"
When Dora opened her eyes, and saw the three anxious faces around
her, for a moment she was bewildered. They knew when the torture
of memory returned to her, for she clasped her hands with a low
moan.
"Dora," said her mother, "what has happened? Trust us, dear
child--we are your best friends. Where is your husband? And
why have you left him?"
"Because he has grown tired of me," she cried, with passion and
anger flaming again in her white, worn face. "I did something he
thought wrong, and he prayed to Heaven to pardon him for making
me his wife."
"What did you do?" asked her father, anxiously.
"Nothing that I thought wrong," she replied. "Ask me no
questions, father. I would rather die any death than return to
him or see him again. Yet do not think evil of him. It was all
a mistake. I could not think his thoughts or live his life--we
were quite different, and very unhappy. He never wishes to see
me again, and I will suffer anything rather than see him."
The farmer and his wife looked at each other in silent dismay.
This proud, angry woman and her passionate words frightened them.
Pages:
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173