A few days ago the Clarkes had come home, with their daughter Liane restored to health after weary weeks of illness and nervous prostration2 from her terrible beating at Granny Jenks' hands and the subsequent exposure in the cold cellar.
They called her Liane still, because the name of Roma was associated with so many unpleasant things that they had no wish for her to bear it.
Mr. Clarke had spent a thrilling hour making clear to his wife all the happenings of the past eighteen years, but she had borne the shock better than he expected. Her love for Roma, never as strong as the maternal3 love, though carefully fostered, died an instant death when she heard the story of the girl's terrible crimes. Bitter tears she shed, indeed, but they were for her own[Pg 315] daughter's sufferings in those cruel years while she had been kept back from her own.
"We will make it up to her, my darling, by devotion now," cried her husband, kissing away her tears; then they hastened to the bedside of Liane, for she could not be moved yet from her humble4 abode5.
After several days of unconsciousness she began to improve, and in a week was able to have the truth carefully broken to her by her own mother, who with Sophie Nutter6 shared the task of nursing her back to health. Doctor Jay was sent for to assist with his medical skill, and great was his joy to find her restored to her own, and so beautiful and worthy7, in spite of the rearing she had had from brutal8 granny, the miserable9 old hag, who was so crushed by the contempt and scorn of every one that she sought consolation10 in the bottle and drank herself to death in a week, expiring miserably11 in a hospital.
As soon as Liane was well enough to see a visitor Mrs. Carrington called.
"Do you remember me, my dear?" she asked, and Liane murmured:
"I sold you gloves."
[Pg 316]
"Yes, and fascinated me at the same time. I have been in love with you ever since."
Lyde wondered at the sudden blush on the girl's cheek as Liane thought within herself that she would be glad if Lyde's brother only loved her also.
As for him, of course, she did not see him till she left her room, but flowers came for her every day—great red roses, breathing the language of love—and on the day before they went to Cliffdene, her devoted12 mamma said:
"Dear, if you feel well enough, I should like you to send a kind little note to Jesse Devereaux, thanking him for the flowers he has been sending every day."
"I will write," Liane replied, with a blush and a quickened heartbeat, and her fond mother added:
"Jesse is a fine young man, and admires you very much."
When he received the note, so neatly13 and gracefully14 written, without a mistake in wording or spelling, Devereaux was puzzled.
It was certainly not like the writing of the letter in which she had rejected him. He concluded[Pg 317] that her mother or her maid Sophie had written it.
"Poor girl, she will have to have private instructors15 to repair the defects in her education," he thought.
A few days before Christmas the Clarkes bade a kind farewell to the good-natured Mrs. Brinkley and Lizzie White, and returned to Stonecliff, whither the news had preceded them in letters to friends.
Devereaux was at the station to bid them farewell, and by the most open hinting he managed to secure from Mrs. Clarke an invitation to spend Christmas with them at Cliffdene.
He arrived on Christmas morning, and was presently shown into the holly-wreathed library, where Liane was sitting alone, exquisitely16 gowned in dark-blue silk, from which her fair face arose like a beautiful lily.
Devereaux's greeting was joyous17, but Liane was cold and constrained18. She could not forget how he had snubbed her in Boston when she was only a poor working girl.
But they had not exchanged a dozen words before they were interrupted by the unexpected entrance of Dolly Dorr.
[Pg 318]
Dolly had been staying at her own home ever since Roma's flight with her husband, and she had been having a hard battle with her conscience, which culminated19 in the triumph of the right; hence her presence here to-day.
Dolly made her little curtsy, and began bashfully:
"Miss Clarke, and Mr. Devereaux, I have wronged you both, and I have come now to try to make amends20."
They gazed at her in silent surprise, and she hurried on, eager to tell her story and escape their reproachful eyes:
"Miss Liane, when you went away to Boston, I got a letter addressed to you from the post office, and Miss Roma opened it, and we read it together. Then she bribed21 me to answer it, and I guess Mr. Devereaux has the ugly letter she made me write. Here's yours, and—please forgive me. I am sorry I behaved so badly," tossing a letter into Liane's lap and flying precipitately22 from the apartment.
Liane opened the letter bewilderedly, and read, with Devereaux's eager eyes upon her face, and her cheeks scarlet23, his passionate24 love letter and[Pg 319] proposal of marriage. As she finished, he said eagerly:
"I received a rejection25 in answer to that letter, but, Liane, dearest, may I ask you to reconsider it?"
Her lovely eyes met his in a happy, eloquent26 glance, and, springing to her side, he wound his arms about her, drawing her close to his breast, while their yearning27 lips met in a long, clinging kiss.
THE END.
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1
lashed
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| adj.具睫毛的v.鞭打( lash的过去式和过去分词 )；煽动；紧系；怒斥 | |
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prostration
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| n. 平伏, 跪倒, 疲劳 | |
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3
maternal
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| adj.母亲的，母亲般的，母系的，母方的 | |
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humble
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| adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低 | |
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5
abode
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| n.住处，住所 | |
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6
nutter
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| n.疯子 | |
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7
worthy
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| adj.(of)值得的，配得上的；有价值的 | |
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8
brutal
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| adj.残忍的，野蛮的，不讲理的 | |
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9
miserable
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| adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的 | |
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consolation
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| n.安慰，慰问 | |
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miserably
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| adv.痛苦地；悲惨地；糟糕地；极度地 | |
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12
devoted
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| adj.忠诚的，忠实的，热心的，献身于...的 | |
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13
neatly
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| adv.整洁地，干净地，灵巧地，熟练地 | |
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14
gracefully
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| ad.大大方方地；优美地 | |
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15
instructors
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| 指导者，教师( instructor的名词复数 ) | |
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16
exquisitely
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| adv.精致地；强烈地；剧烈地；异常地 | |
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17
joyous
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| adj.充满快乐的；令人高兴的 | |
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18
constrained
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| adj.束缚的,节制的 | |
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19
culminated
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| v.达到极点( culminate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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20
amends
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| n. 赔偿 | |
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21
bribed
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| v.贿赂( bribe的过去式和过去分词 )；向（某人）行贿，贿赂 | |
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22
precipitately
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| adv.猛进地 | |
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scarlet
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| n.深红色，绯红色，红衣；adj.绯红色的 | |
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24
passionate
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| adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的 | |
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25
rejection
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| n.拒绝，被拒，抛弃，被弃 | |
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26
eloquent
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| adj.雄辩的，口才流利的；明白显示出的 | |
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27
yearning
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| a.渴望的；向往的；怀念的 | |
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