It is all I will have,
in a little while, when Arthur Campbell has taken you away from me."
I have never been able to say very much in the trying moments of my
life, and so when Mr. Dalton's story was ended, I only looked out of
the window upon the gathering twilight, listening to the echo of his
plaintive accents, as they settled down upon my heart forever. After a
pause, he spoke again:--"You have promised to marry Campbell, have you
not?" he asked.
"Yes Mr. Dalton, I think he is a worthy fellow, don't you?" I replied.
"He is Amey, he is. I trust you will both be happy," was the
distracted rejoinder, and then Bayard knocked timidly at the door; I
knew what the summons meant and starting to my feet at once, I went
and obeyed it.
CHAPTER XIX.
It was my last vigil by Hortense's bed-side--for, when morning came
with its glad sun-beams, her spirit had passed away--there was no
struggle, no pain, only a sinking to rest, a falling to sleep; a quiet
transit from life's worrying turmoil, into the hallowed peace of
death!
With a handful of fresh violets, and a cross upon her breast, a lily,
white and newly-gathered, in her hand, the emblem of that purity in
which her eternal sleep had overtaken her, she lay within the quiet
precincts of her little room.
Many tears were shed, and many sighs were heaved about her! So young,
so fresh a flower in life's great garden, lying before us with its
broken stem!
We bade her our last farewell, and resigned her to the grave; I, who
had loved her with all the intimate intensity of a glowing friendship,
kissed her cold lips again and again, and turned away from her,
forever.
Pages:
297
298
299
300
301
302
303
304
305
306
307
308
309
310
311
312
313
314
315
316
317
318
319
320
321