. Peter Tubbs herself she had the utmost confidence, knowing her
+to be a kind, friendly woman; and so her heart did not beat quite as
+fast as it would otherwise have done when the car stopped at last upon
+a crossing, and the conductor pointed back a few doors to the right,
+telling her that was her number.
+
+"I should s'pose he might have driv right up, instead of leaving me
+here," she said, looking wistfully at the retreating car, which now
+seemed almost like home. "Coats, and trousers, and jackets! I wonder if
+there is nothing else to be seen here," she continued, as her eye caught
+the long line of clothing so conspicuously displayed in that part of the
+Bowery. "'Tain't no great shakes," was the feeling struggling into Aunt
+Betsy's mind, as with Tom's outline map in hand she peered at the
+numbers of the doors, finding the right one at last, and ringing the
+bell with a force which brought Mattie at once to the rescue.
+
+If Mattie was not glad to see her guest, she seemed to be, which
+answered every purpose for the tired woman, who followed her into the
+dark, narrow hall, filled with the sickly odor of the kitchen, and up
+the narrow stairs, through a still darker hall, and into the front
+parlor, which looked out upon the Bowery. This was comparatively
+comfortable, for there was a fire in the stove, and the carpet the same
+which Aunt Betsy remembered to have seen in Mrs. Tubbs' best room at
+Silverton. But the diminutive dimensions of the apartment struck her at
+once, and she mentally decided that it must be the "libry." But, alas!
+the so-called "library" was a large-sized closet, or single room, at the
+other end of the hall, and now used as an _omnium gatherum_ for the
+various articles Mrs. Tubbs found necessary for her "back parlor," or
+dining-room, where the table was set cornerwise, its soiled linen and
+dingy napkins presenting a striking contrast to the snowy cloth which
+always covered the table at the farmhouse, while the dry, baker's bread,
+and the frowsy butter were almost more than Aunt Betsy could swallow,
+hungry as she was.
+
+But all this was half an hour after the time when Mrs. Tubbs came in to
+meet her, expressing genuine pleasure at seeing her there, and feeling
+what she said; for Mrs. Tubbs did not take kindly to city life, and the
+sight of a familiar face, which brought the country with it, was very
+welcome to her. Mattie, on the contrary, liked New York, and there was
+scarcely a street where she had not been, with Tom for a protector;
+while she was perfectly conversant with all the respectable places of
+amusement--with their different prices and different grades of patrons.
+She knew where Wilford Cameron's office was, and also his house, for she
+had walked by the latter many times, admiring the elegant curtains and
+feasting her eyes upon the glimpses of inside grandeur, which she
+occasionally obtained as some one came out or went in. Once she had seen
+Helen and Katy enter their carriage, which the colored coachman drove
+away, but she had never ventured to accost them. Katy would not have
+known her if she had, for the family had come to Silverton while she was
+at Canandaigua, and as, after her return to Silverton, until her
+marriage, Mattie had been in one of the Lawrence factories, they had
+never met. With Helen, however, she had a speaking acquaintance; but she
+had never presumed upon it in New York, though to some of her young
+friends she had told how she once sat in the same pew with Mrs. Wilford
+Cameron's sister when she went to the "Episcopal meeting," and the
+consideration which this fact procured for her from those who had heard
+of Mrs. Wilford Cameron, of Madison Square, awoke in her the ambition to
+know more of that lady, and, if possible, gain an entrance to her
+dwelling. To this end she favored Aunt Betsy's visit, hoping thus to
+accomplish her object, for, of course, when Miss Barlow went to Mrs.
+Cameron's, she was the proper person to go with her and point the way.
+This was the secret of Mattie's letter to Aunt Betsy, and the warmth
+with which she welcomed her to that tenement on the Bowery, over a
+clothing store, and so small that it is not strange Aunt Betsy wondered
+where they all slept, never dreaming of the many devices known to city
+housekeepers, who can change a handsome parlor into a kitchen or
+sleeping-room, and _vice versa_, with little or no trouble. But she
+found it out at last, lifting her hands in speechless amazement, when,
+as the hour for retiring came, what she imagined the parlor bookcase was
+converted into a comfortable bed, on which her first night in New York
+was passed in comfort if not in perfect quiet.
+
+The next day had been set apart by Mattie for showing their guest the
+city and possibly calling on Mrs. Wilford; but the poor old lady, unused
+to travel and excitement, was too tired to venture out, seeing from the
+window more than she had seen in all her life before, and coming to the
+conclusion that New York must contain "a sight of folks," judging from
+the crowds who passed that way and the glimpses she caught of other
+crowds in the streets beyond. Still in some things she was disappointed.
+New York was not so grand as she had imagined it to be--not as grand as
+Helen's letters would imply; and she "didn't suppose everybody lived
+upstairs and kept men's clothes to sell." The boarders, too, troubled
+her. They were well enough, it is true, but they were neither fine
+ladies nor gentlemen, such as Wilford and Katy; and Aunt Betsy, while
+receiving every attention which Mrs. Tubbs could give her, was guilty of
+wishing herself back in the clean, bright kitchen at home, where the
+windows looked out upon woods and fields instead of that never-ceasing
+rush which made her dizzy and faint. On the whole she was as nearly
+homesick as she well could be, and so when Mattie asked if she would
+like to go out that evening, she caught eagerly at the idea, as it
+involved a change, and again the opera came before her mind, in spite
+of her attempts to thrust it away.
+
+"Did 'Tilda know if Katy went to the opera now? Did she s'pose she
+would be there to-night? Was it far to the show house? What was the
+price--and was it a very wicked place?"
+
+To all these queries Mattie answered readily. She presumed Katy would be
+there, as it was a new opera. It was not so very far. Distance in the
+city was nothing, and it was not a wicked place, but over the price
+Mattie faltered. Tickets for Aunt Betsy, herself and Tom, who of course
+must go with them, would cost more than her father had to give. The
+theatre was preferable, as that came within their means, and she
+suggested Laura Keene's; but from that Aunt Betsy recoiled as from
+Pandemonium itself.
+
+Catch her at a theatre--her, a deacon's sister, looked up to for a
+sample, and who run once for vice-president of the Sewing Society in
+Silverton! It was too terrible to think of. But the opera seemed
+different. Helen went there; it could not be very wrong, particularly as
+the tickets were so high that bad folks could not go, and taking out her
+purse Aunt Betsy counted its contents carefully, holding the bills
+thoughtfully for a moment, while she seemed to be balancing between what
+she knew was safe and what she feared might be wrong, at least in the
+eyes of Silverton.
+
+"But Silverton will never know it," the tempter whispered, "and it is
+worth something to see the girls in full dress."
+
+This decided it, and Aunt Betsy generously offered "to pay the fiddler,"
+as she termed it, "provided 'Tilda would never let it get to Silverton
+that Betsy Barlow was seen inside a playhouse!" To Mrs. Tubbs it seemed
+impossible that Aunt Betsy could be in earnest, but when she was, she
+put no impediments in her way; and so, conspicuous among the crowd of
+transient visitors who that night entered the Academy of Music was Aunt
+Betsy Barlow, chaperoned by Miss Mattie Tubbs and protected by Tom, a
+shrewd, well-grown youth of seventeen, who passed for some years older,
+and consequently was a sufficient escort for the ladies under his
+charge. It was not his first visit there and he managed to procure a
+seat which commanded a good view of several private boxes, and among
+them that of Wilford Cameron. This Mattie, who remembered where she had
+seen both Helen and Katy, pointed out to the excited woman gazing about
+her in a maze of bewilderment, and half doubting her own identity with
+the Betsy Barlow who, six weeks before, if charged with such a sin as
+she was now committing, would have exclaimed, "Is thy servant a dog to
+do this thing?" Yet here she was, a deacon's sister, a candidate for the
+vice-presidency of the Silverton Sewing Society, a woman who, for
+sixty-three years and a-half, had led a blameless life, frowning upon
+all worldly amusements and setting herself for a burning light to
+others--here she was in her black silk dress, her best shawl pinned
+across her chest, and her bonnet tied in a square bow which reached
+nearly to her ears, which Mattie Tubbs, who tied it, had said was all
+the style. Here she was, in that huge building, where the lights were so
+blinding and the crowd so great that she shut her eyes involuntarily,
+while she tried to realize what she could be doing.
+
+"I'm in for it now anyhow, and if it is wrong may the good Father
+forgive me," she said softly to herself, just as the orchestra struck
+up, thrilling her with its ravishing strains, and making her forget all
+else in her rapturous delight.
+
+She was very fond of music and listened eagerly, beating time with both
+her feet, and making her bonnet go up and down until the play commenced
+and she saw stage dress and stage effect for the first time in her life.
+This part she did not like: "they mumbled their words so nobody could
+understand more than if they spoke a heathenish tongue," she thought,
+and she was beginning to yawn when a nudge from Mattie and a whisper,
+"There they come," roused her from her stupor, and looking up she saw
+both Helen and Katy entering their box, and with them Mark Ray and
+Wilford Cameron.
+
+Very rapidly Katy's eyes swept the house, running over the sea of heads
+below but failing to see the figure which, half arising from its seat,
+stood with clasped hands, gazing upon her, the tears running like rain
+over the upturned face, and the lips murmuring: "Darling Katy! blessed
+child! She's thinner than when I see her last, but oh! so beautiful and
+grand! Precious lambkin! It isn't wicked now for me to be coming here,
+where I can see her face again."
+
+It was all in vain that Mattie pulled her dress, bidding her sit down
+as people were staring at her. Aunt Betsy did not hear, and if she had
+she would scarcely have cared for those who did look at her, and who,
+following her eyes, saw the beautiful young ladies, behind whom Wilford
+and Mark were standing, but never dreamed of associating them with the
+"crazy thing" who sank back at last into her seat, keeping her eyes
+still upon the box where Helen and Katy sat, their heads uncovered and
+their rich cloaks falling off just enough to show the astonished woman
+that both their necks were uncovered, too, while Helen's arms, raised to
+adjust her glass, were discovered to be in the same condition.
+
+"Ain't they splendid in full dress?" Mattie whispered, while Aunt Betsy
+replied:
+
+"Call that full dress? I'd sooner say it was no dress at all! They'll
+catch their death of cold. What would their mother say?"
+
+Then as the enormity of the act grew upon her, she continued more to
+herself than to Mattie:
+
+"I mistrusted Catherine, but that Helen should come to this passes me."
+
+Still as she became more accustomed to it, and glanced at other
+full-dressed ladies, the first shock passed away, and she could calmly
+contemplate Katy's dress, wondering what it cost, and then letting her
+eyes pass on to Helen, to whom Mark Ray seemed so loverlike that Aunt
+Betsy remembered her impressions when he stopped at Silverton, her heart
+swelling with pride as she thought of both the girls making out so well.
+
+"Who is that young man talking to Helen?" Mattie asked, between the
+acts, and when told that it was "Mr. Ray, Wilford's partner," she drew
+her breath eagerly, and turned again to watch him, envying the young
+girl who did not seem as much gratified with the attentions as Mattie
+fancied she should do were she in Helen's place.
+
+How could she, with Juno Cameron just opposite, watching her jealously,
+while Madam Cameron fanned herself in dignity, refusing to look upon
+what she so greatly disapproved.
+
+But Mark did not care who was watching him, and continued his attentions
+until Helen wished herself away, and though a good deal surprised, was
+not sorry when Wilford abruptly declared the opera a bore, and suggested
+going home.
+
+They would order an ice, he said, and have a much pleasanter time in
+their own private parlor.
+
+"Please don't go; I rather like the play to-night," Katy said; but on
+Wilford's face there was that look which never consulted Katy's wishes,
+and so the two ladies tied on their cloaks, and just as the curtain rose
+in the last act, left their box, Juno wondering at the movement, and
+hoping Mark would now come around to her, while Aunt Betsy looked
+wistfully after them, but did not suspect she was the cause of their
+exit, and of Wilford's evident perturbation.
+
+Running his eye over the house below, it had fallen upon the trio, Aunt
+Betsy, Mattie and Tom, the first of whom was at that moment partly
+standing, while she adjusted her heavy shawl, which the heat of the
+building had compelled her to unfasten.
+
+There was a start, a rush of blood to the head and face, and then he
+reflected how impossible it was that she should be there, in New York,
+and at the opera, too.
+
+The shawl arranged, Aunt Betsy took her seat and turned her face fully
+toward him, while Wilford seized Katy's glass and leveled it at her. He
+was not mistaken. It was Aunt Betsy Barlow, and Wilford felt the
+perspiration oozing out beneath his hair and about his lips, as he
+remembered the letter he had burned, wishing now that he had answered
+it, and so, perhaps, have kept her from his door. For she was coming
+there, nay, possibly had come, since his departure from home, and
+learning his whereabouts, had followed on to the Academy of Music,
+leaving her baggage where he should stumble over it on entering the
+hall.
+
+Such was the fearful picture conjured up by Wilford's imagination, as
+he stood watching poor Aunt Betsy, a dark cloud on his brow and fierce
+anger at his heart, that she should thus presume to worry and annoy him.
+
+"If she spies us she will be finding her way up here; there's no piece
+of effrontery of which that class is not capable," he thought, wondering
+next who the vulgar-looking girl and _gauche_ youth were who were with
+her.
+
+"Country cousins, of whom I have never heard, no doubt," and he ground
+his teeth together as with his next breath he suggested going home,
+carrying out his suggestion and hurrying both Helen and Katy to the
+carriage as if some horrible dragon had been on their track.
+
+There was no baggage in the hall, there had been no woman there, and
+Wilford's fears for a time subsided, but growing strong again about the
+time he knew the opera was out, while the sound of wheels coming toward
+his door was sufficient to make his heart stop beating and every hair
+prickle at its roots.
+
+But Aunt Betsy did not come except in Wilford's dreams, which she
+haunted the entire night, so that the morning found him tired, moody,
+and cross. That day they entertained a select dinner party, and as this
+was something in which Katy rather excelled, while Helen's presence,
+instead of detracting from, would add greatly to the _eclat_ of the
+affair, Wilford had anticipated it with no small degree of complacency.
+But now, alas! there was a phantom at his side--a skeleton of horror,
+wearing Aunt Betsy's guise; and if it had been possible he would have
+given the dinner up. But it was too late for that; the guests were
+bidden, the arrangements made, and there was nothing now for him but
+to abide the consequences.
+
+"She shall at least stay in her room, if I have to lock her in," he
+thought, as he went down to his office without even kissing Katy or
+bidding her good-by.
+
+But business that day had no interest for him, and in a listless, absent
+way he sat watching the passers-by and glancing at his door as if he
+expected the first assault to be made there. Then as the day wore on,
+and he felt sure that what he so much dreaded had really come to pass,
+that the baggage expected last night had certainly arrived by this time
+and spread itself over his house, he could endure the suspense no
+longer, and startled Mark with the announcement that he was going home,
+and should not return again that day.
+
+"Going home, when Leavitt is to call at three!" Mark said, in much
+surprise, and feeling that it would be a relief to unburden himself to
+some one, the story came out how Wilford had seen Aunt Betsy at the
+opera, and expected to find her at Madison Square.
+
+"I wish I had answered her letter about that confounded sheep pasture,"
+he said, "for I would rather give a thousand dollars--yes, ten
+thousand--than have her with us to-day. I did not marry my wife's
+relations," he continued, excitedly, adding, as Mark looked quickly up,
+"Of course I don't mean Helen. She is right; and though she rasps me a
+little, I'd rather have her than not. Neither do I mean that doctor, for
+he is a gentleman. But this Barlow woman--oh! Mark, I am all of dripping
+sweat just to think of it."
+
+He did not say what he intended doing, but with Mark Ray's ringing laugh
+in his ears, passed into the street, and hailing a stage was driven
+toward home, just as a downtown stage deposited on the walk in front of
+his office "that Barlow woman" and Mattie Tubbs!
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXVIII.
+
+AUNT BETSY CONSULTS A LAWYER.
+
+
+Aunt Betsy did not rest well after her return from the opera. Novelty
+and excitement always kept her awake, while her mind was not wholly at
+ease with regard to what she had done. Not that she really felt she had
+committed a sin, except so far as the example might be bad, but she
+feared the result, should it ever reach the orthodox church at Silverton.
+
+"There's no telling what Deacon Bannister would do--send a subpoena
+after me, for what I know," she thought, as she laid her tired head upon
+her pillow and went off into that weary state halfway between sleep and
+wakefulness, a state in which operas, play actors, Katy in full dress,
+Helen and Mark Ray, choruses, music by the orchestra, to which she had
+been guilty of beating her foot, Deacon Bannister and the whole offended
+brotherhood, with constable and subpoenas, were pretty equally blended
+together--the music which she liked, and the subpoena which she feared
+taking the precedence of the others.
+
+But with the daylight her fears subsided, and at the breakfast table
+she was hardly less enthusiastic over the opera than Mattie herself,
+averring, however; that "once would do her and she had no wish to go
+again."
+
+The sight of Katy looking so frail and delicate, but so beautiful
+withal, had awakened all the olden intense love she had felt for her
+darling, and she could not wait much longer without seeing her "in her
+own home and hearing her blessed voice."
+
+"Hannah, and Lucy amongst 'em, advised me not to come," she said to Mrs.
+Tubbs, "hinting that I might not be wanted up there; but now I'm here I
+shall go if I don't stay more than an hour."
+
+"Of course I should," Mattie answered, herself anxious to stand beneath
+Wilford Cameron's roof and see Mrs. Wilford at home. "She don't look as
+proud as Helen, and you are her aunt, her blood kin, so why shouldn't
+you go there if you like?"
+
+"I shall--I am going," Aunt Betsy replied, feeling that to take Mattie
+with her was not quite the thing, and not exactly knowing how to manage,
+for the girl must of course pilot the way. "I'll risk it and trust to
+Providence," was her final decision, and so after an early lunch she
+started out with Mattie as her escort, suggesting that they visit
+Wilford's office first and get that affair out of her mind.
+
+At this point Aunt Betsy began to look upon herself as a most hardened
+wretch, wondering at the depths of iniquity to which she had fallen. The
+opera was the least of her offenses, for she was not harboring pride and
+contriving how to be rid of 'Tilda Tubbs, as clever a girl as ever
+lived, hoping that if she found Wilford he would see her home, and so
+save 'Tilda the trouble? Playhouses, pride, vanity, subterfuge and
+deceit--it was a long catalogue she would have to confess to Deacon
+Bannister, if confess she did, and with a groan the conscience-smitten
+woman followed her conductor along the street, and at last into the
+stage which took them to Wilford's office.
+
+Broadway was literally jammed that day, and the aid of two policemen was
+required to extricate the bewildered countrywoman from the mass of
+vehicles and horses' heads, which took all her sense away. Trembling
+like a leaf when Mattie explained that the "two nice men" who had
+dragged her to the walk were police officers, and thinking again of the
+subpoena, the frightened woman who had escaped such peril, followed up
+the two flights of stairs and into Wilford's office, where she sank
+breathless into a chair, while Mark, not in the least surprised, greeted
+her cordially, and very soon succeeded in getting her quiet, bowing so
+graciously to Mattie when introduced that the poor girl dreamed of him
+for many a night, and by day built castles of what might have been had
+she been rich, instead of only 'Tilda Tubbs, whose home was on the
+Bowery. Why need Aunt Betsy in her introduction have mentioned that
+fact? Mattie thought, her cheeks burning scarlet; or why need she
+afterward speak of her as 'Tilda, who was kind enough to come with her
+to the office where she hoped to find Wilford? Poor Mattie, she knew
+some things very well, but she had never yet conceived of the
+immeasurable distance between herself and Mark Ray, who cared but little
+whether her home were on the Bowery or on Murray Hill, after the first
+sight which told him what she was. He was very polite to her, however,
+for it was not in his nature to be otherwise, while the fact that she
+came with Helen's aunt gave her some claim upon him.
+
+"Mr. Cameron had just left the office and would not return that day,"
+he said to Aunt Betsy, asking if he could assist her in any way, and
+assuring her of his willingness to do so.
+
+Aunt Betsy could talk with him better than with Wilford, and was about
+to give him the story of the sheep pasture in detail, when, motioning to
+a side door, he said, "Walk in here, please. You will not be liable to
+so many interruptions."
+
+"Come, 'Tilda, it's no privacy," Aunt Betsy said; but Tilda felt
+intuitively that she was not wanted, and rather haughtily declined,
+amusing herself by the window, while Aunt Betsy in the private office
+told her troubles to Mark Ray; and received in return the advice to let
+the claimant go to law if he chose, he probably would make nothing by
+it, and even if he did, she would not sustain a heavy loss, according to
+her own statement of the value of the land.
+
+"If I could keep the sweet apple-tree, I wouldn't care," Aunt Betsy
+said, "for, the rest ain't worth a lawsuit; though it's my property, and
+I have thought of willing it to Helen, if she ever marries."
+
+Here was a temptation which Mark Ray could not resist. Ever since Mrs.
+General Reynolds' party Helen's manner had puzzled him; but her shyness
+only made him more in love than ever, while the rumor of her engagement
+with Dr. Morris tormented him continually. Sometimes he believed it, and
+sometimes he did not, wishing always that he knew for certain. Here then
+was a chance for confirming his fears or for putting them at rest, and
+blessing 'Tilda Tubbs for declining to enter his back office, he said in
+reply to Aunt Betsy's "If she ever marries," "And of course she will.
+She is engaged, I believe?"
+
+"Engaged? Who to? When? Strange she never writ, nor Katy neither," Aunt
+Betsy exclaimed, while Mark, raised to an ecstatic state, replied, "I
+refer to Dr. Grant. Haven't they been engaged for a long time past?"
+
+"Why--no--indeed," was the response, and Mark could have hugged the good
+old lady, who continued in a confidential tone: "I used to think they'd
+make a good match; but I've gin that up, and now I sometimes mistrust
+'twas Katy, Morris wanted. Anyhow, he's mighty changed since she was
+married, and he never speaks her name. I never heard anybody say so, and
+maybe it's all a fancy, so you won't mention it."
+
+"Certainly not," Mark replied, drawing nearer to her, and continuing in
+a low tone, "Isn't it possible that after all Helen is engaged to her
+cousin, and you do not know it?"
+
+"No," and Aunt Betsy grew very positive. "I am sure she ain't, for only
+t'other day I said to Morris that I wouldn't wonder if Helen and another
+chap had a hankerin' for one another; and he said he wished it might be
+so, for you--no, that other chap, I mean--would make a splendid
+husband," and Aunt Betsy turned very red at the blunder, which made Mark
+Ray feel as if he walked on air, with no obstacle whatever in his path.
+
+Still he could not be satisfied without probing her a little deeper, and
+so he said: "And that other chap? Does he live in Silverton?"
+
+Aunt Betsy's look was a sufficient answer; for the old lady knew he was
+quizzing her, just as she felt that in some way she had removed a
+stumbling block from his path. She had--a very large stumbling block,
+and in the first flush of his joy and gratitude he could do most
+anything. So when she spoke of going up to Katy's, he set himself
+industriously at work to prevent it for that day at least. "They were to
+have a large dinner party," he said, "and both Mrs. Cameron and Miss
+Lennox would be wholly occupied. Would it not be better to wait until
+to-morrow? Did she contemplate a long stay in New York?"
+
+"No, she might go back to-morrow--certainly the day after," Aunt Betsy
+replied, her voice trembling at this fresh impediment thrown in the way
+of her seeing Katy.
+
+The quaver in her voice touched Mark's sympathy. "She was old and
+simple-hearted. She was Helen's aunt," and this, more than aught else,
+helped him to a decision. "She must be homesick in the Bowery; he should
+die if compelled to stay there long; he would take her to his mother's
+and keep her until the morrow, and perhaps until she left for home;
+telling Helen that night, of course, and then suffering her to act
+accordingly."
+
+This he proposed to his client; assuring her of his mother's entire
+willingness to receive her, and urging so many reasons why she should go
+there, instead of "up to Katy's," where they were in such confusion that
+Aunt Betsy was at last persuaded, and was soon riding uptown in a
+Twenty-third Street stage, with Mark Ray her _vis-a-vis_ and Mattie at
+her right. Why Mattie was there Mark could not conjecture; and perhaps
+she did not know herself, unless it were that, disappointed in her call
+on Mrs. Cameron, she vaguely hoped for some redress by calling on Mrs.
+Banker. How then was she chagrined, when, as the stage left them at a
+handsome brownstone front, near Fifth Avenue Hotel, Mark said to her, as
+if she were not of course expected to go in, "Please tell your mother
+that Miss Barlow is stopping with Mrs. Banker to-day. Has she baggage at
+your house?--If so, we will send around for it at once. Your number,
+please?"
+
+His manner was so offhand and yet so polite that Mattie could neither
+resist him, nor yet be angry, though there was a sad feeling of
+disappointment at her heart as she gave the required number, and then
+shook Aunt Betsy's hand, whispering in a choked voice:
+
+"You'll come to us again before you go home?"
+
+"Of course I shall," Aunt Betsy answered, feeling that something was
+wrong, and wondering if she herself were in fault.
+
+With a good-by to Mark, whose bow atoned for a great deal, Mattie walked
+slowly away, leaving Mark greatly relieved. Aunt Betsy was as much as he
+cared to have on his hands at once, and as he led her up the steps, he
+began to wonder more and more what his mother would say to his bringing
+that stranger into her house, unbidden and unsought.
+
+"I'll tell her just the truth," was his rapid decision, and assuming
+a manner which warned the servant who answered his ring neither to be
+curious nor impertinent, he conducted his charge into the parlor, and
+bringing her a chair before the grate, went in quest of his mother, who
+he found was out.
+
+"Kindle a fire then in the front guest chamber," he said, "and see that
+it is made comfortable as soon as possible."
+
+The servant bowed in acquiescence, wondering who had come, and feeling
+not a little surprised at the description given by John of the woman he
+had let into the house, and who now in the parlor was looking around her
+in astonishment and delight, thinking she had found New York at last,
+and condemning herself for the feeling of homesickness with which she
+remembered the Bowery, contrasting her "cluttered quarters" there with
+the elegance around her. "Was Katy's house as fine as this?" she asked
+herself, feeling intuitively that such as she might be out of place in
+it, just as she began to fear she was out of her place here, bemoaning
+the fact that she had forgotten her capbox, with its contents, and so
+could not remove her bonnet, as she had nothing with which to cover her
+gray head.
+
+"What shall I do?" she was asking herself, when Mark appeared, explaining
+that his mother was absent, but would be at home in a short time.
+
+"Your room will soon be ready," he continued, "and meantime you might
+lay aside your wrappings here if you find them too warm."
+
+There was something about Mark Ray which inspired confidence, and in her
+extremity Aunt Betsy gasped, "I can't take off my bunnet till I get my
+caps down to Mrs. Tubbs'. Oh, what a trouble I be."
+
+Not exactly comprehending the nature of the difficulty, Mark suggested
+that she go without a cap until he could send for them; but Aunt Betsy's
+assertion that "she was grayer than a rat," enlightened him with regard
+to her dilemma, and full permission was given for her "to sit in her
+bonnet" until such time as a messenger could go to the Bowery and back.
+In this condition she had better be in her own room, and as it was in
+readiness, Mark himself conducted her to it, the stern gravity of his
+face putting down the laugh which sprang to the waiting maid's eyes at
+the old lady's ejaculations of surprise and amazement that anything
+could be so fine as the house where she so unexpectedly found herself a
+guest.
+
+"She is unaccustomed to the city, but a particular friend of mine; so
+see that you treat her with respect," was all the explanation he
+vouchsafed to the curious girl.
+
+But that was enough. A friend of Mr. Ray's must be somebody, even if she
+sat with two bonnets on instead of one, and appeared ten times more
+rustic than Aunt Betsy, who breathed freer when she found herself alone
+upstairs, and knew her baggage would soon be there.
+
+In some little trepidation Mark paced up and down the parlor waiting
+for his mother, who came ere long, expressing her surprise to find him
+there, and asking if anything had happened that he seemed so agitated.
+
+"Yes, I'm in a deuced scrape," he answered, coming up to her with the
+saucy, winning smile she could never resist, and continuing, "To be in
+at the foundation, you know how much I am in love with Helen Lennox?"
+
+"No, I don't," was the reply, as Mrs. Banker removed her fur with the
+most provoking coolness. "How should I know when you have never told me?"
+
+"Haven't you eyes? Can't you see? Don't you like her yourself?"
+
+"Yes, very much."
+
+"And are you willing she should be your daughter?"
+
+Mark had his arm around his mother's neck, and bending his face to hers,
+kissed her playfully as he asked her the last question.
+
+"Say, mother, are you willing I should marry Helen Lennox?"
+
+There was a struggle in Mrs. Banker's heart, and for a moment she felt
+jealous of the girl whom she had guessed was dearer to her son than ever
+his mother could be again, but she was a sensible woman. She knew that
+it was natural for another and a stronger love to come between her and
+her boy. She liked Helen Lennox. She was willing to take her as a
+daughter, and she said so at last, and listened half amazed and half
+amused to the story which had in it so much of Aunt Betsy Barlow, who
+had cleared away his doubts, and who at that very moment was an occupant
+of their best guest chamber, sitting with her bonnet on, and waiting for
+her cap from the Bowery.
+
+"Perhaps it was wrong to bring her home," he added, "but I did it to
+spare Helen. I knew just what a savage Wilford would be if he found her
+there, where she would be in the way. Say, mother, was I wrong?"
+
+He was not often wrong in his mother's estimation, and certainly he was
+not now, when he kissed her so often, begging her to say he had done
+right.
+
+Certainly he had. Mrs. Banker was very glad to find him so thoughtful;
+few young men would do as much, she said, and from feeling a little
+doubtful, Mark came to look upon himself as a very nice young man, who
+had done a most unselfish act, for of course he had not been influenced
+by any desire to keep Aunt Betsy from the people who would be present at
+the dinner, neither had Helen been at all mixed up in the affair.
+
+It was all himself, and he began to whistle "Annie Laurie" very
+complacently, thinking the while what a clever fellow he was, and
+meditating other dangerous acts toward the old lady overhead, standing
+by the window, and wondering what the huge building could be gleaming
+so white in the fading light.
+
+"Looks as if it was made of stone cheena," she thought, just as Mrs.
+Banker appeared, her kind, friendly manner making Aunt Betsy feel wholly
+at ease, as she answered the lady's questions or volunteered remarks of
+her own.
+
+Mrs. Banker had lived in the country, and had seen just such women as
+Aunt Betsy Barlow, understanding her intrinsic worth, and knowing how
+Helen Lennox, though her niece, could still be refined and cultivated.
+She could also understand how one educated as Wilford Cameron had been
+would shrink from coming in contact with her, and possibly be rude if
+she thrust herself upon him. Mark did well to bring her here, she
+thought, as she left the room to order the tea which the tired woman so
+much needed. The satchel, umbrella and capbox, with a note from Mattie,
+had by this time arrived, and in her Sunday cap, with the purple bows,
+Aunt Betsy felt much better, and enjoyed the tempting little supper,
+served on silver and Sevres china, the attendant waiting in the hall
+instead of in her room, where her presence might embarrass one
+unaccustomed to such usages. They were thoughtful, very kind, and had
+Mark been her own son she could not have been more deferential than he
+appeared when just before starting for the dinner he went up to see her,
+asking what message he should take to Helen. Mrs. Banker, too, came in,
+her dress eliciting many compliments from her guest, who ventured to ask
+the price of the diamond pin which fastened the point lace collar. Five
+hundred dollars seemed an enormous sum, but Aunt Betsy was learning fast
+not to say all she thought, and merely remarked that Katy had some
+diamonds, too, which she presumed cost full as much as that.
+
+"She should do very well alone," she said, "she could read her Bible,
+and if she got too tired, go to bed, though she guessed she should stay
+up till they came home, so as to hear about the doin's," and with a
+good-by she sent them away, after saying to Mrs. Banker, "Maybe you
+ain't the kissin' kind, but if you be, I wish you would kiss Katy once
+for me."
+
+There was a merry twinkle in Mark's eyes as he asked:
+
+"And Helen, too?"
+
+"I meant your marm, not you," Aunt Betsy answered; while Mrs. Banker
+raised her hand to her mischievous son, who ran lightly down the stairs,
+carrying a happier heart than he had known since Helen Lennox had first
+come to New York, and he had met her at the depot.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXIX.
+
+THE DINNER PARTY.
+
+
+It was a very select party which Wilford Cameron entertained that
+evening; and as the carriages rolled to his door and deposited the
+guests, the cloud which had been lifting ever since he came home and
+found "no Barlow woman" there, disappeared entirely, leaving him the
+blandest, most urbane of hosts, pleased with everybody--himself, his
+guests, his sister-in-law, and his wife, who had never looked better
+than she did to-night, in pearls and light blue silk, which harmonized
+so perfectly with her waxlike complexion. Like some little fairy she
+flitted through the rooms, receiving, with a sweet childlike grace the
+kiss which Mrs. Banker gave her, but never dreaming from whom it came.
+Aunt Betsy's proximity was wholly unsuspected, both by her and Helen,
+who was very handsome to-night, in crimson and black, with lilies in her
+hair. Nothing could please Mark better than his seat at table, where he
+could look into her eyes, which dropped so shyly whenever they met his
+ardent gaze. Helen was beginning to doubt the story of his engagement
+with Juno, or at least to think that it might possibly have been broken
+off. Certainly she could not mistake the nature of the attentions he
+paid to her, especially to-night, when he hovered continually near her,
+totally ignoring Juno's presence, and conscious apparently of only one
+form, one face, and that the face and form of Helen Lennox.
+
+There was another, too, who felt the influence of Helen's beauty, and
+that was Lieutenant Bob, who, after dinner, attached himself to her
+side, while around them gathered quite a group, all listening with peals
+of laughter as Bob, who was something of a mimic, related his adventure
+of two days before, with "the most rustic and charming old lady it was
+ever his fortune to meet." Told by Bob the story lost nothing of its
+freshness; for every particular, except indeed the kindness he had shown
+her, was related, even to the sheep pasture, about which she was going
+to New York to consult a lawyer.
+
+"I thought once of referring her to you, Mr. Cameron," Bob said; "but
+couldn't find it in my heart to quiz her, she was so wholly unsuspicious.
+You have not seen her, have you?"
+
+"No," came faintly from the lips which tried to smile; for Wilford knew
+who was the heroine of that story; wondering more and more where she
+was, and feeling a sensation of uneasiness as he thought, "Can any
+accident have befallen her?"
+
+It was hardly probable; but Wilford felt very uncomfortable after
+hearing the story, which had brought a pang of doubt and fear to another
+mind than his. From the very first Helen feared that Aunt Betsy was the
+"odd woman" who had gotten upon the train at some station which Bob
+could not remember; while, as the story progressed, she was sure of it,
+for she had heard of the sheep-pasture trouble, and of Aunt Betsy's
+projected visit to New York, privately writing to her mother not to
+suffer it, as Wilford would be so greatly vexed. "Yes, it must be Aunt
+Betsy," she thought, and she turned so white that Mark, who was watching
+both her and Wilford, came as soon as possible to her side, and adroitly
+separating from the group around, said softly: "You look tired, Miss
+Lennox. Come with me a moment. I have something to tell you."
+
+Alone with her in the hall, he continued, "I have the sequel of Bob
+Reynolds' story. That woman--"
+
+"Was Aunt Betsy," Helen gasped. "But where is she now? That was two days
+ago. Tell me if you know. Mr. Ray, you do know," and in her agony of
+fear lest something dreadful had happened, she laid her hand on Mark's,
+beseeching him to tell her if he knew where Aunt Betsy was.
+
+It was worth torturing her for a moment to see the pleading look in her
+eyes, and feel the soft touch of the hand which he took between both his
+own, holding it there while he answered her: "Aunt Betsy is at my house;
+kidnapped by me for safe keeping, until I could consult with you. Was
+that right?" he asked as a flush came to Helen's cheek, and an
+expression to her eye which told that his meaning was understood.
+
+"Is she there willingly? How did it happen?" was Helen's reply, her
+hand still in those of Mark, who thus circumstanced grew very warm and
+eloquent with the sequel to Bob's story, making it as long as possible,
+telling what he knew, and also what he had done.
+
+He had not implicated Wilford in any way; but Helen read it all, saying
+more to herself than him: "And she was at the opera. Wilford must have
+seen her, and that is why he left so suddenly, and why he has appeared
+so absent and nervous to-day, as if expecting something. Excuse me," she
+suddenly added, drawing her hand away and stepping back a little, "I
+forgot that I was talking as if you knew."
+
+"I do know more than you suppose--that is, I know human nature--and I
+know Will better than I did that morning when I first met you," Mark
+said, glancing at the freed hand he wished so much to take again.
+
+But Helen kept her hands to herself, and answered him.
+
+"You did right under the circumstances. It would have been unpleasant
+for us all had she happened here to-night. I thank you, Mr. Ray--you and
+your mother, too--more than I can express. I will see her early to-morrow
+morning. Tell her so, please, and again I thank you."
+
+There were tears in Helen's soft brown eyes, and they glittered like
+diamonds as she looked even more than spoke her thanks to the young man,
+who, for another look like that, would have driven Aunt Betsy amid the
+gayest crowd that ever frequented the Park, and sworn she was his blood
+relation! A few words from Mrs. Banker confirmed what Mark had said, and
+it was not strange if that night Miss Lennox, usually so entertaining,
+was a little absent, for her thoughts were up in that chamber on
+Twenty-third Street, where Aunt Betsy sat alone, but not lonely, for
+her mind was very busy with all she had been through since leaving
+Silverton, while something kept suggesting to her that it would have
+been wiser and better to have stayed at home than to have ventured where
+she was so sadly out of place. This last came gradually to Aunt Betsy
+as she thought the matter over, and remembered Wilford as he had
+appeared each time he came to Silverton.
+
+"I ain't like him; I ain't like this Miss Banker; I ain't like anybody,"
+she whispered. "I'm nothin' but a homely, old-fashioned woman, without
+larnin', without nothin'. I might know I wasn't wanted," and a rain of
+tears fell over the wrinkled face as she uttered this tirade against
+herself, standing before the long mirror and inspecting the image it
+gave back of a plain, unpolished countrywoman, not much resembling Mrs.
+Banker, it must be confessed, nor much resembling the gay young ladies
+she had seen at the opera the previous night. "I won't go near Katy,"
+she continued; "it will only mortify her, and I don't want to make her
+trouble. The poor thing's face looked as if she had it now, and I won't
+add to it. I'll start for home to-morrow. There's Miss Smith, in
+Springfield, will keep me overnight, and Katy shan't be bothered."
+
+When this decision was reached Aunt Betsy felt a great deal better, and
+taking the Bible from the table, she sat down again before the fire,
+opening, as by a special Providence, to the chapter where hewers of wood
+and drawers of water are mentioned as being necessary to mankind, each
+filling his appointed place.
+
+"That's me--that's Betsy Barlow," she whispered, taking off her glasses
+to wipe away the moisture gathering so fast upon them. Then resuming
+them, she continued: "I'm a hewer of wood--a drawer of water. God made
+me so, and shall the clay find fault with the potter for making it into
+a homely jug? No, indeed; and I was a very foolish old jug to think of
+sticking myself in with the chinaware. But I've larnt a lesson," and the
+philosophic woman read on, feeling comforted to know that though a
+vessel of the rudest make, a paltry jug, as she called herself, the
+promises were still for her as much as for the finer wares--ay, that
+there was more hope of her entering at last where "the walls are all of
+precious stones and the streets are paved with gold," than of those
+whose good things are given so abundantly during their lifetime.
+
+Assured, comforted, and encouraged, she fell asleep at last, and when
+Mrs. Banker returned she found her slumbering quietly in her chair, the
+Bible open on her lap, and her finger upon the passage referring to the
+hewers of wood and drawers of water, as if that was the last thing read.
+
+Next morning, at a comparatively early hour, Helen stood ringing the
+bell of Mrs. Banker's house. She had passed a restless, but not
+altogether wretched night, for the remembrance of Mark's kindness in
+keeping Aunt Betsy away, and his manner while telling her of it would
+not permit of her being more than anxious as she lay awake, wondering
+why Mark was so kind, and if it could be possible that he was free from
+Juno and cared for her. It made her happy to think so, and her face, as
+she stood upon the steps, looked bright and fresh, instead of pale and
+tired, as it usually did after a night of wakefulness. She had said to
+Katy that she was going out and could not tell just when she might
+return, and as Katy never questioned her acts, while Wilford was too
+intent upon his own miserable thoughts as to "where Aunt Betsy could be
+or what had befallen her," to heed any one else, no inquiries were made
+and no obstacles put in the way of her going to Mrs. Banker's, where
+Mark met her himself, holding her cold hand until he led her to the fire
+and placed her in a chair. He knew she would rather meet her aunt alone,
+and so when he heard her step in the hall he left the room, holding the
+door for Aunt Betsy, who wept like a little child at the sight of Helen,
+accusing herself of being a fool, an old fool, who ought to be shut up
+in the insane asylum, but persisting in saying she was going home that
+very day without seeing Katy at all. "If she was here I'd like it, but I
+shan't go there, for I know Wilford don't want me. Say, Helen, don't you
+think he'll be ashamed of me and wish I was in Guinea?" she asked as her
+desire to see Katy grew stronger, but was met and combated with her
+dread of Wilford!
+
+Helen could not tell her he would be ashamed, but Aunt Betsy knew she
+meant it, and with a fresh gush of tears she gave the project up
+entirely, telling Helen all she did not already know of her trip to New
+York, her visit to the opera, her staying with the Tubbses and her
+meeting with Mark, the best young chap she ever saw, not even excepting
+Morris. "If he was my own son, he couldn't be kinder," she added, "and I
+mistrust he hopes to be my nephew. You can't do better, and if he
+offers, take him."
+
+Helen's cheeks were crimson as she waived this part of the conversation
+and wished aloud that she had come around in the carriage, as she could
+thus have taken Aunt Betsy over the city before the train would leave.
+
+"Mark spoke of that when he heard I was going to-day," Aunt Betsy said;
+"I'll warrant you he'll tend to it."
+
+Aunt Betsy was right, for when Mark and his mother joined their guests
+and learned that Aunt Betsy's intention was unchanged, he suggested the
+ride and offered the use of their carriage. Helen did not decline the
+offer, and ere half an hour had passed, Aunt Betsy, with her satchel,
+umbrella and capbox, was comfortably adjusted in Mrs. Banker's carriage
+with Helen beside her, while Mark bade his coachman drive wherever Miss
+Lennox wished to go, taking care to reach the train in time.
+
+They were tearful thanks which Aunt Betsy gave to her kind friends as
+she was driven away, going first to the Bowery to say good-by and leave
+the packages of fruits and herbs, lest the Tubbses should "think her
+suddenly stuck up."
+
+"Would you mind taking 'Tilda in? It would please her mightily," Aunt
+Betsy whispered, as they were alighting in front of Mr. Peter Tubbs';
+and as the result of this suggestion the carriage, when again it emerged
+into Broadway, held Mattie Tubbs, happier, prouder than she had been in
+all her life before, while the gratified mother at home felt amply
+repaid for all the trouble her visitor had made her.
+
+And Helen enjoyed it, too, finding Mattie a little insipid and tiresome,
+it is true, but feeling happy in the consciousness that she was making
+others happy. It was a long drive they took, and Aunt Betsy saw so much
+that her brain grew giddy and she was glad when they started for the
+depot, taking Madison Square on the way and passing Katy's house.
+
+"I dare say it is all grand and smart," Aunt Betsy said, leaning out to
+look at it, "but I feel best at hum where they are used to me."
+
+And her face did bear a brighter look, when finally seated in the cars,
+than it had before since she left Silverton.
+
+"You'll be home in April, and maybe Katy'll come, too," she whispered as
+she kissed Helen good-by and shook hands with Mattie Tubbs, thanking her
+for her kindness in seein' to an old woman, and charging her again never
+to let the folks in Silverton know that "Betsy Barlow had once been seen
+at a playhouse."
+
+Slowly the cars moved away and Helen was driven home, leaving Mattie
+alone in her glory as she rolled down the Bowery, enjoying greatly the
+_eclat_ of her position, but feeling a little chagrined at not meeting a
+single acquaintance by whom to be envied and admired. Only Tom saw her
+alight, giving vent to a whistle, and asking if she didn't feel big, as
+he tried to hold out his pantaloons in imitation of her dress and walk
+as she disappeared through the door where the dry goods were swinging.
+
+Katy did not ask where Helen had been, for she was wholly absorbed in
+Marian Hazelton's letter, telling how fast the baby improved, how pretty
+it was growing, and how fond both she and Mrs. Hubbell were of it,
+loving it almost as well as if it were their own.
+
+"I know now it was best for it to go, but it was hard at first," Katy
+said, putting the letter away, and sighing wearily as she missed the
+clasp of the little arms and touch of the baby lips.
+
+Several times Helen was tempted to tell her of Aunt Betsy's visit, but
+decided finally not to do so as it might distress her to know that
+strangers rendered the hospitalities it was her duty to give, and so
+Katy never guessed the truth, nor knew what it was which for many days
+made Wilford so nervous and uneasy, starting quickly at every sudden
+ring, going often to the window, and looking out into the street as if
+expecting some one who never came, while he grew strangely anxious for
+news from Silverton, asking when Katy had heard from home, and why she
+did not write. One there was, however, who knew and who enjoyed it
+vastly, watching Wilford closely, and guessing just how his anxiety
+grew as day after day went by; and she neither came nor was heard from
+in any way, for Helen did not show the letter apprising her of Aunt
+Betsy's safe arrival home, and so all in Wilford's mind was left a vague
+conjecture.
+
+He had seen her, she had been in New York, as was proven by Bob
+Reynolds, but where was she now, and who were those people with her? Had
+they entrapped her into some snare, and possibly murdered her? It might
+be. Such things were not of rare occurrence, and Wilford actually grew
+poor with the uncertainty which hung over the fate of one whom in his
+present state of mind he would have warmly welcomed to his fireside, had
+there been a dozen dinner parties in progress. At last, as he sat one
+day in his office, with the same worried look on his face, Mark, who had
+also been watching him, said:
+
+"By the way, Will, how did that sheep pasture come out, or didn't the
+client appear?"
+
+"Mark," and Wilford's voice was husky with emotion; "you've stumbled
+upon the very thing which is tormenting my life out of me. Aunt Betsy
+has never turned up or been heard from since that night. For aught I
+know she was murdered, or spirited away, and I am half distracted. I'd
+give a thousand dollars to know what has become of her."
+
+"Put down half that pile and I'll tell you," was Mark's nonchalant
+reply, while Wilford, seizing his shoulder and compelling him to look
+up, exclaimed:
+
+"You know, then? Tell me--you do know? Where is she?"
+
+"Safe in Silverton, I presume," was the reply, and then Mark told his
+story, to which Wilford listened, half incredulous, half indignant, and
+a good deal relieved.
+
+"You are a splendid fellow, Mark, though I must say you meddled, but I
+know you did not do it unselfishly. Yes, on the whole, I thank you and
+Helen, too, for saving me that mortification. I feel like a new man,
+knowing the old lady is safe at home, where I trust she will remain. And
+that Tom, who called here yesterday, asking to be our clerk, is the
+youth I saw at the opera. I thought his face was familiar. Let him come
+of course. In my gratitude I feel like patronizing the entire Tubbs
+family."
+
+And so it was this flash of gratitude for a peril escaped which procured
+for young Tom Tubbs the situation of clerk in the office of Cameron and
+Ray, the application for such situation having been urged by the
+ambitious Mattie, who felt her dignity considerably increased when she
+could speak of Brother Tom in company with Messrs. Cameron & Ray. And it
+was also a part of the same gratitude which suggested the huge package
+of merino and gingham, calico and linen, together with the handsome silk
+shawl and black lace veil, which a few days later was left by the
+express boy at the door of the farmhouse for Miss Betsy Barlow, who in
+a long letter overwhelmed Katy with her thanks, and nearly let out her
+visit to New York, as yet a secret to Mrs. Wilford.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXX.
+
+THE SEVENTH REGIMENT.
+
+
+Does the reader remember the pleasant spring days of four years ago,
+when the thunder of Fort Sumter's bombardment came echoing up to the
+Northern hills and across the Western prairies, stopping for a moment
+the pulses of the nation, but quickening them again with a mighty power
+as from Maine to California man after man arose to smite the maddened
+foe trailing our honored flag in the dust? Nowhere, perhaps, was the
+excitement so great or the feeling so strong as in New York, when the
+Seventh Regiment was ordered on to Washington, its members, who so often
+had trodden the streets with a proud step, never faltering or holding
+back, but with a nerving of the will and a putting aside of self,
+prepared to do their duty. Conspicuous among them was Mark Ray, who,
+laughing at his mother's fears, kissed her livid cheek, and then with
+a pang remembered Helen--dearer even than his mother--wondering how she
+would feel, and thinking the path to danger would be so much easier if
+he knew her love was his, that her prayers, her wishes would go with
+him, shielding him from harm and bringing him back again to the
+sunshine of her presence.
+
+And before he went Mark must know this for certain, chiding himself for
+having put it off so long. True she had been sick and confined to her
+room for a long while after Aunt Betsy's memorable visit; and when she
+was able to go out, Lent had put a stop to her mingling in festive
+scenes, so that he had seen but little of her, and had never met her
+alone. But he would write that very day. She knew, of course, that he
+was going, bidding him Godspeed he was sure, for her whole heart was
+with the gallant men who had stood so nobly against the enemy,
+surrendering only because they must. She would say that he did well to
+go; and she would answer "yes" to the question he would ask her. Mark
+felt sure of that; but still the letter he wrote was eloquent with his
+pleadings for her love, while he confessed his own, and asked that she
+would be his wife--would give him the right to carry her in his
+heart--to think of her as his affianced bride--to know she waited for
+his return, and would crown it at last with the full fruition of her
+priceless love.
+
+"I meet a few of my particular friends at Mrs. Grandon's to-night," he
+added, in conclusion. "Can I hope to see you there, taking your presence
+as a token that I may speak and tell you in words what I have so poorly
+written?"
+
+"She surely will be there, as it is the last, perhaps, she'll ever see
+of some of us poor wretches," Mark said, his hand trembling a little as
+he sealed the note, which he would not trust to the post.
+
+He would deliver it himself, avoiding the possibility of a mistake, he
+said, and half an hour later he rang the bell at No. ----, asking "If
+Miss Lennox was at home."
+
+She was; and handing the girl the note, Mark ran down the steps, while
+the servant carried the missive to the library, where upon the table lay
+other letters received that morning by the penny post, and as yet
+unopened; for Katy was very busy, and Helen was dressing to go out with
+Juno Cameron, who had graciously asked her to drive with her that
+morning and look at a picture she had set her heart on having.
+
+Juno had not yet appeared; but Mark was scarcely out of sight when she
+came in with the familiarity of a sister and entered the library to
+wait. Carelessly turning over the books upon the table, she stumbled
+over Mark's letter, which, through some defect in the envelope, had
+become unsealed, and lay with its edge lifted so that to peer at its
+contents was a very easy matter had she been so disposed. But Juno,
+though indignant and jealous--for she knew the handwriting--could not at
+first bring herself even to touch what was intended for her rival. But
+as she gazed the longing grew, until at last she took it in her hand,
+turning it to the light, and tracing distinctly the words "My dear
+Helen," while a storm of pain and passion swept over her, mingled with
+a feeling of shame that she had let herself down so far.
+
+"It does not matter now," the tempter whispered. "You may as well read
+it and know the worst. Nobody will suspect it," and so, led on step by
+step, she was about to take the folded letter from the envelope,
+intending fully to replace it after it was read, when a rapid step
+warned her some one was coming, and hastily thrusting the letter in her
+pocket, she dropped her veil to cover her confusion, and then confronted
+Helen Lennox, ready for the drive, and all unconscious of the wrong
+which could not then be righted.
+
+Juno was unusually kind and familiar that morning, delicately
+complimenting Helen's taste with regard to pictures, and trying in
+various ways to forget the letter which lay upon her conscience like
+a leaden weight, driving all other thoughts from her mind, and leaving
+only the torturing one, "How can I return it without detection?" Juno
+did not mean to keep the letter, and all that morning she was devising
+measures for making restitution, even thinking once to confess the
+whole, but shrinking from that as more than she could do. As they were
+driving home they met Mark Ray; but Helen, who chanced to be looking in
+an opposite direction, did not see the earnest look of scrutiny he gave
+her, scarcely heeding Juno, whose face was all ablaze with guilt as she
+returned his bow, and whose voice trembled as she spoke of him to Helen
+and his intended departure. Helen observed the tremor in her voice, and
+pitied the girl whose agitation she fancied arose from the fact that her
+lover was so soon to go where danger and possibly death were waiting.
+In Helen's heart, too, there was a cutting pang whenever she remembered
+Mark, and what had so recently passed between them, raising hopes which
+now were wholly blasted. For he was Juno's, she believed, and the grief
+at his projected departure was the cause of that young lady's softened
+and even humbled demeanor, as she insisted on Helen's stopping at her
+house for lunch before going home.
+
+To this Helen consented--Juno still revolving in her mind how to return
+the letter, which grew more and more a horror to her. It was in her
+pocket yet, she knew, for she had felt it there when, after lunch, she
+went to her room for a fresh handkerchief. She would accompany Helen
+home, would manage to slip into the library alone, and put it partly
+under a book, so that it would appear to be hidden, and thus account for
+it not having been seen before; or better yet, she would catch it up
+playfully and banter Helen on her carelessness in leaving her love
+letters so exposed. This last seemed a very clever plan, and with her
+spirits quite elated, Juno drove around with Helen, finding no one in
+the parlor below, and felicitating herself upon the fact that Helen left
+her alone while she ran up to Katy.
+
+"Now is my time," she thought, stealing noiselessly into the library and
+feeling for the letter.
+
+But it was not there. It was missing, gone, and no amount of search, no
+shaking of handkerchief, or turning of pocket inside out could avail to
+find it. The letter was lost, and in the utmost consternation Juno
+returned to the parlor, still hunting for the letter, and appearing so
+abstracted as scarcely to be civil when Katy came down to see her;
+asking if she was going that night to Sybil Grandon's, and talking of
+the dreadful war, which she hoped would not be a war after all. Juno was
+too wretched to talk, and after a few moments she started for home,
+hunting in her own room and through the halls, but failing in her
+search, and finally giving it up, with the consoling reflection that
+were it found in the street, as seemed quite probable, no suspicion
+could fasten on her; and as fear of detection, rather than contrition
+for the sin, had been the cause of her distress, she grew comparatively
+calm, save when her conscience made itself heard and admonished
+confession as the only reparation which was now in her power. But Juno
+could not confess, and all that day she was absent-minded and silent,
+while her mother watched her closely, wondering what connection, if any,
+there was between her burning cheeks and the letter she had found upon
+the floor in her daughter's room just after she had left it; the letter,
+at whose contents she had glanced, shutting her lips firmly together as
+she saw that her plans had failed, and finally putting the document away
+where there was less hope of its ever finding its rightful owner than if
+it had remained with Juno. Had Mrs. Cameron supposed that Helen had
+already seen it, she would have returned it at once; but of this she had
+her doubts, after learning that "Miss Lennox did not go upstairs at
+all." Juno, then, must have been the delinquent; and though the mother
+shrank from the act as unladylike, if nothing more, she resolved to keep
+the letter till some inquiry was made for it at least. And so Helen,
+sitting by her window, and looking dreamily out into the street, with a
+feeling of sad foreboding as she thought of the dark cloud which had
+burst so suddenly upon the nation's horizon, enveloping Mark Ray in its
+dark fold, and bearing him away, possibly never to return again, had no
+suspicion of the truth, and did not guess how anxiously the young man
+was anticipating the interview at Sybil Grandon's, scarcely doubting
+that she would be there, and fancying just the expression of her eyes
+when they first met his. Alas for Mark, also for Helen, that both should
+be so cruelly deceived. Had the latter known of the loving words sent
+from the true heart which longed for some word of hers to lighten the
+long march and beguile the tedious days of absence, she would not have
+said to Katy, when asked if going to Mrs. Grandon's, "Oh, no; please
+don't urge me. I would so much rather stay at home."
+
+Katy would not insist and so went alone with Wilford to the
+entertainment given to a few young men who seemed as heroes then, when
+the full meaning of that word had not been exemplified, as it has been
+since in the life so cheerfully laid down and the heart's blood poured
+so freely, by the tens of thousands who have won a martyr's and a hero's
+name. Curiously, eagerly Mark Ray scanned each new arrival, feeling his
+lips grow white and his pulses faint when he at last caught sight of
+Wilford's tall figure, and looked for what might be beside it. But only
+Katy was there. Helen had not come, and with a feeling of chill despair
+Mark listened while Katy explained to Mrs. Grandon that her sister had
+fully intended coming in the morning, but had suddenly changed her mind
+and begged to be excused.
+
+"I am sorry," Sybil said, "and so I am sure is Mr. Ray," turning lightly
+to Mark, whose white face froze the gay laugh on her lips and made her
+try to shield him from observation until he had time to recover himself
+and appear as usual.
+
+How Mark blessed Sybil Grandon for that kindness, and how wildly the
+blood throbbed through his veins as he thought "She would not come. She
+does not care. I have deceived myself in hoping that she did, and now
+welcome war, welcome anything which shall help me to forget."
+
+Mark was very wretched, and his wretchedness showed itself upon his
+face, making more than one rally him for what they termed fear, while
+they tried to reassure him that to the Seventh there could be no danger
+after Baltimore was safely passed. This was more than Mark could bear,
+and at an early hour he left the house, bidding Katy good-by in the
+hall, and telling her he probably should not see her again, as he would
+not have time to call.
+
+"Not call to say good-by to Helen," Katy exclaimed.
+
+"Helen will not care," was Mark's reply as he hurried away into the
+darkness of the night, more welcome in his present state of mind than
+the gay scene he had left.
+
+And this was all Katy had to carry to Helen, who beat the window pane
+nervously, fighting back the tears wrung out by her disappointment, for
+she had expected to see Mark once more, to bless him as a sister might
+bless a brother, speaking to him words of cheer and bidding him go on to
+where duty led. But he was not coming and she only saw him from the
+carriage window, as with proud step and head erect he passed with his
+regiment through the densely crowded streets, where the wailing cries
+and the loud hurrahs of the multitude, which no man could number, rent
+the air and told how terribly in earnest the great city was, and how
+its heart was with that gallant band, their pet, their pride, sent forth
+on a mission such as it had never had before. But Mark did not see
+Helen, and only his mother's white face as it looked when it said "God
+bless my boy" was clear before his eyes as he moved on through Broadway
+and down Cortlandt Street, until the ferryboat received him, and the
+crowd began to disperse.
+
+There was more than one pillow wet with tears that night as mothers,
+wives and sisters wept for the loved ones gone, but nowhere were sadder,
+bitterer tears shed than in the silent chamber where Helen Lennox prayed
+that God would guard that regiment and bring it back again as full of
+life and vigor as it had gone away. For them all she prayed, in a
+general kind of way, but there was one whose image was in her heart,
+whose name was ever on her lip, breaking the silence of the room, which
+echoed the name of Mark, who, could he have heard that prayer, would
+have cast aside the heavy pain, so hard to bear during those first days
+when his cruel disappointment was fresh and the soldier duty new.
+
+Now that Mark was gone, Mrs. Banker turned intuitively to Helen, finding
+greater comfort in her quiet sympathy than in the more wordy condolence
+offered by Juno, who as she heard nothing from the letter, began to lose
+her fears of detection and even suffer her friends to rally her upon the
+absence of Mark Ray and the anxiety she must feel on his account.
+Moments there were, however, when thoughts of the stolen letter brought
+a pang, while Helen's face was a continual reproach, and she was glad
+when toward the first of May her rival left New York for Silverton,
+where, as the spring and summer work came on, her services were needed.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXI.
+
+KATY GOES TO SILVERTON.
+
+
+A summer day in Silverton--a soft, bright August day, when the early
+rareripes by the well were turning their red cheeks to the sun, and the
+flowers in the garden were lifting their heads proudly and nodding to
+each other as if they knew the secret which made that day so bright
+above all others. Old Whitey, by the hitching post, was munching at his
+oats and glancing occasionally at the covered buggy standing on the
+greensward, fresh and clean as water from the pond could make it; the
+harness, new, not mended, lying upon a rock, where Katy used to feed the
+sheep with salt, and the whip standing upright in its socket, all
+waiting for the deacon, donning his best suit of clothes, even to a
+stiff shirt collar which almost cut his ears, his face shining with
+anticipations which he knew would be realized. Katy was really coming
+home, and in proof thereof there were behind the house and barn piles of
+rubbish, lath and plaster, moldy paper and broken bricks, the tokens and
+remains of the repairing process, which for so long a time had made the
+farmhouse a scene of dire confusion, driving its inmates nearly
+distracted, except when they remembered for whose sake they endured so
+much, inhaling clouds of lime, stepping over heaps of mortar, tearing
+their dress skirts on sundry nails projecting from every conceivable
+quarter, and wondering the while if the masons ever would finish or the
+carpenters be gone.
+
+As a condition on which Katy might be permitted to come home, Wilford
+had stipulated an improvement in the interior arrangement of the house,
+offering to bear the expense even to the furnishing of the rooms. To
+this the family demurred at first, not liking Wilford's dictatorial
+manner, nor his insinuation that their home was not good enough for
+his wife, Mrs. Katy Cameron. But Helen turned the tide, appreciating
+Wilford's feelings better than the others could do, and urging a
+compliance with his request.
+
+"Anything to get Katy home," she said, and so the chimney was torn away,
+a window was put here and an addition made there, until the house was
+really improved with its pleasant, modern parlor and the large airy
+bedroom, with bathing-room attached, the whole the idea of Wilford, who
+graciously deigned to come out once or twice from New London, where he
+was spending a few weeks, to superintend the work and suggest how it
+should be done.
+
+The furniture, too, which he sent on from New York, was perfect in its
+kind, not elegant like Katy's, but well adapted to the rooms it was to
+adorn, and suitable in every respect. Helen enjoyed the settling very
+much, and when it was finished it was hard telling which was the more
+pleased, she or good Aunt Betsy, who, having confessed in a general kind
+of way at a sewing society that she did go to a playhouse, and was not
+so very sorry either, except as the example might do harm, had nothing
+on her conscience now, nothing to fear from New York, and was
+proportionately happy. At least she would have been if Morris had not
+seemed so off, as she expressed it, and evincing no pleasure at Katy's
+expected visit. He had been polite to Wilford, had kept him at Linwood,
+taking him to and from the depot, but even Wilford had thought him
+changed, telling Katy how very sober and grave he had become, rarely
+smiling, and not seeming to care to talk unless it were about his
+profession or on some religious topic. And Morris was greatly changed.
+The wound which in most hearts would have healed by this time had grown
+deeper with each succeeding year, while from all he heard he felt sure
+that Katy's marriage was a sad mistake, wishing sometimes that he had
+spoken, and so perhaps have saved her from the life in which she could
+not be wholly free. "She would be happier with me," he had said, with a
+sad smile to Helen, when once she told him of some things which she had
+not mentioned elsewhere, and there were great tears in Morris' eyes,
+tears of which he was not ashamed when Helen spoke of Katy's distress,
+and the look which crept into her face when baby was taken away. When
+Morris first heard of the baby he had hoped he might love Katy less;
+that she would seem to him as more a wife and less a girl, but she did
+not, and there were times when the silent doctor, living alone at
+Linwood, felt that his grief was too great to bear. But the deep, dark
+waters were always forded safely, and Morris' faith in God prevailed, so
+that only a dull, heavy pain remained, with the consciousness that it
+was no sin to remember Katy as she was remembered now. Oh, how he had
+longed to see her, and yet how he had dreaded it, lest poor weak human
+flesh should prove inadequate to the sight. But she was coming home;
+Providence had ordered that and he accepted it, looking eagerly for the
+time when he should see her again, but repressing his eagerness, so that
+not even Helen suspected how impatient he was for the day of her return.
+Four weeks she had been at the Pequot House in New London, occupying a
+little cottage and luxuriating in the joy of having her child with her
+almost every day. Country air and country nursing had wrought wonders in
+the baby, which had grown so beautiful and bright that it was no longer
+in Wilford's way save as it took too much of Katy's time, and made her
+careless for the gay crowd at the hotel.
+
+Marian was working at her trade, and never came to the hotel except one
+day when Wilford was in New York, but that day sufficed for Katy to know
+that after herself it was Marian whom baby loved the best--Marian, who
+cared for it even more than Mrs. Hubbell. And Katy was glad to have it
+so, especially after Wilford and his mother decided that she must leave
+the child in New London while she made the visit to Silverton.
+
+Wilford did not like her taking so much care of it as she was inclined
+to do. It had grown too heavy for her to lift; it was better with Mrs.
+Hubbell, he said, and so to the inmates of the farmhouse Katy wrote that
+baby was not coming.
+
+They were bitterly disappointed, for Katy's baby had been anticipated
+quite as much as Katy herself, Aunt Betsy bringing from the woodshed
+chamber a cradle which nearly forty years before had rocked the deacon's
+only child, the little boy, who died just as he had learned to lisp his
+mother's name. As a momento of those days the cradle had been kept, Katy
+using it sometimes for her kittens and her dolls, until she grew too old
+for that, when it was put away beneath the eaves whence Aunt Betsy
+dragged it, scouring it with soap and sand, until it was white as snow.
+But it would not be needed, and with a sigh the old lady carried it
+back, thinking "things had come to a pretty pass when a woman who could
+dance and carouse till twelve o'clock at night was too weakly to take
+care of her child," and feeling a very little awe of Katy who must have
+grown so fine a lady.
+
+But all this passed away as the time drew near when Katy was to come,
+and no one seemed happier than Aunt Betsy on the morning when Whitey was
+eating his oats, and the carriage stood on the greensward. The sky above
+and the earth beneath were much as they were that other day when they
+were expecting Katy, but Helen's face was not as bright, or her steps as
+buoyant. She could not forget who was there one year ago, and all the
+morning painful memories had been tugging at her heart as she remembered
+the past, and wondered at the gloomy silence which Mark Ray had
+maintained toward her ever since the day when the Seventh Regiment left
+New York, followed by so many prayers and tears. He had returned, she
+knew, but neither from his mother nor himself had there ever come a word
+or message for her, while Bell Cameron, who wrote to her occasionally,
+had spoken of his attentions to Juno as becoming more pointed than ever.
+
+"I have strong hopes that in time Juno will be quite a woman," Bell
+added. "She is not so proud and sarcastic as she used to be, and all the
+while Mark was gone she seemed very much depressed, so that I began to
+believe she really liked him. You would hardly recognize her in her new
+phase, she acts so humble like, as if she were constantly asking
+forgiveness; and this, you know, is something novel for her."
+
+After this letter Helen sat herself resolutely at work to forget all
+that had ever passed between herself and Mark, succeeding so well that
+Silverton and its duties ceased to be very irksome, until the
+anniversary of the morning when he had twined the lily in her hair, and
+looked such fancies in her heart. It was well for her that too many
+things were claiming her attention to allow of solitary regrets.
+
+Katy's room was to be arranged, Katy's "box bed," as Aunt Betsy called
+it, to be fixed, flowers to be gathered for the parlor and vegetables
+for the dinner, so that her hands were full, up to the moment when Uncle
+Ephraim drove away from the door, setting old Whitey into a canter,
+which, by the time the "race" was reached, had become a rapid trot, the
+old man holding up his reins and looking proudly at the oat-fed animal,
+speeding along so fast.
+
+He did not have long to wait this time, for the train came rolling
+across the meadow, and while his head was turned toward the car where he
+fancied she might be, a pair of arms were thrown impetuously around his
+neck, and a little figure, standing on tiptoe, almost pulled him down in
+its attempts to kiss him.
+
+"Uncle Eph! oh, Uncle Eph, I've come! I'm here," a young voice cried;
+but the words the deacon would have spoken were smothered by the kisses
+which pressed upon his lips, kisses which only came to an end when a
+voice said, rather reprovingly: "There, Katy, that will do. You have
+almost strangled him."
+
+Wilford had not been expected, and the expression of the deacon's face
+was not a very cordial greeting to the young man who hastened to explain
+that he should only stop till the next train, and then go on to Boston.
+In his presence the deacon was not quite natural, but he lifted in his
+arms his "little Katy-did," looking straight into her face, where there
+were as yet no real lines of care, only shadows, which told that in some
+respects she was not the same Katy he had parted with two years before.
+There was a good deal of the city about her dress and style, and the
+deacon felt a little overawed at first; but this wore off as on their
+way to the farmhouse, she, sitting partly in his lap and partly in her
+husband's, kept one hand upon his neck, her snowy fingers occasionally
+playing with his silvery hair, while she looked at him with her loving
+old smile, and asked questions about the people he supposed she had
+forgotten, nodding to everybody she met, whether she knew them or not,
+and at last, as the old house came in sight, hiding her face in a gush
+of happy tears upon his neck, not Wilford's. That gentleman was watching
+her in silence, wishing she were less impulsive, and wondering at the
+strong home-love he could not understand. To him there was nothing
+pleasant in that low, humble farmhouse, or in the rocks and hills which
+overshadowed it; while, with the exception of Helen, the women gathered
+at the door as they came up were very distasteful to him. But with Katy
+it was different. They were her rocks, her hills, her woods, and more
+than all, they were her folks into whose arms she threw herself with an
+impetuous rush, scarcely waiting for old Whitey to stop, but with one
+leap clearing the wheel and springing first to the embrace of her
+mother. It was a joyful meeting, and when the first excitement was over
+Katy inspected the improvements, approving all, and thanking Wilford for
+having done so much for her comfort.
+
+"I shall sleep so nicely here," she said, tossing her hat into Helen's
+lap, and lying down at once upon the bed it had taken so long to make.
+"Yes, I shall rest so nicely, knowing I can wear my wrapper all day
+long. Don't look so horrified, Wilford," she added, as she caught his
+eye. "I shall dress me sometimes; but you don't know what a luxury it
+is to feel that I need not unless I like."
+
+"Didn't you rest at New London?" Helen asked, when Wilford had left the
+room.
+
+"Yes, some," Katy replied; "but there were dances every night, or sails
+upon the bay, and I had to go, for many of our friends were there, and
+Wilford was not willing for me to be quiet."
+
+This, then, was the reason why Katy came home so weary and pale, and
+craving so much the rest she had not had in more than two years. But she
+would get it now, and before the first dinner was eaten some of her old
+color came stealing back to her cheeks, and her eyes began to dance just
+as they used to do, while her merry voice rang out in silvery peals at
+Aunt Betsy's quaint remarks, which struck her so forcibly from not
+having heard them for so long a tune. A hit of a lecture Wilford deemed
+it his duty to give her when after dinner they sat together alone for
+half an hour. "She must restrain herself. Surely she was old enough
+to be more womanly, and she would tire herself out with her nervous
+restlessness, besides giving the people a bad opinion of Mrs. Wilford
+Cameron."
+
+To this Katy listened quietly, breathing freer when it was over, and
+breathing freer still when Wilford was gone, even though her tears did
+fall as she watched him out of sight, and knew it would be at least four
+weeks before she saw him again. To the entire family his departure
+brought relief; but they were not prepared for the change it produced in
+Katy; who, freed from all restraint, came back so soon to what she was
+when a young, careless girl she sat upon the doorsteps and curled the
+dandelion stalks. She did not do this now, for there were none to curl;
+but she strung upon a thread the delicate petals of the phlox growing by
+the door, and then bound it as a crown about the head of her mother, who
+could not yet quite recognize her Katy in the elegant Mrs. Wilford
+Cameron, with rustling silk, and diamonds flashing on her hands every
+time they moved. But when she saw her racing with the old brown goat and
+its little kid out in the apple orchard, her head uncovered, and her
+bright curls blowing about her face, the feeling disappeared, and she
+felt that Katy had indeed come back again.
+
+And where all the while was Morris? Were his patients so numerous that
+he could not find time to call upon his cousin? Katy had inquired for
+him immediately after her arrival, but in her excitement she had
+forgotten him again, until Wilford was gone and tea was over, when, just
+as she had done on the day of her return from Canandaigua, she took her
+hat and started on the well-worn path toward Linwood. She was not going
+there, she said, she only wanted to try the road and see if it had
+changed since she used to go that way to gather butternuts in the autumn
+or berries in the summer. Airily she tripped along, her light plaid silk
+gleaming through the deep green of the trees and revealing her coming to
+the tired man sitting upon a little rustic seat, beneath a chestnut
+tree, where he once had sat with Katy, and extracted a cruel sliver from
+her hand, kissing the place to make it well as she told him to. She was
+a child then, a little girl of twelve, and he was twenty, but the sight
+of her pure face lifted confidingly to his had stirred his heart as no
+other face had stirred it since, making him look forward to a time when
+the hand he kissed would be his own, and his the fairy form he watched
+so carefully as it expanded day by day into the perfect woman. He was
+thinking of that time now, and how different it had all turned out, when
+he heard the bounding step and saw her coming toward him, swinging her
+hat in childish abandon, and warbling a song she had learned from him.
+
+"Morris, oh, Morris!" she cried, as she ran eagerly forward; "I am so
+glad to see you. It seems so nice to be with you once more here in the
+dear old woods. Don't get up--please don't get up," she continued, as he
+started to rise.
+
+She was standing before him, a hand on either side of his face, into
+which she was looking quite as wistfully as he was regarding her.
+Something she missed in his manner, something which troubled her; and
+thinking she knew what it was, she said to him: "Why don't you kiss me,
+Morris? You used to. Ain't you glad to see me?"
+
+"Yes, very glad," he answered, and drawing her down to the bench beside
+him, he kissed her twice, but so gravely, so quietly, that Katy was not
+satisfied at all, and tears gathered in her eyes as she tried to think
+what it was ailed Morris.
+
+He was very thin, and there were a few white hairs about his temples, so
+that, though four years younger than her husband, he seemed to her much
+older, quite grandfatherly in fact, and this accounted for the liberties
+she took, asking what was the matter, and trying to make him like her
+again, by assuring him that she was not as vain and foolish as he must
+suppose from what Helen had probably told him of her life since leaving
+Silverton.
+
+"I do not like it at all," she said. "I am in it, and must conform; but,
+oh Morris! you don't know how much happier I should be if Wilford were
+just like you, and lived at Linwood instead of New York. I should be so
+happy here with baby all the time."
+
+It was well she spoke that name, for Morris, listening to her as she
+charged him with indifference, could not have borne much more; but the
+mention of her child had a strange power over him, of quieting him at
+once, so that he could calmly tell her that she was the same to him that
+she had always been, while with his next breath he asked: "Where is your
+baby, Katy?" adding with a smile: "I can remember when you were a baby,
+and I held you in my arms."
+
+"Can you really?" Katy said; and as if that remembrance made him older
+than the hills, she nestled her curly head against his shoulder, while
+she told him of her bright-eyed darling, and as she talked the
+mother-love which spread itself over her girlish face made it more
+beautiful than anything Morris had ever seen.
+
+"Surely an angel's countenance cannot be fairer, purer than hers," he
+thought, listening while she talked of the only thing which had a power
+to separate her from him, making her seem as a friend, or at most as a
+beloved sister.
+
+A long time they talked together, and the sun was setting ere Morris
+rose, suggesting that she go home, as the night dew would soon be
+falling.
+
+"And you are not as strong as you once were," he added, pulling her
+shawl around her shoulders with careful solicitude, and thinking how
+slender she had become.
+
+From the back parlor Helen saw them coming up the path, detecting the
+changed expression of Morris' face, and feeling a pang of fear when as
+he left them after nine o'clock she heard her mother say that he had not
+appeared so natural since Katy went away as he had done that night.
+Knowing what she did, Helen trembled for Morris, with this terrible
+temptation before him, and Morris trembled for himself as he went back
+the lonely path, and stopped again beneath the chestnut tree where he
+had so lately sat with Katy. There was a great fear at his heart, and it
+found utterance in words as kneeling by the rustic bench with only the
+lonely night around him and the green boughs overhead, he asked that he
+might be kept from sin, both in thought and deed, and be to Katy Cameron
+just what she took him for, her friend and elder brother. And God, who
+knew the sincerity of the heart thus pleading before him, heard and
+answered the prayer, so that after that first night of trial Morris
+could look on Katy without a wish that she were otherwise than Wilford
+Cameron's wife and the mother of his child. He was happier because of
+her being at the farmhouse, though he did not go there one-half as often
+as she came to him. She seemed to prefer Linwood to the farmhouse,
+staying there hours, both when he was at home and when he was away,
+strolling through his garden, or sitting quietly in the pleasant
+summer-house which looked out upon the pond.
+
+Those September days were happy ones to Katy, who, freed from all
+restraint, became a child again--a petted, spoiled child, whom every one
+caressed and suffered to have her way. To Uncle Ephraim it was as if
+some bright angel had suddenly dropped into his path, flooding it with
+sunshine, and making him so glad to have back his "Katy-did," who went
+with him to the fields, waiting patiently till his work was done, and
+telling him of all the wondrous things she saw abroad, but speaking
+little of her city life. That was something she did not care to talk
+about, and but for Wilford's letters, and the frequent mention of baby,
+the deacon could easily have imagined that Katy had never left him. But
+these were barriers between the old life and the present, these were the
+insignia of Mrs. Wilford Cameron, who was watched and envied by the
+curious Silvertonians, and pronounced charming by them all. Still there
+was one drawback to Katy's happiness. She missed her child, mourning for
+it so much that her family, quite as anxious as herself to see it,
+suggested her sending for it. It would surely take no harm with them,
+and Marian would come with it. To this plan Katy listened more willingly
+from the fact that Wilford had gone West, and the greater the distance
+between them the more she dared to do. And so Marian Hazelton was one
+day startled at the sudden appearance at the cottage of Katy, who had
+come to take her and baby to Silverton.
+
+There was no resisting the vehemence of Katy's arguments, and before the
+next day's sunsetting, the farmhouse, usually so quiet and orderly, had
+been turned into one general nursery, where Baby Cameron reigned
+supreme, screaming with delight at the tinware which Aunt Betsy brought
+out from the cake cutter to the dipper, the little creature beating a
+noisy tattoo upon the latter with an iron spoon, and then for diversion
+burying its fat dimpled hands in Uncle Ephraim's long white hair, for
+the old man went down upon all fours to do his great-grand niece homage.
+
+That night Morris came up, stopping suddenly as a loud baby laugh
+reached him, even across the orchard, and leaning for a moment against
+the wall, while he tried to prepare himself for the shock it would be to
+see Katy's child, and hold it in his arms, as he knew he must, or the
+mother be aggrieved.
+
+He had supposed it was pretty, but he was not prepared for the beautiful
+little cherub which in its short white dress, with its soft curls of
+golden brown clustering about its head, stood holding to a chair,
+pushing it occasionally, and venturing now and then to take a step,
+while its infantile laugh mingled with the screams of its delighted
+auditors, watching it with so much interest.
+
+There was one great, bitter, burning pang, a blur before his eyes, and
+then, folding his arms composedly upon the window sill, Dr. Grant stood
+looking in upon the occupants of the room, whistling at last to baby, as
+he was accustomed to whistle to the children of his patients.
+
+"Oh, Morris," Katy cried, "baby can almost walk, Marian has taken so
+much pains, and she can say 'papa.' Isn't she a beauty?"
+
+Baby had turned her head by this time, her ear caught by the whistle and
+her eye arrested by something in Morris which fascinated her gaze.
+Perhaps she thought of Wilford, of whom she had been very fond, for she
+pushed her chair toward him and then held up her fat, creasy arms for
+him to take her. Morris was fond of children and took the infant at
+once, strained it to his bosom with a passionate caress, which seemed to
+have in it something of the love he bore the mother, who went off into
+ecstasies of joy when baby, attacking Morris' hair and patting softly
+his cheek, tried to kiss him as it had been taught by Marian. Never was
+mother prouder, happier than Katy during the first few days succeeding
+baby's arrival, while the family seemed to tread on air, so swiftly the
+time went by with that active little life in their midst, stirring them
+up so constantly, putting to rout all their rules of order and keeping
+their house in a state of delightful confusion.
+
+It was wonderful how rapidly the child improved with so many teachers,
+learning to lisp its mother's name and taught by her attempting to say
+"Doctor." From the very first the child took to Morris, crying after him
+whenever he went away, and hailing his arrival with a crow of joy and an
+eager attempt to reach him.
+
+"It was altogether too forward for this world," Aunt Betsy often said,
+shaking her head ominously, but not really meaning what she predicted,
+even when for a few days it did not seem as bright as usual, but lay
+quietly in Katy's lap, a blue look about the mouth and a flush upon its
+cheeks, which neither Morris nor Marian liked.
+
+More accustomed to children than the other members of the family, they
+both watched it closely, Morris coming over twice one day, and the last
+time he came regarding Katy with a look as if he would fain ward off
+from her some evil-which he feared.
+
+"What is it, Morris?" she asked. "Is baby going to be very sick?" and a
+great crushing fear came upon her as she waited for his answer.
+
+"I hope not," he said; "I cannot tell as yet; the symptoms are like
+cholera infantum, of which I have several cases, but if taken in time
+I apprehend no danger."
+
+There was a low shriek and baby opened its heavy lids and moaned, while
+Helen came at once to Katy, holding her hand upon her heart as if the
+pain had entered there. To Marian it was no news, for ever since the
+early morning she had suspected the nature of the disease stealing over
+the little child, so suddenly stricken down, and looking by the
+lamplight so pale and sick. All night the light burned in the farmhouse,
+where there were anxious, troubled faces, Katy bending constantly over
+her darling, and even amid her terrible anxiety dreading Wilford's
+displeasure when he should hear what she had done and its possible
+result. She did not believe as yet that her child would die; but she
+suffered acutely, watching for the early dawn when Morris had said he
+would be there, and when at last he came, begging of him to stay, to
+leave his other patients and care only for baby.
+
+"Would that be right?" Morris asked, and Katy blushed for her
+selfishness when she heard how many were sick and dying around them. "I
+will spend every leisure moment here," he said, leaving his directions
+with Marian and then hurrying away without a word of hope for the child,
+growing worse so fast that when the night shut down again it lay upon a
+pillow, its blue eyes closed and its head thrown back, while its sad
+moanings could only be hushed by carrying it in one's arms about the
+room, a task which Katy could not do.
+
+She had tried it once, refusing all their offers with the reply: "Baby
+is mine and shall I not carry her?"
+
+But the feeble strength gave out, the limbs began to totter, and
+staggering backward she cried: "Somebody must take her."
+
+It was Marian who went forward, Marian, whose face was a puzzle as she
+took the infant in her stronger arms, her stony eyes, which had not wept
+as yet, fastening themselves upon the face of Wilford Cameron's child
+with a look which seemed to say: "Retribution, retribution."
+
+But only when she remembered the father, now so proud of his daughter,
+was that word in her heart. She could not harbor it when she glanced at
+the mother, and her lips moved in earnest prayer that, if possible, God
+would not leave her so desolate. An hour later and Morris came,
+relieving Marian of her burden which he carried in his own arms, while
+he strove to comfort Katy, who, crouching by the empty crib, was sitting
+motionless in a kind of dumb despair, all hope crushed out by his answer
+to her entreaties that he would tell her the truth, keeping nothing
+back.
+
+"I think your baby will die," he had said to her very gently, pausing a
+moment in awe of the white face, whose expression terrified and shocked
+him, it was so full of agony.
+
+Bowing her head upon her hands, poor Katy whispered sadly: "God must not
+take my baby. Oh, Morris, please pray that he will not. He will hear and
+answer you, while I have been so bad I cannot pray. But I'm not going to
+be bad again. If he will let me keep my darling I will begin a new life.
+I will try to serve him. Dear Lord, hear and answer, and not let baby
+die."
+
+She was praying herself now, and Morris' broad chest heaved as he
+glanced at her kneeling figure, and then at the death-like face upon
+the pillow, with the pinched look about the nose and lips, which to his
+practiced eye was a harbinger of death.
+
+"Its father should be here," he thought, and when Katy lifted up her
+head again he asked if she was sure her husband had not yet returned
+from Minnesota.
+
+"Yes, sure--that is, I think he has not," was Katy's answer, a chill
+creeping over her at the thought of meeting Wilford, and giving him his
+daughter dead.
+
+"I shall telegraph in the morning at all events," Morris continued,
+"and if he is not in New York, it will be forwarded."
+
+"Yes, that will be best," was the reply, spoken so mournfully that
+Morris stopped in front of Katy, trying to reason with her.
+
+But Katy would not listen, only answering to him that he did not know,
+he could not feel, he never had been tried.
+
+"Perhaps not," Morris said; "but Heaven is my witness, Katy, that if I
+could save you this pain by giving up my life for baby's, I would do it
+willingly; but God does not give us our choice. He knoweth what is best,
+and baby is better with Him than us."
+
+For a moment Katy was silent, then, as a new idea took possession of her
+mind, she sprang to Morris' side and seizing his arm, demanded: "Can an
+unbaptized child be saved?"
+
+"We nowhere read that baptism is a saving ordinance," was Morris'
+answer; while Katy continued: "But do you believe they will be saved?"
+
+"Yes, I do," was the decided response, which, however, did not ease
+Katy's mind, and she moaned on: "A child of heathen parents may, but I
+knew better, I knew it was my duty to give the child to God, and for a
+foolish fancy withheld the gift until it is too late, and God will take
+it without the mark upon its forehead, the water on its brow. Oh, baby,
+baby, if she should be lost--no name, no mark, no baptismal sign."
+
+"Not water, but the blood of Jesus cleanseth from all sin," Morris said,
+"and as sure as he died so sure this little one is safe. Besides that,
+there may be time for the baptism yet--that is, to-morrow. Baby will not
+die to-night, and if you like, it still shall have a name."
+
+Eagerly Katy seized upon that idea, thinking more of the sign, the
+water, than the name, which scarcely occupied her thoughts at all. It
+did not matter what the child was called, so that it became one of the
+little ones in glory, and with a calmer, quieter demeanor than she had
+shown that day she saw Morris depart at a late hour; and then turning to
+the child which Uncle Ephraim now was holding, kissed it lovingly,
+whispering as she did so: "Baby shall be baptized--baby shall have the
+sign."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXII.
+
+LITTLE GENEVRA.
+
+
+Morris had telegraphed to New York, receiving in reply that Wilford was
+hourly expected home, and would at once hasten on to Silverton. The
+clergyman, Mr. Kelly, had also been seen, but owing to a funeral which
+would take him out of town, he could not be at the farmhouse until five
+in the afternoon, when, if the child still lived, he would be glad to
+officiate as requested. All this Morris had communicated to Katy, who
+listened in a kind of stupor, gasping for breath, when she heard that
+Wilford would so soon be there, and moaning "that will be too late,"
+when told that the baptism could not take place till night. Then,
+kneeling by the crib where the child was lying, she fastened her great,
+sad blue eyes upon the pallid face with an earnestness as if thus she
+would hold till nightfall the life flickering so faintly and seeming so
+nearly finished. The wailings had ceased, and they no longer carried it
+within their arms, but had placed it in its crib, where it lay perfectly
+still, save as its eyes occasionally unclosed and turned wistfully
+toward the cups, where it knew was something which quenched its raging
+thirst. Once, indeed, as the hours crept on to noon and Katy bent over
+it so that her curls swept its face, it seemed to know her, and the
+little wasted hand was for a moment uplifted and rested on her cheek
+with the same caressing motion it had been wont to use in health. Then
+hope whispered that it might live, and with a great cry of joy Katy
+sobbed: "She knows me, Morris--mother, see; she knows me. Maybe she will
+live."
+
+But the dull stupor which succeeded to that act swept all hope away, and
+again Katy resumed her post, watching first her dying child, and then
+the long hands of the clock which crept on so slowly, pointing to only
+two when she thought it must be five. Would that hour never come, or
+coming, would it find baby there? None could answer that last
+question--they could only wait and pray, and as they waited thus the
+warm September sun neared the western sky till its yellow beams came
+stealing through the window and across the floor to where Katy sat
+watching its onward progress and looking sometimes out upon the hills
+where the purplish autumnal haze was lying just as she once loved to see
+it; but she did not heed it now, or care how bright the day with the
+flitting shadows dancing on the grass, the tall flowers growing by the
+door and old Whitey standing by the gate, his head stretched toward the
+house in a kind of dreamy, listening attitude, as if he, too, knew of
+the great sorrow hastening on so fast. The others saw all this, and it
+made their hearts ache more as they thought of the beautiful little
+child, so much fairer than sky or day or flowers could be, going from
+their midst when they wished so much to keep her. But Katy had only one
+idea, and that was of the child growing very restless now and throwing
+up its arms as if in pain. It is striking five, and with each stroke the
+dying baby moans, while Katy strains her ear to catch another sound, the
+sound of horses' hoofs hurrying up the road. The clergyman has come and
+anon the inmates of the house gather around in silence, while he makes
+ready to receive the child into Christ's flock, where it so soon will
+really be.
+
+Mrs. Lennox had questioned Helen about the name and Helen had answered:
+"Katy knows, I presume. It does not matter," but no one had spoken
+directly to Katy, who had scarcely given it a thought, caring more for
+the rite she had deferred so long.
+
+"He must hasten," she said to Morris, her eyes fixed upon the panting
+child she had lifted to her own lap, and thus abjured the clergyman
+failed to make the usual inquiry concerning the name he was to give.
+
+Calm and white as a marble statue, Marian Hazelton glided to the back of
+Katy's chair, pressing both her hands upon it, and leaning over Katy so
+that her eyes too were fixed upon the little face, from which they never
+turned but once, and that when the clergyman's voice was heard asking
+for a name. There was an instant's silence, and Katy's lips began to
+move, when one of Marian's hands was laid upon her head, while the other
+took in its own the limp, while baby fingers, and Marian's voice was
+very steady in its tone as it said: "Genevra."
+
+"Yes, Genevra," Katy whispered, and then the solemn words were heard:
+"Genevra, I baptize thee in the name of the Father, the Son, and the
+Holy Ghost."
+
+Softly the baptismal waters fell upon the pale forehead, and at their
+touch the little Genevra's eyes unclosed, the waxen fingers withdrew
+themselves from Marian's grasp, and again sought the mother's cheek,
+resting there for an instant; while a smile broke around the baby lips,
+which tried to say "Mam-ma." Then the hand fell back, down upon
+Marian's, the soft eyes closed, the limbs grew rigid, the shadow of
+death grew deeper, and while the prayer was said, and Marian's tears
+fell with Katy's upon the brow where the baptismal waters were not
+dried, the angel came, and when the prayer was ended, Morris, who knew
+what the rest did not, took the lifeless form from Katy's lap, and
+whispered to her gently: "Katy, your baby is dead!"
+
+An hour later, and the sweet little creature, which had been a sunbeam
+in that house for a few happy days, lay upon the bed where Katy said it
+must be laid; its form shrouded in the christening robe which Grandma
+Cameron had bought, flowers upon its pillow, flowers upon its bosom,
+flowers in its hands, which Marian had put there; for Marian's was the
+mind which thought of everything concerning the dead child; and Helen,
+as she watched her, wondered at the mighty love which showed itself in
+every lineament of her face, the blue veins swelling in her forehead,
+her eyes bloodshot, and her lips shut firmly together, as if it were by
+mere strength of will that she kept back the scalding tears as she
+dressed the little Genevra. They spoke of that name in the kitchen when
+the first great shock was over, and Helen explained why it had been
+Katy's choice. Poor stricken Katy, it was Morris' task to comfort
+her--Morris, who sat by her holding the hot, feverish hand she had
+placed in his, and telling her of the blessed Savior who loved the
+little children while here on earth, and to whom her darling had surely
+gone.
+
+"Safe in His arms it would not come back if it could," he said, "and
+neither would you have it."
+
+But Katy was the mother, and human love could not so soon submit, but
+went out after the lost one with a piteous agonizing wail, which hurt
+Morris cruelly.
+
+"Oh, I want my baby back. I know she is safe, but I want her back. She
+was my life--all I had to love," Katy moaned, rocking to and fro in this
+first hour of her bereavement.
+
+"You forget your husband," Morris said. "You have him left, and
+husbands, I supposed, were dearer than one's children."
+
+"Yes," Katy answered, "I have Wilford, and am glad of that; but he will
+blame me so much for bringing baby here to die. He will say it was my
+fault; and that I can't bear. I know it was, know I killed my baby; but
+I did not mean to. I would give my life for hers, if like her I was
+ready," and into Katy's face there came a look of fear which Morris
+failed to understand, not knowing Wilford as well as Katy knew him.
+
+Surely no man could reproach the half-crazed creature, who all that
+night sat by the bedside of her dead child, sleeping a little in her
+chair, but obtaining no real rest, so that by the morning her face was
+like some white rose on which a fierce storm has beaten, breaking off
+its petals and crushing out its life. At nine o'clock there came to her
+a telegram. Wilford had reached New York and would be in Silverton that
+afternoon, accompanied by Bell. At this last Marian Hazelton caught
+eagerly as an excuse for what she intended doing. She could not remain
+there after Wilford came, nor was it necessary. Her task was done, or
+would be when she had finished the wreath and cross of flowers she was
+making for the coffin. Laying them on baby's pillow, Marian went in
+quest of Helen, to whom she explained that as Bell Cameron was coming,
+and the house would be full, she had decided upon going to West
+Silverton, especially as she wished to see the lady with whom she once
+boarded, and who had been so kind to her.
+
+"I might stay," she added, as Helen began to protest, "but you do not
+need me. I have done all I can, and would rather go where I can be quiet
+for a little."
+
+To this last argument there could be no demur, and so the same carriage
+which at ten o'clock went for Wilford Cameron carried Marian Hazelton
+to the village where she preferred being left.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+In much anxiety and distress Wilford Cameron read the telegram
+announcing baby's illness.
+
+"At Silverton!" he said. "How can that be when the child was at New
+London?" and he glanced at the words:
+
+"Your child is dying at Silverton. Come at once.
+
+"M. GRANT."
+
+There could be no mistake, and Wilford's face grew dark, for he guessed
+the truth, censuring Katy much, but censuring her family more. They, of
+course, had encouraged her in the plan of taking her child from New
+London, where it was doing so well, and this was the result. Wilford was
+proud of his daughter now, and during the few weeks he had been with it
+the little thing had found a strong place in his love. Many times he had
+thought of it during his journey West, indulging in bright anticipations
+of the coming winter, when he would have it home again. It would not be
+in his way now. On the contrary, it would add much to his luxurious
+home, and the young father's heart bounded as Wilford Cameron had never
+believed his heart could bound, with thoughts of the beautiful baby as
+he had last seen it in Katy's arms, crowing its good-by to him and
+trying to lisp his name, its sweet voice haunting him for weeks, and
+making him a softer, better man, who did not frown impatiently as he
+used to do upon the children in the cars, but who took notice of them
+all, even laying his hand once on a little curly head which reminded him
+of baby's.
+
+Alas for him, he little dreamed of the great shock in store for him. The
+child was undoubtedly very sick, he said, but that it could die was not
+possible; and so, though he made ready to hasten to it, he did withhold
+his opinion of the rashness, as he termed it, which had brought it to
+such peril.
+
+"Had Katy obeyed me it would not have happened," he said, pacing up and
+down the parlor and preparing to say more, when Bell came to Katy's aid,
+and lighting furiously upon him, asked what he meant by blaming his
+wife so much.
+
+"For my part," she said, "I think there has been too much fault-finding
+and dictation from the very day of the child's birth till now, and if
+God takes it, as he may, I shall think it a judgment upon you. First you
+were half vexed with Katy because it was not a boy, as if she were to
+blame; then you did not like it because it was not more promising and
+fair; next it was in your way, and so you sent it off, never considering
+Katy any more than if she were a mere automaton, to turn which way you
+said. Then you must needs forbid her taking it home to her own family,
+as if they had no right, no interest in it. I tell you, Will, it is not
+all Cameron--there is some Barlow blood in its veins--Aunt Betsy
+Barlow's, too, and you cannot wash it out. Katy had a right to take her
+own child where she pleased, and you are not a man if you censure her
+for it, as I see in your eyes you mean to do. Suppose it had stayed in
+New London and been struck with lightning--you would have been to blame,
+of course, according to your own view of things."
+
+There was too much truth in Bell's remarks for Wilford to retort, even
+had he been disposed, and he contented himself with a haughty toss of
+his head as she left the room to get herself in readiness for the
+journey she insisted upon taking. Wilford was glad she was going, as her
+presence at Silverton would relieve him of the awkward embarrassment he
+always felt when there; and magnanimously forgiving her for the
+plainness of her speech, he was the most attentive of brothers until
+Silverton was reached and he found Dr. Grant waiting for him. Something
+in his face, as he came forward to meet them, startled both Wilford and
+Bell, the latter of whom asked quickly:
+
+"Is the baby better?"
+
+"Baby is dead," was the brief reply, and Wilford staggered back against
+the doorpost, where he leaned a moment for support in that first great
+shock for which he was not prepared.
+
+"Dead," he repeated, "our baby dead," and Morris was glad that he said
+our, as it indicated a thought of Katy as a mutual sharer in the loss.
+
+Upon the doorstep Bell sat down, crying quietly, for she had loved the
+little child, and she listened anxiously while Morris repeated the
+particulars of its illness and then spoke of Katy's reproaching herself
+so bitterly for having brought it from New London. "She seems entirely
+crushed," he continued, when they were driving toward the farmhouse.
+"For a few hours I trembled for her reason, while the fear that you
+might reproach her added much to the poignancy of her grief."
+
+Morris said this very calmly, as if it were not what he had all the
+while intended saying, and his eye turned toward Wilford, whose lips
+were compressed with the emotion he was evidently trying to control. It
+was Bell who spoke first. Bell who said impulsively; "Poor Katy, I knew
+she would feel so, but it is unnecessary, for none but a savage would
+reproach her now, even if she were in fault."
+
+Morris blessed Bell Cameron in his heart, knowing how much influence her
+words would have upon her brother, who brushed away the first tear he
+had shed, and tried to say that "of course she was not to blame."
+
+They were in sight of the farmhouse now, and Bell, with her city ideas,
+was looking curiously at it, mentally pronouncing it a nicer, pleasanter
+place than she had supposed, inasmuch as it reminded her of the
+description she had read of the Virginia farmhouse, where a young
+officer was encamped for a few days, an officer who wore a lieutenant's
+uniform and who signed himself as Bob. It was very quiet about the
+house, and old Whitey's neigh as Morris' span of bays came up was the
+only sound which greeted them. In the woodshed door Uncle Ephraim sat
+smoking his clay pipe and likening the feathery waves which curled above
+his head to the little soul so recently gone upward, while by his side,
+upon a log of wood, holding a pan of the luscious peaches she was
+slicing up for tea, sat a woman whom Bell knew at once for Aunt Betsy
+Barlow, thinking more of the peaches than of the old lady who, pan in
+hand, came forward to met her, curtseying very low when introduced by
+Morris, and asking to be excused from shaking hands, inasmuch as hers
+were not fit to be touched. Bell's quick eye took her in at a glance,
+from her clean spotted gown to her plain muslin cap tied with a black
+ribbon, put on that day with a view to mourning, and then darted off to
+Uncle Ephraim, who won her heart at once when she heard how his voice
+trembled as he took Wilford's hand and said so pityingly, so
+father-like: "Young man, this is a sad day for you and you have my
+sympathy, for I remember well how my heart ached when, on just such a
+day as this, my only child lay dead as yours is lying."
+
+Every muscle of Wilford's face quivered then, but he was too proud to
+show all that he felt, and he was glad when Helen appeared in the door,
+as that diverted his mind somewhat, and he greeted her most cordially,
+even stooping down and kissing her smooth forehead, a thing he had never
+done before. But sorrow is a great softener and Wilford was very sorry,
+feeling his loss more here where everything was so quiet, so suggestive
+of death.
+
+"Where is Katy?" he asked.
+
+"She is sleeping for the first time since the baby died. She is in here
+with the child. She will stay nowhere else," Helen said, opening softly
+the door of the bedroom and motioning Wilford in.
+
+With hushed breath and a beating heart, Wilford stepped across the
+threshold and Helen closed the door, leaving him alone with the living
+and the dead. Pure and beautiful as some fair blossom, the dead child
+lay upon the bed, the curls of golden hair clustering about its head,
+and on its lips the smile which had settled there when it tried to say
+"mamma"--its dimpled hands folded upon its breast, where lay the cross
+of flowers which Marian Hazelton had made--flowers upon its pillow,
+flowers around its head, flowers upon its shroud, flowers everywhere,
+and itself the fairest flower of all, Wilford thought as he stood gazing
+at it and then let his eye move on to where poor, tired, worn-out Katy
+had crept up so close beside it that her breath touched the marble cheek
+and her own disordered hair rested upon the pillow of her child. Even in
+her sleep her tears kept dropping from the long eyelashes, and the pale
+lips quivered in a grieved, touching way. Hard indeed would Wilford have
+been had he cherished one bitter thought against the wife so wounded. He
+could not when he saw her, but no one ever knew just what passed through
+his mind during the half hour he sat there beside her, scarcely
+stirring and not daring to kiss his child lest he should awaken her. He
+could hear the ticking of his watch and the beating of his heart as he
+waited for the first sound which should herald Katy's waking.
+
+Suddenly there was a low, gasping moan, and Katy's eyes unclosed and
+rested on her husband. He was bending over her in an instant, and her
+arms were around his neck, while she said to him so sadly:
+
+"Our baby is dead--you've nobody left but me; and oh! Wilford, you will
+not blame me bringing baby here? I did not think she would die. I'd give
+my life for hers if that would bring her back. Say, Wilford, would you
+rather it was me lying as baby lies, and she here in your arms?"
+
+"No, Katy," Wilford answered, and by his voice Katy knew that she was
+wholly forgiven, crying on his neck in a plaintive, piteous way, while
+Wilford soothed and pitied and caressed, feeling subdued and humbled,
+and we must confess it, feeling too how very good and generous he was to
+be thus forbearing, when but for Katy's act of disobedience they might
+not now be childless!
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+With a great gust of tears Bell Cameron bent over the little form, and
+then enfolded Katy in a more loving embrace than he had ever given her
+before; but whatever she might have said was prevented by the arrival of
+the coffin and the confusion which followed.
+
+Much Wilford regretted that New York was so far away, for a city coffin
+was more suitable, he thought, for a child of his, than the one which
+Dr. Grant had ordered. But that was really of less consequence than the
+question where should the child be buried? A costly monument at
+Greenwood was in accordance with his ideas, but all things indicated
+a contemplated burial there in the country churchyard, and sorely
+perplexed he called on Bell as the only Cameron at hand, to know what
+he should do.
+
+"Do just as Katy prefers," was Bell's reply, as she led him to the
+coffin and pointed to the name: "Little Genevra Cameron, aged nine
+months and twenty days."
+
+"What is it, Wilford--what is the matter?" she asked, as her brother
+turned whiter than his child, and struck his hand upon his head as if
+a blow had fallen there.
+
+Had "Genevra Lambert, aged twenty-two," met his eye, he could not have
+been more startled than he was; but soon rallying, he said to Morris,
+who came near:
+
+"The child was baptized then?"
+
+"Yes, baptized Genevra. That was Katy's choice, I understand," Morris
+replied, and Wilford bowed his head, wishing the Genevra across the sea
+might know that his child bore her name.
+
+"Perhaps she does," he thought, and his heart grew warm with the fancy
+that possibly in that other world, whose existence he never really
+doubted, the Genevra he had wronged would care for his child, if
+children there need care. "She will know it is mine at least," he said,
+and with a thoughtful face he went in quest of Katy, whom he found
+sobbing by the side of the mourning garments just sent in for her
+inspection.
+
+Wilford was averse to black. It would not become Katy, he feared, and it
+would be an unanswerable reason for her remaining closely home for the
+entire winter.
+
+"What's this?" he asked, lifting the crape veil and dropping it again
+with an impatient gesture as Helen replied: "It is Katy's mourning
+veil."
+
+Contrary to his expectations, black was becoming to Katy, who looked
+like a pure white lily, as, leaning on Wilford's arm next day, she stood
+by the grave where they were burying her child.
+
+Wilford had spoken to her of Greenwood, but she had begged so hard that
+he had given up that idea, suggesting next, as more in accordance with
+city custom, that she remain at home while he only followed to the
+grave; but from this Katy recoiled in such distress that he gave up too,
+and bore, magnanimously, as he thought, the sight of all the Barlows
+standing around that grave, alike mourners with himself, and all a right
+to be there. Wilford felt his loss deeply, and his heart ached to its
+very core as he heard the gravel rattling down upon the coffin lid which
+covered the beautiful child he had loved so much. But amid it all he
+never for a moment forgot that he was Wilford Cameron, and infinitely
+superior to the crowd around him--except, indeed, his wife, his sister,
+Dr. Grant, and Helen. He could bear to see them sorry, and feel that by
+their sorrow they honored the memory of his child. But for the rest--the
+village herd, with the Barlows in their train--he had no affinity, and
+his manner was as haughty and distant as ever as he passed through their
+midst back to the carriage, which took him again to the farmhouse.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIII.
+
+AFTER THE FUNERAL.
+
+
+Had there been a train back to New York that afternoon Wilford would
+most certainly have suggested going, but as there was none he passed the
+time as well as he could, finding Bell a great help to him, but
+wondering that she could assimilate so readily with such people,
+declaring herself in love with the farmhouse, and saying she should like
+to remain there for weeks, if the days were all as sunny as this, the
+dahlias as gorgeously bright, and the peaches by the well as delicious
+and ripe. To these the city girl took readily, visiting them the last
+thing before retiring, while Wilford found her there when he arose next
+morning, her dress and slippers nearly spoiled with the heavy dew, and
+her hands full of the fresh fruit which Aunt Betsy knocked from the tree
+with a quilting rod; her dress pinned around her waist, and disclosing a
+petticoat scrupulously clean, but patched and mended with so many
+different patterns and colors that the original ground was lost, and
+none could tell whether it had been red or black, buff or blue. Between
+Aunt Betsy and Bell the most amicable feeling had existed ever since the
+older lady had told the younger how all the summer long she had been
+drying fruit, "thimble-berries, blue-berries and huckleberries" for the
+soldiers, and how she was now drying peaches for Willard Buxton--once
+their hired man. These she should tie up in a salt bag, and put in the
+next box sent by the society of which she seemed to be head and front,
+"kind of fust directress," she said, and Bell was interested at once,
+for among the soldiers down by the Potomac was one who carried with him
+the whole of Bell Cameron's heart; and who for a few days had tarried at
+just such a dwelling as the farmhouse, writing back to her such pleasant
+descriptions of it, with its fresh grass and shadowy trees, that she had
+longed to be there too. So it was through this page of romance and love
+that Bell looked at the farmhouse and its occupants, preferring good
+Aunt Betsy because she seemed the most interested in the soldiers,
+working as soon as breakfast was over upon the peaches, and kindly
+furnishing her best check apron, together with pan and knife for Bell,
+who offered her assistance, notwithstanding Wilford's warning that the
+fruit would stain her hands, and his advice that she had better be
+putting up her things for going home.
+
+"She was not going that day," she said, point-blank, and as Katy too
+had asked to stay a little longer, Wilford was compelled to yield, and
+taking his hat sauntered off toward Linwood; while Katy went listlessly
+into the kitchen, where Bell Cameron sat, her tongue moving much faster
+than her hands, which pared so slowly and cut away so much of the juicy
+pulp, besides making so frequent journeys to her mouth, that Aunt Betsy
+looked in alarm at the rapidly disappearing fruit, wishing to herself
+that "Miss Cameron had not listed."
+
+But Miss Cameron had enlisted, and so had Bob, or rather he had gone to
+do his duty, and as she worked, she repeated to Helen the particulars of
+his going, telling how, when the war first broke out, and Sumter was
+bombarded, Rob, who, from long association with Southern men at West
+Point, had imbibed many of their ideas, was very sympathetic with the
+rebelling States, gaining the cognomen of a secessionist, and once
+actually thinking of casting in his lot with that side rather than the
+other. But the remembrance of a little incident saved him, she said. The
+remembrance of a queer old lady whom he met in the cars, and who, at
+parting, held her wrinkled hand above his head in benediction, charging
+him not to go against the flag, and promising her prayers for his safety
+if found on the side of the Union.
+
+"I wish you could hear Bob tell the story, the funny part, I mean,"
+she continued, narrating, as well as she could, the particulars of
+Lieutenant Bob's meeting with Aunt Betsy, who, as the story progressed
+and she recognized herself in the queer old Yankee woman, who shook
+hands with the conductor and was going to law about a sheep pasture,
+dropped her head lower and lower over her pan of peaches, while a
+scarlet flush spread itself all over her thin face, but changed into a
+grayish white as Bell concluded with "Bob says the memory of that hand
+lifted above his head haunted him day and night, during the period of
+his uncertainty, and was at last the means of saving him from treachery
+to his country."
+
+"Thank God!" came involuntarily from Aunt Betsy's quivering lips, and,
+looking up, Bell saw the great tears running down her cheeks, tears
+which she wiped away with her arm, while she said faintly: "That old
+woman, who made a fool of herself in the cars, was me!"
+
+"You, Miss Barlow, you!" Bell exclaimed, forgetting in her astonishment
+to carry to her mouth the luscious half peach she had intended for that
+purpose, and dropping it untasted into the pan, while Katy, who had been
+listening with some considerable interest, came quickly forward, saying:
+"You, Aunt Betsy! When were you in New York, and why did I never know
+it?"
+
+It could not be kept back, and, unmindful of Bell, Helen explained to
+Katy as well as she could the circumstances of Aunt Betsy's visit to New
+York the previous winter.
+
+"And she never let me know it, or come to see me, because--because--"
+Katy hesitated, and looked at Bell, who said, pertly: "Because Will is
+so abominably proud, and would have made such a fuss. Don't spoil a
+story for relations' sake, I beg," and the young lady laughed good
+humoredly, restoring peace to all save Katy, whose face wore a troubled
+look, and who soon stole away to her mother, whom she questioned further
+with regard to a circumstance which seemed so mysterious to her.
+
+"Miss Barlow," Bell said, when Katy was gone, "you will forgive one for
+repeating that story as I did. Of course I had no idea it was you of
+whom I was talking."
+
+Bell was very earnest, and her eyes looked pleadingly upon Aunt Betsy,
+who answered her back: "There's nothing to forgive. You only told the
+truth. I did make an old fool of myself, but if I helped that boy to a
+right decision, my journey did some good, and I ain't sorry now if I
+did go to the playhouse. I confessed that to the sewing circle, and Mrs.
+Deacon Bannister ain't seemed the same toward me since, but I don't
+care. I beat her on the election to first directress of the Soldiers'
+Aid. She didn't run half as well as me. That chap you call Bob, is he
+anything to you? Is he your beau?"
+
+It was Bell's turn now to blush and then grow white, while Helen
+lightly touching the superb diamond on her first finger, said: "That
+indicates as much. When did it happen, Bell?"
+
+Mrs. Cameron had said they were not a family to bruit their affairs
+abroad, and if so, Bell was not like her family, for she answered
+frankly: "Just before he went away. It's a splendid diamond, isn't it?"
+and she held it up for Helen to inspect.
+
+The basket was empty by this time, and as Aunt Betsy went to fill it
+from the trees, Bell and Helen were left alone, the former continuing in
+a low, sad tone: "I've been so sorry sometimes that I did not tell Bob I
+loved him, when he wished me to so much."
+
+"Not tell him you loved him! How then could you tell him yes, as it
+appears you did?" Helen asked, and Bell answered: "I could not well help
+that; it came so sudden and he begged so hard, saying my promise would
+make him a better man, a better soldier and all that. It was the very
+night before he went, and so I said that out of pity and patriotism I
+would give the promise, and I did, but it seemed too much for a woman to
+tell a man all at once that she loved him, and I wouldn't do it, but
+I've been sorry since; oh, so sorry, during the two days when we heard
+nothing from him after that dreadful battle at Bull Run. We knew he was
+in it, and I thought I should die until his telegram came saying he was
+safe. I did sit down then and commence a letter, confessing all I felt,
+but I tore it up, and he don't know now just how I feel."
+
+"And do you really love him?" Helen asked, puzzled by this strange girl,
+who laughingly held up her soft, white hand, stained and blackened with
+the juice of the fruit she had been paring, and said: "Do you suppose I
+would spoil my hands like that and incur _ma chere-mamma's_ displeasure,
+if Bob were not in the army and I did not care for him? And now that I
+have confessed so much, allow me to catechise you. Did Mark Ray ever
+propose and you refuse him?"
+
+"Never!" and Helen's face grew crimson, while Bell continued: "That is
+funny. Half our circle think so, though how the impression was first
+given I do not know. Mother told me, but would not tell where she
+received her information. I heard of it again in a few days, and have
+reason to believe that Mrs. Banker knows it too and feels a little
+uncomfortable that her son should be refused when she considers him
+worthy of the empress herself."
+
+Helen was very white, and her limbs shook as she asked: "And how with
+Mark and Juno?"
+
+"Oh, off and on," Bell replied; "that is, Juno is always on, while Mark
+is more uncertain, and Juno really has improved in some respects. As I
+wrote you once, she is very docile when with Mark, and acts as if trying
+to atone for something--her old badness, I guess. You are certain you
+never cared for Mark Ray?"
+
+This was so abrupt and Bell's eyes were so searching that Helen grew
+giddy for a moment and grasped the back of the chair, as she replied: "I
+did not say I never cared for him. I said he never proposed; and that is
+true; he never did."
+
+"And if he had?" Bell continued, never taking her eyes from Helen, who,
+had she been less agitated, would have denied Bell's right to question
+her so closely. Now, however, she answered blindly: "I do not know. I
+cannot tell. I thought him engaged to Juno."
+
+"Well, if that is not the rarest case of cross-purposes that I ever
+knew," Bell said, wiping her hands upon Aunt Betsy's apron, and
+preparing to attack the piled up basket just brought in.
+
+Further conversation was impossible, and, with her mind in a perfect
+tempest of thought, Helen went away, trying to decide what it was best
+for her to do. Some one had spread the report that she had refused Mark
+Ray, telling of the refusal, of course, or how else could it have been
+known? and this accounted for Mrs. Banker's long-continued silence.
+Since Helen's return to Silverton Mrs. Banker had written two or thee
+kind, friendly letters, which did her so much good; but these had
+suddenly ceased, and Helen's last remained as yet unanswered. She saw
+the reason now, every nerve quivering with pain as she imagined what
+Mrs. Banker must think of one who could make a refusal public, or what
+was tenfold worse, pretend to an offer she never received. "She must
+despise me, and Mark Ray, too, if he has heard of it," she said,
+resolving one moment to ask Bell to explain to Mrs. Banker, and then
+changing her mind and concluding to let matters take their course,
+inasmuch as interference from her might be construed by the mother into
+undue interest in the son. "Perhaps Bell will do it without my asking,"
+she thought, and this hope did much toward keeping her spirits up on
+that last day of Katy's stay at home, for she was going back in the
+morning. Wilford would not leave her, though she begged to stay. He did
+not like the sad expression of her face, and he must take her where she
+would have more excitement, hoping thus to win her from her grief, and
+perhaps induce her to lay aside her black, which would be so serious a
+hindrance to his enjoyment. But Katy clung to that as to a strict,
+religious duty, saying to Helen, as in the twilight they sat together
+up in their old room, talking of the ensuing winter, which would be so
+different from the last:
+
+"If anything besides the feeling that she is so much happier, could
+reconcile me to baby's loss, it is the knowing that my mourning will
+keep me from the society in which I could not mingle so soon," and her
+tears dropped upon the somber robes, which had transformed her so
+suddenly from the gay, airy creature of fashion into the sober, quiet
+woman who seemed older, soberer than even Helen herself.
+
+They did not see Marian Hazelton again, and Katy wondered at it,
+deciding that in some things Marian was very peculiar, while Wilford and
+Bell were slightly disappointed, as both had a desire to meet and
+converse with one who had been so like a second mother to the little
+dead Genevra. Wilford spoke of his child now as Genevra, but to Katy it
+was baby still; and, with choking sobs and passionate tears, she bade
+good-by to the little mound underneath which it was lying, and then went
+back to her city home.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIV.
+
+THE FIRST WIFE.
+
+
+Softly and swiftly the hazy September days glided into dun October, who
+shook down leafy showers of crimson and of gold upon the withered grass,
+and then gave place to the dark November rains, which made the city seem
+doubly desolate to Katy, who, like the ghost of her former self, moved
+listlessly about her handsome home, starting quickly as a fancied baby
+cry fell on her ear, and then weeping bitterly as she remembered the sad
+past and thought of the still sadder present. Katy was very unhappy, and
+the world, as she looked upon it, seemed utterly cheerless. For much of
+this unhappiness Wilford was himself to blame. After the first few days,
+during which he was all kindness and devotion, he did not try to comfort
+her, but seemed irritated that she should mourn so deeply for the child
+which, but for her indiscretion, might have been living still. Her
+seclusion from gay society troubled him. He did not like staying at
+home, and their evenings, when they were alone, passed in gloomy
+silence. At last Mrs. Cameron, annoyed at what annoyed her son, brought
+her influence to bear upon her daughter-in-law, trying to rouse her to
+something like her olden interest in the world; but all to no effect,
+and matters grew constantly worse, as Wilford thought Katy unreasonable
+and selfish, while Katy tried hard not to think him harsh in his
+judgment of her, and exacting in his requirements. "Perhaps she was
+the one most in fault; it could not be pleasant for him to see her so
+entirely changed from what she used to be," she thought, one morning
+late in November, when her husband had just left her with an angry frown
+upon his face and reproachful words upon his lips.
+
+Father Cameron and his daughters were out of town, and Mrs. Cameron,
+feeling lonely in their absence, had asked Wilford and Katy to dine with
+her. But Katy did not wish to go, and so Wilford had left her in anger,
+saying "she could suit herself, but he should go at all events."
+
+Left alone, Katy began to feel that she had done wrong in declining the
+invitation. Surely she could go there, and the echo of the bang with
+which Wilford had closed the street door was still vibrating in her ear,
+when her resolution began to give way, and while Wilford was riding
+moodily downtown, thinking harsh things against her, she was meditating
+what she thought might be an agreeable surprise. She would go around and
+meet him at dinner, trying to appear as much like her old self as she
+could, and so atone for anything which had hitherto been wrong in her
+demeanor.
+
+It was strange how much better Katy felt when this decision was reached,
+and Esther, below stairs, raised her finger warningly for the cook to
+listen as her mistress trilled a few notes of a song. It was the first
+time since her return from Silverton that a sound like that had been
+heard within the house, and it seemed the precursor of better days. At
+lunch, too, Katy's face was very bright, and Esther was surprised when,
+later in the day, she was sent for to arrange her mistress' hair, as she
+had not arranged it since baby died. Greatly annoyed, Wilford had been
+by the smooth bands combed so plainly back, and at the blackness of the
+dress; but now there was a change, and graceful curls fell about the
+face, giving it the girlish expression which Wilford liked. The
+somberness of the dark dress was relieved by simple folds of white crape
+at the throat and wrists, while the handsome jet ornaments, the gift of
+Wilford's father, added to the style and beauty of the childish figure,
+which had seldom looked lovelier than when ready and waiting for the
+carriage. At the door there was a ring, and Esther brought a note to
+Katy, who, recognizing her husband's handwriting, tore it quickly open
+and read as follows:
+
+"DEAR KATY: I have been suddenly called to leave the city on business,
+which will probably detain me for three days or more, and as I must go on
+the night train, I wish Esther to have my portmanteau ready with whatever
+I may need for the journey. As I proposed this morning, I shall dine with
+mother, but come home immediately after dinner. W. CAMERON."
+
+Katy was glad now that she had decided to meet him at his mother's, as
+the knowing she had pleased him would make the time of his absence more
+endurable, and after seeing that everything was ready for him she
+stepped with a comparatively light heart into her carriage, and was
+driven to No. ---- Fifth Avenue.
+
+Mrs. Cameron was out, the servant said, but was expected every minute
+with Mr. Wilford.
+
+"Never mind," Katy answered; "I want to surprise them, so please don't
+tell them I am here when you let them in," and going into the library
+she sat down before the grate, waiting rather impatiently until the door
+bell rang and she heard both Wilford's and Mrs. Cameron's voice in the
+hall.
+
+Contrary to her expectations, they did not come into the library, but
+went instead into the parlor, the door of which was partially ajar, so
+that every word they said could be distinctly heard where Katy sat. It
+would seem that they were continuing a conversation which had been
+interrupted by their arriving home, for Mrs. Cameron said, with the tone
+she always assumed when sympathizing with her son: "I am truly sorry for
+you. Is she never more cheerful than when I have seen her?"
+
+"Never," and Katy could feel just how Wilford's lips shut over his
+teeth as he said it; "never more cheerful, but worse if anything. Why,
+positively the house seems so like a funeral that I hate to leave the
+office and go back to it at night, knowing how mopish and gloomy Katy
+will be."
+
+"My poor boy, it is worse than I feared," Mrs. Cameron said, with a
+little sigh, while Katy, with a great gasping sob, tried to rise and go
+to them, to tell them she was there--the mopish Katy, who made her home
+so like a funeral to her husband.
+
+But her limbs refused to move, and she sank back powerless in her chair,
+compelled to listen to things which no true husband should ever say to a
+mother of his wife, especially when that wife's error consisted
+principally in mourning too much for the child "which but for her
+imprudence might have been living then." These were Wilford's very
+words, and though Katy had once expected him to say them, they came upon
+her now with a dreadful shock, making her view herself as the murderer
+of her child, and thus blunting the pain she might otherwise have felt
+as he went on to speak of Silverton and its inhabitants, just as he
+would not have spoken had he known she was so near. Then, encouraged by
+his mother, he talked again of her, not against her, but in a way which
+made her poor aching heart throb as she whispered, sadly: "He is
+disappointed in me. I do not come up to all that he expected. I do very
+well, considering my low origin, but I am not what his wife should be."
+
+Wilford had not said all this, but Katy inferred it, and every nerve
+quivered with anguish as the wild wish came over her that she had died
+on that day when she sat in the summer grass at home watching the
+shadows come and go and waiting for Wilford Cameron. Poor Katy! she
+thought her cup of sorrow full, when, alas! only a drop had as yet been
+poured into it. But it was filling fast, and Mrs. Cameron's words: "It
+might have been better with Genevra," was the first outpouring of the
+overwhelming torrent which for a moment bore her life and sense away.
+She thought they meant her baby--the little Genevra sleeping under the
+snow in Silverton--and her white lips answered: "Yes, it would be
+better," before Wilford's voice was heard, saying, as he always said:
+"No, I have never wished Genevra in Katy's place, though I have
+sometimes wondered what the result would have been had I learned
+in season how much I wronged her."
+
+Was heaven and earth coming together, or what made Katy's brain so dizzy
+and the room so dark, as, with head bent forward and lips apart, she
+strained her ear to catch every word of the conversation which followed,
+and in which she saw glimpses of that leaf offered her once to read, and
+from which she had promised not to shrink should it ever be thrust upon
+her? But she did shrink, oh! so shudderingly, holding up her hands and
+striking them through the empty air as if she would thrust aside the
+terrible scepter risen so suddenly before her. She had heard all that
+she cared to hear then. Another word and she should surely die where she
+was, within hearing of the voices still talking of Genevra. Stopping her
+ears to shut out the dreadful sound, she tried to think what she should
+do. To gain the door and reach the street was her desire, and throwing
+on her wrappings she went noiselessly into the hall, and carefully
+turning the lock closed the door behind her, finding herself alone in
+the street in the dusk of a November night. But Katy was not afraid, and
+drawing her hood closely over her face she sped on until her own house
+was reached, alarming Esther with her frightened face, but explaining
+that she had been taken suddenly ill and returned before dinner.
+
+"Mr. Cameron will be here soon," she said. "I do not need anything
+to-night, so you can leave me alone and go where you like--to the
+theatre, if you choose. I heard you say you wished to go. Here is the
+money for you and Phillips," and handing a bill to the slightly puzzled
+Esther, she dismissed her from the room.
+
+Meanwhile, at the elder Cameron's, no one had a suspicion of Katy's
+recent presence, for the girl who had admitted her had gone to visit a
+sick sister, with whom she was to spend the night. Thus Katy's secret
+was safe, and Wilford, when at last he bade his mother good-by and
+started for home, was not prepared for the livid face, the bloodshot
+eyes, and the strange, unnatural look which met him at the threshold.
+
+Katy was waiting for him, and answered his ring herself, her hands
+grasping his almost fiercely and dragging him up the stairs to her own
+room, where, more like a maniac than Katy Cameron, she confronted him
+with the startling question:
+
+"Who is Genevra Lambert? It is time I knew before committing greater
+sin. Tell me, Wilford, who is she?"
+
+She was standing before him, her slight figure seeming to expand into a
+greater height, the features glowing with strong excitement, and her hot
+breath coming hurriedly through her dilated nostrils, but never opening
+the pale lips set so firmly together. There was something terrible in
+her look and attitude, and it startled Wilford, who recoiled a moment
+from her, scarcely able to recognize the Katy hitherto so gentle and
+quiet. She had learned his secret, but the facts must have been
+distorted, he knew, or she had never been so agitated. From beneath his
+hair the great sweat drops came pouring, as he tried to approach her and
+take the uplifted hands, motioning him aside with the words: "Not touch
+me; no, not touch me till you have told me who is Genevra Lambert."
+
+She repeated the question twice, and rallying all his strength Wilford
+answered her at last: "Genevra Lambert was my wife!"
+
+"I thought so," and the next moment Katy lay in Wilford's arms, dead, as
+he feared, for there was no motion about the eyelids, no motion that he
+could perceive about the pulse or heart, as he laid the rigid form upon
+the bed and then bent every energy to restore her, even though he feared
+that it was hopeless.
+
+"I must do what I can," he said, thinking once to send for a physician
+and laying his hand upon the bell rope for the purpose of ringing up a
+servant; but a faint, gasping sound met his ear, assuring him there yet
+was life and that Katy was not dead.
+
+If possible he would prefer that no one should intrude upon them now,
+and he chafed her icy hands and bathed her face until the eyes unclosed
+again, but with a shudder turned away as they met his. Then as she grew
+stronger and remembered the past she started up, exclaiming: "If Genevra
+Lambert is your wife, what then am I? Oh, Wilford, how could you make me
+not a wife, when I trusted and loved you so much?"
+
+He knew now that she was laboring under a mistake, and he did not wonder
+at the violence of her emotions if she believed he had wronged her so
+cruelly, and coming nearer to her he said: "You mistake me; Genevra
+Lambert was my wife once, but is not now, for she is dead. Do you hear
+me, Katy? Genevra died years ago, when you were a little girl playing in
+the fields at home."
+
+By mentioning Silverton he hoped to bring back something of her olden
+look, in place of the expression which troubled and frightened him. The
+experiment was successful and great tears gathered in Katy's eyes,
+washing out the wild, unnatural gleam, while the lips whispered: "And it
+was her picture Juno saw. She told me the night I came and I tried to
+question you. You remember?"
+
+Wilford did remember it and he replied: "Yes, but I did not suppose you
+knew I had a picture. You have been a good wife, Katy, never to mention
+it since then;" and he tried to kiss her forehead, but she covered it
+with her hands, saying, sadly: "Not yet, Wilford, I cannot bear it now.
+I must know the whole about Genevra. Why didn't you tell me before? Why
+have you deceived me so?"
+
+"Katy," and Wilford grew very earnest in his attempts to defend himself,
+"do you remember that day we sat under the buttonwood tree and you
+promised to be mine? Try and recall the incidents of that hour and see
+if I did not hint at some things past which I wished had been
+otherwise--did not offer to show you the blackest page of my whole life
+and you would not see it. Was that so, Katy?"
+
+"Yes," she answered, and he continued: "You said you were satisfied
+to take me as I was. You would not hear evil against me and so I
+acquiesced, bidding you not shrink back if ever the time should come
+when you must read that page. I was to blame, I know, but there were
+many extenuating circumstances, much to excuse me for withholding what
+you would not hear."
+
+Wilford did not like to be censured, neither did he like to censure
+himself, and now that Katy was out of danger and comparatively calm, he
+began to build about himself a fortress of excuses for having kept from
+her the secret of his life.
+
+"Would not most any man have done just as I did?" he continued. "Can you
+mention one who would not?"
+
+"Yes, Cousin Morris," Katy answered; "he would never have deceived me
+thus."
+
+A little vexed at the mention of Dr. Grant, Wilford replied: "I do not
+pretend to be a saint, and I believe your cousin does; but I doubt
+whether even he, with all his goodness, would do very differently from
+what I have done; but tell me how, where did you hear of Genevra?"
+
+Amid sobs and tears Katy told him how she had repented of her decision
+not to join him at his mother's, coming to the conclusion that she was
+doing wrong to seclude herself so much and trying her best to look well
+again in his eyes.
+
+"I meant to surprise you," she said, "and when I heard your mother was
+out I went into the library to wait, thinking you would come there, but
+you did not, and I started to go to you when my feet were stopped, for
+you were talking of me, Wilford, not bad, perhaps, but as you would not
+have talked had you known that I was there where I heard the words which
+burned like coals of fire, so that I could have screamed in my
+distress."
+
+Katy was not weeping now and her face was like that of some accusing
+angel as she continued: "I thought my heart was broken when I heard you
+talk so of me and Silverton, but that was nothing compared with what
+came next, when your mother spoke of Genevra. I thought it was my baby
+she meant at first, and the tightness around my heart was giving way,
+for if you did complain of me to your mother, I could forgive that
+because you were baby's father; but Genevra Lambert! oh, Wilford, I died
+a thousand deaths in one when I first heard of her and understood why
+you objected to the name our baby finally bore. You did not wish to be
+so constantly reminded of the other wife. I could not sit there longer,
+the room around me grew so black, so I struggled to my feet and reached
+the door, going into the street and thinking once I would end my
+wretched life in the distant river; but something turned my steps toward
+home and I came, thinking it all over and suffering such agony. Oh,
+Wilford, why did you keep it from me? What was there about it wrong and
+where is she buried?"
+
+"In Alnwick, at St. Mary's," Wilford answered, determining now to hold
+nothing back, and by his abruptness wounding Katy afresh.
+
+"In Alnwick, at St. Mary's" Katy cried. "Then I have seen her grave, and
+that is why you were so anxious to get there, so unwilling to go away.
+Oh, if I were lying there instead of Genevra, it would be so much
+better, so much better."
+
+There was sobbing now, in a moaning, plaintive way which touched Wilford
+tenderly, and smoothing her tangled hair, he said: "I would not exchange
+my Katy for all the Genevras in the world. She was never as dear to me
+as you. I was but a boy, and did not know my mind when I met her. Shall
+I tell you about her now? Can you bear to hear the story of Genevra?"
+
+There was a nod of assent, and Katy turned her face to the wall,
+clasping her hands tightly together, while Wilford drew his chair to her
+side and began to read the page he should have read to her long before.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXV.
+
+WHAT THE PAGE DISCLOSED.
+
+
+"I was little more than nineteen years of age when I left Harvard
+College and went abroad with my only brother, the John or Jack of whom
+you have so often heard. Both himself and wife were in delicate health,
+and it was hoped a voyage across the sea would do them good. For nearly
+a year we were in various parts of England, stopping for two months at
+Brighton, where, among the visitors, was a widow from the vicinity of
+Alnwick, and with her an orphan niece whom I often met, and whose
+dazzling beauty attracted my youthful fancy. She was not happy with her
+aunt, upon whom she was wholly dependent, and my sympathies were all
+enlisted, when, with the tears shining in her lustrous eyes, she one day
+accidentally stumbled upon her trouble and told me how wretched she was,
+asking if in America there was not something for her to do.
+
+"It was at this time that Jamie was born and Mary, the girl who went out
+with us, was married to an Englishman, making it necessary for Hatty to
+find some one to take her place. Hearing of this, Genevra came one day,
+and to my secret delight offered herself as half companion, half
+waiting-maid to Hatty. Anything was preferable to the life she led, she
+said, pleading so hard that Hatty, after an interview with the old
+aunt--a purse-proud, vulgar woman, who seemed glad to be rid of her
+charge--consented to receive her, and Genevra became one of our family,
+an equal rather than a menial, whom Hatty treated with as much
+consideration as if she had been a sister. I wish I could tell you how
+beautiful Genevra Lambert was at that period of her life. I have her
+picture, which I will show you by and by, but it will not convey an
+adequate idea of her as she was then, with her brilliant English
+complexion, her eyes so full of poetry and passion, her perfect
+features, and, more than all, the wondrous smile, which would have made
+a plain face handsome. She was full of life and spirits, with enough of
+coquetry about her to fascinate and turn older heads than mine.
+
+"Of course I came to love her, and loved her all the more for the
+opposition I knew my family would throw in the way of my marrying the
+daughter of an English apothecary, and one who was voluntarily filling a
+servant's place. But with my mother across the sea, I could do anything;
+and when Genevra told me of a base fellow, as she termed him, who, since
+she was a child, had sought her for his wife, and still pursued her with
+his letters, my passions all were roused, and I offered myself at once.
+I do not think she anticipated this when she told me of the letters, as
+it might seem to you. She was neither designing nor artful, but, on the
+contrary, wholly open-hearted and truthful, telling me the contents of
+the letter because I found her weeping over it and insisted upon knowing
+the cause. Her answer to my offer was a decided refusal. She knew her
+position, she said, and she knew mine, just as she knew the nature of
+the feeling which prompted me to act thus toward her. Although just my
+age, she was older in judgment and experience, and she seemed to
+understand the difference between our relative positions. I was not
+indifferent to her, she said, and were she my equal her answer might be
+otherwise than the decided no.
+
+"Of course this only made me more eager, particularly as during the next
+two weeks she avoided me as much as possible, never stopping alone with
+me for a moment or giving me a chance to say a word in private. Madly in
+love, and fancying I could not live without her, I besieged her with
+letters, some of which she returned unopened, while on the others she
+wrote a few hurried lines, calling me a boy, who did not know my own
+mind, and asking what my friends would say.
+
+"I cared little for friends, urging my suit the more vehemently, as we
+were about going into Scotland, where our marriage could be celebrated
+in private at any time. I say in private, for I did not contemplate
+making the affair public at once. That would take from the interest and
+romance, while, unknown to myself, there was at heart a fear of my
+family.
+
+"But not to dwell too long upon those days, which seem to me now so like
+a dream, we went to Scotland and were married privately, for I won her
+to this at last. And now comes the part where Jamie is concerned. On the
+night of our marriage, Genevra, who had obtained permission to be absent
+on a plea of visiting a friend, had procured some one to take charge of
+Jamie, a red-faced girl from Edinburgh, who, unused to children, perched
+the child upon her shoulder, and while in this condition let him fall,
+injuring his spine and making him a cripple for life. Genevra never
+forgave herself for that sad accident, which would not have happened had
+she remained at her post, while to me Jamie has ever since been a sacred
+thing, his helplessness which he bears so meekly a constant reproach,
+reminding me of what I would had never been."
+
+"Then you are sorry you married Genevra?" Katy exclaimed, turning partly
+toward him, and giving the first token she as yet had given that she was
+listening to the story.
+
+Sometimes Wilford was sorry and sometimes he was not, for there was a
+world of pleasurable excitement connected with those months of secrecy,
+those private interviews, those stolen kisses, and little acts of
+endearment, which so intoxicated and bewildered him that the talking of
+them now brought something of the olden thrill he had experienced, when
+for a moment he held Genevra's hand in his or wound his arm around her
+waist, knowing he had a perfect right to do so. But it was better not to
+confess this to Katy, and so he evaded the question, and continued:
+
+"My brother's failing health, as well as Hatty's, prevented them from
+suspecting what was going on, and when at last we went to Italy they had
+no idea that Genevra was my wife. At Rome her beautiful face attracted
+much attention from tourists and residents, among whom were a few young
+men, who, looking upon her as Jamie's nurse, or at most a companion for
+his mother, made no attempt to disguise their admiration. For this I had
+no redress except in an open avowal of the relation in which I stood to
+her, and this I could not then do, for the longer it was deferred the
+harder I found it to acknowledge her my wife. I loved her devotedly, and
+that perhaps was one great cause of the jealousy which began to spring
+up and embitter my life.
+
+"I do not believe that Genevra was at heart a coquette. She was very
+fond of admiration, but when she saw how much I was disturbed she
+made an effort to avoid those who flattered her, but her manner was
+unfortunate, while her voice--the sweetest I ever heard--was calculated
+to invite rather than repel attention. As the empress of the world, she
+would have won and kept the homage of mankind, from the humblest beggar
+in the street to the king upon the throne, and had I been older I should
+have been proud of what then was my greatest annoyance. But I was
+young--a mere boy--and so I watched her jealously, until a new element
+of disquiet was presented to me in the shape of a ruffianly looking
+fellow, who was frequently seen about the premises, and with whom I once
+found Genevra in close converse, starting and blushing guiltily when I
+came upon her, while her companion went swiftly from my sight.
+
+"'It was an old English acquaintance, who was poor and asking charity,'
+she said, when questioned, but her manner led me to think there was
+something wrong, particularly as I saw her with him again, and thought
+she held his hand.
+
+"It was evident that my brother would never see America again, and at
+his request my mother came to us, in company with a family from Boston,
+reaching us two weeks before he died. From the first, she disliked
+Genevra, suspecting the liking between us, but never dreaming of the
+truth until a week after Jack's death, when in a fit of anger at Genevra
+for listening to an English artist, who had asked to paint her picture,
+the story of the marriage came out, and like a child dependent on its
+mother for advice, I asked, 'What shall I do?'
+
+"You know mother, Katy--that is, you know her pride--and can in part
+understand how she would scorn a girl who, though born to better things,
+was still found in the capacity of a waiting maid. I never saw her so
+moved as she was for a time, after learning that her only living son,
+from whom she expected so much, had thrown himself away, as she
+expressed it. Sister Hatty, who loved Genevra, did all she could to heal
+the growing difference between us, but I trusted mother most. I believed
+that what she said was right, and so matters grew worse, until one
+night, the last we spent in Rome, I missed Genevra from our rooms, and
+starting in quest of her, found her in a little flower garden back of
+our dwelling. There, under the deep shadow of a tree, and partly
+concealed from view, she stood with her arm around the neck of the same
+rough-looking man who had been there before. She did not see me as I
+stood and watched her while she parted with him, suffering him to kiss
+her hand and forehead as he said, 'Good-by, my darling.'
+
+"In a tremor of anger and excitement I quitted the spot, my mind wholly
+made up with regard to my future. That there was something wrong about
+Genevra I did not doubt, and I would not give her a chance to explain by
+telling her what I had seen, but sent her back to England, giving her
+ample means for defraying the expenses of her journey and for living in
+comfort after her arrival there. From Rome we went to Naples, and then
+to Switzerland, where Hatty died, leaving us alone with little Jamie. It
+was here at Berne that I received an anonymous letter from England, the
+writer stating that Genevra was with her aunt, that the whole had ended
+as he thought it would, that he could readily guess at the nature of the
+trouble, and hinting that if a divorce was desirable on my return to
+England, all necessary proof could be obtained by applying to such a
+number in London, the writer announcing himself a brother of the man who
+had once sought Genevra, and saying he had always opposed the match,
+knowing Genevra's family.
+
+"This was the first time the idea of a divorce had entered my mind.
+Instead of that the hope that Genevra might in some way be restored to
+me unspotted, had unconsciously been the daystar of my existence, and I
+shrank from a final separation. But mother felt differently. It was not
+a new thought to her, knowing as she did that the validity of a Scotch
+marriage, such as ours, was frequently contested in the English courts.
+Once free from Genevra the world this side the water would never know of
+that mistake, and she set herself steadily to accomplish her purpose. To
+tell you all that followed our return to England and the steps by which
+I was brought to sue for a divorce would make my story too long, and so
+I will only state that, chiefly by the testimony of the anonymous letter
+writer, whose acquaintance we made, a divorce was at last obtained,
+Genevra putting in no defense, but as I heard afterward, settling down
+to an apathy from which nothing had power to rouse her until the news of
+her freedom from me was carried to her, when, amid a paroxysm of tears
+and sobs she wrote me a few lines, assuring me of her innocence,
+refusing to send back her wedding ring, and saying God would not forgive
+me for the great wrong I had done her. I saw her once after that by
+appointment and her face haunted me for years. Indeed, I sometimes see
+it in my dreams as it confronted me then, with a look which I now know
+was a look of deeply injured innocence, for, Katy, Genevra was innocent,
+as I found after the time was past when reparation could be made."
+
+Wilford's voice trembled now, and for a moment there was silence in the
+room while he composed himself to go on with the story:
+
+"She would not live with me again if she could, she said, denouncing
+bitterly the Cameron pride and saying she was happier to be free. I
+remember I tried to excuse myself, remember saying that if there had
+been children or a child I should have paused before taking the decisive
+step, and there we parted, but not until she had told me that her
+traducer was the old discarded suitor who had sworn to have revenge, and
+who, since the divorce, had dared seek her again. A vague suspicion of
+this had crossed my mind once before, but the die was cast, and even if
+the man were false, what I saw myself in Rome still stood against her
+and so my conscience was quieted, while mother was more than glad to be
+rid of a daughter-in-law of whose family I knew nothing. Rumors I did
+hear of a cousin whose character was not the best, and of the father
+who for some crime had fled the country, dying in a foreign land, but as
+that was nothing to me now, I passed it by, feeling it was best to be
+relieved from one of so doubtful antecedents.
+
+"In the spring of 185- we came back to New York, where no one had ever
+heard of the affair, so quietly and well had it been managed. I was a
+young man still, no one except my mother sharing in the secret. With her
+I often talked of Genevra, wishing sometimes that I could hear from her,
+a wish which was finally gratified. One day I received a note requesting
+an interview at a downtown hotel, the writer signing himself as Thomas
+Lambert, and adding that I need have no fears as he came to perform an
+act of justice, not of retribution. Three hours later I was locked in a
+room with Genevra's father, the same man whom I had seen in Rome.
+Detected in forgery years before, he had fled from England and had
+hidden himself in Rome, where he accidentally met his daughter, and so
+that stain was removed. He had heard of the divorce by a letter which
+Genevra managed to send him, and braving all difficulties and dangers he
+had come back to England and found his child, hearing from her the story
+of her wrongs, and as well as he was able setting himself to discover
+the author of the calumny. He was not long in tracing it to Le Roy, whom
+he found in a dying condition, and who with his last breath confessed
+the falsehood which was imposed upon me, he said, partly from motives of
+revenge and partly with a hope that free from me Genevra would at the
+last turn to him. As proof that Mr. Lambert told me the truth, he
+brought the dying man's confession, written in a cramped, trembling
+hand, which I recognized at once. The confession ended with the solemn
+assertion: 'For aught I know or believe, Genevra Lambert is as pure and
+true as any woman living.'
+
+"I cannot describe the effect this had upon me. I did not love Genevra
+then. I had outlived that affection, but I felt remorse and pity for
+having wronged her so, and asked how I could make amends.
+
+"'You cannot,' the old man said, 'except in one way, and that she does
+not desire. I did not come here with any wish for you to take her for
+your wife again. It was an unequal match which never should have been;
+but if you believe her innocent, she will be satisfied. She wanted you
+to know it, I wanted you to know it, and so I crossed the sea to find
+you.'
+
+"I sent a letter by him assuring her she stood acquitted in my mind of
+all I had suspected her, and asked her pardon for the great wrong I had
+done her. The next I heard of her was in the columns of an English
+newspaper, which told me she was dead, while in another place a pencil
+mark was lightly turned around a paragraph, which said that 'a forger,
+Thomas Lambert, who escaped years ago and was supposed to be dead, had
+recently reappeared in England, where he was recognized, but not
+arrested, for the illness proved fatal.' He was attended, the paper said,
+by his daughter, 'a beautiful young girl whose modest mien and gentle
+manner had done much toward keeping the officers of justice from her
+dying father, no one being able to withstand her pleadings that her
+father might die in peace.'
+
+"I was grateful for this tribute, to Genevra, and I felt that it was
+deserved; turning again to the notice of her death, which must have
+occurred within a short time of her father's, and was probably induced
+by past troubles and recent anxiety for him.
+
+"'Genevra Lambert died at Alnwick, aged twenty-two.' There could be no
+mistake, and with a tear to the memory of the dead whom I had loved and
+injured, I burned the paper, feeling that now there was no clew to the
+secret I was as anxious to preserve as was my mother.
+
+"And so the years wore on till I met and married you, withholding from
+you that yours was not the first love which had stirred my heart, nor
+yours the first head which had slept upon my arm. I meant to tell you,
+Katy, but I could not for the great fear of losing you if you knew all.
+And then an error concealed so long is hard to be confessed. I took you
+across the sea to Brighton, where I first met Genevra, and then to
+Alnwick, seeking out the grave which made assurance doubly sure. It was
+that one in the far corner of St. Mary's where I went so often and where
+once you came, sitting upon the very mound whose headstone bore
+Genevra's name. I drew my breath quickly as if the dead were thus
+dishonored, but I knew you meant no harm, and as soon as possible I
+hurried you away. It was natural that I should make some inquiries
+concerning her last days, but lest it should all come out kept me back,
+so that I only questioned the old sexton who once was at work nearby.
+Calling his attention to the name, I said it was an uncommon one and
+asked if he knew the girl.
+
+"'Not by sight, no,' he said. 'She was only here a few days before she
+died. I've heard she was very winsome and that there was a scandal of
+some kind mixed up with her.'
+
+"I would not ask him any more; and without any wrong to you, my wife, I
+confess that my tears dropped upon the turf under which I knew Genevra
+lay."
+
+"I am glad they did; I should hate you if you had not cried," Katie
+exclaimed, her voice more natural than it had been since the great shock
+came, and her own tears falling fast to the memory of Genevra, whose
+grave she had sat upon with Wilford standing near.
+
+A buried wife was not so dreadful to contemplate as a wife divorced but
+living still, and Katy's heart did not beat with quite so heavy throbs
+of fear and shame as it had at first. But it was very sore with the
+feeling that to her almost as great a wrong had been done as to Genevra,
+for had he not deceived her from the very first, he and his mother, who
+had been the terror of Genevra's life as she was the bane of Katy's.
+
+"Do you forgive me, Katy? Do you love me as well as ever?" Wilford
+asked, stooping down to kiss her, but Katy drew her face away and did
+not answer then.
+
+She did not know herself just how she felt toward him. He did not seem
+just like the husband she had trusted in so blindly. It would take a
+long time to forget that another head than hers had lain upon his bosom,
+and it would take longer yet to blot out the memory of the complaining
+words uttered to his mother. She had never thought he could do that,
+never dreamed of such a thing, knowing that she would sooner have parted
+with her right hand than have complained of him. Her idol had fallen in
+more respects than one, and the heart it had bruised in the fall refused
+at once to gather the shattered pieces up and call them good as new. She
+was not obstinate, she was not sulky, as Wilford began to fancy. She
+was only stunned and could not rally at his bidding. He had confessed
+the whole, keeping nothing back, and he felt that Katy was unjust not to
+acknowledge his magnanimity and restore him to her favor. Again he asked
+forgiveness, again bent down to kiss her, but Katy answered: "Not yet,
+Wilford, not till I feel all right toward you. A wife's kiss should be
+sincere."
+
+"As you like," trembled on Wilford's lips, but he beat back the words
+and walked up and down the room, knowing now that his journey must be
+deferred till morning, and wondering if Katy would hold out till then.
+
+It was long past midnight, but to retire was impossible, and so for one
+whole hour he paced through the room, while Katy lay with her eyes
+closed and her lips moving occasionally in the words of prayer she tried
+to say, asking God to help her, and praying that she might in future lay
+her treasures up where they could not so suddenly be swept away. Wearily
+the hours passed, and the gray dawn was stealing into the room when
+Wilford again approached his wife and said, "You know I was to have left
+home last night on business. As I did not go then, it is necessary that
+I leave this morning. Are you able to stay alone for three days or more?
+Are you willing?"
+
+"Yes--oh, yes," Katy replied, feeling that to have him gone while she
+battled with the pain lying so heavy at her heart would be a great
+relief.
+
+Perhaps he suspected this feeling in part, for he bit his lip
+impatiently, and without another word called up the servant whose duty
+it was to prepare his early breakfast. Cold and cheerless seemed the
+dining-room, to which an hour later he repaired, and tasteless was the
+breakfast without Katy there to share it. She had been absent many times
+before, but never just as now, with this wide gulf between them, and as
+he broke his egg and tried to drink his coffee, Wilford felt like one
+from whom every support had been swept away, leaving him tottering and
+giddy. He did not like the look of Katy's face or the sound of her
+voice, and as he thought upon them, self began to whisper again that she
+had no right to stand out so long when he had confessed everything, and
+by the time his breakfast was finished Wilford Cameron was, in his own
+estimation, an abused an injured man, so that it was with an air of
+defiance rather than humility that he went again to Katy. She, too, had
+been thinking, and as the result of her thoughts she lifted up her head
+as he came in and said, "I can kiss you now, Wilford."
+
+It was human nature, we suppose--at least it was Wilford's nature--which
+for an instant tempted him to decline the kiss proffered so lovingly;
+but Katy's face was more than he could withstand, and when again he left
+that room the kiss of pardon was upon his lips and comparative quiet was
+in his heart.
+
+"The picture, Wilford--you have forgotten that," Katy called after him,
+as he was running down the stairs.
+
+Wilford would rather have been with her when she first looked upon
+Genevra, but there was not time for that, and hastily unlocking his
+private drawer he carried the case to Katy's room, laying it upon the
+bureau and saying to her: "I would not mind it now, until it is fully
+light. Try and sleep a while. You need the rest so much."
+
+Katy knew she had the whole day before her in which to investigate the
+face of one who once had filled her place, and so she nestled down among
+her pillows, and soon fell into a quiet sleep, from which Esther, who
+looked in upon her several times, at last awakened her, asking if she
+should bring her breakfast to her room.
+
+"Yes, do," Katy replied, adjusting her dress and trying to arrange the
+matted curls, which were finally confined in a net until Esther's more
+practiced hands were ready to attack them.
+
+And all this while the picture lay upon the bureau--the square,
+old-fashioned daguerreotype, which Katy shrank from opening.
+
+"I'll wait till after breakfast," she said; then as the thought came
+over her that if the face proved as beautiful as Wilford had described,
+she in her present forlorn condition would feel the contrast deeply, she
+said, "I'll wait till Esther has fixed my hair; then I will look at
+Genevra."
+
+Breakfasting did not occupy her long, and Esther soon was busy with her
+toilet, combing out and looping-back her curls, and bringing a plain
+dress of rich bombazine, with fresh bands of white crape, as had been
+worn the previous day. Katy's toilet was complete at last, and as Esther
+closed the door behind her, Katy, with a trembling hand, took from the
+drawer, where she had hid it from Esther's eyes, the picture of Genevra
+Lambert.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVI.
+
+THE EFFECT.
+
+
+With a shiver Katy held it a moment in her lap, noticing how old and
+worn it looked--noticing, too, the foreign mark upon it, and that one
+hinge was broken, wondering if all this wear had come from frequent use.
+Had Wilford looked often at that picture?--and if so, what were his
+feelings as he looked? Was he sorry that Genevra died? Did he sometimes
+wish her there, instead of Katy Lennox, of Barlow origin? Did he
+contrast their faces one with the other, giving the preference to
+Genevra, or was Katy's liked the best? All these questions Katy asked
+herself, while her fingers fluttered about the clasp, which she half
+dreaded to unfasten.
+
+Cautiously, very cautiously, at last the lid was opened, and a lock of
+soft brown hair fell out, clinging to Katy's hand as if it had been a
+living thing, and making her shudder with fear as she shook off the
+silken tress and remembered that the head it once adorned was lying in
+St. Mary's churchyard, where the English daisies grew.
+
+"She had pretty hair," she thought; "darker, richer than mine," and into
+Katy's heart there crept a feeling akin to jealousy, lest Genevra had
+been fairer than herself, as well as better loved. "I won't be foolish
+any longer," she said, and turning resolutely to the light she opened
+the lid again and saw Genevra Lambert, starting quickly, then looking
+again more closely--then, with a gasp, panting for breath, while like
+lightning flashes the past came rushing over her, as, with her eyes
+fixed upon that picture, she tried to whisper, "It is--it is!"
+
+She could not then say whom, for if she were right in her belief,
+Genevra was not dead. There were no daisies growing on her grave, for
+she still walked the earth a living woman, whom Katy knew so
+well--Marian Hazelton. That was the name Katy could not speak, as, with
+the blood curdling in her veins and freezing about her heart, she sat
+comparing the face she remembered so well with the one before her. In
+some points they were unlike, for thirteen years had slightly marred the
+youthful contour of the face she knew--had sharpened the features and
+thinned the abundant hair; but still there could be no mistake. The
+eyes, the brow, the smile, the nose, all were the same, and with a pang
+bitterer than she yet had felt, poor Katy fell upon her face and asked
+that she might die. In her utter ignorance of law, she fancied that if
+Genevra were alive, she had no right to Wilford's name--no right to be
+his wife--especially as the sin for which Genevra was divorced had by
+her never been committed, and burning tears of bitter shame ran down her
+cheeks as she whispered, "'What God hath joined together let no man put
+asunder.' Those are God's words, and how dare the world act otherwise?
+She is his wife, and I--oh! I don't know what I am!" and on the carpet
+where she was kneeling Katy writhed in agony as she tried to think what
+she must do. Not stay there--she could not do that now--not, at least,
+until she knew for sure that she was Wilford's wife, in spite of
+Genevra's living. Maybe she was; there was a Mrs. Grainier in the city
+divorced from her first husband and living with her second; but then the
+man was a profligate, a most abandoned wretch, who had not been proved
+innocent, as Genevra had, and that must make a difference. "Oh, if there
+was only some one to advise me--some one who knew and would tell me what
+was right," Katy moaned, feeling herself inadequate to meet the dark
+hour alone.
+
+But to whom should she go? To Father Cameron? No, nor to his mother.
+They might counsel wrong for the sake of secrecy. Would Mark Ray or Mrs.
+Banker know? Perhaps; but they were strangers--her trouble must not be
+told to them, and then with a great bound her heart turned at last to
+Morris. He knew everything. He would not sanction a wrong. He would tell
+her just what was right, and she could trust him fully in everything.
+There was no other person whom she could believe just as she could him.
+Uncle Ephraim was equally as good and conscientious, but he did not know
+as much as Morris--he did not understand everything. Morris was her
+refuge, and to him she would go that very day, leaving a note for
+Wilford in case she never came back, as possibly she might not. And
+then, like an imprisoned bird, which sees its cage door opened at last,
+but dreads the freedom offered, Katy drew her bleeding wings close to
+her side and shrank from the cold world which lay outside that home of
+luxury. But when she remembered that possibly she had no right to stay
+there, she grew strong again, and, seizing her pen, dashed off a wild,
+impassioned letter, which, if her husband did not find her there on his
+return, would tell him where she was and why she had gone. This she left
+in a drawer appropriated to Wilford's use, and where he could not fail
+to find it; but the picture she put in her own pocket, not caring to
+part with that. Had Marian been in the city she would have gone to her
+at once, but Marian was where long rows of cots are ranged against the
+hospital walls, each holding a maimed and suffering soldier, to whom she
+ministered so tenderly, the brightness of her smile and the beauty of
+her face deluding the delirious ones into the belief that the journey of
+life for them was ended and heaven reached at last, where an angel in
+woman's garb attended upon them. Marian was impossible, and Dr. Grant
+was the only alternative left.
+
+Summoning Esther, Katy told her, in as calm a voice as she could
+command, that, feeling very lonely, she was going out to spend the day,
+and probably the night. At all events the servants were not to expect
+her until she came.
+
+"Yes, ma'am--going to Mr. Cameron's, I suppose?" Esther said, and as
+Katy made no answer the impression in Esther's mind was that she would
+spend the day and night at the elder Cameron's, as she had done once
+before when Wilford was away.
+
+And this was the intelligence carried to the servants, who wondered that
+their mistress did not order the carriage, but started off on foot, her
+face looking ghastly white beneath the folds of her crape veil as she
+closed the door behind and looked back at the home she might be leaving
+forever. The carriage, she knew, would lead to detection, and as it was
+not far to the New Haven depot, she kept on her way until the train was
+reached, and she in a seat by herself was looking with eyes which could
+not weep over the city she was so fast leaving behind. Had she for one
+moment suspected Morris's love, all her womanly instincts would have
+kept her from seeking him then, but she had no such suspicion. Morris
+was her elder brother, and like a stricken sister she was going to him
+with her grief, sure of sympathy and sure of counsel for the right.
+
+The afternoon was cold and stormy, so that it was late in the evening
+when the long train reached West Silverton, where Katy was to stop.
+Owing to the storm but few were at the depot, and among them none who
+recognized Katy Cameron beneath the heavy veil she kept so closely over
+her face, even while asking for a conveyance out to Linwood. It was a
+comparative boy who volunteered his services, and as he had recently
+come to Silverton he knew nothing of Katy or of Dr. Grant, so that she
+was saved from all embarrassment upon that point; her driver never
+addressing her except to ask the way, which was not wholly familiar to
+him.
+
+"Turn here. Yes, that is right," she said, when they reached the road
+which led to Linwood, and a feeling like guilt crept over her as through
+the leafless trees and across the meadow land she spied the farmhouse
+light shining through the drifting snow as if beckoning her to come.
+"Not yet--not now. I must see Morris first," she answered mentally to
+that silent invitation, and drawing the buffalo skin around her with a
+shiver. She did not look again toward the farmhouse, but onward to where
+the lights of Linwood shone through the wintry darkness. "This is the
+place," she said, and in a moment she stood upon the broad stone steps,
+shaking the snow from her cloak, while the boy waited a moment, hoping
+to be invited to share the warmth he felt there was within that handsome
+building.
+
+Katy would rather he should not stop, but when she saw how cold he was
+she began to relent, and telling him where to shelter his horse, pointed
+to the basement bidding him go in there. Then, with a hesitating step
+on she began to wonder what Morris would say, she crossed the wide
+piazza and softly turning the door knob, stood in the hall at Linwood.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVII.
+
+THE INTERVIEW.
+
+
+Dr. Morris was very tired, for his labors that day had been unusually
+severe, and it was with a feeling of comfort and relief that he had
+turned his steps homeward just as the night was closing in, finding a
+bright fire waiting for him in the library, where his supper was soon
+brought by the housekeeper, Mrs. Hull, the other servants having gone to
+an adjoining town to attend the wedding party of a former associate. It
+was very pleasant in that cozy library of oak and green, with the bright
+fire on the hearth, the heavy curtains shutting out all traces of the
+storm, and the smoking supper set so temptingly before him. And Morris
+felt the comfort of his home, thanking the God who had given him all
+this, and chiding his wayward heart that it had ever dared to repine. He
+was not repining to-night; he had not repined for many a day, though he
+never sat down at home after his day's labor in slippers and
+dressing-gown, with a new book beside him on the table, that there was
+not a sense of something wanting, a glancing at the empty chair across
+the hearth, a thought perhaps of Katy, who could squeeze the whole of
+her slight form into that chair. But he was not thinking of her now, as
+with his hands crossed upon his head he sat looking into the fire and
+watching the bits of glowing anthracite dropping into the pan. He was
+thinking of the sickbed which he had visited last, and how a faith in
+Jesus can make the humblest room like the gate of heaven; thinking how
+the woman's eyes had sparkled when she told him of the other world,
+where she would never know pain, or hunger, or cold again, and how
+quickly their luster was dimmed when she spoke of her absent husband,
+the soldier to whom the news of her death with the child he had never
+seen would be a crushing blow.
+
+"They who have neither wife nor child are the happier perhaps," he said,
+and then the thought of Katy and her great sorrow when baby died,
+wondering if to spare herself that pain she would rather baby had never
+been. "No--oh, no," he answered to his own inquiry. "She would not lose
+the memory which comes from that little grave for all the world
+contains. It is better once to love and lose than not to love at all. In
+heaven we shall see and know why these things were permitted, and marvel
+at the poor human nature which rebelled against them."
+
+Just at this point of his soliloquy the door opened, so softly that he
+did not hear it turn upon its hinges, nor hear the light footstep on the
+carpet as Katy came in. But when she coughed he started up in wonder at
+the apparition standing so still before him.
+
+"Morris, oh, Morris," Katy cried, throwing back her veil and revealing a
+face which Morris could not believe was hers for the lines of suffering
+and distress stamped so legibly upon it.
+
+But it was Katy, as the voice implied, and, seizing her cold hands,
+Morris asked: "Katy, why are you here to-night, and why are you alone?
+Has anything happened? Tell me! your looks frighten me!"
+
+"I am so wretched--so full of pain. I have heard of something dreadful,"
+she replied--"something which took my life away. I could not stay there
+after that, and so I come to you. I am not Wilford's wife, for he had
+another, before me--a wife in Italy--who is not dead! And I--oh! Morris,
+what am I? Untie my bonnet, do! It is choking me to death! I am--yes--I
+am--going--to faint!"
+
+It was the first time Katy had put the great horror in words addressed
+to another, and the act of doing so made it more appalling, while the
+excitement and fatigue she had endured, together with the action of the
+heat upon her chilled system, took her strength away, and into the chair
+where Morris had so often seen her in fancy, she sank a crumpled heap of
+cloaks and furs and bonnet, which Morris tried to remove so as to reach
+the limp, fainting creature which had said: "I am not Wilford's wife,
+for he had another before me--a wife in Italy--who is not dead."
+
+Dr. Morris was thoroughly a man, and though much of his sinful nature
+had been subdued, there was enough left to make his heart rise and fall
+with great throbs of joy as he thought of Katy free, even though that
+freedom were bought at the expense of dire disgrace to others and of
+misery to her. But only for a moment did he feel thus, only till the
+bonnet was removed and the gaslight fell upon the pallid face with the
+dark rings beneath the eyes, and the faint, quivering motion around the
+lips, which told that she was not wholly unconscious.
+
+"My poor little wounded bird," he said, as pityingly as if he had been
+her father, while, much as a father might kiss his suffering child, he
+kissed the forehead and the eyelids where the tears began to gather.
+
+Katy was not insensible, and the name by which he called her, with the
+kisses that he gave, thawed the ice around her heart and brought a flood
+of tears which Morris wiped away, removing her heavy fur and lifting her
+gently up, while he took away the cloak and left her unencumbered. With
+a sigh she sank back into the chair, and, leaning her head upon its
+cushioned arm, moaned like a weary child.
+
+"It is so pleasant to be here, and it rests me so. I wish I might never
+go away. May I stay here, Morris, as your housekeeper, instead of Mrs.
+Hull?--that is, if I am not his wife. The world might despise me, but
+you would know I was not to blame. I should go nowhere but to the
+farmhouse, to church, and baby's grave. Poor baby! I am glad God gave
+her to me, even if I am not Wilford's wife; and I am glad now that she
+died."
+
+She was talking to herself rather than to Morris, who, smoothing back
+her hair and chafing her cold hands, said:
+
+"My poor child, you have passed through some agitating scene. Are you
+able now to tell me all about it, and what you mean by another wife?"
+
+He saw she was greatly exhausted, and he brought her a glass of wine,
+hoping she would rally. She had no supper, she said, except a cracker
+bought in Springfield, but the moment he turned to the bellrope she
+begged him not to ring. She was not hungry--she could not eat. She
+should never eat again.
+
+Wishing himself to know something definite ere going to Mrs. Hull,
+Morris yielded to her entreaties, and sitting down in front of her, said
+again: "Now tell me what brought you here without your husband's
+knowledge."
+
+There was a shiver, and the white lips grew still whiter as Katy began
+her story, going back to St. Mary's churchyard, and then coming to her
+first night in New York, when Juno had told her of a picture and asked
+her whose it was. Then she told of Wilford's admission of an earlier
+love, who, he said, was dead; of the trouble about the baby's name, and
+his aversion to Genevra; of his frequent abstracted moods, which she
+remembered now, never suspecting at the time their cause, and not
+knowing now for certain that Genevra was the subject of his thoughts.
+But it was safe to believe almost anything of one who had deceived her
+so cruelly, and Katy's blue eyes flashed resentfully as she uttered the
+first bitter words she had ever breathed against her husband. But when
+she approached the dinner at the elder Cameron's, her lip quivered in a
+grieved kind of way as she remembered what Wilford had said of her to
+his mother, but she would not tell this to Morris, it was not necessary
+to her story, and so she said: "They were talking of what I ought never
+to have heard, and it seemed as if the walls were closing me in so that
+I could not move to let them know I was there. I said to myself, 'I
+shall go mad after this,' and I thought of you all coming to see me in
+the madhouse, your kind face, Morris, coming up distinctly before me,
+just as it would look at me if I were really crazed. But all this was
+swept away like a hurricane when I heard the rest, the part about
+Genevra, Wilford's other wife."
+
+Katy was panting for breath and Morris brought the wine again, after
+which she went on with the story, which made Morris clinch his hands as
+he comprehended the deceit which had been practiced so long. Of course
+he did not look at it as Katy did, for he knew that according to all
+civil law she was as really Wilford's wife as if no other had existed,
+and he told her so, but Katy shook her head: "He can't have two wives
+living, and I tell you I knew the picture--Genevra is not dead. I have
+seen her; I have talked with her--Genevra is not dead."
+
+"Granted that she is not," Morris answered, "the divorce remains the
+same."
+
+"I do not believe in divorces. 'Whom God hath joined together let no man
+put asunder,'" Katy said with an air which implied that from this
+argument there could be no appeal.
+
+"That is the Scripture I know," Morris replied, "but you must remember
+that for one sin our Savior permitted a man to put away his wife, thus
+making it perfectly right."
+
+"But in Genevra's case the sin did not exist. She was as innocent as I
+am, and that must make a difference."
+
+She was very earnest in her attempts to prove that Genevra was still a
+lawful wife, so earnest that a dark suspicion entered Morris's mind,
+finding vent in the question, "Katy, don't you love your husband, that
+you try so hard to prove he is not yours?"
+
+There were red spots all over Katy's face and neck as she saw the
+meaning put upon her actions, and covering her face with her hands she
+sobbed violently as she replied: "I do, oh, yes, I do. I never loved any
+one else. I would have died for him once. Maybe I would die for him now;
+but, Morris, I fear he is disappointed in me. Our tastes are not alike,
+and we made a great mistake, or Wilford did when he took me for his
+wife. I was better suited to most anybody else, and I have been so
+wicked since, forgetting all the good I ever knew, forgetting prayer
+save as I went through the form from old habit's sake, forgetting God,
+who has overtaken me at last and punished me so sorely that every nerve
+smarts with the stinging blows."
+
+Oh, how lovingly, how earnestly Morris talked to Katy then, telling her
+of Him who smites but to heal, who chastens not in anger, but who would
+lead the lost one back into the quiet fold where there was perfect
+peace.
+
+And Katy, listening eagerly, with her great blue eyes fixed upon his
+face, felt that to be like him, to experience that of which he talked,
+was worth more than all the world beside. Gradually; too, there stole
+over her the rest she always felt with him--the indescribable feeling
+which prompted her to care for nothing except to do just what he bade
+her do, knowing it was right. So when he said at last, "You must go back
+to New York; this is no place for you," she offered no remonstrance; but
+when he continued, "And you must go to-night; that is, you must take the
+early morning train, so as to reach the city before any one has had a
+chance to read the letter," she demurred at once. "She must see mother;
+she must see Helen; she must tell Helen who Genevra was. She wanted her
+to know it, but no one else. She must visit baby's grave; she could not
+go back without it."
+
+"Not if it is right?" Morris asked, and Katy began to waver when he told
+her how much better it would be for her family not to know of this visit
+to him, as it would trouble them. She could tell Wilford, if she liked,
+but he must not be permitted to find the letter, as he would if he
+returned while she was gone. "I will go with you. It is not safe for you
+to go alone," he continued, feeling her rapid pulse and noticing the
+alternate flushing and paling of her cheek.
+
+A fever was coming on, he feared, and it must not be there with him, for
+more reasons than one. She must return to New York, or, failing to do
+that, he must take her across the fields to the farmhouse before the
+coming dawn.
+
+"Are you sick, Katy?" he asked, as she appeared to be growing stupid.
+
+"Not sick, no; only so tired, so sleepy," and the heavy lids closed over
+the dull eyes, while Katy's head still lay upon the cushioned arm of the
+large chair.
+
+Her position was not an easy one, and wheeling the lounge to the fire
+Morris brought a pillow from his sleeping room adjoining, and taking
+Katy in his arms laid her where she would at least be more comfortable
+than in the chair. Wrapping his shawl about her and turning down the gas
+so as to shield her eyes, he left her alone, while he went to Mrs. Hull,
+puzzling her brain to know who the lady was, brought there that stormy
+night, and talking so long and earnestly with the doctor. The driver boy
+was gone, and thinking it possible that their visitor might be wanting
+supper, the thoughtful woman had put the kettle on the stove, where it
+was sending forth volumes of steam just as Morris appeared. If he went
+to New York with Katy he must trust Mrs. Hull with his reasons for
+going, and as from past experience he believed she could be trusted, he
+frankly told her that Mrs. Wilford Cameron was in the library; that
+circumstances rendered it desirable for her to return to New York as
+soon as possible; that as she could not go alone he must of course go
+with her, and he expected Mrs. Hull not only to help him off, but also
+to keep the fact of Katy's having been there a secret from every one.
+
+"Some trouble with that high-headed husband of hers; I always mistrusted
+him," was Mrs. Hull's mental conclusion, as she nodded assent to what
+Morris had said, asking if he proposed taking the early morning train
+which passed at four o'clock, and who did he expect would drive his
+cutter back, as the boys would not be home before broad daylight.
+
+Here was a dilemma of which Morris had not thought, but Mrs. Hull's
+woman's wits came to his aid, suggesting that he "leave his horse at the
+tavern in West Silverton and she would send John after it as soon as he
+returned."
+
+This arranged, Mrs. Hull next asked if Katy would not have some supper
+before her long ride.
+
+"A cup of tea and a slice of toast was all she would require," Morris
+said, and he felt many doubts about her touching that.
+
+She was sleeping when he returned to her, but when the tea was ready,
+she roused up enough to say she did not want it.
+
+"Make her drink it if you ever expect to get her to New York," Mrs. Hull
+suggested, alarmed at the redness of Katy's face, and the brightness of
+her eyes.
+
+"You must drink it," Morris said. "It will make you stronger for the
+ride. We are going very soon, you know--going to New York," and he shook
+her shoulder gently as he tried to make her comprehend.
+
+When he said she must, Katy lifted up her head, doing whatever he bade
+her do, and seeming more natural for the exertion and the food she took.
+
+"Let me rest now for a little while," she said, and lying back upon her
+pillow she slept for an hour, while Morris knelt beside her, counting
+her rapid pulse, marking the progress of the fever and praying
+earnestly that she might be able to reach New York, and that no serious
+consequences would result from his taking her there that night.
+
+To others it might seem a crazy project, but Morris felt that it was
+right, and he nerved himself to his part of the toil, harnessing his own
+horse and leading him around to the door, where he left him while he
+went to get Katy ready. She was not sleeping now, for the powerful
+stimulant given just before leaving her had taken effect, and she seemed
+a great deal better, fastening her cloak herself and tying her own
+bonnet, while Morris put an extra shawl around her, and Mrs. Hull
+brought the hot soapstone prepared for her feet. Then, when all was
+ready, Morris carried her to the covered sleigh, wrapping robes and furs
+around her so that it seemed impossible she should take cold.
+
+The storm had now abated, and the moon shone brightly upon the cold,
+frosty snow, as they sped along, Morris' bells tinkling in the clear
+cutting air, and occasionally waking some light sleeper, who knew those
+musical bells, and said: "That is the doctor," wondering who was sick,
+and as they nestled down again in their warm bed, feeling glad that they
+were not obliged to be abroad in a wintry night like this. There was no
+one at the West Silverton depot except the man who always stayed there,
+and he was too nearly asleep to notice whether it was one or twenty
+ladies whom Morris accompanied into the sitting-room, going next to
+provide for his horse at the hotel nearby.
+
+This done he came back to Katy, staying by her until the early train
+came swiftly in, pausing only for a moment, and when next it moved
+forward, bearing him and Katy on the strange journey to New York.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXVIII.
+
+GETTING HOME.
+
+
+Springfield was left behind just as the gray daylight came stealing
+through the frost-bound windows, rousing the sleepy passengers, and
+making Morris pull his wide collar a little closer about his face as if
+to avoid observation. He was not afraid of daylight except as it might
+disclose some old acquaintance who would perhaps wonder to see him at
+that hour between Springfield and Hartford, and wonder more whose was
+the head resting so confidentially upon his shoulder, for after the
+change at Springfield, Katy, who could no longer keep awake, had leaned
+against his arm as readily as if he had been her brother.
+
+A secret of any kind makes its possessor suspicious, and Morris felt
+anxious whenever any one glanced that way, but he would not waken Katy,
+who slept upon his arm until New York was reached, when with a
+frightened, startled feeling, she sat up, and pushing her veil from her
+face, looked about her, nodding half unconsciously to Thomas Tubbs, whom
+she knew from having seen him in her husband's office, and who since
+leaving Hartford had been a passenger on board that train, sitting just
+behind Dr. Morris, and wondering when he saw who his companion was, "if
+Mrs. Wilford had been to Silverton." Mattie wondered, too, when he told
+her, as she poured his half-cold coffee, and then it passed from his
+mind, until the following morning when he heard Mark Ray saying to a
+client who had asked when Mr. Cameron would probably return:
+
+"If he does not come to-day, we shall telegraph for him, as his wife is
+very sick."
+
+Then Tom remembered how white and haggard Katy's face had looked, and
+many times that day his mind recurred to Katy Cameron, whom in his
+boyish way he had admired as something supernaturally beautiful, and
+who, in her own room at home, lay burning with fever, and talking of
+Silverton, of Linwood, of baby, of Genevra, and of Wilford.
+
+Morris had seen her safely to her own door, and then thinking she would
+do best alone for a time, he left her on the steps, after having rung
+the bell and seen that the ring was answered.
+
+It was Esther who met her, expressing much concern at her appearance,
+and asking why she did not stay at Father Cameron's instead of coming
+home this cold raw day.
+
+Hardly knowing what she did, Katy motioned Esther to her after reaching
+her room, and whispered:
+
+"I have not been to Father Cameron's. I had business somewhere else, but
+you must not tell. I am in trouble, Esther, or rather, I have been. I
+guess it's over now. You are a good girl, and I can trust you. There's
+a letter in that drawer, please bring it to me."
+
+Either complied, and Katy held in her hand the letter left for Wilford.
+It had not been opened. It must never be opened now, and holding it
+until a fire was kindled in the grate, she tossed it into the flames,
+watching it as it crispened and blackened upon the glowing coals.
+
+The quick-witted Esther saw that something was wrong, and traced it
+readily to Wilford, whose exacting nature she thoroughly understood. She
+had not been blind during the two years and a half she had been Katy's
+maid, and no impatient word of Wilford's, or frown upon his face, had
+escaped her when occurring in her presence, while Katy's uniform
+sweetness and entire submission to his will had been noted as well, so
+that in Esther's opinion Wilford was a domestic tyrant, and Katy was an
+angel. There was no danger then of Esther's repeating anything
+forbidden. She had, of course, her own private speculation on the
+subject, and when she learned that the tall, handsome man who came
+within an hour after Katy's arrival was Dr. Grant, about whom she had
+heard both her young mistress and Mrs. Cameron talk so much, her woman's
+wits came to her aid again, and to herself she said:
+
+"It's to Silverton Mrs. Cameron went, though how she could get there and
+back so soon is a mystery to me, or why she went at all."
+
+Then as she remembered all the circumstances which followed the dinner
+for which Katy had dressed with so much care, and the burning of the
+letter, a wild conjecture passed through her mind as to the nature of
+the trouble which had taken Katy to Silverton in her husband's absence,
+leaving a letter for him, and then burning it up when she came back,
+accompanied by Dr. Grant. For that he did come with her Esther was sure,
+as she saw him on the steps when she answered Katy's ring, and knew the
+man who now sat in the parlor waiting for her to take his name to Katy
+was the same.
+
+"There is something in the wind," she thought, as she carried Morris'
+name to Katy, who did not seem to hear, or if she did, she paid no heed,
+but talked of the blinding snow, and the grave in St. Mary's churchyard,
+which was no grave at all.
+
+Her manner, more than her looks, frightened the girl, who retreated down
+the stairs, meeting Morris in the hall, and saying as she grasped his
+arm:
+
+"You are a doctor, Dr. Grant. Come, then, to Mrs. Cameron. She is taken
+out of her head, and talks so queer and raving."
+
+Morris had expected this, but he was not prepared to find the fever so
+high, or the symptoms so alarming.
+
+"Shall I send for Mrs. Cameron and another doctor, please?" Esther
+asked.
+
+Morris had faith in himself, and he would rather no other hand should
+minister to Katy; but he knew he could not stay there long, for there
+were those at home who needed his services. Added to this, her family
+physician might know her constitution now better than he knew it, and so
+he answered that it would be well to send for both the doctor and Mrs.
+Cameron.
+
+It was growing dark now in the city, and the shadows were stealing into
+the room where Morris sat down to wait for other counsel and the arrival
+of Mrs. Cameron. To the servants in the kitchen Esther stated, with a
+very matter-of-course air, that her mistress had come home, feeling
+sick, and that as she seemed getting worse, she was to send to Madam
+Cameron, adding that it was a piece of great good luck that Dr. Grant,
+from Silverton, who was her cousin, happened to be in the city, and had
+called just when he was needed the most.
+
+"He was the doctor whom Jamie talked so much about," she said; "the
+doctor whom the family met in Paris," dwelling so long on Dr. Grant and
+discussing him so volubly that Phillips and the other servants lost
+sight entirely of what had struck them a little oddly, to wit: that Mrs.
+Wilford should leave Father Cameron's if she was so very sick.
+
+It was Esther who met Mrs. Cameron in the hall, conducting her into the
+parlor and adopting a different style of argument with her from that
+used in the basement. "Mrs. Wilford was not well when her husband went
+away; but of course he thought nothing of it, neither did
+she--Esther--until to-day, when she came in from the street, looking
+very badly, and going directly to her bed, where she had been growing
+worse ever since."
+
+"Yes," and Mrs. Cameron beat her foot thoughtfully. "I wish I had called
+yesterday. I did speak of it, fearing she would be lonely."
+
+"I dare say she was," Esther replied, never changing color in the least,
+although somewhat afraid she was being driven to the wall. "She seemed
+downcast all the morning, but went about noon. I thought maybe she would
+call on you."
+
+"I wish she had," Mrs. Cameron replied, and then Esther told her how
+providential it was that a Dr. Grant from Silverton happened to come to
+New York that very day. Of course he called upon his cousin, first
+sending up his card, and then going himself when told that Mrs. Cameron
+was out of her head and did not understand who was waiting to see her.
+
+Completely befogged with regard to a part of the play enacting before
+her eyes, Mrs. Cameron exclaimed: "Dr. Grant, of Silverton! I have the
+utmost confidence in his skill. Still, it may be well for Dr. Craig to
+see her. I think that is his ring."
+
+The city and country physicians agreed exactly with regard to Katy's
+illness, or rather the city physician bowed in acquiescence when Morris
+said to him that the fever raging so high had perhaps been induced by
+natural causes, but was greatly aggravated by some sudden shock to the
+nervous system. This was before Mrs. Cameron came up, but it was
+repeated in her presence by Dr. Craig, who thus left the impression that
+the idea had originated with himself rather than with Dr. Grant, as
+perhaps he thought it had. He was at first inclined to patronize the
+country doctor, but soon found that he had reckoned without his host.
+Morris knew more of Katy and quite as much of medicine as he did
+himself, and when Mrs. Cameron begged him to stay longer he answered
+that her son's wife was as safe in his brother physician's hands as she
+could be in his.
+
+"Indeed, she's safer," he added, "for Dr. Grant can watch her every
+moment, and I leave her in his care, calling again of course in the
+morning."
+
+Mrs. Cameron was very glad that Dr. Grant was there, she said. It was
+surely Providence who sent him to New York on that particular day, and
+Morris shivered as he wondered if it were wrong not to explain the whole
+to her.
+
+"Perhaps it is best she should not know of Katy's journey to Silverton,"
+he thought, and merely bowing to her remarks, he turned to Katy, who was
+growing very restless and moaning as if in pain.
+
+"It hurts," she said, turning her head from side to side; "I am lying on
+Genevra."
+
+With a sudden start Mrs. Cameron drew nearer, but when she remembered
+the little grave at Silverton, she said: "It's the baby she's talking
+about."
+
+Morris knew better, and as Katy still continued to move her head as if
+something were really hurting her, he passed his hand under her pillow
+and drew out the picture which she had held as long as her consciousness
+remained. He knew it was Genevra's picture, and was about to lay it away
+when the cover dropped from his hand and his eye fell upon a face which
+was not new to him, while an involuntary exclamation of surprise broke
+from his lips as Katy's assertion that Genevra was living was thus fully
+confirmed. Marian had not changed past recognition since her early
+girlhood, and Morris knew the likeness at once, pitying Katy more than
+he had pitied her yet, as he remembered how closely Marian Hazelton had
+been interwoven with her married life and the life of the little child
+which had borne her name.
+
+"What is that?" Mrs. Cameron asked, and Morris passed the case to her,
+saying: "A picture was under Katy's pillow."
+
+Morris did not look at Mrs. Cameron, but tried to busy himself with the
+medicines upon the stand, while she, too, recognized Genevra Lambert,
+wondering how it came in Katy's possession, and how much she knew of
+Wilford's secret.
+
+"She most have been rummaging," she thought, and then, as she
+remembered what Esther had said about her mistress appearing sick and
+unhappy when her husband left, she repaired to the parlor and summoning
+Esther to her presence, asked her again: "When she first observed traces
+of indisposition in Mrs. Cameron."
+
+Considerably flurried and anxious to prove true to Katy, Esther replied,
+at random: "When she came home from that dinner at your house. She was
+just as pale as death, and her teeth fairly chattered as I took off her
+things."
+
+"Dinner? What dinner?" Mrs. Cameron asked, and Esther replied: "Why, the
+night Mr. Wilford went away or was to go. She changed her mind about
+meeting him at your house and said she meant to surprise him. But she
+came home before Mr. Cameron, looking like a ghost and saying she was
+sick. It's my opinion something she ate at dinner hurt her."
+
+"Very likely; yes. You can go now," Mrs. Cameron said, and Esther
+departed, never dreaming how much light she had inadvertently thrown
+upon the mystery.
+
+"She must have been in the library and heard all we said," Mrs. Cameron
+thought, as she nervously twisted the fringe of her breakfast shawl. "I
+remember we talked of Genevra, and I remember, too, that we both heard a
+strange sound from some quarter, but thought it came from the kitchen.
+That was Katy. She was there all the time and let herself quietly out of
+the house. I wonder does Wilford know," and then there came over her an
+intense desire for Wilford to come home, a desire which was not lessened
+when she returned to Katy's room and heard her talking of Genevra and
+the grave at St. Mary's "where nobody was buried."
+
+In a tremor of distress, lest she should betray something which Morris
+must not know, Mrs. Cameron tried to hush her, talking as if it was the
+baby she meant, the Genevra who died at Silverton; but Katy answered
+promptly: "I'm not to be hoodwinked any longer. It's Genevra Lambert I
+mean, Wilford's other wife; the one across the sea, whom you and he
+browbeat. She was innocent, too--as innocent as I, whom you both
+deceived."
+
+Here was a phase of affairs for which Mrs. Cameron was not prepared,
+and excessively mortified that Morris should hear Katy's ravings, she
+tried again to quiet her, consoling herself with the reflection that as
+Morris was Katy's cousin, he would not repeat what he heard, and feeling
+gratified now that Dr. Craig was absent, as she could not be so sure of
+him. If Katy's delirium continued, no one must be admitted to the room
+except those who could be trusted, and as there had been already several
+rings, she said to Esther that as the fever was probably malignant and
+contagious, no one must be admitted to the house with the expectation of
+seeing the patient, while the servants were advised to stay in their own
+quarters, except as their services might be needed elsewhere. And so it
+was that by the morrow the news had spread of some infectious disease at
+No. ---- on Madison Square, which was shunned as carefully as if the
+smallpox itself had been raging there instead of the brain fever, which
+increased so fast that Morris suggested to Mrs. Cameron that she
+telegraph for Wilford.
+
+"They might find him, and they might not," Mark Ray said, when the
+message came down to the office. "They could try, at all events," and in
+a few moments the telegraphic wires were carrying the news of Katy's
+illness, both to the West, where Wilford had gone, and to the East,
+where Helen read with a blanched cheek that Katy perhaps was dying, and
+she was needed again.
+
+This was Mrs. Cameron's suggestion, wrung out by the knowing that some
+woman besides herself was needed in the sickroom, and by the feeling
+that Helen could be trusted with the story of the first marriage, which
+Katy talked of constantly, telling it so accurately that only a fool
+would fail of being convinced that there was much of truth in those
+delirious ravings.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XXXIX.
+
+THE FEVER AND ITS RESULTS.
+
+
+On every business paper Wilford wrote or signed, and in every object he
+met in his journey, one face had been prominent, and that the face of
+Katy as it looked in the gray dawn when it lifted itself up to kiss him,
+while the white lips tried to speak his pardon. Sometimes Wilford was
+very sorry and full of remorse, knowing how Katy was suffering for his
+sin; and then, when he remembered her long refusal to pardon him,
+notwithstanding that he sued for it so earnestly, his self-importance
+was touched, and he felt she had no right to be so obstinate. He did not
+deserve it. He was a very kind, indulgent husband, who had raised her
+from the humblest position to the very highest, and she ought not to
+feel so indignant because he had kept from her an act which, after all,
+did not affect her materially. If Genevra was living, and on this side
+of the water, he could understand how it might be unpleasant for Katy
+and for him, too, knowing, as they both did, that she was innocent of
+the charges alleged against her.
+
+"I should not myself like to run the risk of meeting a divorced wife at
+any time," he thought; "but Genevra is dead, and Katy ought to be more
+reasonable. I did not suppose there was so much spirit in her."
+
+But reason as he might, Wilford could not forget Katy's face, so full of
+reproach. It followed him continually, and was the magnet which turned
+his steps homeward before his business was quite done, and before the
+telegram found him. Thus it was with no knowledge of existing
+circumstances that he reached New York just at the close of the day
+after Katy's return, and ordering a carriage, was driven rapidly toward
+home. All the shutters in the front part of the house were closed and
+not a ray of light was to be seen in the parlors as he entered the hall,
+where the gas was burning dimly.
+
+"Katy is at home," he said, as he went into the library, where a shawl
+was thrown across a chair, as if some one had lately been there.
+
+It was his mother's shawl, and Wilford was wondering if she was there,
+when down the stairs came a man's rapid step, and the next moment Dr.
+Grant stepped into the room, starting when he saw Wilford, who felt
+intuitively that something was wrong.
+
+"Is Katy sick?" was his first question, which Morris answered in the
+affirmative, holding him back as he was starting for her room, and
+saying to him: "Let me send your mother to you first." What passed
+between Wilford and his mother was never known exactly, but at the close
+of the interview Mrs. Cameron was very pale, while Wilford's face looked
+dark and anxious, as he said: "You think he understands it, then?"
+
+"Yes, in part. Of course he cannot make a very connected story out of
+her ravings; but that he believes you had a wife before Katy, I am sure,
+just as I am that the world will be none the wiser for his knowledge. I
+knew Dr. Grant before you did, and there are few men living whom I
+respect as much, and no one whom I would trust as soon."
+
+Mrs. Cameron had paid a high compliment to Morris Grant, and Wilford
+bowed in assent, asking next how she managed Dr. Craig.
+
+"That was easy, inasmuch as he believed it an insane freak of Katy's to
+have no other physician than her cousin. It was quite natural, he said,
+adding that she was as safe with Dr. Grant as any one. So that is
+settled, and I was glad, for I could not have a stranger know of that
+affair. If I thought it would save her life to retain him, I should feel
+differently, of course."
+
+"Yes, certainly," Wilford rejoined, while at his heart there was the
+germ of a feeling which, if in the slightest degree encouraged, would
+almost have given Katy's life to save his darling self-love and honor in
+the eyes of the world.
+
+Few men are as thoroughly selfish as Wilford Cameron, and though he was
+very much concerned for Katy, he thought more of preserving a secret
+which, if known at this late day, would subject him to much censure and
+reproach, than he did of her. So when his mother told him next that
+Helen had been sent for, his morbid fears took alarm.
+
+"Why was it necessary to bring another here?" he asked, so indignantly
+that tears sprang to his mother's eyes as she pleaded her own weariness
+and inability to remain always in the sickroom, and charged him with
+ingratitude for all she had done in his behalf.
+
+Wilford could not afford to quarrel with his mother, and he quieted her
+as soon as possible, admitting that if she must have an assistant he
+would rather it were Helen than Bell or Juno, or even Esther, who, in
+spite of the alarm about malignant fever, would willingly have
+administered to her young mistress, had she been allowed to do so.
+
+"You will go up now," Mrs. Cameron said to her son, when peace was fully
+restored, and a moment after Wilford stood in the dimly-lighted room,
+where Katy was talking of going to the hospitals, and of Marian
+Hazelton, and was only kept upon her pillow by the strong arm of Morris,
+who stood over her when Wilford entered, telling her to "wait until
+to-morrow--it would be better then, and she had not seen her husband
+yet."
+
+"I have no husband," she replied, her lip curling with scorn, and her
+eyes just then falling upon Wilford, who stood appalled at the fearful
+change which had passed over her since he left her three days before.
+
+She knew him, and writhing herself away from Morris' arms, she raised up
+in bed and said to him:
+
+"I've been at the bottom of things, and Genevra is not in that grave at
+St. Mary's. Nobody is there; consequently, she is living, and you are
+not my husband. So if you please you can leave the house at once. Morris
+will do very well. He will settle the estate, and no bill shall be sent
+in for your board and lodging."
+
+In some moods Wilford would have smiled at being thus summarily
+dismissed from his own house and assured that no bill should be sent
+after him for board and lodging; but he was too sore now, too sensitive
+to smile, and his voice was rather severe as he laid his hand on Katy's,
+and said:
+
+"Don't be foolish, Katy. Don't you know me? I am Wilford, your husband."
+
+"That was, you mean," Katy rejoined, drawing her hand quickly away. "Go
+find your first love, where bullets fall like hail, and where there is
+pain, and blood, and carnage. Genevra is there."
+
+She would not let Wilford come near her, and grew so excited by his
+presence that he was forced either to leave the room or sit where she
+could not see him. He chose the latter, and from his seat by the door
+watched with a half-jealous, half-angry heart, Morris Grant doing for
+his wife what he should have done.
+
+With Morris Katy was gentle as a little child, talking still of
+Genevra, but talking quietly, and in a way which did not wear her out
+as fast as her excitement did.
+
+"What God hath joined together let not man put asunder," was the text
+from which she preached several short sermons as the night wore on, but
+just as the morning dawned she fell into the first quiet sleep she had
+had during the last twenty-four hours. And while she slept Wilford
+ventured near enough to see the sunken cheeks and hollow eyes which
+wrung a groan from him as he turned to Morris, asking what he supposed
+was the immediate cause of her sudden illness?
+
+"A terrible shock, the nature of which I understand, but you have
+nothing to fear from me," Morris replied. "I accuse you to no man, but
+leave you to settle it with your conscience whether you did right to
+deceive her so long."
+
+Morris spoke as one having authority, and Wilford simply bowed his head,
+feeling then no resentment toward one who had ventured to reprove him.
+Afterward he might remember it differently, but now he was too anxious
+to keep Morris there to quarrel with him, and so he made no reply, but
+sat watching Katy as she slept, wondering if she would die, and feeling
+how terrible life would be without her. Suddenly Genevra's warning words
+rang in his ear:
+
+"God will not forgive you for the wrong you have done me."
+
+Was Genevra right? Had God remembered all this time, and overtaken him
+at last? It might be, and with a groan Wilford hid his face in his
+hands, believing that he repented of his sin, and not knowing that his
+fancied repentance arose merely from the fact that he had been detected.
+Could the last few days be blotted out, and Katy stand just where she
+did, with no suspicion of him, he would have cast his remorse to the
+winds, and as it is not such repentance God accepts, Wilford had only
+begun to sip the cup of retribution presented to his lips.
+
+Worn out with watching and waiting, Mrs. Cameron, who would suffer
+neither Juno nor Bell to come near the house, waited uneasily for the
+arrival of the New Haven train, which she hoped would bring Helen to her
+aid. Under ordinary circumstances she would rather not have met her,
+for her presence would keep the letter so constantly in her mind, but
+now anybody who could be trusted was welcome, and when at last there
+came a cautious ring she went herself to the hall, starting back with
+undisguised vexation when she saw the timid-looking woman following
+close behind Helen, and whom the latter presented as "My mother, Mrs.
+Lennox."
+
+Convinced that Morris' sudden journey to New York had something to do
+with Katy's illness, and almost distracted with fears for her daughter's
+life, Mrs. Lennox could not remain at home and wait for the tardy mail
+or careless telegraph. She must go to her child, and casting off her
+dread of Wilford's displeasure, she had come with Helen, and was bowing
+meekly to Mrs. Cameron, who neither offered her hand nor gave any token
+of greeting except a distant bow and a simple "Good-morning, madam."
+
+But Mrs. Lennox was too timid, too bewildered, and too anxious to notice
+the lady's haughty manner as she led them to the library and then went
+for her son. Wilford was not glad to see his mother-in-law, but he tried
+to be polite, answering her questions civilly, and when she asked if it
+was true that he had sent for Morris, assuring her that it was not--"Dr.
+Grant happened here very providentially, and I hope to keep him until
+the crisis is past, although he has just told me he must go back
+to-morrow," Wilford said, mentally hoping Mrs. Lennox might think it
+best to go with him, or if she did not, wondering how long she did
+intend to stay. It hurt his pride that she, whom he considered greatly
+his inferior, should learn his secret; but it could not now be helped,
+and within an hour after her arrival she was looking curiously at him
+for an explanation of the strange things she heard from Katy's lips.
+
+"Was you a widower when you married my daughter?" she said to him, when
+at last Helen left the room, and she was alone with him.
+
+"Yes, madam," he replied, "some would call me so, though I was divorced
+from my wife. As this was a matter which did not in any way concern your
+daughter, I deemed it best not to tell her. Latterly she has found it
+out, and it is having a very extraordinary effect upon her."
+
+Mrs. Lennox was too much afraid of the man addressing her so haughtily
+to make him any reply, and so she only wept softly as she bent to kiss
+her child, still talking of Genevra and the empty grave at St. Mary's,
+where she once sat down.
+
+And this was all Mrs. Lennox knew until alone with Helen, who had heard
+from Morris all he knew of the sad story except the part relating to
+Marian Hazelton. His sudden journey to New York was thus accounted for,
+and Helen explained it to her mother as well as she could, advising her
+to say nothing of it either to Wilford or Mrs. Cameron, as it was quite
+as well for them not to know it yet. Many messages Helen brought to her
+cousin from his patients, and Morris felt it was his duty to go to them
+for a day or so at least.
+
+"You have other physicians here," he said to Wilford, who objected to
+his leaving. "Dr. Craig will do as well as I."
+
+Wilford admitted that he might; but it was with a sinking heart that he
+saw Morris depart, and then went to Katy, who began to grow very
+restless and uneasy, bidding him go away and send Dr. Morris back. It
+was in vain that they administered the medicine just as Morris had
+directed. Katy grew constantly worse, until Mrs. Lennox asked that
+another doctor be called. But to this Wilford did not listen. Fear of
+exposure and censure were stronger than his fear for Katy's life, which
+seemed balancing upon a thread as that long night and the next day went
+by. Three times Wilford telegraphed for Morris, and it was with
+unfeigned joy that he welcomed him back at last, and heard that he had
+so arranged his business now as to stay with Katy while the danger
+lasted.
+
+With a monotonous sameness the days now came and went, people still
+shunning the house as if the plague was there. Once Bell Cameron came
+around to call on Helen, holding her breath as she passed through the
+hall, and never asking to go near Katy's room. Two or three times, too,
+Mrs. Banker's carriage stood at the door, and Mrs. Banker herself came
+in, seeming surprised when she met Helen and appearing so cool and
+distant that the latter could scarcely keep back her tears as she
+guessed the cause. Mark never came, but from the window Helen saw him
+riding by with Juno, who kept her face turned toward him, as if in close
+and confidential chat.
+
+"They were engaged," Esther said, adding that "he was about joining the
+army as first lieutenant in a company composed of the finest young men
+in the city."
+
+Helen doubted if this were true, until one day, when driving with her
+mother, she met him arrayed in his new uniform, looking so handsome and
+proud. He, too, was driving with a brother officer, and as he passed he
+lifted his cap in token of recognition; but the olden look which Helen
+remembered so well, and which had been wont to make her pulses thrill
+with a most exquisite delight, was gone, and Helen felt more than ever
+the wide gulf some hand had built between them. The next she heard was
+from Mrs. Banker, whose face looked pale and worn as she incidentally
+remarked: "I shall be very lonely now that Mark is gone. He left me
+to-day for Washington."
+
+There were tears on the mother's face, and her lip quivered as she tried
+to keep them back, looking from the window into the street instead of at
+her companion, who, overcome with the rush of feeling which swept over
+her, laid her face on the sofa arm and sobbed aloud.
+
+"Why, Helen! Miss Lennox, I am surprised! I had supposed--I was not
+aware--I did not think you would care," Mrs. Banker exclaimed, coming
+closer to Helen, who stammered out: "I beg you will excuse me, I cannot
+help it. I care for all our soldiers. It seems so terrible."
+
+At the words "I care for all the soldiers," a shadow of disappointment
+flitted over Mrs. Banker's face. She knew her son had offered himself
+and been refused, as she supposed, and she believed, too, that Helen had
+given publicity to the affair, feeling justly indignant at this breach
+of confidence and lack of delicacy in one whom she had liked so much and
+whom she still liked in spite of the wounded pride which had prompted
+her to seem so cold and distant.
+
+"Perhaps it is all a mistake," she thought, as she continued standing by
+Helen, whose tears did not cease, "or it may be she has relented," and
+for a moment she felt tempted to ask why her boy had been refused.
+
+But Mark would not be pleased with her interference, she knew, and so
+the golden moment fled, and when she left the house the misunderstanding
+between herself and Helen was just as wide as ever. Wearily after that
+the days passed with Helen until all thoughts of herself were forgotten
+in the terrible fear that death was really brooding over the pillow
+where Katy lay, insensible to all that was passing around her. The lips
+were silent now, and Wilford had nothing to fear from the tongue
+hitherto so busy. Juno, Bell and Father Cameron all came to see her,
+dropping tears upon the face looking so old and worn with suffering, but
+yet so sweet and pure, and treading softly as they left the room and
+went out into the sunshine where Katy might never go again. In the
+kitchen there was mourning, too; Phillips weeping for her mistress,
+while Esther, with her apron over her head, sobbed passionately, wishing
+she, too, might die if Katy did. Mrs. Cameron also was very sorry, very
+sad, but managed to find some consolation in mentally arranging a grand
+funeral, which would do honor to her son, and wondering if "those
+Barlows in Silverton would think they must attend." And while she thus
+arranged, the mother who had given birth to Katy wrestled in earnest
+prayer that God would spare her child, or at least grant some space in
+which she might be told of the world to which she was hastening. What
+Wilford suffered none could guess. His face was very white and his
+expression almost stern as he sat watching the young wife who had been
+his for little more than two brief years, and who but for his sin might
+not have been lying there unconscious of the love and grief around her.
+Like some marble statue Morris seemed as with lip compressed and brows
+firmly knit together he, too, sat watching Katy, feeling for the pulse
+and bending his ear to catch the faintest breath which came from her
+parted lips, while in his heart there was an earnest prayer for the
+safety of the soul hovering so evenly between this world and the next.
+He did not ask that she might live, for if all were well hereafter he
+knew it was far better for her to die in her young womanhood than to
+live till the heart now so sad and bleeding had grown calloused with
+sorrow. And yet it was terrible to think of Katy dead; to know that
+never again would her little feet dance on the grass, or her bird-like
+voice break the silence of his home; terrible to think of that face and
+form laid away beneath the turf of Greenwood, where those who loved her
+best could seldom go to weep.
+
+And as they sat thus the night shadows stole into the room and the hours
+crept on till from a city tower a clock struck ten, and Morris,
+motioning Helen to his side, bade her go with her mother to rest. "We do
+not need you here," he said, "your presence can do no good. Should a
+change occur you shall be told at once."
+
+Thus importuned Helen and her mother withdrew and only Morris and
+Wilford remained to watch that heavy slumber so nearly resembling death.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XL.
+
+MORRIS' CONFESSION.
+
+
+Gradually the noise in the streets died away; the tread of feet, the
+rumbling wheels and the tinkle of the car bells ceased, and not a sound
+was heard, save as the distant fire bells pealed forth their warning
+voices, or some watchman went hurrying by. The great city was asleep,
+and to Morris the silence brooding over the countless throng was deeper,
+more solemn than the silence of the country where nature gives out her
+own mysterious notes and lullabies for her sleeping children. Slowly the
+minutes went by, and Morris became at last aware that Wilford's eyes,
+instead of resting on the pallid face which seemed to grow each moment
+more pallid and ghastly, were fixed on him with an expression which made
+him drop the pale hand he held between his own, pooring it occasionally
+as a mother might poor and pity the hand of her dying baby.
+
+Before his marriage a jealous thought of Morris Grant had found a
+lodgment in Wilford's breast; but remembering the past he had tried to
+drive it out, and fancied that he had succeeded, experiencing a sudden
+shock when he felt it lifting its green head, and poisoning his mind
+against the man doing for Katy only what a brother might do, or rather,
+against the motives which prompted this man's devotion. He forgot that
+it was his own entreaties which had kept Morris there, refusing to let
+him go even for a day to the other patients missing him so much, and
+complaining of his absence. Jealous men never reason clearly, and in
+this case Wilford did not reason at all, but jumped readily at his
+conclusion, calling to his aid as proof all that he had ever seen pass
+between Katy and her cousin. That Morris Grant loved Katy was, after a
+few moment's reflection, as fixed a fact in his mind as that she lay
+there between them, her eyelids quivering, and her lips moaning feebly
+as if about to speak. Years before, when Genevra was the wife, jealousy
+had made Wilford almost a madman, and it now held him again in its
+powerful grasp, whispering suggestions he would have spurned in a calm
+frame of mind. There was a clinching of his fist, a knitting of his
+brows, and a gathering blackness in his eyes as he listened while Katy,
+rousing partially from her lethargy, talked of the days when she was a
+little girl, and Morris had built the playhouse for her by the brook,
+where the thorn apples grew and the waters fell over the smooth, white
+rocks.
+
+"Take me back there," she said, "and let me lie on the grass again. It
+is so long since I was there, and I've suffered so much since then.
+Wilford meant to be kind, but he did not try to understand or know how I
+loved the country with its birds and flowers and springing grass by the
+well, where the shadows come and go. I used to wonder where they were
+going, and one day when I watched them I was waiting for Wilford, and
+wishing he would come. Would it have been better if he had never come?"
+
+Wilford's body shook with strong emotion as he bent forward to hear
+Katy's answer to her question.
+
+"Were there no Genevra," she said, "no verse 'what God hath joined
+together let no man put asunder,' I should not think so; but there is
+such a verse, and now I don't know what I think, only I must go. Come,
+Morris, we will go together, you and I."
+
+She turned partly toward Morris, who made her no reply. He could not,
+with those fiery eyes fixed upon him, and he sat erect in his chair,
+while Katy talked of Silverton, and the days gone by until her voice
+grew very faint, ceasing at last as she fell into a second sleep,
+heavier, more death-like, than the first. Something in her face alarmed
+Morris, and in spite of the eyes watching him he bent every energy to
+retain the feeble pulse, and the breath which grew shorter with each
+respiration.
+
+"Do you think her dying?" Wilford asked, and Morris replied: "Not yet;
+but the look about the mouth and nose is like the look which so often
+precedes death."
+
+And that was all they said until another hour went by, when Morris' hand
+was laid upon the forehead and moved up under the golden hair where
+there were drops of perspiration.
+
+"She is saved, thank God, Mr. Cameron, Katy is saved," was his joyful
+exclamation, and burying his head in his hands, he wept for a moment
+like a child, for Katy was restored again.
+
+On Wilford's face there was no trace of tears. On the contrary, he
+seemed hardening into stone, and in his heart fierce passions were
+contending for the mastery, and urging him on to an act from which, in
+his right mind, he would have shrunk. Rising slowly at last, he came
+around to Morris' side, and grasping his shoulder, said:
+
+"Morris Grant, you love Katy Cameron."
+
+Like the peal of a bell on the frosty air the words rang through the
+room, starting Morris from his bowed attitude, and for an instant
+curdling his blood in his veins, for he understood now the meaning of
+the look which had so puzzled him. In Morris' heart there was a moment's
+hesitancy to know just what to answer, an ejaculatory prayer for
+guidance, and then lifting up his head, his calm blue eyes met the eyes
+of black unflinchingly, as he replied:
+
+"I have loved her always."
+
+A blaze like sheet lightning shot from beneath Wilford's eyelashes, and
+a taunting sneer curled his lip, as he said:
+
+"You, a saint, confess to this?"
+
+It was quite natural, and in keeping with human nature for Wilford to
+thrust Morris' religion in his face, forgetting that never on this side
+the eternal world can man cease wholly to sin, that so long as flesh and
+blood remain, there will be temptation, error and wrong, even among
+God's children. Morris felt the sneer keenly; but the consciousness of
+peace with his Maker sustained him in the shock and, with the same tone
+he had at first assumed, he said:
+
+"Should my being what you call a saint prevent my confessing what I
+did?"
+
+"No, not the confession, but the fact," Wilford answered, savagely. "How
+do you reconcile your acknowledged love for Katy with the injunctions of
+the Bible whose doctrines you indorse?"
+
+"A man cannot always control his feelings, but he can strive to overcome
+them and put the temptation aside. One does not sin in being tempted,
+but in listening to the temptation."
+
+"Then according to your own reasoning you have sinned, for you not only
+have teen tempted, but have yielded to the temptation," Wilford
+retorted, with a sinister look of exultation in his black eyes.
+
+For a moment Morris was silent, while a struggle of some kind seemed
+going on in his mind, and then he said:
+
+"I never thought to lay open to you a secret which, after myself, is, I
+believe, known to only one living being."
+
+"And that one--is--you will not tell me that is Katy?" Wilford
+exclaimed, his voice hoarse with passion, and his eyes flashing with
+fire.
+
+"No, not Katy. She has no suspicion of the pain which, since I saw her
+made another's, has eaten into my heart, making me grow old so fast, and
+blighting my early manhood."
+
+Something in Morris' tone and manner inspired Wilford with awe, making
+him relax his grasp upon the arm, and sending him back to his chair
+while Morris continued:
+
+"Most men would shrink from talking to a husband of the love they bore
+his wife, and an hour ago I should have shrunk from it, too, but you
+have forced me to it, and now you must listen while I tell you of my
+love for Katy. It began longer ago than she can remember--began when she
+was my baby sister, and I hushed her in my arms to sleep, kneeling by
+her cradle and watching her with a feeling I have never been able to
+define. She was in all my thoughts, her face upon the printed page of
+every book I studied, and her voice in every strain of music I ever
+heard. Then, when she grew older, I used to watch the frolicsome child
+by the hour, building castles even then of the future, when she would be
+a woman and I a man, with a man's right to win her. I know that she
+shielded me from many a snare into which young men are apt to fall, for
+when the temptation was greatest, and I was at its verge, a thought of
+her was sufficient to lead me back to virtue. I carried her in my heart
+across the sea, and said when I go back I will ask her to be mine. I
+went back, but at my first meeting with Katy after her return from
+Canandaigua she told me of you, and I knew then that hope for me was
+gone, praying for strength to bear my loss and hide my love from her.
+God grant that you nor she may never experience what I experienced on
+that day which made her your wife, and I saw her go away. It seemed
+almost as if God had forgotten me as the night after the bridal I sat
+alone at home, and met that dark hour of sorrow. In the midst of it
+Helen came, discovering my secret, and sympathizing with me until the
+pain at my heart grew less, and I could pray that God would grant me a
+feeling for Katy which should not be sinful. And He did at last, so I
+could think of her without a wish that she was mine. Times there were
+when the old love would burst forth with fearful power, and then I
+wished that I might die. These were my moments of temptation which I
+struggled to overcome. Sometimes a song, a strain of music, or a ray of
+moonlight on the floor would bring the past to me so vividly that I
+would stagger beneath the burden, feeling that it was greater than I
+could bear. But God was very merciful and sent me work which took up all
+my time, leaving little leisure for regrets, and driving me away from my
+own pain to soothe the pain of others. When Katy came to us last summer
+there was an hour of trial, when faith in God grew weak, and I was
+tempted to question the justice of His dealing with me. But that, too,
+passed, and in my love for your child I forgot the mother in part,
+looking upon her as a sister rather than the Katy I had loved so well. I
+would have given my life to have saved that child for her, even though
+it was a bar between us, a something which separated her from me more
+than the words she spoke at the altar. Though dead, that baby is still
+a bar, and Katy is not the same to me she was before that little life
+came into being. It is not wrong to love her as I do now. I feel no pang
+of conscience save when something unexpected carries me back to the old
+ground where I have fought so many battles."
+
+Morris paused a moment, thinking of the time when Katy came to him with
+her story of Genevra, and wondering if it were best to repeat the
+incidents of that night. It was not, he finally concluded. It would be
+better for Katy to tell it herself, and so he added at last: "What I
+have borne has told upon me terribly. My people say I work too hard, but
+they look only on the surface--they have never seen that inner chamber
+of my heart, where only you have been fully admitted. Even Helen knows
+not half what's there, but I felt that it was due to you, and so have
+told you all, asking that no shadow of censure shall fall on Katy, who
+would be greatly shocked to know what you know now."
+
+Morris' manner was that of a man who spoke with perfect sincerity, and
+it carried conviction to Wilford's heart, disarming him for a time of
+the fierce anger and resentment he had felt while listening to Morris'
+story. Acting upon the good impulse of the moment, he arose, and
+offering his hand to Morris, he said:
+
+"You have done nobly, Dr. Grant, I believe in your religion now. Forgive
+me that I ever doubted it. I exonerate you from blame."
+
+And thus they pledged their faith, Wilford meaning then all he said, and
+feeling only respect for the man who had confessed his love for Katy.
+After what had passed, Morris felt that it would be pleasanter for
+Wilford if he were gone, and after a time he suggested returning to
+Silverton at once, inasmuch as the crisis was past and Katy out of
+danger. There was a struggle in Wilford's mind as to the answer he
+should make to this suggestion. It would not be pleasant to see Morris
+there now, for though he had said he forgave him, there was a feeling of
+disquiet at his heart, and he at last signified his willingness for him
+to leave when he thought best.
+
+It was broad day when Katy awoke, so weak as to be unable to turn her
+head upon the pillow, but in her eyes the light of reason was shining,
+and she glanced wonderingly, first at Helen, at her mother, and then at
+Wilford, as if trying to comprehend what had happened.
+
+"Have I been sick?" she asked in a whisper, and Wilford, bending over
+her, replied: "Yes, darling, very sick for nearly two whole weeks--ever
+since I left home that morning, you know."
+
+"Yes," and Katy shivered a little. "Yes, I know. But where is Morris? He
+was here the last I can remember."
+
+Wilford's face grew dark at once, and stepping back as Morris came in,
+he said: "She asks for you." Then with a rising feeling of resentment he
+watched them, while Morris spoke to Katy, telling her she was better,
+but must keep very quiet, and not allow herself in any way to be
+excited.
+
+"Have I been crazy? Have I talked much?" she asked, and when Morris
+replied in the affirmative there came a startled look into her eye, as
+she said: "Of what or whom have I talked most?"
+
+"Of Genevra," was the answer, and Katy continued: "Did I mention no one
+else?"
+
+Morris guessed of whom she was thinking, and answered, indifferently:
+"You spoke of Miss Hazelton in connection with baby, but that was all."
+
+Katy was satisfied, and closing her eyes fell away to sleep again, while
+Morris made his preparations for leaving. It hardly seemed right for him
+to go just then, but the only one who could have kept him maintained a
+frigid silence with regard to a longer stay, and so the first train
+which left New York for Springfield carried Dr. Grant, and Katy was
+without a physician.
+
+Wilford had hoped that Mrs. Lennox, too, would see the propriety of
+accompanying Morris; but she would not leave Katy, and Wilford was fain
+to submit to what he could not help. No explanation whatever had he
+given to Mrs. Lennox or Helen with regard to Genevra. He was too proud
+for that, but his mother had deemed it wise to smooth the matter over as
+much as possible, enjoining upon them both the necessity of secrecy.
+
+"When I tell you that neither my husband or daughters know it, you will
+understand that I am greatly in earnest in wishing it kept," she said.
+"It was a most unfortunate affair, and though the divorce is, of
+course, to be lamented, it is better that she died. We never could have
+received her as our equal."
+
+"Was anything the matter, except that she was poor?" Mrs. Lennox asked,
+with as much dignity as was in her nature to assume.
+
+"Well, no. She had a good education, I believe, and was very pretty; but
+it makes trouble always where there is a great inequality between a
+husband's family and that of his wife."
+
+Poor Mrs. Lennox understood this perfectly, but she was too much afraid
+of the great lady to venture a reply, and a tear rolled down her burning
+cheek as she wet the napkin for Katy's head, wishing that she had back
+again the daughter, whose family she knew the Camerons despised. The
+atmosphere of Madison Square did not suit Mrs. Lennox, especially when,
+as the days went by and Katy began to mend, troops of gay ladies called,
+mistaking her for the nurse, and all staring a little curiously when
+told that she was Mrs. Cameron's mother. Of course, Wilford chafed and
+fretted at what he could not help, seldom addressing his mother-in-law
+on any subject, and making himself so generally disagreeable that Helen
+at last suggested returning home, inasmuch as Katy was so much better.
+There was then a faint remonstrance on his part, but Helen did not waver
+in her decision, though she pitied Katy, who, when the day of her
+departure came and they were for a few moments alone, took her hand
+between her own and kissing it fondly, said: "You don't know how I dread
+your going or how wretched I shall be without you. Everything which once
+made me happy has been removed or changed. Baby is dead, and
+Wilford--oh, Helen, I sometimes wish I had not heard of Genevra, for I
+am afraid it can never be with us as it was once; that is, I have not
+quite the same trust in him, and he seems so changed. Have you noticed
+how silent and moody he has grown?"
+
+Helen had noticed it, but she would not say so, and she tried to comfort
+her sister, telling her she would be very happy yet; "but, Katy
+darling," she continued, "you have a duty to perform as well as Wilford.
+Your heart is very sore now because of the deception, but you must not
+let that soreness appear in your manner. You must be to Wilford just
+what you always were, unless you wish to wean him from you. He, too, has
+had a terrible shock; his pride and self-love have been wounded, and men
+like him do not like being humbled as he has been. You must soothe him,
+Katy, and smooth his ruffled feathers, proving to him that you can and
+do forgive the past. And, Katy, remember you have a Friend always near
+to whom you can carry your burdens, sure that He will listen and heal
+the smarting pain. Go to Him often and make Him yours indeed. He has
+come very near to you within the last year, and such visitations have a
+meaning in them. Listen, then, lest He should come again and visit you
+with greater sufferings."
+
+"Purified by Suffering." The words came floating back to Katy, just as
+Uncle Ephraim had spoken them in the pleasant meadowland, and just as
+they had sometimes haunted her since, but never having so deep a meaning
+as now, when Helen's words suggested them again. She was suffering, oh,
+so terribly, but was she purifying, too? She feared not, and after the
+sad parting with her mother and sister was over she turned her face to
+her pillow, trying so hard to pray that God would make her His own, and
+by the suffering He sent purify her for heaven.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLI.
+
+DOMESTIC TROUBLES.
+
+
+From the bathroom, which adjoined Katy's sickroom, Wilford had heard all
+that passed between the sisters, and his face grew dark as he thought of
+having his "ruffled feathers smoothed" even by the little thin white
+hand, which, the first time it had a chance laid itself upon his face
+with a caressing motion, from which he involuntarily drew back, thinking
+the affection thus timidly expressed was all put on with a view to being
+good, as he termed it.
+
+Wilford was in a most unhappy frame of mind. He was not pleased that
+Katy had heard of Genevra, and imparted his secret to others. He did not
+like being humbled as he had been, even Mrs. Lennox taking it upon
+herself to lecture him for his misdemeanors, sobbing as she lectured,
+and asking "how he could treat Katy so?" He did not like, either, to
+lose Helen's good opinion, as he was sure he had, while, worse than all
+the rest, was the galling fact that Morris Grant loved his wife, and was
+undoubtedly more worthy of her than himself. He had said that he forgave
+Morris, and at the time he said it he fancied he did, but as the days
+went by, and thought was all the busier from the moody silence he
+maintained, there gradually came to life a feeling of dislike, if not of
+hatred, for the man, whose name he could not hear without a frown,
+telling Katy very sharply once that he wished she would not talk so much
+of Cousin Morris, as if there were no other physician in the world! Dr.
+Craig would have done quite as well, and for his part he wished they had
+employed him.
+
+Wilford knew he did not mean what he said, but he was in a very
+unamiable frame of mind, and watched Katy close, to detect, if possible,
+some sign by which he should know that Morris' love was reciprocated.
+But Katy was innocence itself, and as the weeks of convalescence went by
+she tried so hard to do her duty as a wife, going often to the Friend of
+whom Helen had told her, and finding there the grace which helped her
+bear what otherwise she could not have borne and lived. The entire
+history of her life during that wretched winter was never told save as
+it was written on her face, which was a volume in itself of meek and
+patient suffering.
+
+Wilford had never mentioned Genevra to her since the day of his return,
+and Katy sometimes felt that it would be well to talk that matter over.
+It might lead to a more perfect understanding than existed between them
+now, and dissipate the cloud which hung so darkly on their domestic
+horizon. But Wilford repulsed all her advances upon that subject, and
+Genevra was a dead name in their household, save as it was on Katy's
+lips when she prayed, asking that she might feel only perfect kindness
+toward the Genevra who had so darkened her life.
+
+Wilford's home was not pleasant to him now, but the fault was with
+himself. Katy did well her part, meeting him always with a smile, and
+trying to win him from the dark mood she could not fathom. Times there
+were when for an entire day he would appear like his former self,
+caressing her with unwonted tenderness, calling her his "poor crushed
+dove," but never asking her forgiveness for all he had made her endure.
+He was too proud to do that now, and his tenderness always passed away
+when he remembered Morris Grant and Katy's remark to Helen: "I am afraid
+it can never be with us as it was once. I have not the same trust in
+him."
+
+"She had no right to complain of me to Helen," he thought, forgetting
+the time when he had been guilty of a similar offense in a more
+aggravated form.
+
+He could not reason upon anything naturally, and matters grew daily
+worse, while Katy's face grew whiter and her voice sadder in its tone.
+
+Sometimes Wilford would spend the entire evening away from home,
+tarrying till the clock struck twelve before he came, and Katy would
+afterward hear that he had been at the house of some friend, or with
+Sybil Grandon, whose influence over him increased in proportion as her
+own was lessened.
+
+When the Lenten days came on, oh, how Katy longed to be in Silverton, to
+kneel again in its quiet church, and offer up her penitential prayers
+with the loved ones at home. At last she ventured to ask Wilford if she
+might go, her spirits rising when he did not refuse her request at once,
+but asked:
+
+"Whom do you wish to see the most?"
+
+His black eyes seemed reading her through, and something in their
+expression brought to her face the blush which he construed according to
+his jealousy, and when she answered:
+
+"I wish to see them all," he retorted:
+
+"Say, rather, you wish to see that doctor, who has loved you so long,
+and who but for me would have asked you to be his wife!"
+
+"What doctor, Wilford? Whom do you mean?" and Wilford replied:
+
+"Dr. Grant, of course. Did you never suspect it?"
+
+"Never," and Katy's face grew very white, as she asked how Wilford knew
+what he had asserted.
+
+"I had it from his own lips; he sitting on one side of you and I upon
+the other. I so far forgot myself as to charge him with loving you, and
+he did not deny it, but confessed as pretty a piece of romance as I ever
+read, except that, according to his story, it was a one-sided affair,
+confined wholly to himself. You never dreamed of it, he said."
+
+"Never, no, never," Katy said, panting for her breath, and remembering
+suddenly many things which confirmed what she had heard.
+
+"Poor Morris, how my thoughtlessness must have wounded him," she
+murmured, and then all the pent up passion in Wilford's heart burst out
+in an impetuous storm.
+
+He did not charge his wife directly with returning Morris' love, but he
+said he was sorry she had not known it earlier; asking her pointedly if
+it were not so, and pressing her for an answer until the bewildered
+creature cried out:
+
+"Oh, I don't know. I never thought of it before."
+
+"But you can think of it now," Wilford continued, his cold, icy tone
+making Katy shiver, as more to herself than him she said:
+
+"A life at Linwood would be perfect rest, compared to this."
+
+Wilford had wrung from her all he cared to know, and believing himself
+the most injured man in existence, he left the house, and Katy heard his
+step as it went furiously down the walk. For a time she seemed stunned
+with what she had heard, and then there came stealing into her heart a
+glad feeling that Morris deemed her worthy of his love when she had so
+often feared the contrary. It was not a wicked emotion, nor one
+faithless to Wilford. She could pray with just as pure a heart as
+before, and she did pray, thanking God for the love of this good man,
+and asking that long ere this he might have learned to be content
+without her. Never once did the thought "It might have been," intrude
+itself upon her, nor did she picture to herself the life which she had
+missed. She seemed to rise above all that, and Wilford, had he read her
+heart, would have found no evil there.
+
+"Poor Morris," she kept repeating, while little throbs of pleasure went
+dancing through her veins, and the world was not one-half so dreary for
+knowing he had loved her. Toward Wilford, too, her heart went out in a
+fresh gush of tenderness, for she knew how one of his jealous nature
+must have suffered.
+
+"I'll drive down to the office for him this afternoon," she said. "That
+will surely please him; and to prove still further that I never dreamed
+of Morris' love, I'll tell him coming home how in the great sorrow about
+Genevra I went to him for counsel, and how he sent, or rather, brought
+me back."
+
+But this confession would necessitate her telling that Genevra was not
+dead, and it was better for them both, she thought, that he should not
+know this until the relations between herself and him were more as they
+used to be; so she decided finally to withhold the fact for a time at
+least. But she would go for him, as she had at first intended, and she
+counted the hours impatiently, thinking once her watch had stopped, and
+seeming brighter and happier than she had been since her illness, when
+at last she stepped into her carriage, and was driven down Broadway.
+
+Business had gone wrong with Wilford that day, and Tom Tubbs had
+mentally pronounced his master "crosser than a bear," and sighing
+secretly for the always cheerful Mark, he had taken up his book, and was
+quietly reading by the office window when Katy came in, her white face
+seeming whiter from contrast with her black dress, and her eyes looking
+unnaturally large and bright as she darted across the room to Wilford,
+who, surprised to see her there, and a good deal displeased withal,
+inasmuch as he had often said that the office was no place for his wife,
+never smiled or spoke, but with pent up brows waited for her to open the
+conversation. Katy saw she was not welcome, and with a tremulous voice
+she began:
+
+"The day is so fine I thought I would come in the carriage for you. It
+is early yet, and if you like, we can have a little drive. It might do
+you good. You look tired," she continued, and unmindful of Tom, trying
+to smooth his hair.
+
+With an impatient gesture, Wilford drew his hand away from the pale
+fingers which sought their fellows in a nervous clasp as Katy tried not
+to think Wilford cross, even after he replied:
+
+"You need not have come for me, as I always prefer a stage; besides
+that, I can't go home just yet, I am not ready."
+
+Katy stood a moment in silence, a flush on her cheek and a pallor about
+her lips, which Tom Tubbs saw, secretly shaking his fist and thinking
+how he would like to knock down the man who could speak so to a wife as
+beautiful and sweet as Katy seemed.
+
+"I have not been here before since my illness, and I wanted to come once
+more," she said at last, apologetically, while Wilford, still looking
+over papers, replied: "A sweet place to come to. I sometimes hate it
+myself. By the way, I have something to tell you," and his face began to
+brighten. "Mrs. Mills, from Yonkers, was in town to-day, and as she had
+not time to see you, she found me and insisted upon your keeping the
+promise you made last summer of spending some days with her. The
+Beverleys are there and the Lincolns--quite a nice party--so I ventured
+to say that you should go out to-morrow and I would come out Saturday
+afternoon to spend Sunday."
+
+"Oh, Wilford, I can't," and Katy's lip began to quiver at the very
+thought of meeting people like the Beverleys and Lincolns in her present
+state of mind.
+
+"You can't! Why not?" Wilford asked, and Katy replied: "I've never been
+in so much company as I shall meet there since baby died, and then--did
+you forget that it was Lent?"
+
+"You are getting very good to think a few days' visit in the country
+will harm you," Wilford replied; "besides that, neither Mrs. Mills, nor
+the Beverleys, nor Lincolns, are church people, and cannot, of course,
+sympathize in this superstitious fancy."
+
+Katy looked up in astonishment, for never before had she heard Wilford
+speak thus of the Fast which his whole family honored. But Wilford was
+growing hard, and with a sigh Katy turned away, knowing how useless it
+was to reason with him then. Driving home alone, she gave vent to a
+passionate flood of tears as she wondered how it all would end. For some
+reason Wilford had set his heart upon the visit to Mrs. Mills, a
+pleasant, fascinating woman, who liked Katy very much and had
+anticipated the promised visit with a great deal of pleasure, making all
+her plans with a direct reference to Mrs. Cameron, whose absence would
+have been a great disappointment. Wilford knew this and resolved that
+Katy should go, and as opposition to his will was always useless, the
+close of the next day found Katy at Mrs. Mills' handsome dwelling
+overlooking the broad river and the blue mountains beyond. Wilford was
+with her; he had come out to spend the night, returning to the city in
+the morning. Now that he had accomplished his purpose he was in the best
+of spirits, treating Katy with unwonted kindness and wondering why he
+hated so to leave her, while she, too, clung to him, wishing he could
+stay. Their parting was only for two days, for this was Thursday, and he
+was to return on Saturday, but in the hearts of both there was that dark
+foreboding which is so often a sure precursor of evil. Twice Wilford
+turned back to kiss his wife, feeling tempted once to tell her he was
+sorry for his jealousy and distrust, but such confession was hard for
+him and so he left it unsaid, looking back to the window against which
+Katy's face was pressed as she watched him going from her, but little
+guessing what would be ere she looked on him again.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Tom Tubbs sat reading Chitty as usual when Mr. Cameron came in from his
+trip up the river. Since Katy's last call at the office Tom had been
+haunted with her face as it looked when Wilford's cold greeting fell on
+her ear, and after a private conference with Mattie, who listened
+eagerly to every item of information with regard to Katy, he had come to
+the conclusion that his employer was a brute, and that his wife was not
+as happy as it was his duty to make her.
+
+"It's mean in him to speak so hateful to her," he was thinking just as
+Wilford came in, appearing so very amiable and good-humored that the boy
+ventured to inquire for Mrs. Cameron. "She looked so pale and sick, the
+other day," he said, "almost as bad in fact as she did that night in the
+cars with Dr. Grant, just before she was so dangerously ill."
+
+"What's that? What did you say?" Wilford asked quickly, and Tom,
+thinking he had not been understood, repeated his words, while in a
+voice which Tom scarcely knew, it was so low and husky, Wilford asked:
+"What night was Mrs. Cameron in the cars with Dr. Grant? When was it,
+and where?"
+
+As suspicion is an intense magnifier, so the absence of it will blind
+one completely, and Tom was thus blindfolded as he stated in detail how
+two months or more ago, while Mr. Cameron was absent, he had been sent
+by Mr. Ray to Hartford, returning in the early train, that just before
+him, in the car, a gentleman sat with a lady who seemed to be sick, at
+all events her head lay on his shoulder and he occasionally bent over
+her to see if she wanted anything.
+
+"I did not mind much about them," Tom said, "till it got to broad
+daylight, when I saw the man was Dr. Grant, and when we reached New York
+the lady threw back her veil and I saw it was Mrs. Cameron."
+
+"Are you sure?" and Wilford grasped Tom's arm with an energy which made
+the boy wince, while there came over him a suspicion that he had talked
+too much.
+
+But it could not now be helped, and to Wilford's question he answered:
+
+"Yes, for she bowed to me and smiled."
+
+"Where did they go?" was the next question, put in thunder tones, for
+Wilford was remembering things Katy said in her delirium, and which were
+now explained, if Tom's statement was true.
+
+"They went off in a carriage toward your house, and that night I heard
+she was sick," Tom said, going back to his book, while Wilford seized
+his hat and started up Broadway. It was not his intention when he left
+the office to question the servants with regard to his wife, for every
+feeling and principle of his nature shrank from such an act, but by the
+time his home could be reached it could scarcely be said that he was in
+his right mind, and meeting Phillips in the hall, he demanded of her "if
+she remembered the day when Mrs. Cameron was first taken ill."
+
+Yes. Phillips remembered how sick Esther said she looked when she came
+home from his father's, where she spent the night.
+
+"Oh, yes; she stayed at my father's then. It was very proper she
+should," Wilford replied, recollecting himself, and trying to appear
+natural, so that Phillips would not suspect him of any special purpose
+in questioning her.
+
+If Katy spent the night at his father's then Tom's statement was not
+true, and dismissing Phillips he hastened to his mother, to whom he put
+the question:
+
+"Did Katy stay here a night while I was gone, the night but one after
+that dinner when she heard of Genevra, I mean?"
+
+"Why, no," Mrs. Cameron replied, in some surprise. "Katy has not stayed
+here since last October, just after she came from Silverton, and you
+were in Detroit. Why do you ask? What is the matter? What do you fear?"
+
+Wilford would not tell his mother what he feared, but waived her
+question by bidding her repeat what she could remember of the day when
+she was first summoned to Katy, and to tell him also who was there.
+
+"Dr. Grant was there, and Dr. Craig," she said. "The former, as I
+understood from Esther, had just come to the city and called on Katy,
+finding her so ill that he sent for me immediately."
+
+"And you do not know that Katy was away from home at all?" was Wilford's
+next inquiry, to which his mother replied:
+
+"Esther spoke of her looking very sick when she came in, from which I
+inferred she had been driving or shopping, but she was not here, sure."
+
+Esther, it would seem, was the only one who could throw light upon the
+mystery, and as by this time the jealous man did not care whom he
+questioned, he left his mother without a word of explanation, and
+hurried home, where he found Esther, and in a voice which made her
+tremble, bade her answer his questions truthfully, without the slightest
+attempt at evasion.
+
+"Yes, sir," Esther replied, and Wilford continued:
+
+"Where was your mistress the night before Dr. Grant came here, and she
+was so very sick?"
+
+"I don't know, sir. I had the impression that she at your mother's.
+Wasn't she there?" and Esther looked very innocent, while Wilford
+replied:
+
+"It is your business to answer questions, not to ask them. Tell me then
+the particulars of her going away, and what she said."
+
+As nearly as she could remember Esther repeated what had passed between
+herself and Katy that morning, but her manner was such as to convince
+Wilford she was keeping back something, and in a paroxysm of excitement
+he seized her arm, exclaiming:
+
+"You know more than you admit. Tell me then the truth. Who came home
+with Mrs. Cameron, and when?"
+
+Esther was afraid of Wilford, and at last between tears and sobs
+confessed that Mrs. Wilford said she had been out of town, but asked her
+not to tell, that she guessed it was Silverton where she had been, and
+also that when she opened the door to her, Dr. Morris was going down the
+steps; "not in a hurry--not like making off as if there was something
+wrong," she added, in her eagerness to exonerate her mistress.
+
+"Who hinted there was anything wrong?" Wilford exclaimed, in tones which
+made poor Esther tremble, for now that he had heard all he cared to
+hear, he began to be ashamed of having gained his information in the way
+he had.
+
+"Nobody hinted," Esther sobbed, with her face hidden in her apron; "and
+if they did it's false. There never was a truer, sweeter lady."
+
+"See that you stick to that whatever may occur, and, mind you, let there
+be no repeating this conversation in the kitchen or elsewhere," Wilford
+hurled at her savagely, going next to a telegraph office, and sending
+over the wires the following:
+
+"NEW YORK, March --, 1862.
+
+"To MR. EPHRAIM BARLOW, Silverton, Mass.
+
+"Has Mrs. Wilford Cameron been in Silverton since last September?
+W. CAMERON."
+
+To this he was prompted by Esther's having suggested Silverton, as the
+place where her mistress had possibly been, and taking warning by his
+past experience with Genevra, he resolved to give Katy the benefit of
+every doubt, to investigate closely, before taking the decisive step,
+which even while Tom Tubbs was talking to him had flashed into his mind.
+Perhaps Katy had been to Silverton in her excited state, and if so the
+case was not so bad, though he blamed her much for concealing it from
+him. At first he thought of telegraphing to Morris, but pride kept him
+from that, and Uncle Ephraim was made the recipient of the telegram,
+which startled him greatly, being the first of the kind sent directly to
+him.
+
+As it chanced the deacon was in town that day, and at the store just
+across the street from the telegraph office. This the agent knew by old
+Whitey, who was standing meekly at the hitching-post, covered with his
+blanket, a faded woolen bedspread, which years before Aunt Betsy had
+spun and woven herself.
+
+"A letter for me!" Uncle Ephraim said, when the message was put into his
+hands. "Who writ it?" and he turned it to the light trying to recognize
+the handwriting.
+
+"I think it wants an answer," the boy said, as Uncle Ephraim thrust it
+into his pocket, and taking up his molasses jug and codfish started for
+the door.
+
+"May be it does. I'll look again," and depositing his fish and jug
+safely under the wagon box, the old man adjusted his spectacles, and
+with the aid of the boy deciphered the dispatch.
+
+"What does it mean?" he asked, but the boy volunteered no ideas, and the
+simple-hearted deacon asked next: "What shall I tell him?"
+
+"Why, tell him whether she has been here or not since last September.
+Write on the envelope what you want sent, so I can take it back; and
+come, hurry up your cakes, I can't wait all day," and young America,
+having thus asserted its superiority over old, began to kick the melting
+snow, while Uncle Ephraim, greatly bewildered and perplexed, bent
+himself to the tremendous task of writing the four words:
+
+"Not to my knowledge." To this he appended: "Yours, with regret, Ephraim
+Barlow," and handing it to the waiting boy, unhitched old Whitey, and
+stepping into his wagon, drove home as rapidly as the half-frozen March
+mud would allow.
+
+"I wonder what he sent me that word for?" he kept repeating to himself.
+"We had a letter from Katy yesterday, and there can't be nothing wrong.
+I won't tell the folks yet a while anyway till I see what comes of it,
+Lucy is so fidgety."
+
+It was this resolution, whether wise or unwise, which kept from Morris
+and the deacon's family a knowledge of the telegram, the answer to which
+was read by Wilford within half an hour after the deacon's arrival home.
+
+"She has not been to Silverton," Wilford said. "The case then is very
+clear."
+
+Indeed, it had been growing clear to the suspicious man ever since Tom
+Tubbs' unfortunate remark. There are no glasses as perfect as those
+which jealousy wears, no magnifying lens as powerful, and Wilford was
+"fully convinced." Had he been asked of what he was convinced he could
+hardly have told unless it were that in some way he had been deceived,
+that Morris had spoken falsely when he said his love for Katy was not
+returned or even suspected, that Katy had acted the hypocrite, and that
+both had been guilty of a great indiscretion, at least, by being seen as
+they were in the New Haven train, and then keeping the occurrences of
+that night a secret from him. Wilford did not believe Katy had fallen,
+but she had surely stepped upon forbidden ground, and it was not in his
+nature to forgive the error--at least, not then, when he was so sore
+with past remembrances which had come so fast upon him. First, the
+baby's death, just when he was learning to love it so much, then the
+Genevra affair about which Katy had acted so foolishly, then the talk
+with Dr. Grant, and then his last offense, so much worse than all the
+rest.
+
+It was a sad catalogue of grievances, and Wilford made it sadder by
+brooding over and magnifying it until he reached a point from which he
+would not swerve.
+
+"I shall do it," he said, and his lips were pressed firmly together, as
+before his lonely fire he sat that chill March night, revolving the past
+and then turning to the future opening so darkly before him, and making
+him shudder as he thought of what it might bring. "I will spare Katy as
+much as possible," he said, "for hers is a different nature from
+Genevra's. She cannot bear as well," and a bitter groan broke the
+silence of the room as Katy came up before him just as she had looked
+that very morning standing by the window, with tears in her eyes, and a
+wistful, sorry look on her white face.
+
+Could she be false to him and wear that look? The question staggered
+Wilford for a moment, but when he remembered the proof, he steeled his
+heart against her and prepared to act.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLII.
+
+DISAPPEARED.
+
+
+All the next day Wilford was very busy arranging his affairs, and a
+casual looker-on would have seen nothing unusual in the face always so
+grave and cold. But to Tom Tubbs, casting furtive glances over his book
+and wondering at his employer's sudden activity, it was terrible in its
+dark, hard, unrelenting expression, while even his mother, upon whom he
+called that evening, looked at him anxiously, asking what was the
+matter, but not mentioning the conversation held with her the previous
+day respecting Katy.
+
+She was still at Yonkers, Wilford said, and his voice was very natural
+as he added: "I am expected to go out there to-morrow night with
+Beverley and Lincoln, whose wives are also at Mrs. Mills'; quite a gay
+party we shall make," and he tried to smile, but it was a sickly effort
+and made his face look still more ghastly and strange.
+
+"What ails you, Wilford?" his mother asked, but he answered pettishly:
+"Nothing, so pray don't look at me so curiously as if I was hiding some
+terrible secret."
+
+He was hiding a secret, and it almost betrayed itself, when at last he
+said good-by to his mother, who followed him to the door and stood
+looking after him in the darkness until the sound of his footsteps died
+away upon the pavement. There was a fire in his room and Wilford sat
+down to write the brief note he would leave, for when the night shut
+down again he would not be there. He could not feel that the parting
+from Katy would be final, because he did not believe she had sinned as
+he counted sin, but she certainly preferred another to himself; she had
+deceived him and played the successful hypocrite. This was Wilford's
+accusation against his wife; this for what she must be punished, until
+such time as his royal clemency saw fit to forgive and take her back as
+he meant to. He had no fear of her going to Morris, or to the farmhouse
+either, for much as she was attached to her family, he believed she
+would shrink from a return to poverty, choosing rather the luxuries of
+her city home. And he would put no impediment in the way of her staying
+there as long as she liked; he would arrange that for her, feeling
+himself very magnanimous as he thought of giving her permission to
+invite her mother to New York as a kind of protection against scandalous
+remarks. Mrs. Lennox and Helen too should come. That certainly was
+generous, and lest his goodness should abate he seized his pen and
+wrote:
+
+"DEAR KATY: Your own conscience will tell you whether you are worthy of
+being addressed as 'Dear,' but I have called you thus so often that I
+cannot bring myself to any other form. Do my words startle you, and will
+you be sorry when you read this and find that I am gone, that you are
+free from the husband you do not love, the husband whom perhaps you
+never loved, though I thought you did? I trusted you once, and now I do
+not blame you as much as I ought, for you are young. You are easily
+influenced. You are very susceptible to flattery, as was proven by your
+career at Saratoga and Newport. I had no suspicion of you then, but now
+that I know you better, I see that it was not all childish simplicity
+which made you smile so graciously upon those who sought your favor. You
+are a coquette, Katy, and the greater one because of that semblance of
+artlessness which is the perfection of art. This, however, I might
+forgive, were it not for one flagrant act, which, if it is not a proof
+of faithlessness, certainly borders upon it. You know to what I refer,
+or if you do not, ask your smooth-tongued saint, your companion in the
+New Haven train; he will enlighten you; he will not wonder at my going,
+and perhaps he will offer you comfort, both religious and otherwise; but
+if you ever wish me to return, avoid him as you would shun a deadly
+poison. Until I countermand the order I wish you to remain here in this
+house, which I bought for you. Helen and your mother both may live with
+you, while father will have a general oversight of your affairs; I shall
+send him a line to that effect. And now, good-by. I am very calm as I
+write this, because I know you have deceived me. Not as I did you with
+regard to Genevra, but in a deeper sense, which touches a tenderer point
+and makes me willing to brave the talk my sudden departure will create.
+No one knows I am going, no one will know until you have waited and
+looked in vain for me with the gay young men who to-morrow night-will
+join their wives as I hoped yesterday morning to join mine. But that is
+over now. I cannot come to you. I am going away, where--it matters not
+to you. So farewell.
+
+"Your deceived and disappointed husband."
+
+Had Wilford read this letter over, he might not have left it, but he did
+not read it, and in recalling its contents he gave himself great credit
+for his forbearance when speaking of Morris, whom he hated so cordially.
+Sealing the letter, and laying it in Katy's drawer just above where she
+had left his, he tried to sleep; but the morning found him haggard and
+tired, and Esther, as she poured his coffee, asked if he was sick.
+
+"No," he answered, and then as he pushed back his chair, he said: "I
+shall not be home again to-day, as Mrs. Cameron expects me to spend
+Sunday at Yonkers."
+
+And so all that day and the next, the doors were locked, the shutters
+closed, the curtains dropped, while an ominous silence reigned
+throughout the house; but when Monday came, and was halfway gone there
+were inquiries made for Mr. Cameron by young Beverley and Lincoln, whose
+faces looked anxious and disturbed at Esther's answer:
+
+"He went to Yonkers, Saturday. I have not seen him since."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Out at Yonkers on Saturday night, three young wives had waited for their
+husbands, and none more eagerly than Katy, who, fair as a lily, in her
+dark dress, with her soft hair curling about her face, sat by the window
+watching for the carriage from the station, hers the first ear to catch
+the sound of wheels, and here the first form upon the piazza.
+
+"Where's Wilford?" she asked, as only two alighted, and neither of them
+her husband.
+
+But no one could answer that question. The gentlemen had looked for him
+at Chambers Street, expecting him every moment to join them. Perhaps he
+was detained, he might come yet at twelve, they said, trying to comfort
+Katy, who, with a sad foreboding, went back into the parlor, and tried
+to join in the laugh and jest which seemed almost like mockery.
+Something had happened to Wilford she was sure when the night train did
+not bring him; and all the next day, while the Sunday bells pealed their
+music in her ears, and the sounds of thoughtless mirth came up from the
+room below, where the elaborate dinner was in progress, she lay upon her
+pillow, her head almost bursting with pain, and her heart aching so
+sadly as she tried to pray that no harm had befallen her husband. She
+never dreamed of his desertion, even when about noon of the next day a
+telegram came from Father Cameron, bidding her hasten to the city.
+Wilford was sick or dead, probably the latter, was the feeling uppermost
+in her mind, as she was borne rapidly to New York, where Mr. Cameron met
+her, his face confirming her fears, but not preparing her for the great
+shock awaiting her.
+
+"Wilford is not dead," he said, when at last she was in the carriage.
+"It is worse than that, I fear. We have traced him to the Philadelphia
+train, which he took on Saturday. His manner all that day and the
+previous one was very strange, while from some words he dropped my wife
+is led to suppose there was trouble between you two. Was there?" and
+Father Cameron's gray eyes rested earnestly on the white, frightened
+face which looked up so quickly as Katy gasped:
+
+"No, oh, no; he never was kinder to me than when we parted last Friday
+morning at Mrs. Mills'. There is some mistake. He would not leave me,
+though he has not been quite the same since--"
+
+Katy was interrupted by the carriage stopping before her home; but when
+they had been admitted to the parlor where a fire was lighted, Father
+Cameron said:
+
+"Go on now. Wilford has not been the same since when?"
+
+Thus importuned Katy continued:
+
+"Since baby died. I think he blamed me as the cause of its death."
+
+"Don't babies die every day?" Father Cameron growled, kicking at the
+hearth rug, while Katy, without considering that he had never heard of
+Genevra, continued:
+
+"And then it was worse after I found out about Genevra, his first wife."
+
+"Genevra! Genevra, Wilford's first wife! Thunder and lightning! what are
+you talking about?" and Father Cameron bent down to look in Katy's face,
+thinking she was going mad.
+
+But Katy was not mad, and knowing it was now too late to retract, she
+told the story of Genevra Lambert to the old man, who, utterly
+confounded, stalked up and down the room, kicking away chairs and
+footstools, and whatever came in his way, and swearing promiscuously at
+his wife and Wilford, whom he pronounced a precious pair of fools, with
+a dreadful adjective appended to the fools, and an emphasis in his voice
+which showed he meant what he said.
+
+"It's all accounted for now," he said, "the piles of money that boy had
+abroad, his privacy with his mother, and all the other tomfoolery I
+could not understand. Katy," and pausing in his walk, Mr. Cameron came
+close to his daughter-in-law, who was lying with her face upon the sofa.
+"Katy, be glad your baby died. Had it lived it might have proved a curse
+just as mine have done--not all, for Bell, though fiery as a pepper-pod,
+has some heart, some sense--and there was Jack, my oldest boy, a little
+fast, it's true; but when he died over the sea, I forgave all that,
+forgetting the chair he broke over a tutor's head, and the scrapes for
+which I paid as high as a thousand at one time. He sowed his wild oats,
+and died before he could reap them, died a good man, I believe, and went
+to heaven. Juno you know, and you can judge whether she is such as would
+delight a parent's heart; while Wilford, my only boy, to deceive me so;
+though I knew he was a fool in some things, I did trust Wilford."
+
+The old man's voice shook now, and Katy felt his tears dropping on her
+hair as he stooped down over her. Checking them, however, he said:
+
+"And he was cross because you found him out. Was there no other reason?"
+
+Katy thought of Dr. Morris, but she could not tell of that, and so she
+answered:
+
+"There was--but please don't ask me now. I can't tell, only I was not to
+blame. Believe me, father, I was not to blame."
+
+"I'll swear to that," was the reply, as Father Cameron commenced his
+walking again. "He may have left some word, some line," he said.
+"Suppose you look. It would probably be upstairs."
+
+Katy had not thought of this, but it seemed reasonable that it should be
+so, and going to her room, followed by Father Cameron, she went, as by
+some instinct, to the very drawer where the letter lay.
+
+There was perfect silence while she read it through, Mr. Cameron never
+taking his eyes from the face which turned first white, then red, then
+spotted, and finally took a leaden hue as Katy ran over the lines,
+comprehending the truth as she read, and when the letter was finished,
+lifting her dry, tearless eyes to Father Cameron, and whispering to
+herself:
+
+"Deserted!"
+
+She let him read the letter, and when he had finished explained the
+parts he did not understand, telling him now what Morris had confessed,
+telling him too that in her first sorrow, when life and sense seemed
+reeling, she had gone to Dr. Grant, who had brought her back, as a
+brother might have done, and this was the result.
+
+"Why did you say you went to him--that is, what was the special reason?"
+Mr. Cameron asked, and after a moment's hesitancy, Katy told him her
+belief that Genevra was living--that it was she who made the bridal
+trousseau for Wilford's second wife, who nursed his child until it died,
+giving to it her own name, arraying it for the grave, and then leaving,
+as she always did, before the father came.
+
+"I never told Wilford," Katy said. "I felt as if I would rather he
+should not know it yet. Perhaps I was wrong, but if so, I have been
+terribly punished."
+
+Mr. Cameron could not look upon the woman who stood before him, so
+helpless and stricken in her desolation, and believe her wrong in
+anything. The guilt lay in another direction, and when as the terrible
+reality that she was indeed a deserted wife came rushing over Katy, she
+tottered toward him for help, he stretched his arms out for her, and
+taking the sinking figure in them, laid it upon the sofa as gently, as
+kindly as Wilford had ever touched it in his most loving days.
+
+Katy did not faint nor weep. She was past all that, but her face was
+like a piece of marble, and her eyes were like those of the hunted fawn
+when the chase is at its height and escape impossible.
+
+"Wilford would come back if he knew just how it was," the father said,
+"but the trouble is where to find him. He speaks of writing to me, as I
+presume he will in a day or so, and perhaps it will be as well to wait
+till then. What the plague--who is ringing that bell enough to break the
+wire?" he added, as a sharp, rapid ring echoed through the house and was
+answered by Esther. "It's my wife," he continued, as he caught the sound
+of her voice asking if Mrs. Cameron had returned. "You stay here while I
+meet her first alone. I'll give it to her for cheating me so long and
+raising thunder generally!"
+
+Katy tried to protest, but he was halfway down the stairs, and in a
+moment more was with his wife, who had come around armed and equipped to
+censure Katy as the cause of Wilford's disappearance, and to demand of
+her where she was the night she pretended to spend at No. ---- Fifth
+Avenue. But the lady who came in so haughty and indignant was a very
+different personage from the lady who, after listening for fifteen
+minutes to a fearful storm of oaths and reproaches, mingled with
+startling truths and bitter denunciations against herself and her boy,
+sank into a chair, pale and trembling, and overwhelmed with the harvest
+she was reaping.
+
+But her husband was not through with her yet. He had reserved the
+bitterest drop for the last, and coming close to her he said:
+
+"And who think you the woman is--this Genevra, Wilford's and your
+divorced wife? You were too proud to acknowledge an apothecary's
+daughter! See if you like better a dressmaker, a nurse to Katy's baby,
+Marian Hazelton!"
+
+He whispered the last name, and with a shriek the lady fainted. Mr.
+Cameron would not summon a servant, and as there was no water in the
+room, he walked to the window, and lifting the sash scraped from the
+sill a handful of the light spring snow which had been falling since
+noon. With this he brought his wife back to consciousness, and then
+marked out her future course.
+
+"I know what is in your mind," he said. "You would like to have all the
+blame rest on Katy; but, madam, hear me--just so sure as through your
+means one breath of suspicion falls on her. I'll _bla at_ out the whole
+story of Genevra. Then see who is censured. On the other hand, if you
+hold your tongue, and make Juno hold hers, and stick to Katy through
+thick and thin, acting as if you would like to swallow her whole, I'll
+say nothing of this Genevra. Is it a bargain?"
+
+"Yes," came faintly from the sofa cushions, where Mrs. Cameron had
+buried her face, sobbing in a confused, frightened way, and after a
+moment finding voice to say: "What will you do with Phillips and Esther?
+He must have questioned them."
+
+"The deuce he did! I'll see to that I'll throttle them if they venture
+to speak!" and summoning both the females to his presence, Mr. Cameron
+demanded if either had reported what Wilford had said to them.
+
+Except to each other they had not, though Phillips confessed to a great
+desire to do so when a cousin was in the previous night.
+
+"Hang the cousin, and you, too, if you do!" Mr. Cameron replied, and
+giving them some very strong advice, couched in very strong language, he
+dismissed the servants to the kitchen, satisfied that so far Katy was
+safe. "But who is the villain who first informed? If I had him by the
+neck!" the enraged man continued, just as there came a second ring--a
+timid, hesitating ring, as if the new arrival were half afraid to
+present himself and his errand.
+
+"Speak of angels and you hear the rustle of their wings," is a proverb
+as true and much pleasanter of thought than its opposite, and whether
+Tom Tubbs were an angel or not, it was he who stood twirling his cap in
+the hall, asking for Mrs. Cameron.
+
+"She can't see you, but I'll take the message. Is it about my son?"
+Father Cameron said, striding up to the boy, who began to wish himself
+away.
+
+Ever since inquiries had been made at the office for Wilford's
+whereabouts, Tom had been uneasy, for he could not forget the savage
+look in Wilford's face when he first told him of Katy and Dr. Grant; and
+when he heard that instead of going to Yonkers Wilford had taken the
+cars for Philadelphia, he was certain something was wrong, and longed to
+confess to Katy what he knew of the matter. He had no idea of meddling,
+but came with the kindest intentions, thinking he should feel better
+when the load was off his mind. He was then poorly prepared for his
+fierce reception from Mr. Cameron, who asked so energetically what he
+had to say.
+
+"It wasn't much," Tom began. "I only wanted to tell her maybe I was to
+blame for repeating what I saw."
+
+"What did you see?" and Mr. Cameron laid his hand on Tom's coat collar
+as if to shake the information out of him.
+
+But there was no need of this, for the frightened youth told quickly
+what he had come to tell, seeming so sorry and appearing so hurt withal
+that the elder Cameron grew very gracious, and dismissed him with the
+conviction that Katy had nothing to fear from Tom Tubbs. Mrs. Cameron
+was with her now, giving her kisses and words of sympathy, telling her
+Wilford would come back, and adding that in any event no one could or
+should blame her.
+
+"I have heard the whole from husband; it was a misunderstanding, that is
+all. Wilford was wrong to deceive you about Genevra. I was wrong to let
+him; but we will have no more concealments. You think she is living
+still--that she is Marian Hazelton?" and Mrs. Cameron smoothed Katy's
+hair as she talked, trying to be motherly and kind, while her heart beat
+more painfully at thoughts of a Genevra living than it ever had on
+thoughts of a Genevra dead.
+
+She did not doubt the story, although it seemed so strange, and it made
+her faint as she wondered if the world would ever know and what it would
+say if it did. That her husband would tell if she failed in a single
+point she was sure, but she should not fail; she would swear Katy was
+innocent of everything, if necessary, while Juno and Bell should swear
+too. Of course they must know and she should tell them that very night,
+she said to herself, and hence it was that in the gossip which followed
+Wilford's disappearance not a word was breathed against Katy, whose
+cause the family espoused so warmly. Bell and the father because they
+really loved and pitied her, and Mrs. Cameron and Juno because it saved
+them from the disgrace which would have fallen on Wilford had the
+fashionable world known then of Genevra.
+
+The sudden disappearance of a man like Wilford Cameron could not fail
+even in New York to cause some excitement, especially in his own
+immediate circle of acquaintances, and for several days the matter was
+discussed in all its phases, and every possible opinion and conjecture
+offered as to the cause of his strange conduct. Insanity! how many sins
+it is made to cover, and how often is it pleaded for an excuse when no
+other can be found. This is especially true in the higher walks of life,
+and so in Wilford's case it was put forward, cautiously at first by Mrs.
+Cameron herself, who wondered at the avidity with which the suggestion
+was seized and handed from one to another, some remembering little
+things which tended to confirm the belief, others slyly shrugging their
+shoulders as they responded: "Very probable," but all tacitly allowing
+the understanding to prevail that insanity had made Wilford Cameron a
+voluntary wanderer from home. They could not believe in domestic
+troubles when they saw how his family clung to and defended Katy from
+the least approach of censure, Juno taking up her abode with her
+"afflicted sister" until such time as Wilford could be heard from or
+more definite arrangements be made; Mrs. Cameron driving around each day
+to see her; Bell always speaking of her with genuine affection, while
+the father clung to her like a hero, the quartet forming a barrier
+across which the shafts of scandal could not reach.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLIII.
+
+WHAT FOLLOWED.
+
+
+And where the while was Wilford? Fortunate, indeed, is it for the
+disappointed, desperate men of the present day that when their horizon
+is blackest and life seems not worth preserving, they can leave the past
+behind and find a refuge in the army. To Wilford it presented itself at
+once as the place of all others. Anything which could divert his mind
+was welcome, and ere the close of that first day of Katy's return from
+Yonkers, his name was enrolled in the service of his country. He had
+gone directly to Washington, stumbling accidentally upon an old college
+acquaintance who was getting up a company, and whose first lieutenant
+had disappointed him. Learning Wilford's wishes he offered him the post,
+which was readily accepted, and ere four days were gone Lieutenant
+Wilford Cameron, with no regret as yet for the past, marched away to
+swell the ranks of men who, led by General McClellan, were pressing on,
+as they believed, to Richmond and victory. A week of terrible suspense
+went by and then there came a note to Mr. Cameron from his son,
+requesting him to care for Katy, but asking no forgiveness for himself.
+
+"I have disgraced you all," he wrote, "and I know just how you feel, but
+I am not sorry for the step I've taken. When I am I shall probably come
+back, provided that day finds me alive."
+
+And that was all the proud man wrote. Not one word was there for Katy,
+whose eyes, which had not wept since she knew she was deserted, moved
+slowly over the short letter, weighing every word, and then were lifted
+sadly to her father's face as she said: "I will write and tell him all
+the truth, and on his answer will depend my future course."
+
+This she said referring to the question she had raised as to whether in
+case Wilford did not come back she should remain in New York or go to
+Silverton, where as yet they were ignorant of her affliction, for Uncle
+Ephraim had not told of the telegram, and Katy would not alarm them
+until she knew something definite.
+
+And so the days went by, while Katy's letter was sent to Wilford,
+together with another from his father, who confirmed all Katy had
+protested of her innocence and ended by calling his son a "confounded
+fool" and telling him to throw up his shoulder straps, which "only honest
+men had a right to wear, and come home where he belonged."
+
+To this there came an angry, indignant answer, bidding the father attend
+to his own business, and allow the son to attend to his. To Katy,
+however, Wilford wrote in a different strain, showing here and there
+marks of tenderness and relenting, but saying what he had done could not
+now be helped--he was in for a soldier's life of two years, and should
+abide his choice. At the idea of Genevra's being alive he scoffed; he
+knew better than that, and even if she were why need Katy have gone with
+it to Morris. Surely she should have had the discretion to keep
+something to herself.
+
+This was the purport of Wilford's letter to Katy, who when she had
+finished reading said, sorrowfully:
+
+"Wilford never loved me. It was a mere fancy, a great mistake, and I
+cannot stay in his home, knowing that I am not trusted and respected as
+a wife should be. I will go to Silverton. There is room for me there. I
+shall write to Helen to-day."
+
+Meanwhile at Silverton, Uncle Ephraim, still keeping the telegram a
+secret, grew more and more anxious as there came no news of Katy. What
+did the silence mean? Uncle Ephraim pondered the matter all day long,
+holding conversations with himself upon the subject, and finally making
+up his mind to the herculean task of going to New York to see what was
+the matter. To the family, who asked the reason of his sudden journey,
+he said: He had a notion that something ailed Katy, and he was going
+to see.
+
+No one ever thought of opposing Uncle Ephraim, and the following day
+found him ready for the journey Aunt Betsy had taken before him.
+
+Presuming upon her experience as a traveler, that good dame had
+proffered sundry pieces of advice with reference to what it was best for
+him to do on the road, telling him which side of the car to sit, where
+to get out, and above all things not to shake hands with the conductor
+when asked for his ticket.
+
+Uncle Ephraim heard her good-humoredly, and stuffing into his pocket the
+paper of ginger-snaps, fried cakes and cheese, which Aunt Hannah had
+prepared for his lunch, he started for the cars, and was soon on his way
+to New York.
+
+In his case there was no Bob Reynolds to offer aid and comfort, and the
+old man was nearly torn in pieces by the burly hackman, who, the moment
+he appeared to view, pounced upon him as lawful prey, each claiming the
+honor of taking him wherever he wished to go, and raising such a din
+about his ears that he finally turned away thoroughly disgusted, telling
+them:
+
+"He had feet and legs, and common sense, and he guessed he could find
+his way without 'em. 'Bleeged to you, gentlemen, but I don't need you,"
+and with a profound bow the honest-looking old deacon walked away,
+asking the first man he met the way to Madison Square, and succeeded in
+finding the number without difficulty.
+
+"This is it," he said, stopping in front of the tall building, and
+examining it closely from the roof to the basement.
+
+Now that he was really there, a misgiving as to the propriety of the act
+assailed him for the first time, and he began to wish he had not come.
+
+"I won't pull that nub," he said, glancing at the silver knob. "I'll go
+down to the kitchen door, as like enough they've company."
+
+Accordingly Esther, who chanced to be in the basement, was startled by a
+heavy knock, and was startled still more at the tall, white-haired man
+who addressed her as "Sis," and asked if "Miss Cameron was to hum."
+
+"A man in the kitchen asking for me!" Katy exclaimed, when Esther
+reported the message, and with her mind full of possible news from
+Wilford, she ran hastily down the basement stairs, and with a loud
+scream of joy threw herself into Uncle Ephraim's arms, an act which so
+astonished Phillips that she dropped the dish of soup she was preparing
+for the dinner table, the greasy liquid bespattering Katy's dress, and
+bringing her to a sense of where she was, and that she should not be
+there.
+
+"Come upstairs," she said, holding Uncle Ephraim's hand, and leading him
+to the parlor, while the first tears she had shed since she knew she was
+deserted rained in torrents over her face.
+
+"What is it, Katy-did? I mistrusted something was wrong. What has
+happened?" Uncle Ephraim asked, and with his arm thrown protectingly
+around her, Katy told him what had happened, and then asking what she
+should do.
+
+"Do?" the old man repeated. "Go home with me to your own folks until he
+comes from the wars. He is your husband, and I shall say nothing agin'
+him, but if it was to do over I would forbid the banns. That chap has
+misused you the wust way. You need not deny it, for it's writ all over
+your face," he continued, as Katy tried to stop him, for sore as was her
+heart with the great injustice done her, she would not have Wilford
+blamed.
+
+He was her husband still, and she had loved him so fondly that, whether
+worthy or not of her love, she could not turn from him so soon.
+
+"I wrote to Helen yesterday, so they will be prepared for me," she said,
+anxious to change the conversation, and feeling glad when dinner was
+announced.
+
+Leading him to the table, she presented him to Juno, whose cold nod
+and haughty stare were lost on the old man presiding with so much
+patriarchal dignity at the table, and bowing his white head so
+reverently as he asked the first blessing which had ever been said at
+that table, except as Helen or Morris had breathed a prayer of thanks
+for the bounty provided.
+
+It had not been a house of prayer--no altar had been erected for the
+morning and evening sacrifice. God had almost been forgotten, and now He
+was pouring His wrath upon the handsome dwelling, making it so
+distasteful that Katy was anxious to leave it, and expressed her
+willingness to accompany Uncle Ephraim to Silverton as soon as the
+necessary arrangements could be made.
+
+"I don't take it she comes for good," Uncle Ephraim said that evening,
+when Mr. Cameron, to whom she referred the matter, opposed her going,
+"for when the two years are gone, and her man wants her back, as he
+will, she must come, of course. But she grows poor here in the city. It
+don't agree with her like the scent of the clover and the breeze from
+the hills. So, shet up the house for a spell, and let the child come
+with me."
+
+Mr. Cameron knew that Katy would be happier at Silverton, and though he
+disliked to part with her, he finally consented to her going, and placed
+at her disposal a sum which seemed to the deacon a little fortune in
+itself.
+
+In the kitchen there were sad faces when the servants heard of the
+arrangement which was to deprive them not only of a pleasant home, but
+of a mistress whom they both respected and loved. Esther pleaded hard to
+go with Katy, and only the latter's promise that possibly she might come
+by and by was of any avail to stay the tears which dropped so fast as
+she put up her mistress' dresses, designed for Silverton, and laid away
+the gayer, richer ones, which would be so sadly out of place upon her
+now.
+
+To Mrs. Cameron and Juno it was a relief to have Katy taken from their
+hands, and though they made a show of opposition, they were easily
+quieted, and helped her off with alacrity, the mother promising to see
+that the horse was promptly called for, and Juno offering to send the
+latest fashion which might be suitable, as soon as it appeared. Bell was
+heartily sorry to part with the young sister who seemed going from her
+forever.
+
+"I know you will never come back. Something tells me so," she said as
+she stood with her arms around Katy's waist, and her lips occasionally
+touching Katy's forehead. "But I shall see you," she continued; "I am
+coming to the farmhouse in the summer, to stay ever so long; and you may
+say to Aunt Betsy that I like her ever so much, and"--here Bell glanced
+behind her, to see that no one was listening, and then continued--"tell
+her a certain officer was sick a few days in a hospital last winter, and
+one of his men brought to him a dish of the most delicious dried
+peaches he ever ate. That man was from Silverton, and the fruit was sent
+to him, he said, in a salt bag, by a nice old lady, for whose brother he
+used to work. Just to think, that the peaches I helped to pare, coloring
+my hands so that the stain did not come off in a month, should have gone
+so straight to Bob," and Bell's fine features shone with a light which
+would have told Bob Reynolds he was beloved, even if the lips did not
+refuse to confess it.
+
+"I'll tell her," Katy said, and then bidding them all good-by, and
+putting her hand on Uncle Ephraim's arm she went with him from the home
+where she had lived but two short years, and those the saddest, most
+eventful ones of her short life.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLIV.
+
+MARK AND HELEN.
+
+
+There was much talk and wonder in Silverton when it was known that Katy
+had come home to stay until her husband returned from the war, and at
+first the people were inclined to gossip and hint at some mystery or
+possible estrangement; but this was brought to an end when the
+postmaster's wife told of a letter which had come to Mrs. Wilford
+Cameron from the Army of the Potomac, and of the answer returned within
+three days to Lieutenant Wilford Cameron, Co., --th Regt., N. Y. V.,
+etc. It must be all right, the gossips said, after that, but they
+watched Katy curiously as she came among them again, so quiet, so
+subdued, so unlike the Katy of old that they would hardly have
+recognized her but for the beauty of her face and the sunny smile she
+gave to all, but which rested oftenest on the poor and suffering, who
+blessed her as the angel of their humble homes, praying that God would
+remember her for all she was to them. The gold was purified at last, the
+dross removed, and Katy, in her beautiful consistent life, seemed indeed
+like some bright angel straying among the haunts of men, rather than the
+weak and ofttimes sorely tempted mortal, which she knew herself to be.
+
+Wilford's letters, though not unkind, were never very satisfactory, and
+always brought on a racking headache, from which she suffered intently.
+He had censured her at first for going back to Silverton, when he
+preferred she should stay in New York, hinting darkly at the reason of
+her choice, and saying to her once, when she told him how the Sunday
+before her twenty-first birthday she had knelt before the altar and
+taken upon herself the vows of confirmation: "Your saintly cousin is,
+of course, delighted, and that I suppose is sufficient, without my
+congratulations."
+
+Perhaps he did not mean it, but he seemed to take delight in teasing
+her, and Katy sometimes felt she should be happier without his letters
+than with them. He had never said he was sorry he had left her so
+suddenly--indeed he seldom referred to the past in any way; or if he did
+it was in a manner which showed that he thought himself the injured
+party, if either. Once, indeed, he did admit that, in calmly reviewing
+the whole thing, he saw no reason now to believe that in the matter of
+Dr. Grant she had been to blame, except in going to him with her trouble
+and so bringing about the present unfortunate state of affairs. This was
+the nearest to a concession on his part of anything he made; but it did
+Katy a world of good, brightening up her face, and making her even dare
+to meet Morris alone and speak to him naturally. Ever since her return
+to Silverton she had studiously avoided him, and a stranger might have
+said they were wholly indifferent to each other; but that stranger would
+not have known of Morris' daily self-discipline or of the one little
+spot in Katy's heart kept warm and sunny by the knowing that Morris
+Grant had loved her, even if the love had died, as she hoped it had. It
+would be better for them all, and so, lest by word or deed she should
+keep the germ alive, she seldom addressed him directly, and never went
+to Linwood unless some one was with her to prevent her being left with
+him alone. A life like this could not be pleasant for Morris, and as
+there seemed to be a lack of competent physicians in the army, he, after
+prayerful deliberation, accepted a situation offered him as surgeon in a
+Georgetown hospital, and early in June left Silverton for his new field
+of labor.
+
+True to her promise, Bell came at the last of July to Silverton,
+proving herself a dreadful romp as she climbed over the rocks in Aunt
+Betsy's famous sheep pasture, or raked the hay in the meadow, and
+proving herself, too, a genuine woman, as with blanced cheek and anxious
+heart she waited for tidings from the battles before Richmond, where the
+tide of success seemed to turn, and the North, hitherto so jubilant and
+hopeful, wore weeds of mourning from Maine to Oregon. Lieutenant Bob was
+there, and Wilford, too; and so was Captain Ray, digging in the marshy
+swamps, where death floated up in poisonous exhalations--plodding on the
+weary march, and fighting all through the seven days, where the sun
+poured down its burning heat and the night brought little rest. No
+wonder, then, that the three faces at the farmhouse grew white with
+anxiety, or that three pairs of eyes grew dim with watching the daily
+papers. But the names of neither Wilford, Mark, nor Bob were ever found
+among the wounded, dead, or missing, and with the fall of the first
+autumn leaf Bell returned to the city, more puzzled, more perplexed than
+ever with regard to Helen Lennox's real feelings toward Captain Ray.
+
+Rapidly autumn went by, bringing at last the week before Christmas, when
+Mark came home for a few days, looking ruddy and bronzed from exposure
+and hardship, but wearing the disappointed, listless look which Bell was
+quick to detect, connecting it in some way with Helen Lennox. Only once
+did he call at Mr. Cameron's, and then as Juno was not present Bell had
+him all to herself, talking a great deal of Silverton, of Helen and
+Katy, in the latter of whom he seemed far more interested than in her
+sister. Many questions he asked concerning Katy, expressing his regret
+that Wilford had ever left her, and saying he believed Wilford was
+sorry, too. He was in the hospital now, with a severe cold and a touch
+of the rheumatism, he said; but as Bell knew this already she did not
+dwell long upon that subject, choosing rather to talk of Helen--"as much
+interested in the soldiers," she said, "as if she had a brother or a
+lover in the army," and her bright eyes glanced meaningly at Mark, who
+answered carelessly:
+
+"Dr. Grant is there, you know, and that may account for her interest."
+
+Mark knew he must say something to ward off Bell's attacks, and so he
+continued talking of Dr. Grant and how much he was liked by the poor
+wretches who needed some one as kind and gentle as he to keep them from
+dying of homesickness if nothing else. Once, too, he spoke of a nurse, a
+second Nightingale, whose shadow on the wall the soldiers had not kissed
+perhaps, but who was worshiped by the pale, sick men to whom she
+ministered so tenderly.
+
+"She is very beautiful," he added, "and every man of us would willingly
+try a hospital cot for the sake of being nursed by her."
+
+Bell thought at once of Marian, but as Mark knew nothing of their
+private affairs she would not question him, and after a few bantering
+words concerning Lieutenant Bob and the picture he carried into every
+battle, buttoned closely over his heart. Mark Ray took his leave, while
+Bell, softened by thoughts of Cob, ran upstairs to cry, going to her
+mother's room, as a seamstress was occupying her own. Mrs. Cameron was
+out that afternoon, and that she had dressed in a hurry was indicated by
+the unusual confusion of her room. Drawers were left open and various
+articles scattered about, while on the floor just as it had fallen from
+a glove box lay a letter which Bell picked up, intending to replace it.
+
+"Miss Helen Lennox," she read in astonishment. "How came Helen Lennox's
+letter here in mother's room, and from Mark Ray, too," she continued,
+still more amazed as she took the neatly folded note from the envelope
+and glanced at the name. "Foul play somewhere. Can it be mother?" she
+asked, as she read enough to know that she held in her hand Mark's offer
+of marriage which had in some mysterious manner found its way to her
+mother's room. "I don't understand it at all," she said, racking her
+brain for a solution of the mystery. "But the letter at least is safe
+with me. I'll send it to Helen this very day and to-morrow I'll tell
+Mark Ray."
+
+Procrastination was not one of Bell Cameron's faults, and for full half
+an hour before her mother and Juno came home, the stolen letter had been
+lying in the mail box where Bell herself deposited it, together with a
+few hurriedly written lines, telling how it came into her hands, but
+offering no explanation of any kind.
+
+"Mark is home now on a leave of absence which expires day after
+to-morrow," she wrote, "but I am going around to see him, and if you
+do not hear from him in person I am greatly mistaken."
+
+Very closely Bell watched her mother when she came from her room, but
+the letter had not been missed, and in blissful ignorance Mrs. Cameron
+displayed her purchases and then talked of Wilford, wondering how he was
+and if it were advisable for any of them to go to him.
+
+The next day a series of hindrances kept Bell from making her call as
+early as she had intended doing, so that Mrs. Banker and Mark were just
+rising from dinner when told she was in the parlor.
+
+"I meant to have come before," she said, seating herself by Mark, "but
+I could not get away. I have brought you some good news. I think--that
+is--yes, I know there has been some mistake, some wrong somewhere,
+whether intended or not. Mark Ray," and the impetuous girl faced
+directly toward him, "if you could have any wish you might name what
+would it be? Come now, imagine yourself a Cinderella and I the fairy
+godmother. What will you have?"
+
+Mark knew she was in earnest and her manner puzzled him greatly, but he
+answered, laughingly: "As a true patriot I should wish for peace on
+strictly honorable terms."
+
+"Pshaw!"
+
+The word dropped very prettily from Bell's lips as with a shrug she
+continued:
+
+"You men are very patriotic, I know, especially if you wear shoulder
+straps, but isn't there something dearer than peace? Suppose, for
+instance, Union between the North and South on strictly honorable terms,
+as you say, was laid upon one scale and union between yourself and Helen
+Lennox was laid upon the other, which would you take?"
+
+Mark's lips were very white now, but he tried to laugh as he replied: "I
+should say the Union, of course."
+
+"Yes, but which union?" Bell rejoined, and then as she saw that Mrs.
+Banker was beginning to frown upon her she continued: "But to come
+directly to the point. Yesterday afternoon I found--no matter where or
+how--a letter intended for Helen Lennox, which I am positive she never
+saw or heard of; at least her denial to me that a certain Mark Ray had
+ever offered himself is a proof that she never saw what was an offer
+made just before you went away. I read enough to know that, and then I
+took the letter and--"
+
+She hesitated, while Mark's eyes turned dark with excitement, and even
+Mrs. Banker, scarcely less interested, leaned eagerly forward, saying:
+
+"And what? Go on, Miss Cameron. What did you do with that letter?"
+
+"I sent it to its rightful owner, Helen Lennox. I posted it myself, so
+it's sure this time. But why don't you thank me, Captain Ray?" she
+asked, as Mark's face was overshadowed with anxiety.
+
+"I was wondering whether it were well to send it--wondering how it might
+be received," he said, and Bell replied:
+
+"She will not answer no. As one woman knows another I know Helen Lennox.
+I have sounded her on that point. I told her of the rumor there was
+afloat, and she denied it, seeming greatly distressed, but showing
+plainly that had such offer been received she would not have refused it.
+You should have seen her last summer, Captain Ray, when we waited so
+anxiously for news from the Potomac. Her face was a study as her eyes
+ran over the list of casualties, searching not for her amiable
+brother-in-law, nor yet for Willard Braxton, their hired man. It was
+plain to me as daylight, and all you have to do is to follow up that
+letter with another, or go yourself, if you have time." Bell said, as
+she arose to go, leaving Mark in a state of bewilderment as to what he
+had heard.
+
+Who withheld that letter? and why? were questions which troubled him
+greatly, nor did his mother's assurance that it did not matter so long
+as it all came right at last, tend wholly to reassure him. One thing,
+however, was certain. He would see Helen before he returned to his
+regiment--he would hear from her own lips what her answer would have
+been had she received the letter. He would telegraph in the morning to
+Washington, and then run the risk of being a day behind the time
+appointed for his return to duty. Never since the day of Aunt Betsy's
+revelations had Mark felt as light and happy as he did that night,
+scarcely closing his eyes in sleep, but still not feeling tired when
+next morning he met his mother at the breakfast table and disclosed in
+part his plans. He would not tell her all there was in his mind lest it
+should not be fulfilled, but when at parting with her he did say:
+
+"Suppose you have three children when I return instead of two, is there
+room in your heart for the third?"
+
+"Yes, always room for Helen," was the reply, as with a kiss of
+benediction Mrs. Banker sent her boy away.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLV.
+
+CHRISTMAS EVE AT SILVERTON.
+
+
+There was to be a Christmas tree at St. John's, and all the week the
+church had been the scene of much confusion. But all the work was over
+now; the church was swept and dusted, the tree with its gay adornings
+was in its place, the little ones, who, trying to help, had hindered and
+vexed so much, were gone, as were their mothers, and only tarried with
+the organ boy to play the Christmas carol, which Katy was to sing alone,
+the children joining in the chorus as they had been trained to do. It
+was very quiet there, and very pleasant too, with the fading sunlight
+streaming through the chancel window, lighting up the cross above it,
+and falling softly on the wall where the evergreens were hung with the
+sacred words: "Peace on earth and good will toward men." And Helen felt
+the peace stealing over her as by the register she sat down for a moment
+ere going to the organ loft where the boy was waiting for her. Not even
+the remembrance of the dark war cloud hanging over the land disturbed
+her then, as her thoughts went backward eighteen hundred years to
+Bethlehem's manger and the little child whose birth the angels sang. And
+as she thought, that Child seemed to be with her, a living presence to
+which she prayed, leaning her head upon the railing of the pew in front
+and asking Him to keep her in the perfect peace she felt around her now.
+She had given Mark Ray up, and giving up had made a cruel wound, but she
+did not feel it now, although she thought of him in that quiet hour,
+asking God to keep him in safety wherever he might be, whether in the
+lonely watch or kneeling as she hoped he might in some house of God,
+where the Christmas carols would be sung and the Christmas story told.
+
+A movement of her hand as she lifted up her head struck against the
+pocket of her dress, where lay the letter brought to her an hour or so
+ago--Bell's letter--which, after glancing at the superscription, she had
+put aside until a more convenient season for reading it.
+
+Taking it out, she tore open the envelope, starting suddenly as another
+letter, soiled and unsealed, met her eye. She read Bell's first, and
+then, with a throbbing heart, which as yet would not believe, she took
+up Mark's, and understanding now much that was before mysterious to her.
+Juno's call, too, came to her mind, and though she was unwilling to
+charge so foul a wrong upon that young lady, she could find no other
+solution to the mystery. There was a glow of indignation--Helen had
+scarcely been mortal without it; but that passed away in pity for the
+misguided girl and in joy at the happiness opening so broadly before
+her. That Mark would come to Silverton she had no hope, but he would
+surely write--his letter, perhaps, was even then on the way; and kissing
+the one she held she hid it in her bosom and went up to where the organ
+boy had for several minutes been kicking at stools and books, and
+whistling "Old John Brown" by way of attracting attention. The boy was
+in a hurry, and asked in so forlorn a tone: "Is we going to play?" that
+Helen answered good-humoredly: "Just a few minutes, Billy. I want to try
+the carol and the opening, which I've hardly played at all."
+
+With an air of submission Bill took his post and Helen began to play,
+but she could only see before her: "I have loved you ever since that
+morning when I put the lilies in your hair," and she played so out of
+time and tune that Billy asked: "What makes 'em go so bad?"
+
+"I can't play now; I'm not in the mood," she said at last. "I shall
+feel better by and by. You can go home if you like."
+
+Billy needed no second bidding, but catching up his cap ran down the
+stairs and out into the porch, just as up the step a young man came
+hurriedly, the horse he had hitched to a tree smoking from exercise and
+himself looking eager and excited.
+
+"Hello, boy," he cried, grasping the collar of Bill's roundabout and
+holding him fast, "who's in the church?"
+
+"Darn yer, old Jim Sykes, you let me be, or I'll--" the boy began, but
+when he saw his captor was not Jim Sykes, but a tall, fine-looking man,
+wearing a soldier's uniform, he changed his tone, and standing still,
+answered civilly: "I thought you was Jim Sykes, the biggest bully in
+town, who is allus hectorin' us boys. Nobody is there but she--Miss
+Lennox--up where the organ is," and having given the desired
+information, Bill ran off, wondering first if it wasn't Miss Helen's
+beau, and wondering next, in case she should some time get married in
+church, if he wouldn't fee the organ boy as well as the sexton. "He
+orto," Bill soliloquized, "for I've about blowed my gizzard out
+sometimes, when she and Mrs. Cameron sings the 'Te Deum.'"
+
+Meanwhile Mark Ray, who had driven first to the farmhouse in quest of
+Helen, entered the church, glancing in upon the festooned walls, and
+then as he heard a sound in the loft, stealing noiselessly up the stairs
+to where Helen sat in the dim light, reading again the precious letter
+withheld from her so long. She had moved her stool near to the window,
+and her back was toward the door, so that she neither saw nor heard, nor
+suspected anything, until Mark, bending over her so as to see what she
+had in her hand, as well as the tear she had dropped upon it, clasped
+both his arms about her neck, and drawing her face over back, kissed her
+fondly, calling her his darling, and saying to her as she tried to
+struggle from him:
+
+"I know I have a right to call you darling by that tear on my letter and
+the look upon your face. Dear Helen, we have found each other at last."
+
+It was so unexpected that Helen could not speak, but she let her head
+rest on his bosom, where he had laid it, and her hot, trembling hand
+crept into his, so that he was answered, and for a moment he only kissed
+and caressed the fair girl he knew now was his own. They could not talk
+together there very long, for Helen must go home; but he made good use
+of the time he had, telling her many things, and then asking her a
+question which made her start away from him as she replied: "No, no, oh!
+no, not to-night--not so soon as that!"
+
+"And why not, Helen?" he asked, with the manner of one who is not to be
+denied. "Why not to-night, so there need be no more misunderstanding?
+I'd rather leave you as my wife than my betrothed. Mother will like it
+better. I hinted it to her and she said there was room for you in her
+love. It will make me a better man, a better soldier, if I can say 'my
+wife,' as other soldiers do. You don't know what a charm there is in
+that word, Helen--keeping a man from sin, and if I should die I would
+rather you should bear my name and share in my fortune. Will you, Helen,
+when the ceremonies are closed, will you go up to that altar and pledge
+your vows to me? I cannot wait till to-morrow; my leave of absence
+expired to-day. I must go back to-night, but you must first be mine."
+
+Helen was shaking as with a chill, but she made him no reply, and
+wrapping her cloak and furs about her, Mark led her down to the sleigh,
+and taking his seat beside her, drove back to the farmhouse, where the
+supper waited for her. Katy, to whom Mark first communicated his desire,
+warmly espoused his cause, and that went far toward reassuring Helen,
+who, for some time past had been learning to look up to Katy as to an
+older sister, so sober, so earnest, so womanly had Katy grown since
+Wilford went away.
+
+"It is so sudden, and people will talk," Helen said, knowing while she
+said it how little she cared for people and smiling at Katy's reply:
+
+"They may as well talk about you a while as me. It is not so bad when
+once you are used to it."
+
+After Katy, Aunt Betsy was Mark's best advocate. It is true this was not
+just what she had expected when Helen was married. The "infair" which
+Wilford had declined was still in Aunt Betsy's mind; but that, she
+reflected might be yet. If Mark went back on the next train there could
+be no proper wedding party until his return, when the loaves of frosted
+cake, and the baked fowls she had seen in imagination should be there in
+real, tangible form, and as she expressed it they would have a "high."
+Accordingly she threw herself into the scale beginning to balance in
+favor of Mark, and when at last old Whitey stood at the door ready to
+take the family to the church, Helen sat upon the lounge listening half
+bewildered, while Katy assured her that she could play the voluntary,
+even if she had not looked at it, that she could lead the children
+without the organ, and in short do everything Helen was expected to do
+except go to the altar with Mark.
+
+"That I leave for you," and she playfully kissed Helen's forehead, as
+she tripped from the room, looking back when she reached the door, and
+charging the lovers not to forget to come, in their absorption of each
+other.
+
+St. John's was crowded that night, just as churches always are on such
+occasions, the children occupying the front seats, with looks of
+expectancy upon their faces, as they studied the heavily laden tree, the
+boys wondering if that ball, or whistle, or wheelbarrow was for them,
+and the girls appropriating the tastefully dressed dolls, showing so
+conspicuously among the dark-green foliage. The Barlows were rather
+late, for upon Uncle Ephraim devolved the duty of seeing to the license,
+and as he had no seat in that house, his arrival was only known by Aunt
+Betsy's elbowing her way to the front, and near to the Christmas tree
+which she had helped to dress, just as she had helped to trim the
+church. She did not believe in such "flummmeries" it is true, and she
+classed them with the "quirks," but rather than "see the gals slave
+themselves to death," she had this year lent a helping hand. Donning two
+shawls, a camlet cloak, a knit scarf for her head, and a hood to keep
+from catching cold, she had worked early and late, fashioning the most
+wonderfully shaped wreaths, tying up festoons, and even trying her hand
+at a triangle; but turning her back resolutely upon crosses, which were
+more than her Puritanism could endure. The cross was a "quirk," with
+which she'd have nothing to do, though once, when Katy seemed more than
+usually bothered and wished somebody would hand her tacks. Aunt Betsy
+relented so far as to bring the hoop she was winding close to Katy,
+holding the little nails in her mouth, and giving them out as they were
+wanted; but with each one given out, conscientiously turning her head
+away, lest her eyes should fall upon what she conceived the symbol of
+the Romish Church. But when the whole was done, none were louder in
+their praises than the good Aunt Betsy, who was guilty of asking Mrs.
+Deacon Bannister when she came in to inspect, "why the orthodox couldn't
+get up some such doin's for their Sunday school. It pleased the children
+mightily."
+
+But Mrs. Deacon Bannister answered with some severity:
+
+"We don't believe in shows and plays, you know," thus giving a double
+thrust, and showing that the opera had never been quite forgotten.
+"Here's a pair of skates, though, and a smellin' bottle. I'd like to
+have put on for John and Sylvia," she added, handing her package to Aunt
+Betsy, who, while seeing the skates and smelling bottle suspended from a
+bough, was guilty of wondering if "the partaker wasn't most as bad as
+the thief."
+
+This was in the afternoon and was all forgotten now, when with her
+Sunday clothes she never would have worn in that jam but for the great
+occasion, Aunt Betsy elbowed her way up the middle aisle, her face
+wearing a very important and knowing look, especially when Uncle
+Ephraim's tall figure bent for a moment under the hemlock boughs, and
+then disappeared in the little vestry room where he held a private
+consultation with the rector. That she knew something her neighbors
+didn't was evident. But she kept it to herself, turning her head
+occasionally to look up at the organ where Katy was presiding. Others,
+too, there were who turned their heads as the soft liquid music began to
+fill the church, and the heavy bass rolled up the aisles, making the
+floor tremble beneath their feet and sending a thrill through every
+vein. It was a skillful hand which swept the keys that night, for Katy's
+forte was music, and she played with her whole soul, not the voluntary
+there before her in printed form, nor any one thing she had ever heard,
+but taking parts of many things, and mingling them with strains of her
+own improvising, she filled the house as it had never been filled
+before, playing a soft, sweet refrain when she thought of Helen, then
+bursting into louder, fuller tones, when she remembered Bethlehem's
+child and the song the angels sang, and then as she recalled her own
+sacrifice since she knelt at the altar a happy bride, the organ notes
+seemed much like human sobs, now rising to a stormy pitch of passion,
+wild and uncontrolled, and then dying out as dies the summer wind after
+a fearful storm. Awed and wonderstruck the organ boy looked at Katy as
+she played, almost forgetting his part of the performance in his
+amazement, and saying to himself when she had finished:
+
+"Guy, though, ain't she a brick," and whispering to her: "Didn't we go
+that strong?"
+
+Katy knew she had made an impression, and her cheeks were very red as
+she went down to the body of the church, joining the children with whom
+she was to sing, but she soon forgot herself in the happiness of the
+little ones, who could scarcely be controlled until the short service
+was over and the gifts about to be distributed. Much the people had
+wondered where Helen was, as, without the aid of music, Katy led the
+children in their carols, and this wonder increased when as time passed
+on it was whispered around that "Miss Lennox had come and was standing
+with a man back by the register."
+
+After this Aunt Betsy grew very calm. She knew Helen was there and could
+now enjoy the distributing of the gifts, going up herself two or three
+times, and wondering why anybody should think of her, a good-for-nothing
+old woman. The skates and the smelling bottles both went safely to
+Sylvia and John, while Mrs. Deacon Bannister looked radiant when her
+name was called and she was made the recipient of a jar of butternut
+pickles, such as only Aunt Betsy Barlow could make.
+
+"Miss Helen Lennox. A soldier in uniform, from one of her Sunday school
+scholars."
+
+The words rang out loud and clear, the rector holding up the sugar toy
+before the amused audience, who turned to look at Helen, blushing so
+painfully, and trying to hold back the real man in soldier's dress who
+went quietly up the aisle, receiving the gift with a bow and smile
+which turned the heads of half the ladies near him, and then went back
+to Helen, over whom he bent, whispering something which made her cheeks
+grow brighter than they were before, while she dropped her eyes
+modestly.
+
+"Who is he?" a woman asked, touching Aunt Betsy's shoulder.
+
+"Captain Ray, from New York," was the answer, as Aunt Betsy gave to her
+dress a little broader sweep and smoothed the bow she had tried to tie
+beneath her chin just as Mattie Tubbs had tied it on the memorable opera
+night.
+
+"Miss Helen Lennox. A sugar heart, from one of her scholars," the rector
+called again, the titters of the audience almost breaking into cheers as
+they began to suspect the relation sustained to Helen by the handsome
+young officer, going up the aisle after Helen's heart and stopping to
+speak to good Aunt Betsy, who pulled his coat skirt as he passed her.
+
+The tree by this time was nearly empty. Every child had been remembered,
+save one, and that Billy, the organ boy, who, separated from his
+companions, stood near Helen, watching the tree wistfully, while shadows
+of hope and disappointment passed alternately over his face as one after
+another the presents were distributed and nothing came to him.
+
+"There ain't a darned thing on it for me," he exclaimed at last, when
+boy nature could endure no longer, and Mark turned toward him just in
+time to see the gathering mist which but for the most heroic efforts
+would have merged into tears.
+
+"Poor Billy," Helen said, as she too heard his comment, "I fear he has
+been forgotten. His teacher is absent and he so faithful at the organ
+too."
+
+Mark knew now who the boy was and after a hurried consultation with
+Helen, who knowing Billy well, suggested that money would probably be
+more acceptable than even skates or jackknives, neither of which were
+possible now, folded something in a bit of paper, on which he wrote a
+name and then sent it to the rector.
+
+"Billy Brown, our faithful organ boy," sounded through the church, and
+with a brightened face Billy went up the aisle and received the little
+package, ascertaining before he reached his standpoint near the door
+that he was the owner of a five-dollar bill, and mentally deciding to
+add both peanuts and molasses candy to the stock of apples he daily
+carried into the cars.
+
+"You gin me this," he said, nodding to Mark, "and you," turning to
+Helen, "poked him up to it."
+
+"Well then, if I did," Mark replied, laying his hand on the boy's coarse
+hair, "if I did, you must take good care of Miss Lennox when I am gone.
+I leave her in your charge. She is to be my wife."
+
+"Gorry, I thought so," and Bill's cap went toward the plastering just as
+the last string of popcorn was given from the tree, and the exercises
+were about to close.
+
+It was not in Aunt Betsy's nature to keep her secret till this time, and
+simultaneously with Billy's going up for his gift she whispered it to
+her neighbor, who whispered it to hers, until nearly all the audience
+knew of it, and kept their seats after the benediction was pronounced.
+
+At a sign from the rector, Katy went with her mother to the altar,
+followed by Uncle Ephraim, his wife, and Aunt Betsy, while Helen,
+throwing off the cloud she had worn upon her head, and giving it, with
+her cloak and fur, into Billy's charge, took Mark's offered arm, and
+with beating heart and burning cheeks passed between the sea of eyes
+fixed so curiously upon her, up to where Katy once had stood on the June
+morning when she had been the bride. Not now, as then, were aching
+hearts present at that bridal. No Marian Hazelton fainted by the door;
+no Morris felt the world grow dark and desolate as the marriage vows
+were spoken; and no sister doubted if it were all right and would end in
+happiness. Only Katy seemed sad as she recalled the past, praying that
+Helen's life might not be like hers.
+
+The ceremony lasted but a few moments, and then the astonished audience
+pressed around the bride, offering their kindly congratulations, and
+proving to Mark Ray that the bride he had won was dear to others as well
+as to himself. Lovingly he drew her hand beneath his arm, fondly he
+looked down upon her as he led her back to her chair by the register,
+making her sit down while he tied on her cloak and adjusted the fur
+about her neck.
+
+"Handy and gentle as a woman," was the verdict pronounced upon him by
+the female portion of the congregation as they passed out into the
+street, talking of the ceremony, and contrasting Helen's husband with
+the haughty Wilford, who was not a favorite with them.
+
+It was Billy Brown who brought Mark's cutter around, holding the reins
+while Mark helped Helen, and then tucking the buffalo robes about her
+with the remark: "It's all-fired cold, Miss Ray. Shall you play in
+church to-morrow?"
+
+Assured that she would, Billy walked away, and Mark was alone with his
+bride, slowly following the deacon's sleigh, which reached the farmhouse
+a long time before the little cutter, so that a fire was already kindled
+in the parlor when Helen arrived, and also in the kitchen stove, where
+the teakettle was placed, for Aunt Betsy said "the chap should have some
+supper before he went back to York."
+
+Four hours he had to stay, and they were well spent in talking of
+himself, of Wilford, and of Morris, and in planning Helen's future. Of
+course she would spend a portion of her time at the farmhouse, he said,
+but his mother had a claim upon her, and it was his wish that she should
+be in New York as much as possible.
+
+"Now that you have Mrs. Cameron, you do not need my wife," he said to
+Mrs. Lennox, with an emphasis upon the last word, which he seemed very
+fond of using.
+
+Much he wished to stay with the wife so lately his, but as that could
+not be, he asked at last that she go with him to Washington. It might be
+some days before his regiment was ordered to the front, and in that time
+they could enjoy so much. But Helen knew it would not be best, and so
+she declined, promising, however, to come to him whenever he should need
+her.
+
+Swiftly now the last moments went by, and a "Merry Christmas" was said
+by one and another as they took their seats at the plentiful repast Aunt
+Betsy had provided, Mark feasting more on Helen's face than on the
+viands spread before him. It was hard for him to leave her, hard for her
+to let him go, but the duty was imperative, and so when at last the
+frosty air grew keener as the small hours of night crept on, he stood
+with his arms about her, nor thought it unworthy of a soldier that his
+own tears mingled with hers as he bade her good-by, kissing her again
+and again, and calling her his precious wife, whose memory would make
+his camp-life brighter and shorten the days of absence. There was no one
+with them when at last Mark's horse dashed from the yard over the
+creaking snow, leaving Helen alone upon the doorstep, with the
+glittering stars shining above her head and her husband's farewell kiss
+wet upon her lips.
+
+"When shall we meet again?" she sobbed, gazing up at the clear blue sky,
+as if to find the answer there.
+
+But only the December wind sweeping down from the steep hillside, and
+blowing across her forehead, made reply to that questioning, as she
+waited till the last faint sound of Mark Ray's bells died away in the
+distance, and then shivering with cold re-entered the farmhouse.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLVI.
+
+AFTER CHRISTMAS EVE.
+
+
+Merrily rang the bells next day, the sexton deeming it his duty to send
+forth a merry peal in honor of the bride whose husband had remembered
+his boy so liberally. But Helen's heart was very sad as she met the
+smiling faces of her friends, and Mark had never been prayed for more
+earnestly than on that Christmas morning, when Helen knelt at the altar
+rail and received the sacred symbols of a Savior's dying love, asking
+that God would keep the soldier husband, hastening on to New York, and
+from thence to Washington. Much the Silvertonians discussed the wedding,
+nor were these discussions likely to be shortened by the arrival of
+Mattie Tubbs and Tom, who came by the express from New York, both
+surprised at what they heard, and both loud in their praises of Captain
+Ray, "the best and kindest man that ever lived," Tom said, while Mattie
+told fabulous stories of his wealth. Had Helen been the queen she could
+hardly have been stared at more curiously than she was that Christmas
+day, when late in the afternoon she drove through the town with Katy,
+the villagers looking admiringly after her, noting the tie of her
+bonnet, the arrangement of her face trimmings, and discovering in both a
+style and fitness they had never discovered before. As the wife of Mark
+Ray Helen became suddenly a heroine, in whose presence poor Katy
+subsided completely, nor was the interest at all diminished when two
+days later Mrs. Banker came to Silverton and was met at the depot by
+Helen, whom she hugged affectionately, calling her "my dear daughter,"
+and holding her hand all the way to the covered sleigh waiting there for
+her. Further than that the curious ones could not follow, and so they
+did not know how on the road to the farmhouse Mrs. Banker expressed her
+approbation of what her boy had done, acknowledged her own unjust
+suspicions, asking pardon for them, and receiving it in the warm kiss
+Helen pressed upon her offered hand. Mrs. Banker was very fond of Helen,
+and not even the sight of the farmhouse, with its unpolished inmates,
+awakened a feeling of regret that her only son had not looked higher for
+a wife. She was satisfied with her new daughter, and insisted upon
+taking her back to New York.
+
+"I am very lonely now, lonelier than you can possibly be," she said
+to Mrs. Lennox, "and you will not refuse her to me for a few weeks at
+least. It will do us both good, and make the time of Mark's absence so
+much shorter."
+
+"Yes, mother, let Helen go. I will try to fill her place," Katy said,
+though while she said it her heart throbbed with pain and dread as she
+thought how desolate she should be without her sister.
+
+But it was right, and Katy urged Helen's going, thinking how the tables
+were turned since the day when she had been the happy bride to whom
+good-bys were said, instead of the wounded, sore-hearted sister left
+behind, bearing up bravely so long as Helen was in sight, but shedding
+bitter tears when at last she was gone, tears which were only stayed by
+kind old Uncle Ephraim offering to take her to the little grave, where,
+from experience, he knew she always found rest and peace. The winter
+snows were on it now, but Katy, looking at it from the sleigh in which
+she sat, knew just where the daisies were, and the blue violets which
+with the spring would bloom again, feeling comforted as she thought of
+that eternal spring in the bright world above, where her child had
+gone. And so that night, when they gathered again around the fire in the
+pleasant little parlor, the mother and the old people did not miss Helen
+half so much as they should, for Katy sang her sweetest songs and wore
+her sunniest smile, while she told them of Helen's new home, and then
+talked of whatever else she thought would interest and please them.
+
+"Little Sunbeam," Uncle Ephraim called her now, instead of "Katy-did,"
+and in his prayer that first night of Helen's absence he asked, in his
+touching way, "that God would bless his little Sunbeam, and not let her
+grow tired of living there alone with folks so odd and old."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"MARRIED--On Christmas Eve, at St. John's Church, Silverton, Mass., by
+Rev. Mr. Kelly, Captain MARK RAY, of the --th Regiment, N.Y.S.V., to
+Miss HELEN LENNOX, of Silverton."
+
+Such was the announcement which appeared in several of the New York
+papers two days after Christmas, and such the announcement which Bell
+Cameron read at the breakfast table on the morning of the day when Mrs.
+Banker started for Silverton.
+
+"Here is something which will perhaps interest you," she said, passing
+the paper to Juno who had come down late, and was looking cross and
+jaded from the effects of last night's dissipation.
+
+Taking the paper from her sister's hand, Juno glanced carelessly at
+the paragraph indicated by Bell; then, as she caught Mark's name, she
+glanced again with a startled, incredulous look, her cheeks and lips
+turning white as she read that Mark Ray was lost to her forever, and
+that in spite of the stolen letter Helen Lennox was his wife.
+
+"What is it, Juno?" Mrs. Cameron asked, noticing her daughter's
+agitation.
+
+Juno told her what it was, handing her the paper and letting her read it
+for herself.
+
+"Impossible! there is some mistake! How was it brought about?" she
+continued, darting a curious glance at Bell, whose face betrayed nothing
+as she leisurely sipped her coffee, and remarked: "I always thought it
+would come to this, for I knew he liked her. It is a splendid match."
+
+Whatever Juno thought she kept it to herself, just as she kept her room
+the entire day, suffering from a racking headache, and ordering the
+curtains to be dropped, as the light hurt her eyes, she said to Bell,
+who, really pitying her now, never suggested that the darkened room was
+more to hide her tears than to save her eyes, and who sent away all
+callers with the message that Juno was sick--all but Sybil Grandon, who
+insisted so hard upon seeing her dear friend that she was admitted to
+Juno's room, talking at once of the wedding, and making every one of
+Juno's nerves quiver with pain as she descanted upon the splendid match
+it was for Helen, or indeed for any girl.
+
+"I had given you to him," she said, "but I see I was mistaken. It was
+Helen he preferred, unless you jilted him, as perhaps you did."
+
+Here was a temptation Juno could not resist, and she replied, haughtily:
+
+"I am not one to boast of conquests, but ask Captain Ray himself if you
+wish to know why I did not marry him."
+
+Sybil Grandon was not deceived, but she good-naturedly suffered that
+young lady to hope she was, and answered, laughingly: "I can't say I
+honor your judgment in refusing him, but you know best. However, I trust
+that will not prevent your friendly advances toward his bride. Mrs.
+Banker has gone after her, I understand, and I want you to call with me
+as soon as convenient. Mrs. Mark Ray will be the belle of the season,
+depend upon it," and gathering up her furs Mrs. Grandon kissed Juno
+affectionately and then swept from the room.
+
+That Mrs. Cameron had hunted for and failed to find the stolen letter,
+and that she associated its disappearance with Mark Ray's sudden
+marriage, Bell was very sure, from the dark, anxious look upon her face
+when she came from her room, whither she had repaired immediately after
+breakfast, but whatever her suspicions were they did not find form in
+words. Mark was lost. It was too late to help that now, and as a politic
+woman of the world, Mrs. Cameron decided to let the matter rest, and by
+patronizing the young bride prove that she had never thought of Mark
+Ray for her son-in-law. Hence it was that the Cameron carriage and the
+Grandon carriage stood together before Mrs. Banker's door, while the
+ladies who had come in the carriages paid their respects to Mrs. Ray,
+rallying her upon the march she had stolen upon them, telling her how
+delighted they were to have her back again, and hoping they should see a
+great deal of each other during the coming winter.
+
+"You know we are related," Juno said, holding Helen's hand a long time
+at parting, ostensibly to show how very friendly she felt, but really to
+examine and calculate the probable value of the superb diamond which
+shone on Helen's finger, Mark's first gift, left for her with his
+mother, who had presented it for him.
+
+"As diamonds are now, that never cost less than four or five hundred
+dollars," Juno said, as she was discussing the matter with Bell, and
+telling her that Helen had the ring they had admired so much at
+Tiffany's the last time they were there, and then her spiteful, envious
+nature found vent in the remark: "I wonder at Mark's taste when only
+shoddy buy diamonds now."
+
+"Why, then, did you torment father into buying that little pin for you
+the other day?" Bell asked, and Juno replied:
+
+"I have always been accustomed to diamonds and that is a very different
+thing from Helen Lennox putting them on. Did you notice how red and fat
+her fingers were, and rough, too? Positively her hand felt like a nutmeg
+grater."
+
+"You know the fable of the fox and the grapes," Bell said, her gray eyes
+flashing indignantly upon her sister, who, wisely forbore further
+remarks upon Helen's hands and contented herself with wondering if
+people generally would take up Mrs. Ray and honor her as they once did
+Katy.
+
+"Of course they will," she said. "It's like heaps of them to do it," and
+in this conclusion she was not wrong, for those who had liked Helen
+Lennox did not find her less desirable now that she was Helen Ray, and
+numberless were the attentions bestowed upon her and the invitations she
+received.
+
+But with few exceptions Helen declined the latter, feeling that,
+circumstanced as she was, with her husband in so much danger, it was
+better not to mingle much in gay society. She was very happy with Mrs.
+Banker, who petted and caressed and loved her almost as much as if she
+had been an own daughter. Mark's letters, too, which came nearly every
+day, were bright sun spots in her existence, so full were they of tender
+love and kind thoughtfulness for her. He was very happy, he wrote, in
+knowing that at home there was a dear little brown-haired wife, waiting
+and praying for him, and but for the separation from her was well
+content now with a soldier's life. Once when he was stationed for a
+longer time than usual at some point Helen thought seriously of going to
+him for a week or more, but the project was prevented by the sudden
+arrival in New York of Katy, who came one night to Mrs. Banker's, her
+face as white as ashes, and a strange, wild expression in her eyes as
+she said to Helen:
+
+"I am going to Wilford. He is dying. He has sent for me. I ought to go
+on to-night, but cannot, my head aches so," and pressing both her hands
+upon her head Katy sank fainting into Helen's arms.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLVII.
+
+GEORGETOWN HOSPITAL.
+
+
+"GEORGETOWN, February --, 1862.
+
+"MRS. WILFORD CAMERON:
+
+"Your husband cannot live long. Come immediately.
+
+"M. HAZELTON."
+
+So read the telegram received by Katy one winter morning, when her eyes
+were swollen with weeping over Morris' letter, which had come the
+previous night, telling her how circumstances which seemed providential
+had led him to the hospital where her husband was, and where, too, was
+Marian Hazelton.
+
+"I did not think it advisable to visit your husband at first," he wrote,
+"while Miss Hazelton, who had recently been transferred to this
+hospital, also kept out of the way. Nor was it necessary that either of
+us should minister to him there, for he was not thought very ill. 'Only
+a slight touch of rheumatism, and a low, nervous fever,' said the
+attending physician, of whom I inquired. Latterly, however, the fever
+has increased to a fearful extent, seating itself upon the brain, so
+that he knows neither myself nor Miss Hazelton, both of whom are with
+him. She, because she would be here where she heard of danger, and I
+because his case was given into my charge. So I am with him now, writing
+by his side, while he lies sleeping quietly, and Miss Hazelton bends
+over him, bathing his burning head. He does not know her, but he talks
+of Katy, who he says is dead and buried across the sea. Will you come to
+him, Katy? Your presence may save his life. Telegraph when you leave New
+York, and I will meet you at the depot."
+
+It is not strange that this letter, followed so soon by the telegram
+from Marian, should crush one as delicate as Katy, or that for a few
+minutes she should have been stunned with the shock, so as neither to
+feel nor think. But the reaction came soon enough, bringing with it only
+the remembrance of Wilford's love. All the wrong, the harshness, was
+forgotten, and only the desire remained to fly at once to Wilford,
+talking of her in his delirium. Bravely she kept up until New York was
+reached, but once where Helen was, the tension of her nerves gave way,
+and she fainted, so we have seen.
+
+At Father Cameron's that night there were troubled, anxious faces, for
+they, too, had heard of Wilford's danger. But the mother could not go to
+him. A lung difficulty, to which she was subject, had confined her to
+the house for many days, and so it was the father and Bell who made
+their hasty preparations for the hurried journey to Georgetown. They
+heard of Katy's arrival and Bell came at once to see her.
+
+"She will not be able to join us to-morrow," was the report Bell carried
+home, for she saw more than mere exhaustion from fatigue and fainting in
+the white face lying so motionless on Helen's pillow, with the dark
+rings about the eyes, and the quiver of the muscles about the mouth.
+
+The morrow found that Bell was right, for Katy could not rise, but lay
+like some crushed flower still on Helen's bed, moaning softly:
+
+"It is very hard, but God knows best."
+
+"Yes, darling, God knows best," Helen answered, smoothing the bright
+hair, and thinking sadly of the young officer sitting by his camp-fire,
+and waiting so eagerly for the bride who could not go to him now. "God
+knows what is best, and does all for the best."
+
+Katy said it many times that long, long week, during which she stayed an
+invalid in Helen's room, living from day to day upon the letters sent by
+Bell, who had gone on to Georgetown with her father, and who gave but
+little hope that Wilford would recover. Not a word did she say of
+Marian, and only twice did she mention Morris, so that when at last Katy
+was strong enough to venture on the journey, she had but little idea of
+what had transpired in Wilford's sickroom.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Those were sad, weary days which Wilford first passed upon his hospital
+cot, and as he was not sick but crippled, he had ample time for
+reviewing the past, which came up before his mind as vividly as if he
+had been living again the scenes of bygone days. Of Katy he thought
+continually, blaming himself much, but so strong was his pride and
+selfishness, blaming her more for the trouble which had come upon them.
+Why need she have taken the Genevra matter so to heart, going with it to
+Morris and so bringing him into his present disagreeable situation. He
+did not mean to be unjust or unkind toward Katy, but he looked upon her
+as the direct cause of his being where he was. Had she never been seen
+in the cars with Morris, he should not have left home as he did, and
+might anticipate going back without a flush of shame and a dread of
+meeting old friends, who would think less of him than they used to do. A
+thousand times Wilford had repented of his rashness, but never by a word
+had he admitted such repentance to any living being, and when on the
+dark, rainy afternoon which first saw him in the hospital, he turned his
+face to the wall and wept, he replied to one who said to him soothingly:
+
+"Don't feel badly, my young friend. We will take as good care of you
+here as if you were at home."
+
+"It's the pain which brings the tears. I'd as soon be here as at home."
+
+Gradually, however, there came a change, and Wilford grew softer in his
+feelings, longing for home, or for the sight of a familiar face, and
+half resolving more than once to send for Katy, who had offered to come,
+and to whom he had replied: "It is not necessary." But as often as he
+resolved his evil genius whispered: "She does not care to come here,"
+and so the message was never sent, while the longing for home faces
+brought on a nervous fever, which made him so irritable that his
+attendants sometimes turned from him in disgust, thinking him the most
+unreasonable man they had ever met. Once he dreamed Genevra was
+there--that she came to him just as she was in her beautiful
+girlhood--that her fingers threaded his hair as they used to do in their
+happy days at Brighton--that her hand was on his brow, her breath upon
+his face, and with a start he awoke just as the rustle of female
+garments died away in the hall.
+
+"The new nurse in the second ward has been in here," a comrade said.
+"She seemed specially interested in you, and if she had not been a
+stranger I should have said she was crying over you."
+
+With a quick, sudden movement Wilford put his hand to his cheek, where
+there was a tear, either his own or that of the "new nurse," who had so
+recently bent over him. Retaining the same proud reserve which had
+characterized his whole life, he asked no questions, but listened
+intently to what his sick companions were saying of the beauty and
+tenderness of the young girl, they called her, who had glided for a few
+moments into their presence, winning their hearts in that short space of
+time, and making them wish she would come back again. Wilford wished so
+too, conjuring up all sorts of conjectures about the unknown nurse, and
+once going so far as to fancy it was Katy herself. But this idea was
+soon dismissed. Katy would hardly venture there as a nurse, and if she
+did she would not keep aloof from him. It was not Katy, and if not, who
+was it that twice when he was sleeping came and looked at him, his
+comrades said, rallying him upon the conquest he had made, and so
+exciting his imagination that the fever which at first was hardly
+observable began to increase, and the blood throbbed hotly through his
+veins, while his brows were knit together with thoughts of the
+mysterious stranger. Then with a great shock it occurred to him that
+Katy had affirmed:
+
+"Genevra is alive, I have seen her. I recognized the picture at once."
+
+What if it were so, and this nurse was Genevra? The very thought fired
+Wilford's brain, and when next his physician came he looked with some
+alarm upon the great change for the worse exhibited by his patient. That
+surgeon's forte was more in dressing ghastly wounds than in subduing
+fever, and as he held Wilford's hand, he said:
+
+"You have a fever, my friend, and it is increasing fast. Perhaps you
+would like to see our new physician, Dr. Grant. He is great on fevers."
+
+"Dr. Grant--Dr. Morris Grant?" Wilford exclaimed, starting up in bed
+with a fierce energy which surprised the surgeon.
+
+"Yes, Dr. Morris Grant, from Massachusetts," the latter replied, his
+surprise increasing when Wilford rejoined:
+
+"Send Satan himself sooner than he. I hate him."
+
+The words dropped hissingly from the firmly set teeth, and Wilford fell
+back upon his pillow, exhausted with excitement and anger that Morris
+Grant should be there in the same building and offered as his physician.
+
+"Never while my reason lasts," he whispered to himself, with hatred of
+Morris growing more intense with every beat of his wiry pulse.
+
+Wilford was very sick, and when next the surgeon came around he knew by
+the bright, restless eyes that reason was tottering.
+
+"Shall I send for your friends?" he asked, and Wilford answered,
+savagely:
+
+"I have no friends--none, at least, but what will be glad to know I'm
+dead."
+
+And that was the last, except the wild words of a maniac, which came
+from Wilford's lips for many a day and night. When they said he was
+dangerous, Marian Hazelton the "new nurse," sought and obtained
+permission to attend him, and again the eyes of the other occupants of
+the room were turned wonderingly toward her as she bent over the sick
+man, parting his matted hair, smoothing his tumbled pillow, and holding
+the cooling draught to the parched lips which muttered strange things in
+her ear, talking of Brighton, of Alnwick and Rome--of the heather on the
+Scottish moors, and the daisies on Genevra's grave, where Katy once sat
+down.
+
+"She did not know Genevra was there," he said. "She never guessed there
+was a Genevra; but I knew, and I felt almost as if the dead were wronged
+by that act of Katy's. Do you know Katy?" and his black eyes fastened
+upon Marian, who, with the strange power she possessed over her
+patients, soothed him into quiet, while she told him she knew Katy, and
+talked to him of her, telling of her graceful beauty, her loving heart,
+and the sorrow she would feel when she heard how sick he was.
+
+"Shall I send for her?" she asked, but Wilford answered:
+
+"No, I am satisfied with you," and holding her hand he fell away to
+sleep.
+
+This was the first day of her being with him, but there were other days
+when he was not so quiet, when all her strength and that of Morris, who,
+at her earnest solicitation, came to her aid, was required to keep him
+on his bed. He was going home, he said, going back to Katy's; he had
+punished her long enough, and like a giant he writhed under a force
+superior to his own, and which held him down and controlled him, while
+his loud outcries filled the buildings, and sent a shudder to the hearts
+of those who heard them. As the two men, who at first had occupied the
+room with him, were well enough to leave for home, Marian and Morris
+both begged that unless absolutely necessary no other one should he sent
+to that small apartment, where all the air was needed for the patient in
+their charge. And thus the room was left alone for Wilford, who grew
+worse so fast that Morris wrote to Katy, while Marian followed the
+letter with a telegram, bidding her come at once.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Slowly the wintry night was passing, the fifth since Morris' letter was
+sent to Katy, and Morris sat by Wilford's cot, wondering if the morning
+would bring her to him, when suddenly he met Wilford's eyes fixed upon
+him with a look of recognition he could not mistake.
+
+"Do you know me?" he asked, so kindly and with so much of genuine
+sympathy in his voice that the heavy eyelids quivered for an instant, as
+Wilford nodded his head, and whispered:
+
+"Dr. Grant."
+
+There had been a momentary flash of resentment when he saw who was the
+watcher beside him, but Wilford was too weak, too helpless to cherish
+that feeling long, and besides there were floating through his still
+bewildered mind visions of some friendly hand, which had ministered to
+him daily, of a voice and form, distinct from the one he thought an
+angel's, and which was not there now with him. That voice, that form, he
+felt sure belonged to Morris Grant, and remembering his past harshness
+toward him, a chord of gratitude was touched, and when Morris took his
+hand he did not at once withdraw it, but let his long, white fingers
+cling around the warm, vigorous ones, which seemed to impart new life
+and strength.
+
+"You have been very sick," Morris said, anticipating the question
+Wilford would ask, "You are very sick still, and at the request of your
+nurse I came to attend you."
+
+A pressure of the hand was Wilford's reply, and then there was silence
+between them, while Wilford mastered all his pride, and with quivering
+lips whispered:
+
+"Katy."
+
+"We have sent for her. We expect her every train," Morris replied, and
+Wilford asked:
+
+"Who is we? Who has been with me--the nurse, I mean? Who is she?"
+
+Morris hesitated a moment, and then said:
+
+"Marian Hazelton--she who took care of baby."
+
+"I know--yes," Wilford said, having no suspicion as to who was the woman
+standing now just outside his door, and listening, with a throbbing
+heart, to his rational questions.
+
+In all their vigils held together no sign had ever passed from Dr.
+Grant to Marian that he knew her, but he had waited anxiously for this
+moment, knowing well that in his present state Wilford must not be
+shocked, as a sight of Marian would shock him. He knew she was outside
+the door, and as Wilford turned his head upon the pillow, he went to
+her, and leading her to a safe distance, said softly:
+
+"His reason has returned."
+
+"And my services, then, are ended," Marian rejoined, looking him
+steadily in the face, but not in the least prepared for his affirmative
+question:
+
+"You are Genevra Lambert?"
+
+There was a low, gasping sound, and Marian staggered forward a step or
+two, then steadying herself, she said:
+
+"And if I am, it surely is not best for him to see me. You would not
+advise it?"
+
+She looked wistfully at Morris, the great desire to be recognized, to be
+spoken to kindly by the man who once had been her husband overmastering
+for a moment all her prudence.
+
+"It would not be best, both for his sake and Katy's," Morris said,
+reading her thoughts aright, and with a moan like the dying out of her
+last hope, Marian turned away, her eyes dim with tears and her heart
+heavy with a sense of something lost, as in the gray dawn of the morning
+she went back to her former patients, who hailed her coming with
+childish joy, one fair young boy from the Granite hills kissing the hand
+which bandaged his poor crushed arm so tenderly, and thanking her that
+she had returned to him again.
+
+She had not asked Dr. Grant how much he knew of her story, or where he
+had learned it. She was satisfied that he did know it, and she left her
+case in his hands, wondering if at any time Wilford had been conscious
+of her presence as a nurse, and if he would miss her any. He did miss
+her, but he made no comment, and when, as the morning advanced, another
+nurse appeared, he said to himself:
+
+"Surely this cannot be Miss Hazelton," but asked no questions of any
+kind, and Marian's heart grew heavier when in answer to her inquiry,
+Morris said: "He has not mentioned you."
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Mr. J. Cameron, Miss Bell Cameron," were the names on the cards sent to
+Dr. Grant late that afternoon, and in a few moments he was with the
+father and sister asking so anxiously for Wilford and explaining why
+Katy was not with them.
+
+Wilford was sleeping when they entered his room, his face looking so
+worn and thin, and his hands folded so helplessly upon his breast, that
+with a gush of tears Bell knelt beside him and laying her warm cheek
+against his bony one, woke him with her sobs. For a moment he seemed
+bewildered, then recognising her, he raised his feeble arm and winding
+it about her neck, kissed her more tenderly than he had ever done
+before. He had not been demonstrative of his affection for his sisters.
+But Bell was his favorite, and he held her close to him while his eyes
+moved past his father, whom he did not see, on to the door as if in
+quest of some one. It was Katy, and, guessing his thoughts, Bell said:
+
+"She is not here. She could not come now. She is sick in New York, but
+will join us in a few days."
+
+There was a look of intense disappointment in Wilford's face, which even
+his father's warm greeting could not dissipate, and Morris saw the great
+tears as they dropped upon the pillow, the proud man trying hard to
+repress them, and asking no questions concerning any one at home. He was
+too weak to talk, but he held Bell's hand firmly in his as if afraid
+that she would leave him, while his eyes rested alternately upon her
+face and that of his father, who, wholly unmanned at the fearful change
+in his son, laid his head upon the bed and cried aloud.
+
+Next morning Bell was very white and her voice trembled as she sought
+her brother's side and asked how he had rested. She had come from a
+conference with Dr. Morris, who had told her that her brother would die.
+
+"He may live a week and he may not," he said, adding solemnly: "As his
+sister you will tell him of his danger while there is time to seek the
+refuge without which death is terrible."
+
+"Oh, if I could only pray with and for him," Bell thought, as she went
+next to her brother, mourning her misspent days, and feeling her courage
+giving way when at last she stood in his presence and met his kindly
+smile.
+
+"I dreamed it was all a dream," he said, "and that you were not here
+after all. I am so glad to find it real. How long before I can go home,
+do you suppose?"
+
+He had stumbled upon the very thing Bell was there to talk about, his
+question indicating that he had no suspicion of the truth. Nor had he,
+and it came like a thunderbolt, when Bell, forgetting all her prudence,
+said impetuously:
+
+"Oh, Wilford, maybe you'll never go home. Maybe you'll--"
+
+"Not die!" Wilford exclaimed, clasping his hands with sudden emotion.
+"Not die, you don't mean that. Who told you so? Who said I was near to
+death?"
+
+"Dr. Grant," was Bell's reply, which brought a fierce frown to Wilford's
+face, and awoke all the angry passions of his heart.
+
+"Dr. Grant," he repeated. "He says so because he wishes it. He would
+like me removed from his path, but it shall not be. I will not die. Tell
+him that. I will not die," and Wilford's voice was hoarse with passion
+as he raised his clinched fists in the air.
+
+He was terribly excited, and in her fright Bell ran for Dr. Grant. But
+Wilford motioned him back, hurling after him words which kept him from
+the room the entire day, while the sick man rolled, and tossed, and
+raved in the delirium, which had returned, and which wore him out so
+fast. No one had the least influence over him except Marian Hazelton,
+who, without a glance at Mr. Cameron or Bell, glided to his side, and
+with her presence and gentle words soothed him into comparative quiet,
+so that the bitter denunciations against the saint who wanted him to
+die, ceased, and he fell into a troubled sleep.
+
+Smoothing his pillow, and arranging the bedclothes tidily about him,
+Marian turned to meet the eyes of both Mr. Cameron and Bell fixed
+curiously upon her. With a strange feeling of interest they had watched
+her, both feeling an aversion to addressing her, and both wondering if
+she were indeed Genevra, as Katy had affirmed. They would not ask her,
+and both breathed more freely when, with a bow in acknowledgment of Mr.
+Cameron's compliment to her skill in quieting his son, she left the
+room.
+
+Neither said what they thought of her, nor was her name once mentioned,
+but she was not for a moment absent from their minds as they from choice
+sat that night with Wilford, who slept off his delirium, and lay with
+his face turned from them, so that they could not guess by its
+expression what was passing in his mind.
+
+All the next day he maintained the most frigid silence, answering only
+in monosyllables, while Bell kept wiping away the great drops of sweat
+constantly oozing out upon his forehead and about the pallid lips.
+
+Just at nightfall he startled Bell by asking that Dr. Grant be sent for.
+
+"Please leave me alone with him," he said, when Dr. Morris came; then
+turning to Morris, as the door closed upon his father and his sister, he
+said, abruptly:
+
+"Pray for me, if you can pray for one who yesterday hated you so for
+saying he must die."
+
+Earnestly, fervently, Morris prayed, as for a dear brother, and when he
+finished Wilford's faint "amen" sounded through the room.
+
+"I am not right yet," the pale lips whispered, as Morris sat down beside
+him. "Not right with God, I mean. I've sometimes said there was no God,
+but I did not believe it, and now I know there is. He has been moving
+upon me all the day, driving out my bitterness toward you, and causing
+me to send for you at last. Do you think there is hope for me? I have
+much to be forgiven."
+
+"Though your sins be as scarlet they shall be white as snow," Morris
+replied; and then, oh, how earnestly he tried to point that erring man
+to the Lamb of God, who taketh away the sins of the world, convincing
+him that there was hope even for him, and leaving him with the
+conviction that God would surely finish the good work begun, nor suffer
+this soul to be lost which had turned to Him even at the eleventh hour.
+
+Wilford knew his days were numbered, and he talked freely of it to his
+father and sister the next morning when they came to him. He did not say
+that he was ready or willing to die, only that he must, and he asked
+them to forget, when he was gone, all that had ever been amiss in him as
+a son and brother.
+
+"I was too proud, too selfish, to make others happy," he said. "I
+thought it all over yesterday, and the past came back again so vividly,
+especially the part connected with Katy. Oh, Katy, I did abuse her!" and
+a bitter sob attested the genuineness of Wilford's grief for his
+treatment of Katy. "I thought because I took her from a lower walk of
+life than mine, that she was bound by every tie of gratitude to do just
+what I said, and I set myself at work to crush her every feeling and
+impulse which savored of her early home. I despised her family, I
+treated them with contempt. I broke Katy's heart, and now I must die
+without telling her I am sorry. But you'll tell her, father, and you,
+too, Bell, how, dying, I tried to pray, but could not for thought of my
+sin to her. She will not be glad that I am dead. I know her better than
+to think that; and I believe she loves me. But, after I am gone, and the
+duties of the world have closed up the gap I shall leave, I see a
+brighter future for her than her past has been; and you may tell her I
+am--" He could not then say "I am willing."
+
+Few husbands could have done so then, and he was not an exception.
+
+Wholly exhausted he lay quiet for a moment, and when he spoke again it
+was of Genevra. Even here he did not try to screen himself. He was the
+one to blame, he said. Genevra was true, was innocent, as he ascertained
+too late.
+
+"Would you like to see her if she were living?" came to Bell's lips, but
+the fear that it would be too great a shock prevented their utterance.
+
+He had no suspicion of her presence, and it was best he should not. Katy
+was the one uppermost in his mind, and in the letter Bell sent to her
+the next day, he tried to write: "Good-by, my darling," but the words
+were scarcely legible, and his nerveless hand fell helpless at his side
+as he said:
+
+"She will never know the effort it cost me, nor hear me say that I hope
+I am forgiven. It came to me last night, the peace for which I've sought
+so long, and Dr. Grant has prayed, and now the way is not so dark, but
+Katy will not know."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLVIII.
+
+LAST HOURS.
+
+
+Katy would know, for she was coming to him on the morrow, as a brief
+telegram announced, and Wilford's face grew brighter with thoughts of
+seeing her. He knew when the train was due, and with nervous
+restlessness he asked repeatedly what time it was, reducing the hours to
+minutes, and counting his own pulses to see if he would last so long.
+
+"Save me, doctor," he whispered to Morris. "Keep me alive till Katy
+comes. I must see Katy again."
+
+And Morris, tenderer than a brother, did all he could to keep the feeble
+breath from going out ere Katy came.
+
+"I must have clean linen on my bed and on my person, too," Wilford said,
+"for Katy is coming, and I must not look repulsive."
+
+The clean white linen was brought, and when it was arranged a smile of
+childish satisfaction crept around the lips, as Wilford said:
+
+"Katy can kiss me now. She is not accustomed to hospital fare, you
+know."
+
+His mind seemed slightly to wander; but when the hour came for the
+arrival of the train he knew it, asking, eagerly:
+
+"Do you suppose she's come?" and straining his ear to catch the sound of
+the distant whistle. Dr, Morris had gone to meet her, and the time fled
+on apace until at last his step was heard, and Wilford, lifting up his
+head, listened for that other step, which, alas! was not there.
+
+"The train is behind time several hours," was Morris' report, and with
+a moan Wilford turned away and wept, thinking by some strange chance of
+that day when at the farmhouse others had waited for Katy as he was
+doing, and waited, too, in vain.
+
+Truly, they of the farmhouse were avenged, for never had they felt so
+bitter a pang as Wilford did when he knew Katy had not come.
+
+"It's right," he said, when he could trust himself to speak; "but I did
+want to see her. Tell her I am willing."
+
+The last seemed wrung from him almost against his will, and drops of
+sweat stood thickly upon his brow. Only Bell and her father guessed what
+he meant by being willing. Morris had no idea, but he wiped the
+death-sweat away, and said, soothingly:
+
+"Be quiet, and you may see her yet. She will surely come by and by."
+
+Thus reassured, Wilford grew calm and fell asleep, while the watchers by
+his side waited anxiously for the first sound which should herald the
+arrival of the train.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+It was dark in the hospital, and from every window a light was shining,
+when Morris carried rather than led a quivering figure up the stairs and
+through the hall, where, in a corner, Marian Hazelton's white face
+looked out upon him, her hands clasped over her heart, and working
+nervously as she watched Katy going where she must not go--going to the
+room where the Camerons were, the father standing at the foot of
+Wilford's bed, and Bell bending over his pillow, administering the
+stimulants which kept her brother alive. When Katy came in, she moved
+away, as did her father, while Morris, too, stepped back into the hall,
+and thus the husband and wife were left alone in this their first
+meeting since the parting at Yonkers nearly one year ago.
+
+"Katy, precious Katy, you have forgiven me?" he whispered, and the rain
+of tears and kisses on his face was Katy's answer as she hung over him.
+
+She had forgiven him like a true, faithful wife, and she told him so,
+when she found voice to talk, wondering to find him so changed from the
+proud, exacting, self-worshiping man, to the humble, repentant and
+self-accusing person, who took all blame of the past to himself, and
+exonerated her from every fault. But when he drew her close to him, and
+whispered something in her ear, she knew whence came the change, and a
+reverent "Thank the Good Father," dropped from her lips.
+
+"The way was dark and thorny," Wilford said, making her sit down where
+he could see her as he talked, "and only for God's goodness I should
+have lost the path. But he sent one Morris Grant to point the road, and
+I trust I am in it now. I wanted to see you before I died, to tell you
+with my own lips how sorry I am for what I have made you suffer; but
+sorriest of all for sending Baby away. Oh, Katy, you do not know how
+that rested upon my conscience, or how often in my sleep upon the tented
+plain or hillside I have felt again the touch of Baby's arms and Baby's
+cheek against my own as I felt it that day when I came home and took her
+from you. Forgive me, Katy, that I robbed you of your child."
+
+He was growing very weak, and he looked so white and ghastly that Katy
+called for Bell, who came at once, as did her father, and the three
+stood together around the bedside of the dying, Katy with his cold hand
+in hers, and occasionally bending down to hear his whispered words of
+love and deep contrition.
+
+"You will remember me, Katy," he said, "but you cannot mourn for me
+always, and some time in the future you will cease to be my widow, and,
+Katy, I am willing. I wanted to tell you this so that no thought of me
+should keep you from a life where you will be happier than I have made
+you."
+
+Wholly bewildered, Katy made no reply, and Wilford was silent a few
+moments, in which he seemed partially asleep. Then rousing up, he said:
+
+"You wrote me once that Genevra was not dead. Did you mean it, Katy?"
+
+Frightened and bewildered, Katy turned appealingly to her father-in-law,
+who answered for her; "She meant it--Genevra is not dead," while a
+blood-red flush stained Wilford's face, and his thin fingers beat the
+bedspread thoughtfully.
+
+"I fancied once that she was here--that she was the nurse the boys
+praise so much. But that was a delusion," he said, and without a thought
+of the result, Katy asked, impetuously: "If she were here would you care
+to see her?"
+
+There was a startled look on Wilford's face, and he grasped Katy's hand
+nervously, his frame trembling with a dread of the great shock which he
+felt impending over him.
+
+"Is she here? Was the nurse Genevra?" he asked, then as his mind went
+back to the past, he answered his own question by asserting: "Marian
+Hazelton is Genevra."
+
+They did not contradict him, nor did he ask to see her. With Katy there,
+he felt he had better not, but after a moment he continued: "It is all
+so strange; I do not comprehend how it can be. She has been kind to me.
+Tell her I thank her for it. I was unjust to her. I have much to answer
+for."
+
+Between each word he uttered now there was a gasp for breath, and Father
+Cameron opened the window wide to admit the cool night air. But nothing
+had power to revive him. He was going very fast, Morris said, as he took
+his stand by the bedside and watched the approach of death. There were
+no convulsive struggles, only heavy breathings, which grew farther and
+farther apart, until at last Wilford drew Katy close to him, and winding
+his arm around her neck, whispered:
+
+"I am almost home, my darling, and all is well. Be kind to Genevra for
+my sake. I loved her once, but not as I love you."
+
+He never spoke again, and a few minutes later Morris led Katy from the
+room, and then went out to give his orders for the embalming of the
+body.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+In the little room she called her own, Marian Hazelton sat, her
+beautiful hair disordered, and her eyes dim with the tears she had shed.
+She knew that Wilford was dead, for Morris had told her so, and as if
+his dying had brought back all her olden love, she wept bitterly for the
+man who had so darkened her life. She did not know that at the last he
+knew she was so near. She had not expected to see him with Katy present;
+but now that it was over, she might go to him. There could be no harm in
+that. No one but Morris would know who she was, she thought, and she was
+making up her mind to go, when there came a timid knock upon the door,
+and Katy entered, her face very pale, her manner very calm, as she came
+to Marian, and kneeling down beside her, laid her head in her lap with
+the air of a weary child who has sought its mother for rest.
+
+"Poor little Katy!" Marian said, caressing her golden hair. "Your
+husband, they tell me, is dead."
+
+"Yes," and Katy lifted up her head, and fixing her eves earnestly upon
+Marian, continued: "Wilford is dead, but before he died he left a
+message for Genevra Lambert. Will she hear it now?"
+
+With a sudden start, Marian sprang to her feet, and holding Katy from
+her, demanded: "Who told you of Genevra Lambert, and when?"
+
+"Wilford told me months ago, showing me her picture, which I readily
+recognized," was Katy's answer, and a flush of fear and shame came to
+Marian's cheek as she continued:
+
+"Did he tell you all? And do you hate me as a vile, polluted creature?"
+
+"Hate you, Marian? No. I have pitied you so much, knowing you were
+innocent. Wilford told me all, but he thought you were dead," Katy said,
+flinching a little before Marian's burning gaze, which fascinated even,
+while it startled her.
+
+It is not often two women meet bearing to each other the relations
+these two bore, and it is not strange that both felt constrained and
+embarrassed as they stood looking at each other. As Marian's was the
+stronger nature, so she was the first to rally, and with the tears
+swimming in her eyes she drew Katy closely to her, and said:
+
+"Now that he is gone I am glad you know it. Mine has been a sad, sad
+life, but God has helped me bear it. You say he believed me dead. Some
+time I will tell you how that came about; but now, his message--he left
+one, you say?"
+
+Carefully Katy repeated every word Wilford had said, and with a gasping
+cry Marian wound her arms around her neck, exclaiming:
+
+"And you will love me, not because he did once, but because I have
+suffered so much? You will let me call you Katy when we are alone? It
+brings you nearer to me."
+
+Marian was now the weaker of the two, and it was Katy's task to comfort
+her, as, sinking back in her chair, she sobbed:
+
+"He did love me once. He acknowledged it at the last, before them all,
+his wife, his father and his sister. Do they know?" she suddenly asked,
+and when assured that they did, she relapsed into a silent mood, while
+Katy stole quietly out and left her there alone.
+
+Half an hour later a female form passed hurriedly through the hall and
+across the threshold into the chamber where the dead man lay. There was
+no one with him now, and Marian was free to weep out the pent-up sorrow
+of her life, which she did with choking sobs and passionate words poured
+into the ear deaf now to every human sound. A step upon the floor
+startled her, and turning around she stood face to face with Wilford's
+father, who was regarding her with a look which she mistook for one of
+reproof and displeasure that she should be there thus.
+
+"Forgive me," she said, wringing her hands together. "I know how you
+despise me, but he was my husband once, and surely now that he is dead
+you will not begrudge me a few last moments with him for the sake of the
+days when he loved me."
+
+There were many tender chords in the heart of Father Cameron, and
+offering Marian his hand, he said:
+
+"Far be it from me to refuse you this privilege. I pity you, Genevra,
+for I believe he dealt unjustly by you--but I will not censure him now
+that he is gone. He was my only boy. Oh, Wilford, Wilford. You have left
+me very lonely."
+
+He released her hand, and Marian fled away, meeting next with Bell, who
+felt that she must speak to her, but was puzzled what to say. Bell could
+not define her feelings toward Marian, or why she shrank from
+approaching her. It was not pride, but rather a feeling of prejudice, as
+if Marian were in some way to blame for all the trouble which had come
+to them, while her peculiar position as the divorced wife of her brother
+made it the more embarrassing. But she could not resist the mute
+pleading of the eyes lifted so tearfully to her, as if asking for
+a nod of recognition, and stopping before her she said, softly:
+
+"Genevra."
+
+That was all, but it made Genevra's tears flow in torrents, and she
+involuntarily held her hand out to Bell, who took it, and holding it
+between her own, said:
+
+"You were very kind to my brother. I thank you for it, and will tell my
+mother, who will feel so grateful to you."
+
+This was a good deal for Bell to say, and after it was said, she
+hastened away, while Marian went on her daily round of duties, speaking
+softer, if possible, to her patients that day, and causing them to
+wonder what had come over that sweet face to make it so white and
+tear-stained. That night in Marian's room Katy sat and listened to what
+she did not before know of the strange story kept from her so long.
+Candidly Marian confirmed all Wilford had told, breathing no word of
+blame against him now that he was dead, only stating facts, and leaving
+Katy to draw her own conclusions. Herself she censured much for
+fostering that fondness for admiration so irritating to a jealous man
+like Wilford.
+
+"I knew that I was handsome," she said, "and I liked to test my power;
+but for that weakness I have been sorely punished. I had not at first
+any intention of making him believe that I was dead, and when I sent the
+paper containing the announcement of father's death I was not aware that
+it also contained the death of my cousin, a beautiful girl just my age,
+who bore our grandmother's name of Genevra, and about whom and a young
+English lord, who had hunted one season in her father's neighborhood,
+there were some scandalous reports. Afterward it occurred to me that
+Wilford would see that notice and naturally think it referred to me,
+inasmuch as he knew nothing of my Cousin Genevra, she having spent much
+of her time in the northern part of Scotland, and he never inquired
+particularly about my relatives.
+
+"It was just as well, I said, I was dead to him, and I took a strange
+satisfaction in wondering if he would care. Incidentally I heard that
+the postmaster at Alnwick had been written to by an American gentleman,
+who asked if such a person as Genevra Lambert was buried at St. Mary's;
+and then I knew he believed me dead, even though the name appended to
+the letter was not Wilford Cameron, nor was the writing his, for, as the
+cousin of the dead Genevra. I asked to see the letter, and my request
+was granted. It was Mrs. Cameron who wrote it, I am sure, at the
+instigation, probably, of her son, signing a feigned name and bidding
+the postmaster answer to that address. He did so, assuring the inquirer
+that Genevra Lambert was buried there, and wondering to me if the young
+American who seemed interested in her could have been a lover of the
+unfortunate girl.
+
+"I was now alone in the world, for the aunt with whom my childhood was
+passed died soon after my father, and so I went at last to learn a trade
+on the Isle of Wight, emigrating from thence to New York, with the
+determination in my rebellious heart that some time, when it would cut
+the deepest, I would show myself to the proud Camerons, whom I so
+cordially hated. This was before God had found me, or rather before I
+had listened to the still, small voice which took the hard, vindictive
+feelings away, and made me feel kindly toward the mother and sisters
+when I saw them, as I often used to do, driving gayly by. Wilford was
+sometimes with them, and the sight of him always sent the hot blood
+surging through my heart. But the greatest shock I ever had came to me
+when I heard from your sister of his approaching marriage with you.
+Those were terrible days that I passed at the farmhouse, working on your
+bridal _trousseau_; and sometimes I thought it more than I could bear.
+Had you been other than the little, loving, confiding, trustful girl you
+were, I must at some time have disclosed the whole, and told that you
+would not be the first who had stood at the altar with Wilford. But pity
+for you, whom I knew loved him so much, kept me silent, and you became
+his wife.
+
+"Of what has happened since you know--except, indeed, how hard it was
+sometimes for poor, weak human nature to see you as happy as you were at
+first, and then contrast my lot with yours. I loved your baby almost as
+much as if it had been my own, and when it died there was nothing to
+bind me to the North, and so I came here, where I hope I have done some
+good; at least, I was here to care for Wilford, and that is a sufficient
+reward for all the toil which falls to the lot of a hospital nurse. I
+shall stay until the war is ended, and then go I know not where. It will
+not be best for us to meet very often, for though we may and do respect
+each other, neither can forget the past, or that one was the lawful,
+the other the divorced, wife of the same man. I have loved you, Katy
+Cameron, for your uniform kindness shown to the poor dressmaker. I shall
+always love you, but our paths lie widely apart. Your future I can
+predict, but mine God only knows."
+
+Marian had said all she meant to say, and all Katy came to hear. The
+latter was to leave in the morning, and when they would meet again
+neither could tell. Few were the parting words they spoke, for the great
+common sorrow welling up from their hearts; but when at last they said
+good-by, the bond of friendship between them was more strongly cemented
+than ever, and Katy long remembered Marian's parting words:
+
+"God bless you, Katy Cameron! You have been a bright sun spot in my
+existence since I first knew you, even though you have stirred some of
+the worst impulses of my nature. I am a better woman for having known
+you. God bless you, Katy Cameron!"
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER XLIX.
+
+MOURNING.
+
+
+The grand funeral which Mrs. Cameron once had planned for Katy was a
+reality at last, but the breathless form lying so cold and still in the
+darkened rooms at No. ---- Fifth Avenue was not Katy's, but that of a
+soldier embalmed--an only son brought back to his father's house amid
+sadness and tears. They had taken him there rather than to his own
+house, because it was the wish of his mother, who, however hard and
+selfish she might be to others, had loved and idolized her son, mourning
+for him truly, and forgetting in her grief to care how grand the funeral
+was, and feeling only a passing twinge when told that Mrs. Lennox had
+come from Silverton to pay the last tribute of respect to her late
+son-in-law. Some little comfort it was to have her boy lauded as a
+faithful soldier and to hear the commendations lavished upon him during
+the time he lay in state, with his uniform around him; but when the
+whole was over, and in the gray of the wintry afternoon her husband
+returned from burying his son, there came over her a feeling of such
+desolation as she had never known--a feeling which drove her at last to
+the little room upstairs, where sat a lonely man, his head bowed upon
+his hands, and his tears dropping silently upon the hearthstone as he,
+too, thought of the vacant parlor below and the new-made grave at
+Greenwood.
+
+"Oh, husband, comfort me, for our only boy is dead," fell from her lips
+as she tottered to her husband, who opened his arms to receive her,
+forgetting all the years which had made her the cold, proud woman, who
+needed no sympathy, and remembering only that bright, green summer when
+she was first his bride, and came to him for comfort in every little
+grievance, just as now she came in this great, crushing sorrow.
+
+He did not tell her she was reaping what she had sown, that but for her
+pride and deception concerning Genevra, Wilford might never have gone to
+the war, or they been without a son. He did not reproach her at all, but
+soothed her tenderly, calling her even by her maiden name, and awkwardly
+smoothing her hair, silvered now with gray, feeling for a moment that
+Wilford had not died in vain, if by his dying he gave back to his father
+the wife so lost during the many years since fashion and folly had been
+the idols she worshiped. But the habits of years could not be lightly
+broken, and Mrs. Cameron's mind soon became absorbed in the richness of
+her mourning, and the strict etiquette of her mourning days. To Katy she
+was very kind, caressing her with unwonted affection, and scarcely
+suffering her to leave her sight, much less to stay even for a day at
+Mrs. Banker's, where Katy secretly preferred to be. Of Genevra, too, she
+talked with Katy, and at her instigation wrote a friendly letter,
+thanking Miss Lambert for all her kindness to her son, expressing her
+sorrow that she had ever been so unjust to her, and sending her a
+handsome locket, containing on one side a lock of Wilford's hair, and on
+the other his picture, taken from a large-sized photograph. Mrs. Cameron
+felt herself a very good woman after she had done all this, together
+with receiving Mrs. Lennox at her own house, and entertaining her for
+one whole day; but at heart there was no real change, and as time passed
+on she gradually fell back into her old ways of thinking, and went no
+more for comfort to her husband as she had on that first night after the
+burial.
+
+With Mr. Cameron the blow struck deeper, and his Wall Street friends
+talked together of the old man he had grown since Wilford died, while
+Katy often found him bending over his long-neglected Bible, as he sat
+alone in his room at night. And when at last she ventured to speak to
+him upon the all-important subject, like a little child, he put his hand
+in hers, and bade her teach him the narrow way which she had found, and
+wherein Wilford, too, had walked at the very last, they hoped.
+
+For many weeks Katy lingered in New York, and the June roses were
+blooming when she went back to Silverton, a widow and the rightful owner
+of all Wilford's ample fortune. They had found among his papers a will,
+drawn up and executed not long before his illness, and in which Katy was
+made his heiress, without condition or stipulation. All was hers to do
+with as she pleased, and the bitterest tears she ever shed were those
+which fell like rain when she heard how generous Wilford had been. Then,
+as she thought of Marian, and the life of poverty before her, she crept
+to Father Cameron's side, and said to him, pleadingly:
+
+"Let Genevra share it with me. She needs it quite as much."
+
+Father Cameron would not permit Katy to divide equally with Marian. It
+was not just, he said; but he did not object to a few thousand going to
+her, and before Katy left New York for Silverton, she wrote a long, kind
+letter to Marian, presenting her with ten thousand dollars, which she
+begged her to accept, not so much as a gift, but as her rightful due.
+There was a moment's hesitancy on the part of Marian when she read the
+letter, a feeling that she could not take so much from Katy; but when
+she looked at the pale sufferers around her, and remembered how many
+wretched hearts that money would help to cheer, she said:
+
+"I will keep it."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER L.
+
+PRISONERS OF WAR.
+
+
+The heat, the smoke, the thunder of the battle were over, and the fields
+of Gettysburg, where the terrible three days' fight had been, were
+drenched with human blood and covered with the dead and dying. The
+contest had been fearful, and its results carried sorrow and anguish to
+many a heart waiting for tidings from the war, and looking so anxiously
+for the names of the loved ones who, on the anniversary of the day which
+saw our nation's independence, lay upon the hills and plains of
+Gettysburg, their white faces upturned to the summer sky, and wet with
+the raindrops which like tears for the noble dead the pitying clouds had
+shed upon them. And nowhere, perhaps, was there a whiter face or a more
+anxious heart than at the farmhouse, where both Helen and her
+mother-in-law were spending the hot July days. Since the Christmas Eve
+when Helen had watched her husband going from her across the wintry
+snow, he had not been back, though several times he had made
+arrangements to do so. Something, however, had always happened to
+prevent. Once it was sickness which kept him in bed for a week or more;
+again his regiment was ordered to advance, and the third time it was
+sent on with others to repel the invaders from Pennsylvania soil.
+Bravely through each disappointment Helen bore herself, but her cheek
+always grew paler and her eye darker in its hue when the evening papers
+came, and she read what progress our soldiers had made, feeling that a
+battle was inevitable, and praying so earnestly that Mark Ray might be
+spared. Then when the battle was over, and up the Northern hills came
+the dreadful story of thousands and thousands slain, there was a fearful
+look in her eyes, and her features were rigid as marble, while the
+quivering lips could scarcely pray for the great fear tugging at her
+heart. Mark Ray was not with his men when they came from that terrific
+onslaught. A dozen had seen him fall, struck down by a rebel ball, and
+that was all she heard for more than a week, when there came another
+relay of news.
+
+Captain Mark Ray was a prisoner of war, with several of his own company.
+An inmate of Libby Prison and a sharer from choice of the apartment
+where his men were confined. As an officer, he was entitled to better
+quarters than the filthy pen where the poor privates were, but Mark Ray
+had a large, warm heart, and he would not desert those who had been so
+faithful to him, and so he took their fare, and by his genial humor and
+unwavering cheerfulness kept many a heart from fainting and made the
+prisoners' life more bearable than it could have been without him. To
+young Tom Tubbs, who had enlisted six months before, he was a
+ministering angel, and many times the poor, homesick boy crept to the
+side of his captain, and laying his burning head in his lap, wept
+himself to sleep and dreamed he was at home again. The horrors of that
+prison life have never been told, but Mark bore up manfully, suffering
+less in mind, perhaps, than did the friends at home, who lived, as it
+were, a thousand years in that one brief summer while he languished in
+that horrid den whose very name had a power to send a thrill of fear to
+every heart.
+
+At last, as the frosty days of October came on, they began to hope he
+might be exchanged, and Helen's face grew bright again, until one day
+there came a soiled, half-worn letter, in Mark's own handwriting. It was
+the first word received from him since his capture in July, and with a
+cry of joy Helen snatched it from Uncle Ephraim, for she was still at
+the farmhouse, and sitting down upon the doorstep just where she had
+been standing, read the words which Mark had sent to her. He said
+nothing of the treatment he received, for he wanted the letter to reach
+her, and he knew well that if he complained the chances were small for
+the missive ever to leave the capital of the "chivalry." He was very
+well, he said, and had been all the time, but he pined for home, longing
+for the dear girl-wife never so dear as now, when separated by so many
+miles, with prison walls on every side, and an enemy's line between
+them.
+
+"But be of good cheer, darling," he wrote. "I shall come back to you
+some time, and life will he all the brighter for what you suffer now. I
+am so glad my darling consented to be my wife, even though I could stay
+with her but a moment. The knowing you are really mine makes me happy
+even here, for I think of you by day, and in my dreams I always hold you
+in my arms and press you to my heart."
+
+Far different from this cheerful letter was the one which Tom inclosed
+in it for his family--a wild, homesick outburst, containing so much of
+truth that it was strange it was ever permitted to leave the city. Of
+this letter Helen heard by way of Mattie Tubbs, and hope died within
+her, especially as Tom spoke of their being sent further South as a
+probable event.
+
+"If Mark goes I shall never see him again," Helen said, despairingly;
+and when at last the message came that Mark had been removed, and that,
+too, just at the time when an exchange was constantly expected, she gave
+him up as lost, feeling almost as much widowed as Katy in her weeds.
+
+Slowly the winter passed away, and the country was rife with stories of
+the inhuman treatment of our men, daily dying by hundreds, while those
+who survived the cruelties were reduced to maniacs and imbeciles. And
+Helen, as she listened, grew nearly frantic with the sickening suspense.
+She did not know now where her husband was. He had made several attempts
+to escape, and with each failure had been removed to safer quarters, so
+that the chances now of his being exchanged seemed very far away. Week
+after week, month after month, passed on, until came the memorable
+battle of the Wilderness, when Lieutenant Bob, as yet unharmed, stood
+bravely in the thickest of the fight, his tall figure towering above the
+rest, and his soldier's uniform buttoned over a dark tress of hair, and
+a face like Bell Cameron's, Lieutenant Bob had taken two or three
+furloughs, but the one which had left the sweetest, pleasantest memory
+in his heart was that of the autumn before, when the crimson leaves of
+the maple and the golden tints of the beech were burning themselves out
+on the hills of Silverton, where his furlough was mostly passed, and
+where, with Bell Cameron, he scoured the length and breadth of Uncle
+Ephraim's farm, now stopping by the shore of Fairy Pond and again
+sitting for hours on a ledge of rocks far up the hill, where, beneath
+the softly-whispering pines nodding above their heads, Bell gathered the
+light brown cones, and said to him the words he had so thirsted to hear:
+
+"I love you, Robert Reynolds."
+
+Much of Bell's time was passed with Katy at the farmhouse, and here
+Lieutenant Reynolds found her, accepting readily of Uncle Ephraim's
+hearty invitation to remain; and spending his entire vacation there,
+with the exception of three days given to his family. Perfectly charmed
+with quaint Aunt Betsy, whom he remembered so well, he flattered and
+courted her almost as much as he did Bell, but did not take her with him
+in his long rambles over the hills, or sit with her at night alone in
+the parlor until the clock struck twelve--a habit which Aunt Betsy
+greatly disapproved, but overlooked for this once, seeing, as she said,
+that:
+
+"The young leftenant was none of her kin, and Isabel only a little."
+
+Those were halcyon days which Robert passed at Silverton, but one stood
+out prominently before him, whether sitting by his camp-fire or plunging
+into the battle, and that the one when, casting aside all pride and
+foolish theories, Bell Cameron freely acknowledged her love for the man
+to whom she had been so long engaged, and paid him back the kisses she
+had before refused to give.
+
+"I shall be a better soldier for this," Robert had said, as he guided
+her down the steep of rocks, and with her hand in his, walked slowly
+back to the farmhouse, which, on the morrow, he left to take again his
+place in the army.
+
+There were no more furloughs for him after that, and the winter passed
+away, bringing the spring again, when came that battle in the
+Wilderness, and like a hero he fought until, becoming separated from his
+comrades, he fell into the enemy's hands, and two days after there sped
+along the telegraphic wires to New York:
+
+"Lieutenant Robert Reynolds captured the first day of the battle."
+
+Afterward there came news that Andersonville was his destination,
+together with many others made prisoners that day.
+
+"It is better than being shot, and a great deal better than being
+burned, as some of the poor wretches were," Juno said, trying to comfort
+Bell, who doubted a little her sister's word.
+
+True, there was now the shadow of a hope that he might survive the
+horrors, the mere recital of which made the strongest heart shiver with
+dread; but the probabilities were all against it, and Bell's face grew
+almost as white as Helen's, while her eyes acquired that restless,
+watchful, anxious look which has crept into the eyes of so many
+sorrowing women, looking away to the southward, where the dear ones were
+languishing in the filthy rebel holes, unworthy the name of prison.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LI.
+
+DR. GRANT.
+
+
+Morris had served out his time as surgeon in the army, had added to it
+an extra six months, and by his humanity, his skill and Christian
+kindness, made for himself a name which would be long remembered by the
+living to whom he had ministered so carefully, while many a dying
+soldier had blessed him for pointing out the way which leadeth to the
+life everlasting, and in many a mourning family his name was a household
+word for the good he had done to a dying son and brother. But Morris'
+hospital work was over. He had gone a little too far, incurring too much
+risk, until his own strength had failed from long-continued toil, and
+now in the month of June, when Linwood was bright with the early summer
+blossoms, he was coming back, with health greatly impaired and a dark
+cloud before his vision, so that he could not see how beautiful his home
+was looking, or gaze into the faces of those who waited so anxiously to
+welcome again their beloved physician. Blind, some said he was, but the
+few lines sent to Helen announcing the day of his arrival contradicted
+that report. His eyes were very much diseased, his amanuensis wrote, but
+he trusted that the pure air of his native hills and the influence of
+old scenes and associations would soon effect a cure. If not too much
+trouble, he added, please see that the house is made comfortable, and
+have John meet me on Friday at the station.
+
+Helen had just returned from New York, where she could not remain any
+longer, for the scenes of gayety in which she was sometimes compelled to
+mingle were utterly distasteful to her, and she longed for the seclusion
+of the farmhouse and the quiet there is among the hills. She was glad
+Morris was coming home, for he always did her good; he could comfort her
+better than any other, unless it were Katy, whose loving, gentle words
+of hope were very soothing to her.
+
+"Poor Morris!" she sighed, as she finished his letter, and then took it
+to the family sitting upon the pleasant piazza, which, at Katy's expense
+and her own, had been added to the house, overlooking Fairy Pond and the
+pleasant hills beyond.
+
+"Morris is coming home," she said, as Aunt Betsy asked: "What news?" "He
+will be here on Friday, and he wishes us to see that all things are in
+order at Linwood for his reception. His eyes are badly diseased, but he
+is not blind, and he hopes that coming back to us will cure him," she
+added, glancing aside at Katy, who sat upon a step of the piazza, her
+hands folded together upon her lap and her blue eyes looking far off
+into the fading sunset, just as Evangeline sits looking down the
+Mississippi River.
+
+When she heard Morris' name she turned her head a little, so that the
+ripple of her golden hair was more distinctly visible beneath the silken
+net she wore, and a deep tinge of red dyed her cheeks; but she made no
+comment or showed by any sign that she heard what they were saying. Katy
+was very lovely and consistent in her young widowhood, and not a whisper
+of gossip had the Silvertonians coupled with her name since she came to
+them, leaving her husband in Greenwood. There had been no parading of
+her grief before the public or assumption of greater sorrow than many
+others had known; but the soberness of her demeanor, and the calm,
+subdued expression of her face, attested to what she had suffered.
+Sixteen months had passed since Wilford died, and she still wore her
+deep mourning weeds, except the widow's cap, which, at her mother's and
+Aunt Betsy's earnest solicitations, she had laid aside, substituting in
+its place a simple net, which confined her waving hair and kept it from
+breaking out in flowing curls, as it was disposed to do. Against this
+fashion Aunt Betsy also inveighed.
+
+"Couldn't a body curl their hair when nater intended it to curl, and
+mourn a-plenty, too?" For her part, she believed it people's duty to
+look as well as they could, mournin' or not mournin', and Katy couldn't
+look much wus' than she did, with her hair shoved back under that net,
+unless it was when she wore that heathenish cap, which made her look so
+like a grandmother.
+
+This was Aunt Betsy's opinion, but to others there was something
+singularly sweet and beautiful in the childish face, from which the
+golden hair was brushed back so plainly, waving softly about the
+forehead, and occasionally escaping from its confinement in a graceful
+curl, which Katy suffered to remain for Aunt Betsy's sake. Katy had
+never been prettier than she was now, in her mature womanhood, and to
+the poor and sorrowful, whose homes she cheered so often, she was an
+angel of goodness.
+
+Truly she had been purified by suffering; the dross had been burned out,
+and only the gold remained, shedding its brightness on all with which it
+came in contact.
+
+They would miss her at the farmhouse now far more than they did when she
+first went away, for she made the sunshine of their home, filling
+Helen's place when she was in New York, and when she came back proving
+to her a stay and comforter. Indeed, but for Katy's presence, Helen
+often felt that she could not endure the sickening suspense and doubt
+which hung so darkly over her husband's fate.
+
+"He is alive; he will come back," Katy always said, and from her perfect
+faith, Helen, too, caught a glimpse of hope.
+
+Could they have forgotten Mark they would have been happy at the
+farmhouse now, for with the budding spring and blossoming summer, Katy's
+spirits had returned, and her old, musical laugh rang often through the
+house just as it used to do in the happy days of girlhood, while the
+same silvery voice which led the chair in the brick church, and sang
+with the little children their Sunday hymns, often broke forth into
+snatches of songs, which made even the robins listen, as they built
+their nests in the trees; while Uncle Ephraim, far from condemning this
+lightness of spirits, thanked God, who had brought his darling safely
+through the cloud to where the sun was shining.
+
+If Katy thought of Morris she never spoke of him when she could help it.
+It was a morbid fancy to which she clung; that duty to Wilford's memory
+required her to forget, or, at least, avoid the man who had so
+innocently come between them; and when she heard he was coming home she
+felt more pain than sorrow. She liked going up to Linwood, as she often
+did. Its quiet seclusion, and the beauty of its grounds suited her
+taste, and she often passed hours in the pleasant summer house, or on
+the broad piazza, dreaming sometimes of the past, and sometimes, it must
+be confessed, dreaming of a future, and wondering what it would bring
+her when Mark came back, as come he would, and Helen was gone for good.
+She would be very lonely with people so much older than herself, and who
+did not understand the different tastes and ways of thinking which she
+had acquired. She was very happy at the farmhouse, it is true, and loved
+its inmates with a deep, unselfish love, but Helen's frequent absences
+from home showed her that even the farmhouse could be dreary with no
+congenial spirit to sympathize with her as Helen did.
+
+Matters were in this state when news came of Morris' intended return,
+and Katy, sitting on the piazza step, and gazing dreamily into the
+crimson clouds piled against the western sky, seemed not to hear what
+her sister was saying. She did hear, however, and the blood leaped more
+swiftly through her veins for a moment, as she thought of Morris at
+Linwood just as he used to be. But when she remembered Wilford's words,
+"He confessed to me that he loved you," she felt only a nervous dread of
+Morris' coming, and forthwith set to work to fortify herself at every
+point with a stricture of reserve which she was far from feeling.
+
+The day of his return was balmy and beautiful as the days of June are
+apt to be, and at an early hour Helen went over to Linwood to see that
+everything was in order for his arrival.
+
+"Mrs. Hull will have dinner waiting for him, and I shall stay," she
+said to Katy, adding: "I wish you would come over, too. Morris will feel
+grateful, I know."
+
+Katy did not reply, but struck softly the chords of the piano and
+thought how foolish she was to feel as she did. Suppose Morris had loved
+her once, he probably did not now, and even if he did, it could do no
+good, for she was the same as dead to all that kind of thing. She had
+tried matrimony, and found it--she did not say what. She never allowed
+herself to think an unkind thing of Wilford if she could help it, but a
+tear dropped upon the piano keys as she unconsciously hummed a part of
+the song commencing "I would not, no, I would not, recall the past
+again, for mingled with the pleasure was too much grief and pain."
+
+Katy's tears were falling fast by the time the song was ended, but she
+dashed them away and sprang from the stool, exclaiming:
+
+"Crying because Morris is coming home, poor, worn-out, half-blind
+Morris, who has done so much for the soldiers, I will go up and welcome
+him. I will not be so silly as to imagine he still retains a fancy for
+an old woman of twenty-three, even if he had one for the girl of
+seventeen."
+
+Katy felt very old just then, and walking to the glass, was almost vexed
+at the smooth, round face which met her view.
+
+"I ought to look older at twenty-three," she said. "Morris will think
+I have not mourned a bit, nor cared for Wilford," and another tear
+glistened on her eyelashes as she thought of being accused of
+forgetfulness of the dead.
+
+Katy did look very young for twenty-three. Her health was perfect now,
+and save as the change in her character showed itself upon her face, she
+had scarcely changed at all since the day when she came home from
+Canandaigua with her heart and head so full of him who now lay sleeping
+in Greenwood.
+
+"I know what's the matter. It's the net," she said, frowning
+disapprovingly upon the silken meshes which confined her hair. "Yes,
+it's nothing but this net which makes me look so young. Every schoolgirl
+wears one, and I have followed the fashion, letting it hang down my
+back in a way very unbecoming to a widow of my age. I'll take it off, or
+at all events I won't wear it to Linwood," and tossing aside the
+offending net, Katy bound her luxuriant hair in bands which she coiled
+around the back of her head and then put on the widow's cap, discarded
+so many months, and from which she shrank a little as she surveyed
+herself in the glass.
+
+It was not exactly unbecoming; nothing could be unbecoming to that fair,
+open face, which, surrounded by the white border, looked much like a
+sweet baby's face, except that it was older; but it was now so long
+since Katy had seen anything of the kind, and as habit is everything,
+she was not quite as well pleased with her headgear as in New York,
+where such things were common. Nevertheless, she would wear it to
+Linwood, and she went for her round straw hat, but, alas, the sun hat
+which made her look so frightfully young was not made for the widow's
+cap, and casting it aside, Katy threw a thick black veil over her head,
+and then stepping to the door of the room where her mother and Aunt
+Betsy were busy at work, she said:
+
+"I am going to Linwood, and shall stay there to dinner."
+
+"In the name of the people, what has the child rigged herself out in
+that shape for?" Aunt Betsy exclaimed, letting fall the knife with which
+she was chopping cheese curd, and staring in astonishment. "I'd enough
+sight rather you'd frizzle your hair over rats, as Helen does, making
+herself look like some horned critter, than wear that heathenish thing.
+Why do you do it, Catherine?"
+
+Catherine could not tell her, and laughing merrily at her aunt's
+animadversions against her own and Helen's style of hairdressing, she
+hurried away across the fields to Linwood. Aunt Betsy's surprise was in
+a measure shared by Helen, who, understanding Katy better, made no
+comments on her appearance, but smiled quietly at the air of matronly
+dignity which Katy had assumed, and which really sat so prettily upon
+her as she went from room to room to see what had been done, lingering
+longest in Morris' own apartment, opening from the library, where she
+made some alterations in the arrangement of the furniture, putting one
+chair a little more to the right, and pushing a stand or table to the
+left, just as her artistic eye dictated. By some oversight, no flowers
+had been put in there, but Katy gathered an exquisite bouquet and left
+it on the mantel, just where she remembered to have seen flowers when
+Morris was at home.
+
+"He will he tired," she said. "He will lie down after dinner," and she
+laid a few sweet English violets upon the pillow, thinking their perfume
+might be grateful to him after the pent-up air of the hospital and cars.
+"He will think Helen put them there, or Mrs. Hull," she thought, as she
+stole softly out and shut the door behind her, glancing next at the
+clock, and feeling a little impatient that a whole hour must elapse
+before they could expect him.
+
+Poor Morris! he did not dream how anxiously he was waited for at home,
+nor yet of the crowd assembled at the depot to welcome back the loved
+physician, whom they had missed so much, and whose name they had so
+often heard coupled with praise as a true hero, even though his post was
+not in the front of the battle. Thousands had been cared for by him,
+their gaping wounds dressed skillfully, their aching heads soothed
+tenderly, and their last moments made happier by the words he spoke to
+them of the world to which they were going, where there is no more war
+or shedding of man's blood. In the churchyard at Silverton there were
+three soldiers' graves, whose pale occupants had each died with Dr.
+Grant's hand held tightly in his, as if afraid that he would leave them
+before the dark river was crossed, while in more than one Silverton home
+there was a wasted form on which the soldier coat hung loosely, who
+never tired of telling Dr. Morris' praise and dwelling on his goodness.
+But Dr. Morris was not thinking of this as, faint and sick, with the
+green shade before his eyes, he leaned against the pile of shawls his
+companion had placed for his back and wondered if they were almost
+there.
+
+"I smell the pond lilies; we must he near Silverton," he said, and a
+sigh escaped his lips as he thought of coming home and not being able to
+see it or the woods and fields around it. "Thy will be done," he had
+said many times since the fear first crept into his heart that for him
+the light had faded.
+
+But now, when home was almost reached, and he began to breathe the air
+from the New England hills and the perfume of the New England lilies,
+the flesh rebelled again, and he cried out within himself: "Oh, I cannot
+be blind! God will not deal thus by me!" while keen as the cut of a
+sharpened knife was the pang with which he thought of Katy, and wondered
+would she care if he were blind.
+
+Just then the long train stopped at Silverton, and, led by his
+attendant, he stepped feebly into the crowd, which sent up deafening
+cheers for Dr. Grant come home again. At the sight of his helplessness,
+however, a feeling of awe fell upon them, and whispering to each other,
+"I did not suppose he was so bad," they pressed around him, offering
+their hands and inquiring anxiously how he was.
+
+"I have been sick, but I shall get better now. The very sound of your
+friendly voices does me good, even though I cannot see you distinctly,"
+he said, as he went slowly to his carriage, led now by Uncle Ephraim,
+who could not keep back his tears as he saw how weak Morris was, panting
+for breath as he leaned back among the cushions.
+
+It was very pleasant that afternoon, and Morris enjoyed the drive so
+much, assuring Uncle Ephraim that he was growing better every moment. He
+did seem stronger when at last the carriage stopped at Linwood, and his
+step was more rapid as he went up the steps where Helen, Katy and Mrs.
+Hull were waiting for him. He could not see them sufficiently to
+distinguish one from the other, but even without the aid of her voice he
+would have known when Katy's hand was put in his, it was so small, so
+soft, and trembled so as he held it. Her cap had been worn for nothing,
+nor did she think of it in her sorrow at finding him so helpless. Pity
+was the strongest feeling of which she was conscious, and it manifested
+itself in various ways.
+
+"Let me lead you, Cousin Morris," she said, as she saw him groping his
+way to his room, and without waiting for his reply, she held his hand
+again in hers and led him to his room, where the sweet English violets
+were.
+
+"I used to lead you, Katy," Morris said, as he took his seat by the
+window, "and I little thought then that you would one day return the
+compliment. It is very hard to be blind."
+
+The tone of his voice was inexpressibly sad, but his smile was as
+cheerful as ever as his face turned toward Katy, who could not answer
+for her tears. It seemed so terrible to see a strong man so stricken,
+and that strong man Morris--terrible to watch him in his helplessness,
+trying to appear as of old, so as to cast on others no part of the
+shadow resting so darkly on himself. When dinner was over and the sun
+began to decline, many of his former friends came in, but he looked so
+pale and weary that they did not tarry long, and when the last one was
+gone, Morris was led back to his room, which he did not leave again
+until the summer was over and the luscious fruits of September were
+ripening upon the trees.
+
+Toward the middle of July, Helen, whose health was suffering from her
+restless anxiety concerning Mark, was taken by Mrs. Banker to Nahant,
+where Mark's sister, Mrs. Ernst, was spending the summer, and thus on
+Katy alone fell the duty of paying to Morris those little acts of
+sisterly attentions such as no other member of the family knew how to
+pay. In the room where he lay so helpless Katy was not afraid of him,
+nor did she deem herself faithless to Wilford's memory, because each day
+found her at Linwood, sometimes bathing Morris' inflamed eyes, sometimes
+bringing him the cooling drink, and again reading to him by the hour,
+until, soothed by the music of her voice, he would fall away to sleep
+and dream it was an angel there with him.
+
+"My eyes are getting better," he said to her one day toward the latter
+part of August, when she came as usual to his room. "I knew last night
+that Mrs. Hull's dress was blue, and I saw the sun shine through the
+shutters. Soon, very soon, I hope to see you, Katy, and know if you have
+changed."
+
+She was standing close by him, and as he talked he raised his hand as if
+to rest it on her head, but, with a sudden movement, Katy eluded the
+touch, and stepped a little farther from him.
+
+She did not go to Linwood the next day, nor the next; and when she went
+again there was in her manner a shade more of dignity, which had both
+amused and interested Morris. He did not know for certain that Wilford
+had told Katy of the confession made that memorable night when her
+recovery seemed so doubtful, but he more than half suspected it from the
+shyness of her manner and from the various excuses she now made for not
+coming to Linwood every day, as she had heretofore done.
+
+"You do not need me as much as you did," she said to him one morning in
+September, when he complained of his loneliness, and told how he had
+waited for her the previous day until night shut down, and he knew she
+would not come. "You can see better than you did. You are able to sit up
+all day, and walk about a little, so if I come I am not needed," and
+seating herself at a respectful distance from him, Katy folded her white
+hands demurely over her black dress, after having first adjusted the cap
+worn constantly since the time when she learned that Morris' sight was
+improving.
+
+"I sometimes think I need you more than I did then, and if you must stay
+away now, I am ungrateful enough to wish you had not come at all,"
+Morris replied, and Katy's cheeks burned crimson as she felt that the
+dim eyes, seen through the green shades, were trying to study her as
+they had not studied her before. "What is that on your head?" Morris
+asked, rather abruptly. "I have tried to make it out, wondering if it
+were a handkerchief, and why it was worn."
+
+"It is my cap--the widow's cap--worn for Wilford's sake," was the reply,
+which silenced Morris for that time, making him feel that between Katy
+Lennox, the girl, and Katy Cameron, the widow, there was a vast
+difference, and awakening in his heart a fear lest Wilford Cameron dead
+should prove as strong a rival as Wilford living had been.
+
+In his great pity for Katy when she was first a widow, Morris had
+scarcely remembered that she was free, or if it did flash upon his mind,
+he thrust the thought aside as injustice to the dead; but as the months
+and the year went by, and he heard constantly from Helen of Katy's
+increasing cheerfulness, it was not in his nature never to think of what
+might be, and more than once he had prayed that, if consistent with his
+Father's will, that the woman he had loved so well should be his yet. If
+not, he could go his way alone, just as he had always done, knowing
+that it was right.
+
+Such was the state of Morris' mind when he returned from Washington, but
+now it was somewhat different. The weary weeks of sickness, during which
+Katy had ministered to him so kindly, had not been without their effect,
+and if Morris had loved the frolicsome, childlike Katy Lennox much, he
+loved far more the gentle, beautiful woman whose character had been so
+wonderfully developed by suffering, and who was now far more worthy of
+his love than in her early girlhood.
+
+"I cannot lose her now," was the thought constantly in Morris' mind, as
+he experienced more and more how desolate were the days which did not
+bring her to him. "It is twenty months, just, since Wilford died; and
+George Washington asked Martha Custis for her hand within less time than
+that after her husband's death," he said to himself one wet October
+afternoon, when he sat listening dreamily to the patter of the rain
+falling upon the windows, and looking occasionally across the fields to
+the farmhouse, in the vain hope of spying in the distance the little
+airy form, which, in its waterproof and cloud, had braved worse storms
+than this at the time he was so ill.
+
+But no such figure appeared. He hardly expected it would, but he watched
+the pathway just the same, and the smoke wreaths rising so high above
+the farmhouse. The deacon burned out his chimney that day, and Morris,
+whose sight had greatly improved of late, knew it by the dense, black
+volume of smoke, mingled with rings of fire, which rose above the roof,
+remembering so well another rainy day, twenty years ago, when the
+deacon's chimney was cleaned, and a little, toddling girl, in scarlet
+gown and white pinafore, had amused herself with throwing into the
+blazing fire upon the hearth a straw at a time, almost upsetting herself
+with standing so far back and making such efforts to reach the flames. A
+great deal had passed since then. The little girl in the pinafore had
+been both wife and mother. She was a widow now, and Morris glanced
+across his hearth toward the empty chair he had never seen in
+imagination filled by any but herself.
+
+Surely, she would some day be his own, and leaning his head upon the
+cane he carried, he prayed earnestly for the good he coveted, keeping
+his head down so long that, until it had left the strip of woods and
+emerged into the open fields, he did not see the figure, wrapped in
+waterproof and hood, with a huge umbrella over its head and a basket
+upon its arm, which came picking its way daintily toward the house,
+stopping occasionally, and lifting up the little, high-heeled Balmoral,
+which the mud was ruining so completely. Katy was coming to Linwood. It
+had been baking day at the farmhouse, and remembering how much Morris
+used to love her custards, Aunt Betsy had prepared him some, which she
+warranted to "melt in his mouth," and then asked Katy to take them over,
+so he could have them for tea.
+
+"The rain won't hurt you an atom," she said, as Katy began to demur and
+glance at the lowering sky. "You can wear your waterproof boots and my
+shaker, if you like, and I do so want Morris to have them to-night."
+
+Thus importuned, Katy consented to go, but declined the loan of Aunt
+Betsy's shaker, which being large of the kind, and capeless, too, was
+not the most becoming headgear a woman could wear. With the basket of
+custards, and cup of jelly she made herself, Katy finally started forth,
+Aunt Betsy saying to her, as in the door she stopped to take up her
+dress: "It must he dretful lonesome for Morris to-day. S'posin' you stay
+to supper with him, and when it's growin' dark I'll come over for you.
+You'll find the custards fust-rate."
+
+Katy did not think it very probable that she should stay to tea with
+Morris, but she made no reply, and walked away, while Aunt Betsy went
+back to the coat she was patching for her brother, saying to herself:
+
+"I'm bound to fetch that 'round. It's a shame for two young folks, just
+fitted to each other, to live apart when they might be so happy, with
+Hannah, and Lucy, and me, close by, to see to 'em, and allus make their
+soap, and see to the butcherin', besides savin' peneryle and catnip for
+the children, if there was any."
+
+Aunt Betsy had turned matchmaker in her old age, and day and night she
+planned how to bring about the match between Morris and Katy. That they
+were made for each other she had no doubt. From something which Helen
+inadvertantly let fall she had guessed that Morris wanted Katy prior to
+her marriage with Wilford. She had suspected as much before, she was
+sure of it now, and straightway put her wits at work "to make it go," as
+she expressed it. But Katy was too shy to suit her, and since Morris'
+convalescence had stayed too much from Linwood. To-day, however, Aunt
+Betsy "felt it in her bones" that, if properly managed, something would
+happen, and the custards were but the means to the desired end. With no
+suspicion whatever of the good dame's intentions, Katy picked her way to
+Linwood, and leaving her damp garments in the hall, lest Morris should
+take cold, went at once into the library, where he was sitting near to a
+large chair kept sacred for her, his face looking unusually cheerful,
+and the room unusually pleasant, with the bright wood fire on the
+hearth. She knew he was glad she had come, that he thought more of her
+being there than of the custards she brought him.
+
+"I have been so lonely, with no company but the rain," he said, pushing
+the chair a little toward her, and bidding her sit near the fire, where
+she could dry her feet.
+
+Katy obeyed, and sat down so near to him that had he chose he might have
+touched her head, which this day was minus cap, or even net, the golden
+hair combed back and fastened in heavy coils low down on her neck,
+giving to her a very girlish appearance, as Morris thought, for he could
+see her now, and while she dried her feet he looked at her eagerly,
+wondering that the fierce storm she had encountered had left so few
+traces upon her face. Just about the mouth there was a deep-cut line,
+but this was all; the remainder of the face was fair and smooth as in
+her early girlhood, and far more beautiful, just as her character was
+lovelier, and more to be admired.
+
+Morris had done well to wait if he could win her now. Perhaps he thought
+so, too, and this was why his spirits became so gay as he kept talking
+to her, suggesting at last that she should stay to tea. The rain was
+falling in torrents when he made the proposition. She could not go then,
+even had she wished it, and though it was earlier than his usual tea
+time, Morris at once rang for Mrs. Hull, and ordered that tea be served
+in there as soon as possible.
+
+"I ought not to stay. It is not proper, and my cap at home, too," Katy
+kept thinking as she fidgeted in her chair, and watched the girl
+setting the table so cosily for two, and occasionally deferring some
+debatable point to her as if she were mistress there.
+
+"Shall we have some thin slices of cold chicken to go with the jelly?"
+she asked, looking at Katy, who answered in the affirmative, wishing she
+was at home, and deploring again the absence of her cap.
+
+"You can go now, Reekie," Morris said, when the boiling water was poured
+into the silver kettle, and tea was on the table. "If we need you we
+will ring."
+
+With a vague wonder as to who would toast the doctor's bread and butter
+it, Reekie departed, and the two were left together. It was Katy who
+toasted the bread, kneeling upon the marble hearth, nearly blistering
+her hands, burning her face and scorching the bread in her nervousness
+at the novel position in which she so unexpectedly found herself. It was
+Katy, too, who prepared Morris' tea, and tried to eat, but could not.
+She was not hungry, she said, and the custard was the only thing she
+tasted, besides the tea, which she sipped at frequent intervals, so as
+to make Morris think she was eating more than she was. But Morris was
+not deceived, nor yet disheartened. Possibly she suspected his
+intention, and if so, the sooner he reached the point the better. So
+when the tea equipage was put away, and she began again to speak of
+going home, he said:
+
+"No, Katy, you can't go yet till I have said what's in my mind to say,"
+and laying his hand upon her shoulder he made her sit down beside him
+and listen while he told her the love he had borne for her long before
+she knew the meaning of that word as she knew it now--of the struggle to
+keep that love in bounds after its indulgence was a sin, of his
+temptations and victories, of his sincere regret for Wilford, and of his
+deep respect for her grief, which made her for a time as a sister to
+him. But that time had passed. She was not his sister now, nor ever
+could be again. She was Katy, dearer, more precious, more desired even
+than before another called her wife, and he asked her to be his, to come
+up there to Linwood and live with him, making the rainy days brighter,
+balmier, than the sunniest had ever been, and helping him in his work of
+caring for the poor and sick around them.
+
+"Will Katy come? Will she be the wife of Cousin Morris?"
+
+There was a world of pathos and pleading in the voice which asked this
+question, just as there was a world of tenderness in the manner in which
+Morris smoothed and caressed and fondled the bowed head resting on the
+chair arm. And Katy felt it all, understanding what it was to be offered
+such a love as Morris offered, but only comprehending in part what it
+would be to refuse that love. For, alas! her blinded judgment said she
+must refuse it. Had there been no sad memories springing from that grave
+in Greenwood, no bitter reminiscences connected with her married
+life--had Wilford never heard of Morris' love and taunted her with it so
+often, she might perhaps consent, for she craved the rest there would be
+with Morris to lean upon. But the happiness was too great for her to
+accept. It would seem too much like faithlessness to Wilford, too much
+as if he had been right when he charged her with preferring Morris to
+himself.
+
+"It cannot be--oh, Morris, it cannot be," she sobbed, when he pressed
+her for answer. "Don't ask me why--don't ever mention it again, for I
+tell you it cannot be. My answer is final; it cannot be. I am sorry for
+you, so sorry. I wish you had never loved me, for it cannot be."
+
+She writhed herself from the arms which tried to detain her, and rising
+to her feet left the room suddenly, and throwing on her wrappings,
+quitted the house without another word, leaving basket and umbrella
+behind, and never knowing she had left them, or how the rain was pouring
+down upon her unsheltered person until, as she entered the narrow strip
+of woodland, she was met by Aunt Betsy, who exclaimed at seeing her, and
+asked:
+
+"What has become of your umberell? Your silk one, too. It's hopeful you
+haven't lost it. What has happened you?" and coming closer to Katy, Aunt
+Betsy looked searchingly in her face. It was not so dark that she could
+not see the traces of recent tears, and instinctively suspecting their
+nature, she continued: "Catherine, have you gin Morris the mitten?"
+
+"Aunt Betsy, is it possible that you and Morris contrived this plan?"
+Katy asked, half indignantly, as she began in part to understand her
+aunt's great anxiety for her to visit Linwood that afternoon.
+
+"Morris had nothing to do with it," Aunt Betsy replied. "It was my
+doin's wholly, and this is the thanks I git. You quarrel with him and
+git mad at me, who thought only of your good. Catherine, you know you
+like Morris Grant, and if he asked you to have him why don't you?"
+
+"I can't, Aunt Betsy. I can't, after all that has passed. It would be
+unjust to Wilford."
+
+"Unjust to Wilford--fiddlesticks!" was Aunt Betsy's expressive reply, as
+she started on toward Linwood, saying she was going after the umberell
+before it got lost, with nobody there to tend to things as they should
+be tended to. "Have you any word to send?" she asked, hoping Katy had
+relented.
+
+But Katy had not; and with a toss of her head, which shook the raindrops
+from her capeless shaker, Aunt Betsy went on her way, and was soon
+confronting Morris, sitting just where Katy had left him, and looking
+very pale and sad.
+
+He was not glad to see Aunt Betsy. He would rather be alone until such
+time as he could control himself and still his throbbing heart. But with
+his usual affability, he bade Aunt Betsy sit down, shivering a little
+when he saw her in the chair where Katy had sat, her thin, angular body
+presenting a striking contrast to the graceful, girlish figure which had
+sat there an hour since, and the huge India rubbers she held up to the
+fire as unlike as possible to the boot of fairy dimensions he had
+admired so much when it was drying on the hearth.
+
+"I met Catherine," Aunt Betsy began, "and mistrusted at once that
+something was to pay, for a girl don't leave her umberell in such a rain
+and go cryin' home for nothin'."
+
+Morris colored, resenting for an instant this interference by a third
+party; but Aunt Betsy was so honest and simple-hearted that he could not
+be angry long, and listened calmly while she continued:
+
+"I have not lived sixty-odd years for nothing, and I know the signs
+pretty well. I've been through the mill myself."
+
+Here Aunt Betsy's voice grew lower in its tone, and Morris looked up
+with real interest, while she went on:
+
+"There's Joel Upham--you know Joel--keeps a tin shop now, and seats the
+folks in meetin'. He asked me once for my company, and to be smart I
+told him 'no,' when all the time I meant 'yes,' thinkin' he would ask
+ag'in, but he didn't, and the next I knew he was keepin' company with
+Patty Adams, now his wife. I remember I sniveled a little at being taken
+at my word, but it served me right for saying one thing when I meant
+another. However, it don't matter now. Joel is as clever as the day is
+long, but he is a shiftless critter, never splits his kindlin's till
+jest bedtime, and Patty is pestered to death for wood, while his snorin'
+nights, she says, is awful, and that I never could abide; so, on the
+whole, I'm better off than Patty."
+
+Morris laughed a loud, hearty laugh, which did him good, and emboldened
+his visitor to say more than she had intended saying:
+
+"You just ask her ag'in. Once ain't nothing at all, and she'll come to.
+She likes you; 'tain't that which made her say no. It's some foolish
+idea about faithfulness to Wilford, as if he deserved that she should be
+faithful. They never orto have had one another--never; and now that he
+is well in heaven, as I do suppose he is, it ain't I who hanker for him
+to come back. Neither does Katy, and all she needs is a little urging to
+tell you yes. So ask her again, will you?"
+
+"I think it very doubtful. Katy knew what she was doing, and meant what
+she said," Morris replied; and with the consoling remark that if young
+folks would be fools it was none of her business to bother with them,
+Aunt Betsy pinned her shawl across her chest, and hunting up both basket
+and umbrella, bade Morris good-night, and went back across the fields to
+the farmhouse, hearing from Mrs. Lennox that Katy had gone to bed with a
+racking headache.
+
+"Just the way I felt when I heard about Joel and Patty," Aunt Betsy said
+to herself, and as she remembered what had helped her then, so, fifteen
+minutes later, she appeared at Katy's bedside, with a cup of strong sage
+tea which she bade Katy swallow, telling her it was good for her
+complaint.
+
+To prevent being urged and annoyed, Katy drank the tea, and then without
+a question concerning Aunt Betsy's call at Linwood, lay down upon her
+pillow, asking to be left alone.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LII.
+
+KATY.
+
+
+"Are you of the same mind still?" Helen asked, when, three weeks later,
+she returned from New York, and at the hour for retiring sat in her
+chamber watching Katy as she brushed her wavy hair, occasionally curling
+a tress around her fingers and letting it fall upon her snowy
+nightdress.
+
+They had been talking of Morris, whom Katy had only seen once since that
+rainy night, and that at church, where he had come the previous Sunday.
+Katy had written an account of the transaction to her sister, who had
+chosen to reply by word of mouth rather than by letter, and so the first
+moment they were alone she seized the opportunity to ask if Katy was of
+the same mind still as when she refused the doctor.
+
+"Yes; why shouldn't I be?" Katy replied. "You better than any one else
+knew what passed between Wilford and me concerning Morris, and you
+can--"
+
+"Do you love Morris?" Helen asked, abruptly, without waiting for Katy to
+finish her sentence.
+
+For an instant the hands stopped in their work, and Katy's eyes filled
+with tears, which dropped into her lap as she replied:
+
+"More than I wish I did, seeing I must always tell him no. It's strange,
+too, how the love for him keeps coming in spite of all I can do. I have
+not been there since, nor spoken with him until last Sunday, but though
+I did not know he was coming, I knew the moment he entered the church,
+and when in the first chant I heard his voice, my fingers trembled so
+that I could scarcely play, while all the time my heart goes out after
+the rest I always find with him. But it cannot be."
+
+"Suppose Morris had asked you first, what then?" was Helen's next
+straightforward question, and Katy, who had no secrets from her sister,
+answered:
+
+"It might have been, perhaps, though I never thought of it then. Oh,
+Helen, I wish Wilford had never known that Morris loved me."
+
+She was sobbing now, with her head in Helen's lap, and Helen, smoothing
+her bright hair, said, gently:
+
+"You have taken a morbid fancy, Katy. You do not reason correctly. It is
+right for you to answer Morris yes, and Wilford would say so, too. When
+I received your letter apprising me of the refusal, I read it to Bell,
+who said she was so sorry, and then told what Wilford said before he
+died. You must have forgotten it, darling. He referred to a time when
+you would cease to be his widow, and he said he was willing, said so to
+her, and you. Do you remember it, Katy?"
+
+"Yes, I do now, but I had forgotten. I was so stunned then, so
+bewildered, that it made no impression. I did not think he meant Morris.
+Helen, do you believe he meant Morris?" and lifting up her face, Katy
+looked at her sister with a wistfulness which told how anxiously she
+waited for the answer.
+
+"I know that he meant Morris," Helen replied. "Bell thinks so, too. So
+does her father, and both bade me tell you to revoke your decision, to
+marry Dr. Grant, with whom you will be so happy."
+
+"I cannot. It is too late. I told him no, and, Helen, I told him a
+falsehood, too, which I wish I might take back," she added. "I said I
+was sorry he ever loved me, when I was not, for the knowing that he had
+made me very happy. My conscience has smitten me cruelly since for that
+falsehood told, not intentionally, for I did not consider what I said."
+
+Here was an idea at which Helen caught at once. She knew just how
+conscientious Katy was, and by working upon this principle she hoped to
+persuade her into going over to Linwood and telling Morris that when she
+said she was sorry he loved her she did not mean it. But this Katy would
+not do. Helen could tell him, if she liked, but she must not encourage
+him to hope for a recantation of all she had said to him. She meant the
+rest. She could not be his wife.
+
+Early the next morning Helen went to Linwood, and the same afternoon
+Morris returned her call. He had been there two or three times since his
+return from Washington, but not since Katy's refusal, and her cheeks
+were scarlet as he met him in the parlor and tried to be natural. He did
+not look unhappy. He was not taking his rejection very hard, after all,
+she thought, and the little lady felt a very little piqued to find him
+so cheerful, and even gay, when she had scarcely known a moment's quiet
+since the day she carried him the custards, and forgot to bring away her
+umbrella. As it had rained that day, so it did now, a decided, energetic
+rain, which set in after Morris came, and precluded the possibility of
+his going home that night.
+
+"He would catch his death of cold," Aunt Betsy said, while Helen, too,
+joined her entreaties until Morris consented, and the carriage which
+came around for him at dark returned to Linwood, with the message that
+the doctor would pass the night at Deacon Barlow's. A misty, rainy
+night, who does not enjoy it when sitting by a cheerful fire, they
+listen dreamily to the falling rain sifting softly through the leafless
+trees, and answering to the faint sighing of the autumn wind. Morris
+enjoyed it very much, and but for the green glasses he still wore would
+have looked and appeared like his former self as he sat in his armchair,
+now holding the skein of yarn which Aunt Betsy wound, now talking with
+the deacon of the probable exchange of all the prisoners, a theme which
+quickened Helen's pulse and sent the blood to her pale cheeks, and again
+standing by Katy as she played his favorite airs, his rich bass voice
+mingling with hers and Helen's, the three making finer music, Aunt Betsy
+said, than that for which she paid two dollars at the playhouse.
+
+He did not often address Katy directly, but he knew each time she moved,
+and watched every varying expression of her face, feeling a kind of pity
+for her, when without appearing to do so intentionally, the family, one
+by one, stole from the room--Uncle Ephraim and Aunt Hannah without any
+excuse; Aunt Betsy to raise the cakes for breakfast; Mrs. Lennox to
+wind the clock, and Helen to find a book for which Morris had asked.
+
+Katy might not have thought strange of their departure were it not that
+neither one came back again, and after the lapse of ten minutes or more
+she felt convinced that she had purposely been left alone with Morris.
+
+The weather and the family had conspired against her, but after one
+throb of fear she resolved to brave the difficulty and meet whatever
+might happen as became a woman of twenty-three, and a widow, too. She
+knew Morris was regarding her intently as she fashioned into shape the
+coarse wool sock, intended for some soldier, and she could almost hear
+her heart beat in the silence which fell between them ere Morris said to
+her, in a tone which reassured her at once:
+
+"And so you told me a falsehood the other day, and your conscience has
+troubled you ever since?"
+
+"Yes, Morris," and Katy dropped her stitch as she replied. "Yes; that
+is, I told you I was sorry that you ever loved me, which was not exactly
+true, for, after I knew you did, I was happier than before."
+
+Her words implied a knowledge of his love previous to that night at
+Linwood when he had himself confessed it, and he said to her,
+inquiringly:
+
+"You knew it then before I told you?"
+
+"From Wilford--yes," Katy faltered, a tear dropping on her cheek as she
+recalled the circumstances of Wilford's telling her.
+
+"I understand now why you have been so shy of me," Morris said. "It was
+only natural you should be until you knew what my intentions were; but,
+Katy, must this shyness continue always? Think now, and say if you did
+not tell more than one falsehood the other night, as you count
+falsehoods."
+
+Katy looked wonderingly at him, and he continued;
+
+"You said you could not be my wife. Was that true? Can't you take it
+back, and give me a different answer?"
+
+Katy's checks were scarlet, and her hands had ceased to flutter about
+the knitting which lay upon her lap.
+
+"I meant what I said," she whispered; "for knowing, as I do, how Wilford
+felt, it would not be right for me to be so happy."
+
+"Then it's nothing personal? If there were no harrowing memories of
+Wilford, you could be happy with me. Is that it, Katy?" Morris asked,
+coming close to her now, and imprisoning her hands, which she did not
+try to take away, but let them lie in his as he continued: "Wilford was
+willing at the last. Have you forgotten that?"
+
+"I had, until Helen reminded me." Katy replied. "But, Morris, the
+talking of this thing brings Wilford's death back so vividly, making it
+seem but yesterday since I held his dying head."
+
+She was beginning to relent, Morris knew, and bending nearer to her, he
+said:
+
+"It was not yesterday. It will be two years in February; and this, you
+know, is November. I need you, Katy. I want you so much. I have wanted
+you all your life. Before it was wrong to do so I used each day to pray
+that God would give you to me, and now I feel just as sure that he has
+opened the way for you to come to me as I am sure that Wilford is in
+heaven. He is happy there, and shall a morbid fancy keep you from being
+happy here? Tell me then, Katy, will you be my wife?"
+
+He was kissing her cold hands, and as he did so he felt her tears
+dropping on his hair.
+
+"If I say yes, Morris, you will not think that I never loved Wilford,
+for I did, oh yes, I did. Not exactly as I supposed I might, even then,
+have loved you, had you asked me first, but I loved him, and I was happy
+with him, or if there were little clouds, his dying swept them all
+away."
+
+Katy was proving herself a true woman, who remembered only the good
+there was in Wilford, and Morris did not love her less for it. She was
+all the dearer to him, all the more desirable. Once he told her so,
+winding his arms about her, and resting her head upon his shoulder,
+where it lay just as it had never lain before, for with the first kiss
+Morris gave her, calling her "My own little Katy," she felt stealing
+over her the same indescribable peace she had always felt with him,
+intensified now, and sweeter from the knowing it would remain if she
+should will it so. And she did will it so, kissing Morris back when he
+asked her to, and thus sealing the compact of her second betrothal. It
+was not exactly like the first. There was no tumultuous emotions, or
+ecstatic joys, but Katy felt in her inmost heart that she was happier
+now than then, that between herself and Morris there was more affinity
+than there had been between herself and Wilford, and as she looked back
+over the road she had come, and remembered all Morris had been to her,
+she wondered at her blindness in not recognizing and responding to the
+love in which she had now found shelter.
+
+It was very late that night when Katy crept up to bed, and Helen, who
+was not asleep, knew by the face on which the lamplight fell, as Katy
+sat for a moment in thoughtful mood, looking out into the darkness, that
+Morris had not sued in vain. Aunt Betsy knew it, too, next morning, by
+the same look on Katy's face, when she came downstairs, but this did not
+prevent her saying, abruptly, as Katy stood by the sink:
+
+"Be you two engaged?"
+
+"We are," was Katy's frank reply, which brought back all Aunt Betsy's
+visions of roasted fowls and frosted cake, and maybe a dance in the
+kitchen, to say nothing of the feather bed which she had not dared to
+offer Katy Cameron, but which she thought would come in play for "Miss
+Dr. Grant."
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LIII.
+
+THE PRISONERS.
+
+
+Many of the captives were coming home. Prison after prison had given up
+its starving, vermin-eaten inmates, while all along the Northern lines
+loving hearts were waiting, and friendly hands outstretched to welcome
+them back to "God's land," as the poor, suffering creatures termed the
+soil over which waved the Stars and Stripes, for which they had fought
+so bravely. Wistfully, thousands of eyes ran over the long columns of
+names of those returned, each eye seeking for its own, and growing dim
+with tears as it failed to find it, or lighting up with untold joy when
+it was found.
+
+"Lieutenant Robert Reynolds" and "Thomas Tubbs," Helen read among the
+list of those just arrived at Annapolis, but "Captain Mark Ray" was not
+there, and with a sickening feeling of disappointment she passed the
+paper to her mother-in-law, and hastened away, to weep and pray that
+what she so greatly feared might not come upon her.
+
+It was after Katy's betrothal, and she was in New York, happy to hear
+news from Mark, and perhaps to see him ere long, for, as nearly as she
+could trace him from reports of others, he was last at Andersonville.
+But there was no mention made of him, no sign by which she could tell
+whether he still lived, or had long since been relieved from suffering.
+
+Early the next day she heard that Mattie Tubbs had received a telegram
+from Tom, who would soon be at home, while later in the day Bell Cameron
+came around to say that Bob was living, but had lost his right arm, and
+was otherwise badly crippled. It never occurred to Helen to ask if this
+would make a difference. She only kissed Bell fondly, rejoicing at her
+good fortune, and then sent her back to the home where there were hot
+discussions regarding the propriety of receiving into the family a
+maimed and crippled member.
+
+"It was preposterous to suppose Bob would expect it," Juno said, while
+the mother admitted that it was a most unfortunate affair, as indeed the
+whole war had proved. For her part, she sometimes wished the North had
+let the South go quietly when they wanted to, and so saved thousands of
+lives, and prevented the country from being flooded with cripples, and
+negroes, and calls for more men and money. On the whole, she rather
+doubted the propriety of re-electing Lincoln, and prolonging the war;
+and she certainly doubted the propriety of giving her daughter to a
+cripple. There was Arthur Grey, who had lately been so attentive; he was
+a wealthier man than Lieutenant Bob, and if Bell had any discretion she
+would take him in preference to a disfigured soldier.
+
+Such was the purport of Mrs. Cameron's remarks, to which her husband
+listened, his eyes blazing with passion, which, the moment she finished,
+burst forth in a storm of oaths and invectives against what, with his
+pet adjective, he called her "Copperhead principles," denouncing her as
+a traitor, reproaching her for the cruelty which would separate her
+daughter from Robert Reynolds because he had lost an arm in the service
+of his country, and then turning fiercely to Bell with the words:
+
+"But it isn't for you to say whether he shall or shall not have Bell.
+She is of age. Let her speak for herself."
+
+And she did speak, the noble, heroic girl, who had listened, with bitter
+scorn, to what her mother and sister said, and who now, with elevated
+nostrils and voice hoarse with emotion, answered slowly and
+impressively:
+
+"I would marry Lieutenant Reynolds if he had only his ears left to hear
+me tell him how much I love and honor him! Arthur Grey! Don't talk to me
+of him! the craven coward, who will neither volunteer nor give a cent
+for our poor, suffering soldiers, but turns people off with: 'Government
+provides,' or 'the stores do not reach them,' and all those subterfuges
+to which mean men resort to keep from giving, and to avoid the draft
+swore he was forty-five, when we all know better. Don't insult Robert
+with such a comparison, or think I will break my faith with him."
+
+After this no more was said to Bell, who waited anxiously for further
+news from Bob, and who, the moment she heard he was at home, went to his
+father's house, and asked to see him.
+
+He was sleeping when she entered his room, and pushing back the heavy
+curtain, so that the light would fall more directly upon him, Mrs.
+Reynolds went out and left her there alone.
+
+With a beating heart, she stood looking at his hollow eyes, his sunken
+cheek, his short, dry hair, and thick, gray skin--all marks of the
+brutal treatment he had received. She did not think of his arm until she
+glanced at the wall where hung a large-sized photograph, taken in full
+uniform the last time he was at home, and in which his full,
+well-developed figure showed to good advantage. Could it be that the
+wreck before her had ever been as full of life and vigor as the picture
+would indicate, and was that arm which held the sword severed from the
+body, and left a token of the murderous war?
+
+"Poor Bob! how much he must have suffered," she whispered, and kneeling
+down beside him, she hid her face in her hands, weeping bitter tears
+for her armless hero.
+
+The motion awakened Robert, who gazed for a moment in surprise at the
+kneeling, sobbing maiden; then, when sure it was she, he raised himself
+in bed, and ere Bell could look up, two arms, one quite as strong as the
+other, were wound around her neck, and her head was pillowed upon the
+breast, which heaved with strong emotions as the soldier said:
+
+"My darling Bell, my promised wife, you don't know how much good this
+meeting does me!"
+
+He kissed her many times, and Bell did not prevent it, but gave him kiss
+after kiss, then, still doubting the evidence of her eyes, she unclasped
+his clinging arms, and holding both his poor hands in hers, gave vent to
+a second gush of tears as she said:
+
+"I am so glad--oh, so glad!"
+
+Then, as it occurred to her that he might perhaps misjudge her, and put
+a wrong construction upon her joy, she added:
+
+"I did not care for myself, Robert. Don't think I cared for myself, or
+was ever sorry a bit on my own account."
+
+Bob looked a little bewildered as he replied: "Never were sorry and
+never cared! I can scarcely credit that, for surely your tears and
+present emotions belie your words."
+
+Bell knew he had not understood her, and she said:
+
+"Your arm, Robert, your arm. We heard it was cut off, and that you were
+otherwise mutilated."
+
+"Oh, that's it, then!" and something like his old, mischievous smile
+glimmered about Bob's mouth as he added: "They spared my arms, but,
+Bell"--and he tried to look very solemn--"suppose I tell you that they
+hacked off both my legs, and if you marry me, as you seem to think you
+will, you must walk all your life by the side of wooden pins and
+crutches?"
+
+Bell knew by the curl of his lip that he was teasing her, and she
+answered, laughingly:
+
+"Wooden pins and crutches will be all the fashion when the war is over;
+badges of honor of which any woman might be proud."
+
+"Well, Bell," he replied, "I am afraid there is no such honor in store
+for my wife, for if I ever get back my strength and the flesh upon my
+bones, she must take me with legs and arms included. Not even a scratch
+or wound of any kind with which to awaken sympathy."
+
+He appeared very bright and cheerful, but when, after a moment, Bell
+asked for Mark Ray, there came a shadow over his face, and with
+quivering lips he told a tale which blanched Bell's cheek, and made her
+shiver with pain and dread as she thought of Helen, the wife who had
+never known the sweets of matrimony, and who would never taste them now,
+for Mark was dead--shot down as he attempted to escape from the train
+which took them from one place of torment to another. He was always
+devising means of escape, succeeding several times, but was immediately
+captured and brought back, or sent to some closer quarters, Robert said;
+but his courage never deserted him, and in the muddy, filthy place where
+they were herded like so many cattle, without shelter of any kind, he
+was the life of them all, and by his presence kept many a poor fellow
+from dying of homesickness and despair. But he was dead; there could be
+no mistake, for Robert saw him when he jumped, heard the ball which went
+whizzing after him, saw him as he fell on the open field, saw a man from
+a rude dwelling nearby go hurriedly toward him, firing his own revolver,
+as if to make the death deed doubly sure. Then, as the train slacked its
+speed, with the view, perhaps, to take the body on board, he heard the
+man who had reached Mark and was bending over him, call out: "Go on;
+I'll tend to him. He is dead as a stone; bullet went right through
+here," and he turned the dead man's face toward the train, so all could
+see the blood pouring from the temple which the finger of the rebel
+ruffian touched.
+
+"Oh, Helen! poor Helen! How can I tell her, when she loved him so much!"
+Bell sobbed, while Bob repeated many things to prove how strong was the
+love the unfortunate Mark Ray had borne for his young wife.
+
+"He used to make pictures of her," he said, "with a pencil which he had,
+and once he whittled out her face with a lily in the hair. It was a good
+likeness, too, and I saw Mark kiss it more than once when he thought he
+was not seen. He had her photograph, it seems, but a brutal keeper took
+it away, for no earthly purpose except to distress him. I never saw Mark
+cast down till then, when for two whole days he scarcely spoke, but
+would stand for hours with his face turned toward the North, and a
+quivering motion around his lips, as if his heart were broken."
+
+Bell could hear no more, but motioned him to stop.
+
+"It's too terrible even to think about," she said. "Oh, how can I tell
+Helen!"
+
+"You will do it better than any one else," Bob said. "You will be very
+tender with her; and, Bell, tell her, as some consolation, that he did
+not break with the treatment, as most of us wretches did; he kept up
+wonderfully--said he was perfectly well--and, indeed, he looked so. Tom
+Tubbs, who was his shadow, clinging to him with wonderful fidelity, will
+corroborate what I have said. He was with us, he saw him, and only
+animal force prevented him from leaping from the car and going to him
+where he fell. I shall never forget his shriek of agony at the sight of
+that blood-stained face turned an instant toward us."
+
+"Don't, don't!" Bell cried again; "I can't endure it!" and as Mrs.
+Reynolds then came in, she left her lover, and with a foreboding heart,
+started for Mrs. Banker's, meeting on the steps Tom Tubbs himself, who
+had come on an errand similar to her own.
+
+"Sit here in the hall a moment," she said to him, as the servant
+admitted them both. "I must see Mrs. Ray first."
+
+Helen was reading to her mother-in-law, but she laid down her book and
+came to welcome Bell, detecting at once the agitation in her manner and
+asking if she had had bad news from Robert.
+
+"No, Robert is at home; I have just come from there, and he told me--oh!
+Helen, can you bear it?--Mark is dead--shot twice as he jumped from the
+train taking him to another prison, Robert saw it, and knew that he was
+dead."
+
+Bell could get no further, for Helen, who had never fainted in her life,
+did so now, lying senseless so long that the physician began to think it
+would be a mercy if she never came back to life, for her reason, he
+fancied, had fled. But Helen did come back to life with reason
+unimpaired, and insisted upon hearing every detail of the dreadful
+story, both from Bell and Tom. The latter confirmed all Lieutenant
+Reynolds had said, besides adding many items of his own. Mark was dead,
+there could be no doubt of it; but with the tenacity of a strong,
+hopeful nature, the mother clung to the illusion that possibly the ball
+stunned, instead of killing--that he would yet come back; and many a
+time, as the days went by, that mother started at a step upon the walk
+or ring of the bell, which she fancied might be his, hearing him
+sometimes calling in the night storm for her to let him in, and hurrying
+down to the door only to be disappointed, and go back to her lonely room
+to weep the dark night through.
+
+With Helen there were no such illusions. After talking calmly and
+rationally with both Robert and Tom, she knew her husband was dead, and
+never watched and waited for him as his mother did. She had heard from
+Mark's companions in suffering all they had to tell, of his captivity,
+and his love for her which manifested itself in so many different ways.
+Passionately she had wept over the tress of faded hair which Tom Tubbs
+brought to her, saying: "He cut it from his head just before we left the
+prison, and told me if he never got home and I did, to give the lock to
+you, and say that all was well between him and God--that your prayers
+had saved him. He wanted you to know that, because, he said, it would
+comfort you most of all."
+
+And it did comfort her, so that she could almost say with a full heart:
+"Thy will be done," when she looked up at the clear, wintry heavens and
+thought that her lost one was there. It was her first real trial, and it
+crushed her with its magnitude so that she could not submit at once, and
+many a cry of desolate agony broke the silence of her room, where the
+whole night through she sat musing of the past, and raining kisses upon
+the little lock of hair which from the Southern prison had come to her,
+sole relic of the husband so dearly loved and truly mourned. How faded
+it was from the rich brown she remembered so well, and Helen gazing at
+it could realize in part the suffering and want which had worn so many
+precious lives away. It was strange she never dreamed of him. She often
+prayed that she might, so as to drive from her mind, if possible, the
+picture of the prostrate form upon the low, damp field, and the
+blood-stained face turned in its mortal agony toward the Southern sky
+and the pitiless foe above it. So she always saw him, shuddering as she
+wondered if the foe had buried him decently or left his bones to bleach
+upon the open plain.
+
+Poor Helen, she was widowed indeed, and it needed not the badge of
+mourning to tell how terribly she was bereaved. But the badge was there,
+too, for in spite of the hope which said "he is not dead," Mrs. Banker
+yielded to Helen's importunities, and clothed herself and
+daughter-in-law in the habiliments of woe, still waiting, still
+watching, still listening for the step she should recognize so quickly,
+still looking down the street; but looking, alas! in vain. The winter
+passed away. Captive after captive came home, heart after heart was
+cheered by the returning loved one, but for the inmates of No. ---- the
+heavy cloud grew blacker, for the empty chair by the hearth remained
+unoccupied, and the aching hearts uncheered. Mark Ray did not come back.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LIV.
+
+THE DAY OF THE WEDDING.
+
+
+Those first warm days of March, 1865, when spring and summer seemed to
+kiss each other and join hands for a brief space of time, how balmy, how
+still, how pleasant they were, and how bright the farmhouse looked,
+where preparations for Katy's second bridal were going rapidly forward.
+Aunt Betsy, as chief directress, was in her element, for now had come
+the reality of the vision she had seen so long, of house turned upside
+down in one grand onslaught of suds and sand, then righted again by
+magic power, and smelling very sweet and clean from its recent
+ablutions--of turkeys dying in the barn, of chickens in the shed, of
+ovens heating in the kitchen, of loaves of frosted cake, with cards and
+cards of snowy biscuit piled upon the pantry shelf--of jellies, tarts
+and chicken salad--of home-made wine and home-brewed beer, with tea and
+coffee, portioned out and ready for the pots, the latter mixed with
+fresh-laid eggs, and smelling strongly of old Java, and the former as
+fragrant as two and one-half dollars per pound could buy.
+
+Aunt Betsy was very happy, for this, the brightest, balmiest day of all,
+was Katy's wedding day, and in the dining-room the table was already set
+with the new chinaware and silver, a joint Christmas gift from Helen and
+Katy to their good Aunt Hannah, as real mistress of the house.
+
+"Not plated-ware, but the gen-oo-ine article," Aunt Betsy had explained
+at least twenty times to those who came to see the silver, and she
+handled it proudly now as she took it from the flannel bags where Mrs.
+Deacon Bannister said it must be kept, and placed it on a side table.
+
+The coffee-urn was Katy's, so was the teakettle and the massive pitcher,
+but the rest was "ours," Aunt Betsy complacently reflected as she
+contemplated the glittering array, end then hurried off to see what was
+burning on the stove, or "spell" Uncle Ephraim, working industriously at
+the ice-cream, out on the back stoop, stumbling over Morris as she went,
+and telling him he had come too soon--it was not fittin' for him to be
+there under foot until he was wanted.
+
+Morris probably thought he was wanted, by one member of the family at
+least, and without replying directly to Aunt Betsy, he knocked with a
+vast amount of assurance at a side door, which opened directly, and
+Katy's glowing face looked out, and Katy's voice was heard, not telling
+him he was not wanted, but saying, joyfully:
+
+"Oh, Morris, it's you. I'm so glad you've come, for I wanted--"
+
+But what she wanted was drowned by a succession of certain mysterious
+sounds, such as are only produced by a collision of lips, and which made
+Aunt Betsy mutter to herself:
+
+"It's all right, I know, but so much kissin' as I've seen the last
+fortni't is enough to turn a body's stomach. I guess old bachelders and
+widders is commonly wus than fresh hands at it."
+
+And having thus expressed her thoughts, Aunt Betsy seized the handle of
+the ice-cream freezer and turned it vigorously, thinking, perhaps, of
+Joel Upham, and what might have been but for a freak of hers. Meanwhile
+Morris and Katy sat alone in the little sewing-room, where latterly they
+had passed so many quiet hours together, and where lay the bridal dress,
+with its chaste and simple decorations. Katy had clung tenaciously to
+her mourning robes, asking, half tearfully, if she might wear black, as
+ladies sometimes did. But Morris had promptly answered no. His bride, if
+she came to him willingly, must not come clad in widow's weeds, for when
+she became his wife she would cease to be a widow.
+
+And so the black was laid aside, and Katy, in soft tinted colors, with
+her bright hair curling in her neck, looked as girlish and beautiful as
+if in Greenwood there were no pretentious monument, with Wilford's name
+upon it, nor any little grave in Silverton where Baby Cameron slept. She
+had been both wife and mother, but she was quite as dear to Morris as if
+she had never borne other name than Katy Lennox, and as he held her for
+a moment closely to his heart, he thanked God, who had at last given to
+him the idol of his boyhood and the love of his later years. Across
+their pathway no shadow was lying, except when they remembered Helen, on
+whom the mantle of widowhood had so darkly fallen just as Katy was
+throwing it off.
+
+Poor Helen, the tears always crept to Katy's eyes when, she thought of
+her, and now as she saw her steal across the road and strike into the
+winding path which led to the pasture where the pines and hemlock grew,
+she nestled closer to Morris, and whispered:
+
+"Sometimes I think it wrong to be so happy when Helen is so sad. I pity
+her so much to-day."
+
+And Helen was to be pitied, for her heart was aching to its very core.
+She had tried to keep up through the preparations for Katy's bridal,
+tried to seem interested, and even cheerful, while all the time a hidden
+agony was tugging at her heart, and life seemed a heavier burden than
+she could bear.
+
+All her portion of the work was finished now, and in the balmy
+brightness of that warm April afternoon she went into the fields where
+she could be alone beneath the soft, summer-like sky, and pour out her
+pent-up anguish into the ear of Him who had so often soothed and
+comforted her when other aids had failed. Last night, for the first time
+since she heard the dreadful news, she had dreamed of Mark, and when she
+awoke she still felt the pressure of his lips upon her brow, the touch
+of his arm upon her waist, and the thrilling clasp of his warm hand as
+it pressed and held her own. But that was a dream, a cruel delusion, and
+its memory made the day more dark and dreary as she went more slowly up
+the beaten path, pausing once beneath a chestnut tree and leaning her
+throbbing head against the shaggy bark as she heard in the distance the
+shrill whistle of the downward train from Albany, and thought, as she
+always did when she heard that whistle, "Oh, if that heralded Mark's
+return, how happy I should be." But many a sound like that had echoed
+across the Silverton hills, bringing no hope to her, and now, as it
+again died away in the Cedar Swamp, she pursued her way up the path till
+she reached the long, white ledge of rocks where with Katy she used to
+play, and where Bell Cameron had come with Lieutenant Bob, while Morris,
+too, had more than once led Katy there since the weather was so fine.
+
+"The Lovers' Rock," some called it, for village boys and maidens knew
+the place, repairing to it often, whispering their vows beneath the
+overhanging pines, which whispered back again, and told the winds the
+story which, though so old, is always new to her who listens to him who
+tells.
+
+Just underneath the spreading pine there was a large, flat stone, and
+there Helen sat down, gazing sadly upon the valley below, and the clear
+waters of Fairy Pond gleaming in the April sunshine, which lay so warmly
+on the grassy hills and flashed so brightly from the cupola at Linwood,
+where the national flag was flying. For a time Helen watched the banner
+as it shook its folds to the breeze, then, as she remembered with what a
+fearful price that flag had been saved from foul dishonor, she hid her
+face in her hands and sobbed bitterly:
+
+"God help me not to begrudge the price or think I paid too dearly for my
+country's rights. Oh, Mark, my murdered husband, I may be wrong, but you
+were dearer to me than many, many countries, and it is hard to give you
+up--hard to know that the notes of peace which even now float up to us
+from the South will not waken you in that grave which I can never see.
+Oh, Mark, my darling, my darling, I loved you so much, I miss you so
+much, I want you so much. God help me to bear. God help me to say, 'Thy
+will be done.'"
+
+She was rocking to and fro in her grief, with her hands pressed over her
+face, as she thus moaned out a prayer that God would help her to feel,
+as well as to say, "Thy will be done," and for a long time she sat there
+thus, while the sun crept on further toward the west, and the freshened
+breeze shook the tasseled pine above her head and kissed the bands of
+rich brown hair, from which her hat had fallen. She did not heed the
+lapse of time in the earnest prayer she breathed for entire submission
+to God's will, nor did she hear the footstep coming up the pathway to
+the ledge where she was sitting, the footstep which paused at intervals,
+as if the comer were weary, or else in quest of some one, but which at
+last came on with rapid bounds as an opening among the trees showed
+where Helen sat. It was a tall young man who came, a young man sunburned
+and scarred, with uniform soiled and worn, but with the fire in his
+brown eyes unquenched, the love in his true heart unchanged, save as it
+was deeper, more intense for the years of separation, and the long,
+cruel suspense which was all over now. The grave had given up its dead,
+the captive was released, and through incredible suffering and danger
+had reached his Northern home, had sought and found his girl-wife of a
+few hours, for it was Mark Ray speeding up the path, and holding back
+his breath as he came close to the bowed form on the rock, feeling a
+strange throb of awe when he saw the mourning dress, and knew it was
+worn for him. A moment more, and she lay in his arms, white and
+insensible, for with the sudden winding of his arms around her neck, the
+pressure of his lips upon her cheek, the calling of her name, and the
+knowing it was really her husband, she had uttered a wild, impassioned
+cry, half of terror, half of joy, and fainted entirely away, just as she
+did when told that he was dead! There was no water near, but with loving
+words and soft caresses, Mark brought her back to life, raining both
+tears and kisses upon the dear face which had grown so white and thin
+since the Christmas Eve when the wintry starlight had looked down upon
+their parting. For several moments neither could speak for the great
+choking joy which wholly precluded the utterance of a word. Helen was
+the first to rally, and lying in Mark's lap, with her head pillowed on
+Mark's arm, she whispered:
+
+"Let us thank God together. You, too, have learned to pray."
+
+Reverently Mark bent his face to hers, and the pine boughs overhead
+heard, instead of mourning notes, a prayer of praise, as the reunited
+wife and husband fervently thanked God, who had brought them together
+again.
+
+Not until nearly half an hour was gone, and Helen had begun to realize
+that the arm which held her so tightly was genuine flesh and blood, and
+not a mere delusion, did she look up into the face, glowing with so much
+of happiness and love. Upon the forehead, and just beneath the hair,
+there was a savage scar, and the flesh about it was red and angry still,
+showing how sore and painful it must have been, and making Helen shudder
+as she touched it with her lips, and said:
+
+"Poor, darling Mark! that's where the cruel ball entered; but where is
+the other scar--the one made by the man who went to you in the fields,
+and who also fired, they said. I have tried so hard to hate him for
+firing at a fallen foe."
+
+"Rather, pray for him, darling. Bless him as the savior of your
+husband's life, the noble fellow but for whom I should not have been
+here now, for he was a Unionist, as true to the old flag as Abraham
+himself," Mark Ray replied; and then, as Helen looked wonderingly at
+him, he laid her head in an easier position upon his shoulder, and told
+her a story so strange in its details that but for the frequent
+occurrence of similar incidents it would be pronounced wholly unreal and
+false.
+
+Of what he suffered in the Southern prisons he did not speak, either
+then or ever after, but began with the day when, with a courage born of
+desperation, he jumped from the moving train, and was shot down by the
+guard. Partially stunned, he still, retained sense enough to know when
+a tall form bent over him, and to hear the rough but kindly voice which
+said:
+
+"Play 'possum, Yank. Make b'lieve you're dead, and throw them hellhounds
+off the scent."
+
+This was the last he knew for many weeks, and when again he awoke to
+consciousness he found himself on the upper floor of a dilapidated hut,
+which stood in the center of a little wood, his bed a pile of straw,
+over which was spread a clean patchwork quilt, while seated at his side,
+and watching him intently, was the same man who had bent over him in the
+field, and shouted to the rebels that he was dead.
+
+"I shall never forget my sensations then," Mark said, "for, with the
+exception of this present hour, when I hold you, my darling, in my arms,
+and know the danger is over, I never experienced a moment of greater
+happiness and rest than when, up in that squalid garret, where the
+rafters, festooned with cobwebs and dust, could be touched by stretching
+out my hand, and where the sunlight only found an entrance through an
+aperture in the roof, which admitted the rain as well, I came back to
+life again, the pain in my head all gone, and nothing left save a
+delicious feeling of languor, which prompted me to lie quietly for
+several minutes, examining my surroundings, and speculating upon the
+chance which brought me there. That I was a prisoner I did not doubt,
+until the man at my side said to me, cheerily: 'Well, old chap, you've
+come through it like a major, though I was mighty dubious a spell about
+that pesky ball. But old Aunt Bab and me fished it out, and since then
+you've begun to mend.'
+
+"'Where am I? Who are you?' I asked, and he replied: 'Who be I? Why, I'm
+Jack Jennin's, the rarinest, red-hottest secesh thar is in these yere
+parts, so the rebs thinks; but 'twixt you and me, boy, I'm the tallest
+kind of a Union--got a piece of the old flag sewed inside of my boots,
+and every night before sleepin' I prays Lord gin Abe the victory,' and
+raise Cain generally in t'other camp, and forgive Jack Jennin's for
+tellin' so many lies, and makin' b'leeve he's one thing, when you know
+and he knows he's t'other. If I've spared one Union chap, I'll bet I
+have a hundred, me and old Bab, a black woman who lives here and tends
+to the cases I fotch her, till we contrive to git 'em inter Tennessee,
+whar they hev to shift for themselves.'
+
+"I could only press his bony hand in token of my gratitude, while he
+went on to say: 'Them was beans I fired at you that day, but they sarved
+every purpose, and them scalliwags on the train s'pose you were put
+under ground weeks ago, if, indeed, you wasn't left to rot in the sun,
+as heaps and heaps on 'em is. Nobody knows you are here but Bab and me,
+and nobody must know if you want to git off with a whole hide. I could
+git a hundred dollars by givin' you up, but you don't s'pose Jack
+Jennin's is agwine to do that ar infernal trick? No, sir,' and he
+brought his brawny fist down upon his knee with a force which made me
+tremble, while I tried to express my thanks for his great kindness. He
+was a noble man, Helen, while Aunt Bab, the colored woman, who nursed me
+so tenderly, and whose black, bony hands I kissed at parting, was as
+true a woman as any with a fairer skin and more beautiful exterior.
+
+"For three weeks longer I stayed up in that loft, and in that time three
+more escaped prisoners were brought there, and one Union refugee from
+North Carolina. We left in company one wild, rainy night, when the storm
+and darkness must have been sent for our special protection, and Jack
+Jennings cried like a little child when he bade me good-by, promising,
+if he survived the war, to find his way to the North and visit me in New
+York. I should be prouder, Helen, to welcome him to our home than to
+entertain the Emperor of France, while Bab should have a seat at my own
+table, and I be honored by it. There are many such noble spirits there,
+and when I remember them, I wish to spare a land which I once hoped
+might be burned with fire until no trace was left. We found them
+everywhere, and especially among the mountains of Tennessee, where, but
+for their timely aid, we had surely been recaptured. The negroes, too,
+were powerful helps, and in no single case has a black man proved
+treacherous to his suffering white brother, I was not an Abolitionist
+when the war broke out, but I am one now, and to see the negro free I
+would almost spill my last drop of blood. They are a patient,
+all-enduring, faithful race, and without them the bones of many a poor
+wretch who now sits by his own fireside and recounts the perils he has
+escaped, would whiten in the Southern swamps or on the Southern
+mountains. Three times were we chased by bloodhounds, and in every case
+the negroes were the means of saving us from certain death. For weeks we
+were hidden in a cave, hunted by the Confederates by day, and fed at
+night by negroes, who told us when and where to go. With blistered feet
+and bruised limbs, we reached the lines at last, when fever attacked me
+for the second time and brought me near to death. Somebody wrote to you,
+but you never received it, and when I grew better I would not let them
+write again, as I wanted to surprise you. As soon as I was able I
+started North, my thoughts full of the joyful meeting in store--a
+meeting which I dreaded, too, for I knew you must think me dead, and I
+felt so sorry for you, my darling, knowing, as I did, you would mourn
+for your soldier husband. That my darling has mourned is written on her
+face, and needs no words to tell it; but that is over now," Mark said,
+folding his wife closer to him, and kissing the pale lips which
+whispered:
+
+"Yes, I have been so sorry, Mark--so tired, so sad, and life was such a
+burden, I would gladly have laid it down."
+
+"The burden is now removed," Mark said, and then he told her how,
+arrived at Albany, he had telegraphed to his mother, asking where Helen
+was.
+
+"In Silverton," was the reply, and so he came on in the morning train,
+meeting his mother in Springfield, as he had half expected to do,
+knowing that she could leave New York in time to join him there.
+
+"No words of mine," he said, "are adequate to describe the thrill of joy
+with which I looked again upon the hills and rocks so identified with
+you that I loved them for your sake, hailing them as old, familiar
+friends, and actually growing sick and faint with excitement when,
+through the leafless woods, I caught the gleam of Fairy Pond, where I
+gathered the lilies for you. Does my darling remember it?"
+
+He knew she did by the clasp of her hand, and he continued:
+
+"Had a dead body risen from its grave, and walked into the farmhouse,
+carrying its coffin with it, it could not have created greater
+consternation, or made worse havoc with the people's wits than did my
+sudden appearance in their midst. Good Aunt Betsy, I am sorry to say,
+fell the entire length of the cellar stairs, spraining her ankle,
+bruising her elbow shockingly, and, direst calamity of all, in her
+estimation, breaking the dish of charlotte russe she was holding in her
+hand. There is a wedding in progress, I learned from mother, and it
+seems very meet that I should come at this time, making, in reality, a
+double wedding, when I can truly claim my bride," and Mark kissed Helen
+passionately, laughing to see how the blushes broke over her white face,
+and burned upon her neck.
+
+Those were happy moments which they passed together upon that ledge of
+rocks, happy enough to atone for all the dreadful past, and when at last
+they arose and slowly retraced their steps to the farmhouse, it seemed
+to Mark that Helen's cheeks were rounder, fuller, than when he found
+her, while Helen knew that the arm on which she leaned was stronger than
+when it first inclosed her an hour or two ago.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LV.
+
+THE WEDDING.
+
+
+Many times Aunt Betsy had hobbled to the door, and shading her eyes with
+her hand, had looked wistfully up the hill in quest of Mark and Helen,
+wondering why they stayed out so long, when they must know the sun was
+nearly down, and wondering next if Morris would never go home about his
+business and give Katy a chance to dress.
+
+Poor, worried, unfortunate Aunt Betsy! her foot was very lame, and her
+arm was badly bruised; but she bandaged it up in camphor and sugar,
+wincing at the terrible smart when the wash was at first applied, but
+saying to Morris, who asked if it did not hurt cruelly: "Yes, it hurts
+some, but nothin' to what the poor soldiers is hurt; and I wouldn't mind
+it an atom if I hadn't broke the dish with the heathenish name."
+
+And, indeed, the loss of the charlotte russe did weigh heavily on Aunt
+Betsy's mind, proving the straw too many, and only Bell Cameron, who,
+with Lieutenant Bob, had come on the same train with Mark and Mrs.
+Banker, had power to reassure her by telling her that charlotte russe
+was not essential at all; that, for her part, she was glad to have it
+out of sight, as it was her especial detestation. This comforted Aunt
+Betsy, who had made many of her preparations for the wedding with a
+direct reference to the "city folks" so confidently expected. The
+substantials were for the neighbors--those who would have no supper at
+home, but reserve their appetites for the wedding viands; while the
+delicacies, the knickknacks, were designed exclusively for "them
+stuck-up critters, the Camerons," not one of whom, it now seemed, would
+be present except Bell. Father Cameron was not able to come; he would
+gladly have done so if he could, and he sent his blessing to Katy, with
+the wish that she might be very happy in her second married life. This
+message Bell gave to Katy, and then tried to form some reasonable excuse
+for her mother's and Juno's absence, for she could not tell how
+haughtily both had declined the invitation, Juno finding fault because
+Katy had not waited longer than two years, and Mrs. Cameron blaming her
+for being so very vulgar as to be married at home, instead of in church,
+where she ought to be. On this point Katy herself had been a little
+disquieted, feeling how much more appropriate it was that she be married
+in the church, but shrinking from standing again a bride at the same
+altar where she had once before been made a wife. She could not do it,
+she finally decided; there would be too many harrowing memories crowding
+upon her mind, and as Morris did not particularly care where the
+ceremony was performed, provided he got Katy at the last, it was settled
+that it should be at the house, even though Mrs. Deacon Bannister did
+say that she had supposed Dr. Grant too High Church to do anything as
+Presbyterianny as that.
+
+Bell's arrival at the farmhouse was timely, for the unexpected
+appearance in their midst of one whom they looked upon as surely dead
+had stunned and bewildered the family to such an extent that it needed
+the presence of just such a matter-of-fact, self-possessed woman as
+Bell to bring things back to their original shape. It was wonderful how
+the city girl fitted into the vacant niches, seeing to everything which
+needed seeing to, and still finding time to steal away alone with
+Lieutenant Bob, who kept her in a painful state of blushing by
+constantly wishing it was his bridal night as well as Dr. Grant's, and
+by inveighing against the weeks which must still intervene ere the day
+appointed for the grand ceremony to take place in Grace Church, and
+which was to make Bell his wife.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Ain't Morris ever goin' home? He won't be dressed in time, as sure as
+the world, if he stays here much longer," Aunt Betsy said a dozen times,
+until at last her patience was exhausted, and going boldly in where he
+was, she bade him start in at once, or he would not have time to put on
+his best coat and jacket, let alone Katy's changin' her clothes.
+
+Thus importuned, Morris quitted the house, just as Mark and Helen came
+slowly up, their faces happier, if possible, than his own, and telling
+of the great joy which had succeeded their dark night of sorrow.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+"Come in here, Helen, I have something to show you," Mrs. Banker said,
+after she had again embraced and wept over her long-lost son, whose
+return was not quite real yet, and leading her daughter-in-law to her
+bedroom, she showed her the elegant white silk which had been made for
+her just after her marriage, two years before, and which with careful
+forethought she had brought with her, as more suitable now for the
+wedding than Helen's mourning weeds.
+
+"I made the most of my time last night after receiving Mark's telegram,
+and had it modernized somewhat," she said. "And I brought your pearls,
+for you know you will be most as much a bride as Katy, and I have a
+pride in seeing my son's wife appropriately dressed."
+
+Far different were Helen's feelings now, as she donned the elegant
+dress, from what they had been the first and only time she wore it. Then
+the bridegroom was where danger and death lay thickly around his
+pathway, but now he was at her side, kissing her cheek where the roses
+were burning so brightly, and calling still deeper blushes to her face
+by his teasing observations and humorous ridicule of his own personal
+appearance. Would she not feel ashamed of him, in his soiled, faded
+uniform? And would she not cast longing glances at her handsome
+brother-in-law and the stylish Lieutenant Bob? But Helen was proud of
+her husband's uniform, as a badge of what he had suffered, and when the
+folds of her rich dress swept against it, she did not draw them away,
+but nestled closer to him, leaning upon his shoulder, and when no one
+was near, winding her soft arms about his neck, whispering: "My darling
+Mark, I cannot make it real yet."
+
+Softly the night shadows fell around the farmhouse, and in the rooms
+below a rather mixed group was assembled--all the _elite_ of the town,
+with many of Aunt Betsy's neighbors, and the doctor's patients, who had
+come to see their loved physician married, rejoicing in his happiness,
+and glad that the mistress of Linwood was not to be a stranger, but the
+young girl who had grown up in their midst, and who, by suffering and
+sorrow, had been molded into a noble woman, worthy of Dr. Grant. She was
+ready now for her second bridal, and she looked like some pure waxen
+figure in her dress of white, with no vestige of color in her face, and
+her great blue eyes shining with a brilliancy which made them almost
+black. Occasionally, as her thoughts leaped backward over a period of
+almost six years, a tear trembled on her long eyelashes, but Morris, as
+often as he saw it, kissed it away, asking if she were sorry.
+
+"Oh, no, not sorry that I am to be your wife," she answered; "but it is
+not possible that I should forget entirely the roughness of the road
+which has led me to you."
+
+"They are waiting for you," was said several times ere the parties
+waited for were quite ready to go; but everything was done at last, and
+slowly down the stairs passed Mark Ray and Helen, Lieutenant Bob and
+Bell, with Dr. Grant and Katy, whose face, as she stood again before the
+clergyman and spoke her marriage vows, shone with a strange, peaceful
+light, which made it seem to those who gazed upon her like the face of
+some pure angel.
+
+There was no thought then of that deathbed in Georgetown--no thought of
+Greenwood, or the little grave in Silverton, where the crocuses and
+hyacinths were blossoming--no thought of anything save the man at her
+side, whose voice was so full and earnest, as it made the responses, and
+who gently pressed the little hand as he fitted the wedding ring. It was
+over at last, and Katy was Morris' wife, blushing now as they called her
+Mrs. Grant, and putting up her rosebud lips to be kissed by all who
+claimed that privilege. Helen, too, came in for her share of attention,
+and the opinion of the guests as to the beauty of the respective brides,
+as they were termed, was pretty equally divided; both were beautiful,
+and both bore traces of the suffering and suspense which had purified
+and made them better.
+
+In heavy, rustling silk, which actually trailed an inch, and cap of real
+lace, Aunt Betsy hobbled among the crowd, her face aglow with the
+satisfaction she felt at seeing her nieces so much admired and
+appreciated, and her heart so full of good will and toleration that
+after the supper was over, and she fancied a few of the younger ones
+were beginning to feel tired, she suggested to Bell that she might start
+a dance if she had a mind to, either in the kitchen or parlor, it did
+not matter where, and "Ephraim would not care an atom," a remark which
+brought from Mrs. Deacon Bannister a most withering look of reproach,
+and slightly endangered Aunt Betsy's standing in the church. Perhaps
+Bell Cameron suspected as much, for she replied that they were having a
+splendid time as it was, and as Dr. Grant did not dance, they might as
+well dispense with it altogether. And so it happened that there was no
+dancing at Katy's wedding, and Uncle Ephraim escaped the reproof which
+his brother deacon would have felt called upon to give him had he
+permitted so grievous a sin, while Mrs. Deacon Bannister, who, at the
+first trip of the toe, would have felt it her duty to depart, lest her
+eyes should look upon the evil thing, was thus permitted to remain until
+"it was out," and the guests retired _en masse_ to their respective
+homes.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+The carriage from Linwood stood at the farmhouse door, and Katy,
+wrapped in shawls and hood, was ready to go with her husband to the home
+where she knew so much of rest and quiet awaited her. There were no
+tears shed at this parting, for their darling was not going far away;
+her new home was just across the fields, and through the soft moonlight
+they could see its chimney tops, and trace for some little distance the
+road over which the carriage went, bearing her swiftly on, her hands
+fast locked in Morris', her head upon his arm, and the hearts of both
+too full of bliss for either to speak a word until Linwood was reached,
+when, folding Katy to his bosom in a passionate embrace, Morris said to
+her:
+
+"We are home at last--your home and mine, my precious, precious wife."
+
+The village clock was striking one, and the sound echoed across the
+waters of Fairy Pond, awakening, in his marshy bed, a sleeping frog, who
+sent forth upon the warm, still air a musical, plaintive note as Morris
+bore his bride over the threshold and into the library, where on the
+hearth a cheerful fire was blazing. He had ordered it kindled there, for
+he had a fancy ere he slept to see fulfilled the dream he had dreamed so
+often, of Katy sitting in the chair across the hearth, where he placed
+her now, himself removing her shawl and hood, then kneeling down before
+her, with his arm around her waist and his head upon her shoulder, he
+prayed aloud to the God who had brought her there, asking His blessing
+upon their future life, and dedicating himself and all he had to his
+Master's service. It is such prayer which God delights to answer; and a
+peace, deeper than they had yet known, fell upon that newly-married pair
+at Linwood.
+
+
+
+
+CHAPTER LVI.
+
+CONCLUSION.
+
+
+The scene shifts now to New York, where, one week after that wedding in
+Silverton, Mark and Helen were, and where, too, were Morris and Katy.
+But not on Madison Square. That house had been sold, and Katy had seen
+it but once, her tears falling fast as driving slowly by with Morris
+she gazed at the closed doors and windows of what was once her home, and
+around which lingered no pleasant memories save that it was the
+birthplace of Baby Cameron. Once Lieutenant Reynolds had thought to buy
+it, but Bell said: "No, it would not be quite pleasant for Katy to visit
+me there, and I mean to have her with me as much as possible," so the
+house went to strangers, and a less pretentious, but quite as
+comfortable, one was bought for Bell, so far uptown that Mrs. Cameron
+pronounced it quite in the country, while Juno wondered how her sister
+would manage to exist so far from everything, intimating that her visits
+would be far between, a threat which Lieutenant Bob took quite
+heroically; indeed, it rather enhanced the value of his pleasant home
+than otherwise, for Juno was not a favorite, and his equanimity was not
+likely to be disturbed if she never crossed his threshold. She was
+throwing bait to Arthur Grey, the man who swore he was forty-five to
+escape the draft, and who, now that the danger was over, would gladly
+take back his oath and be forty, as he really was. With the most
+freezing kiss imaginable, Juno had greeted Katy, calling her "Mrs.
+Grant," and treating Morris as if he were an entire stranger, instead of
+the man whom to get she would once have moved both earth and heaven.
+Mrs. Cameron, too, though glad in her heart that Katy was married, and
+fully approving of her choice, threw into her manner so much reserve
+that Katy's intercourse with her was anything but agreeable, and she
+turned with alacrity to Father Cameron, who had received her with open
+arms, calling her his daughter, and welcoming Morris as his son, taken
+in Wilford's stead. "My boy," he frequently called him, showing by his
+manner how willingly he accepted him as the husband of one whom he
+really loved as his child. Greatly he wished that they should stay with
+him while they remained in New York, but Katy preferred going with Helen
+to Mrs. Banker's, where she would be more quiet, and avoid the bustle
+and confusion attending the preparations for Bell's wedding. It was to
+be a grand church affair, and to take place during Easter week, after
+which the bridal pair were going on to Washington, Fortress Monroe, and,
+if possible, to Richmond, where Bob had been a prisoner. Everything
+seemed conspiring to make the occasion a joyful one, for all through
+the North, from Maine to California, the air was rife with the jubilee
+songs of victory, and the notes of approaching peace. But, alas! He who
+holds our country's destiny in His hand changed that song of gladness
+into a wail of woe, which, echoing through the land, rose up to Heaven
+in one mighty sob of anguish, as the whole nation bemoaned its loss. Our
+President was dead!--foully, cruelly murdered!--and New York was in
+mourning, so black, so profound, that with a shudder Bell Cameron tossed
+aside the orange wreath and said to her lover: "We will be married at
+home. I cannot now go to the church, when everything seems so like one
+great funeral."
+
+And so in Mrs. Cameron's drawing-room there was a quiet wedding one
+pleasant April morning, and Bell's plain traveling dress was far more
+in keeping with the gloom which hung over the great city than her gala
+robes would have been, with a long array of carriages and merry wedding
+chimes. Westward they went, instead of South, and when our late lamented
+President was borne back to the prairie of Illinois, they were there to
+greet the noble dead, and mingle their tears with those who knew and
+loved him long before the world appreciated his worth.
+
+       *       *       *       *       *
+
+Softly the May rain falls on Linwood, where the fresh green grass is
+springing and the early spring flowers blooming, and where Katy, fairest
+flower of all, stands for a moment in the deep bay window of the
+library, listening dreamily to the patter on the tin roof overhead, and
+gazing wistfully down the road, as if watching for some one, then
+turning, she enters the dining-room and inspects the supper table,
+shining with silver, and laid for six, for her mother, Aunt Hannah and
+Aunt Betsy are visiting her this rainy afternoon, while Morris, on his
+return from North Silverton, where he has gone to see a patient, is to
+call for Uncle Ephraim, who, in clean linen, checked gingham neck
+handkerchief and the swallow-tailed coat which has served him for so
+many years, sits waiting at home, with one kitten in his lap and
+another on his shoulder.
+
+Linwood is a nice place to visit, and the old ladies enjoy it vastly,
+especially Aunt Betsy, who never tires of telling what they have "over
+to Katy's," and whose capeless shaker hangs often on the hall stand,
+just as it hangs now, while she, good soul, sits in the pleasant parlor,
+near the blazing fire, and darns the socks for Morris, taking as much
+pains as if it were a network of fine lace she was weaving, instead of a
+shocking rent in some luckless heel or toe. Upstairs there is a pleasant
+room which Katy calls Aunt Betsy's, and in it is the feather bed on
+which Wilford Cameron once slept, a part of Katy's "setting out," which
+never found its way to Madison Square. Morris himself did not think much
+of feathers, but he made no objection when Aunt Betsy insisted on
+sending over the bed kept for so many years, and only smiled a droll
+kind of smile when he one morning met it coming up the walk in the
+wheelbarrow which Uncle Ephraim trundled.
+
+Morris and his young wife were very happy together, and Katy found the
+hours of his absence very long, especially when she was left alone. Even
+to-day, with her aunts and mother, the time drags heavily, and she looks
+more than once from the bay window, until at last Brownie's head is seen
+over the hill, and a few moments after Morris' arm is around her
+shoulders, and her lips are upturned for the kiss he gives as he leads
+her into the house out of the chill, damp air, chiding her gently for
+exposing herself to the rain, and placing in her hand three letters,
+which she does not open until the cozy tea is over and her family
+friends have gone. Then, while her husband looks over his evening paper,
+she breaks the seals, one by one, reading first the letter from "Mrs.
+Bob Reynolds," who has returned from the West, and who is in the full
+glory of her bridal calls.
+
+"I was never so happy in my life as I am now," she wrote. "Indeed, I did
+not know that a married woman could be so happy; but then every woman
+has not a Bob for her husband, which makes a vast difference. You ought
+to see Juno. I know she envies me, though she affects the utmost
+contempt for matrimony, and reminds me forcibly of the fox and the
+grapes. You see, Arthur Grey is a failure, so far as Juno is concerned,
+he having withdrawn from the field and laid himself, with his forty-five
+years, at the feet of Sybil Grandon, who will be Mrs. Grey, and a bride
+at Saratoga the coming summer. Juno, I believe, intends going, too, as
+the bridesmaid of the party; but every year her chances lessen, and I
+have very little hope that father will ever call other than Bob his son,
+always excepting Morris, of course, whom he really has adopted in place
+of Wilford. You don't know, Katy, how much father thinks of you,
+blessing the day which brought you to us, and saying that if he is ever
+saved, he shall in a great measure owe it to your sweet influence and
+consistent life after the great trouble came upon you."
+
+There were tears in Katy's eyes as she read this letter from Bell, and
+with a mental prayer of thanksgiving that she had been of any use in
+guiding even one to the Shepherd's fold, she took next the letter whose
+superscription made her tremble for a moment and turn faint, it brought
+back so vividly to her mind the daisy-covered grave in Alnwick, whose
+headstone bore Genevra Lambert's name. Marian, who was now at Annapolis,
+caring for the returned prisoners, did not write often, and her letters
+were prized the more by Katy, who read with a heating heart the kind
+congratulations upon her recent marriage, sent by Marian Hazelton.
+
+"I knew how it would end, even when you were in Georgetown," she wrote,
+"and I am glad that it is so, praying daily that you may be as happy
+with Dr. Grant as to remember the sad past only as some dream from which
+you have awakened. I thank you for your invitation to visit Linwood, and
+when my work is over I may come for a few weeks and rest in your bird's
+nest of a home. Thank God the war is ended; but my boys need me yet, and
+until the last crutch has left the hospital, and the last worn figure
+gone, I shall stay where duty lies. What my life will henceforth be I do
+not know, but I have sometimes thought that with the ample funds you so
+generously bestowed upon me, I shall open a school for orphan children,
+taking charge myself, and so doing some good. Will you be the lady
+patroness, and occasionally enliven us with the light of your
+countenance? I have left the hospital but once since you were here, and
+then I went to Wilford's grave. Forgive me, Katy, if I did wrong in
+wishing to kneel once upon the sod which covered him. I prayed for you
+while there, remembering only that you had been his wife. In a little
+box where no eyes but mine ever look, there is a bunch of flowers
+plucked from Wilford's grave. They are faded now and withered, but
+something of their sweet perfume lingers still; and I prize them as my
+greatest treasure, for, except the lock of raven hair severed from his
+head, they are all that is remaining to me of the past, which now seems
+so far away. It is time to make my nightly round of visits, so I must
+bid you good-by. The Lord lift up the light of His countenance upon you,
+and be with you forever.
+
+"MARIAN HAZELTON."
+
+For a long time Katy held this letter in her hand, wondering if the
+sorrowful woman whose life was once so strangely blended with that of
+Marian Hazelton and the pale occupant of that grave at Greenwood, whence
+the flowers came, could be the Katy Grant who sat by the evening fire at
+Linwood, with no shadow on her brow, and only the sunshine of perfect
+happiness resting on her heart. "Truly, He doeth all things well to
+those who wait upon Him," she thought, as she laid down Marian's letter
+and took up the third and last, Helen's letter, dated at Fortress
+Monroe, whither with Mark Ray she had gone just after Bell Cameron's
+bridal.
+
+"You cannot imagine," she wrote, "the feelings of awe and even terror
+which steal over me the nearer I get to the seat of war, and the more I
+realize the bloody strife we have been engaged in, and which, thank God,
+has now so nearly ceased. You have heard of John Jennings, the noble man
+who saved my dear husband's life, and of Aunt Bab, who helped in the
+good work? Both are here. It seems that suspicion was aroused against
+them at last, and Bab was cruelly whipped to make her confess where a
+Union prisoner was hidden; but, though the blows cut deep into her back,
+bringing the blood at every stroke, she never uttered a word; and with
+her wounds all smarting as they were, she helped the poor boy off, and
+then with her master, John Jennings, started for the North. I never saw
+Mark more pleased than when seized around the neck by two long, brawny
+arms, while a cheery voice called out: 'Hello, old chap, has you done
+forgot John Jennin's?' I verily believe Mark cried, and I know I did,
+especially when old Bab came up and shook 'young misses' hand.' I kissed
+her, Katy--all black, and rough, and uncouth as she was. I kissed her
+more than once, and felt honored in doing so. Poor Bab! her back is
+still a piteous sight, and I dress it every day, shuddering at the
+sight, and thanking God that slavery, with all its horrors, is at an
+end. I wish you could see how grateful the old creature is for every act
+of kindness. She says 'the very feel of misses' soft, white hands makes
+her old back better,' and she praises me continually to Mark, who is
+just foolish enough to believe all she says. When we come home again,
+both John and Bab will come with us, though what we shall do with John
+is more than I can tell. Mark says he shall employ him about the office,
+and this I know will delight Tom Tubbs, who has again made friends with
+Chitty, and who will almost worship John as having saved Mark's life.
+Aunt Bab shall have an honored seat by the kitchen fire, and a pleasant
+room all to herself, working only when she likes, and doing as she
+pleases.
+
+"Did I tell you that Mattie Tubbs was to be my seamstress? I am getting
+together a curious household, you will say; but I like to have those
+about me to whom I can do the greatest amount of good, and as I happen
+to know how much Mattie admires 'the Lennox girls,' I did not hesitate
+to take her, even though Mark did ask if I intended bringing her into
+the parlor to help entertain my company. Mark is a saucy, teasing
+fellow, and I see more and more how he kept up that dreadful
+Andersonville while so many of his comrades died. Dear Mark! can I ever
+be grateful enough to God for bringing him home?
+
+"We stopped at Annapolis on our way here, and I shall never forget the
+pale, worn faces, or the great, sunken eyes which looked at me so
+wistfully as I went from cot to cot, speaking words of cheer to the
+sufferers, some of whom were Mark's companions in prison, their dim eyes
+lighting up with joy as they recognized him and heard of his escape.
+There are several nurses here, but no words of mine can tell what one of
+them is to the poor fellows, or how eagerly they watch for her coming,
+following her with so greedy glances as he moves about the room, and
+holding her hand with a clasp, as if they would keep her with them
+always. Indeed, more than one heart, as I am told, has confessed its
+allegiance to her; but she answers all the same: 'I have no love to
+give. It died out long ago, and cannot be recalled.' Yon can guess who
+she is, Katy. The soldiers call her an angel, but we know her as
+Marian."
+
+There were great tear-blots upon that letter as Katy put it aside, and
+nestling close to Morris, laid her head upon his knee, where his hand
+could smooth her golden curls, while she gazed long and earnestly into
+the fire, musing upon Helen's closing words, and thinking how much they
+expressed, and how just a tribute they were to the noble woman whose
+life had been one constant sacrifice of self for another's good--"The
+soldiers call her an angel, but we know her as Marian."
+
+
+THE END.
+
+
+
+
+
+End of the Project Gutenberg EBook of Family Pride, by Mary J. Holmes
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