Why should Frank Garrick take interest enough in[100] her to have her brought here and to pay money for having her retained here? What interest could he have in her?
He had vowed2 a terrible vengeance3 upon her when she repulsed4 his offer of love. But why should his vengeance have taken this form? What benefit could it be to him to shut her in from the world?
As Ida sat there in the waning5 light, her eyes fell upon a piece of newspaper in the open fire-place.
"I will wrap up my few belongings6 in that," she muttered, "and then set about making my way out of this place."
As she smoothed out the half sheet, a few lines midway down one of the columns held her spell-bound as they caught her eye.
For a moment she stared at the words. They seemed to fairly turn the heart in her bosom7 to stone, for they read as follows:
"The engagement is announced of Miss Florence St. John, of No. —, Fifth Avenue, daughter of Mrs. J. St. John, to Mr. Royal Ainsley, of New York. The wedding will take place at Peekskill, on the Hudson, a month from date."
As she read it, the room seemed to whirl around her. With a cry so piteous that it seemed it must reach God's ear, the poor girl sunk on her knees.
Her husband about to marry another!
No matter what the world might say, she had married him in good faith. He was hers; he belonged to her before Heaven and all the world.
She wrung8 her hands wildly.
"The marriage must not take place! I must save the man I love from himself and the anger of the watching angels!" she cried.
She prayed wildly that she might not be too late.
Her hat and cloak were hanging on a peg9 near the door. She took them down, and her hands trembled so that she could hardly put them on. Her knees trembled, and she felt faint. But she summoned all her[101] strength, and reached the door and turned the knob. But it was locked on the outside.
Her weak hands were powerless to force the door. She crept back to the window and threw open the sash. All that she could behold10 was a dense11 mass of trees.
A sturdy oak grew close to the window, its great branches spread out invitingly12 before her. It was a desperate chance to take in order to reach the ground, which was fully13 thirty feet below.
Would her strength give way? Dare she take the terrible risk?
"I must! I must!" she cried. "Heaven will protect me!"
Without stopping to debate the matter further, lest she should lose courage, the poor girl climbed with difficulty out on the broad sill and grasped one of the boughs14.
Would it bear her weight?
The great bough15 creaked with its unaccustomed weight, slight as it was, then shot downward.
In the old days at home Ida May had been accustomed to climb trees and to swing about in their branches. She realized that when the bough bent16 its entire length earthward she must let go her hold, or it would carry her quickly up again. She let go her hold when she felt that the bough of the tree had bent to its utmost. Quickly she fell downward, and Ida May, stunned17 and helpless for a moment, found herself lying in the long green grass.
She had scarcely fallen three feet, yet the shock had stunned her.
She knew that she must be on some country road. Afar in the distance she could distinctly see rows of glimmering18 lights. Those she knew must be the lights of the city. She must reach it and find the house on Fifth Avenue before she dared give herself a moment's rest.
She reached the outskirts19 of the city at last, and crept on toward its great throbbing20 heart.
[102]
Like one in a dream, Ida May saw a tall, thin woman and a young girl, who appeared to be her maid, step from a carriage.
She tried to get out of their way, but if her very life had depended upon it, she could not have done so. The tall woman and Ida May jostled against each other.
With a sharp exclamation21 of anger, the lady turned upon her. But at that moment Ida reeled, and, with a piteous moan, fell senseless at her feet.
"Well, well! here's a pretty howdy-do!" exclaimed the tall, angular woman. "Here, John!" she called to the footman, who was just shutting the door of the vehicle, "pick up this poor creature, and carry her into the house. It appears I have knocked her down. I hope no bones are broken."
The house into which Ida May was carried was a very small cottage, occupied by a poor laborer22 and his wife, who were the parents of a little one who was ill but was slowly convalescing23.
The wealthy spinster and her maid often called to bring some fruit or medicine to the child.
Miss Fernly was not fair to look upon, but she had a heart of gold. She was quite eccentric; but her purse was always open to the wants of the needy24.
"Leave the room instantly," she said to her maid. "Run out and tell the coachman to go for the nearest doctor, and to fetch him back with him at once!"
It seemed an age until the doctor arrived. Everything in human power was done to render the sufferer comfortable.
It was early morn when the doctor departed—and there had come into this great world of sorrow a dark-eyed little stranger—a tiny little one, with a lovely face like its mother's.
"Will it live?" cried the young mother, as she listened breathlessly to its faint little wails25.
"I am afraid not," replied the doctor pityingly. "We can only hope."
"Oh, if it would only die—only die!" sobbed26 the girl's mother. "The world is so cold and so dark!"
[103]
Miss Fernly drew back, shocked and pained.
"You must not wish for anything like that to happen," she said, "for God might take you at your word."
For ten long and weary days the hapless young mother lay with her face to the wall, crying out to Heaven to take her and her baby from this cruel world.
In great fear, the doctor had taken charge of the little one, and conveyed it to a near-by foundling asylum27. Its presence seemed to irritate the hapless young mother, who was already in a high fever.
Miss Fernly called every day at the cottage, to see how her latest charge was progressing.
She had taken a strange interest in the girl whose identity seemed shrouded28 in such profound mystery.
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1
fathom
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| v.领悟，彻底了解 | |
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2
vowed
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| 起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式） | |
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3
vengeance
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| n.报复，报仇，复仇 | |
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4
repulsed
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| v.击退( repulse的过去式和过去分词 )；驳斥；拒绝 | |
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5
waning
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| adj.（月亮）渐亏的，逐渐减弱或变小的n.月亏v.衰落( wane的现在分词 )；（月）亏；变小；变暗淡 | |
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6
belongings
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| n.私人物品，私人财物 | |
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7
bosom
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| n.胸，胸部；胸怀；内心；adj.亲密的 | |
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8
wrung
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| 绞( wring的过去式和过去分词 )； 握紧（尤指别人的手）； 把（湿衣服）拧干； 绞掉（水） | |
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9
peg
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| n.木栓，木钉；vt.用木钉钉，用短桩固定 | |
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10
behold
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| v.看，注视，看到 | |
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11
dense
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| a.密集的，稠密的，浓密的；密度大的 | |
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12
invitingly
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| adv. 动人地 | |
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13
fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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14
boughs
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| 大树枝( bough的名词复数 ) | |
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15
bough
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| n.大树枝，主枝 | |
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16
bent
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| n.爱好，癖好；adj.弯的；决心的，一心的 | |
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17
stunned
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| adj. 震惊的，惊讶的 动词stun的过去式和过去分词 | |
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18
glimmering
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| n.微光，隐约的一瞥adj.薄弱地发光的v.发闪光，发微光( glimmer的现在分词 ) | |
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19
outskirts
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| n.郊外，郊区 | |
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throbbing
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| a. 跳动的,悸动的 | |
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exclamation
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| n.感叹号，惊呼，惊叹词 | |
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22
laborer
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| n.劳动者，劳工 | |
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convalescing
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| v.康复( convalesce的现在分词 ) | |
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24
needy
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| adj.贫穷的，贫困的，生活艰苦的 | |
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25
wails
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| 痛哭，哭声( wail的名词复数 ) | |
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26
sobbed
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| 哭泣，啜泣( sob的过去式和过去分词 )； 哭诉，呜咽地说 | |
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27
asylum
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| n.避难所，庇护所，避难 | |
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28
shrouded
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| v.隐瞒( shroud的过去式和过去分词 )；保密 | |
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