" She shrank back. "I have made all my arrangements," he
continued, feverishly. "I have a cousin, a minister, living in Versailles.
Once a month he preaches in a little church on the 'pike near there. I sent
word by Elias last night for him to meet us there to-night, and he said he
would. Elias has the horses under the trees yonder; they will be here in a
moment, and in an hour we will be married. Come!" His arms were around her,
and while he spoke she was carried away by the rush of his passion, and
yielded to it with a feeling of languorous delight. Then there came the
thought of the lonely old man who would be left behind. She slipped gently
from her lover's arms and looked back at the house which had been her home
for so many years. She saw the light, in her father's room, and recalled
how she went there when she was a little girl to say her prayers at his
knee and kiss him good-night. He had always been so kind to her, so willing
to sacrifice himself for her pleasure, and he was so old. What would he do
when she had gone out of his life? No; she could not desert him. She
covered her face with her hands.
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