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Page 65
"Poor Grace! she was very miserable and lonely after that. Phil could
never bear to be with her after he had spoken. Her true kindness and
gentle, loving pity were misery to him. He made a noble effort to stay
by and watch over her, but he was hardly fit to take care of himself.
She never knew how small a share of what little was left of his father's
money he took with him to the mountains, but she realized why he went
without waiting for his degree, and sadly approved his resolution. She
always kept the growing attachment between her and Herbert from grating
on Phil as much as was in her power, but he could not help seeing it.
Though he never said anything even to me, it was plain that he had a
poor opinion of the young journalist; and Grace was very thankful to him
for all he did and suffered.
"She must have felt very much alone in the world after Phil left, and
the house certainly seemed empty and sad when I used to go there to see
her. There was no one but Grace and the housekeeper and an old
gentleman, a clerk in one of the State departments, to whom she had
rented rooms, partly for the money and partly to have a man in the
house. Herbert was with her whenever his work would permit, and there
was some talk about their intimacy among people who, even if they had
known her, were too base to have appreciated the fineness and truth and
purity of Grace's nature.
"I couldn't blame her for marrying Herbert,--which she did the fall
after I graduated. They certainly were very much in love, and Herbert
had borne himself creditably in every way. No one could have foreseen
that he would turn out so badly; and for a year or more after their
marriage they were as happy as birds in May. Grace was never
light-hearted, as when I first knew her,--no woman of worth and
tenderness would have been,--but still she was happily and sweetly
contented, completely bound up in her husband, thinking almost of
nothing but him, and caring for nothing but his love.
"When I came back from the law-school, I went to see them as soon as I
was settled. They had sold the house, and were living in a rented
cottage out in East Lincoln. Nannie, their baby, was quite if not more
than a year old then; and, though I had known that Grace would be a fond
mother, I was unprepared to see the way in which she seemed absolutely
to worship the child. I immediately asked myself if it meant that she
was not so happy with Herbert as she had been. I met him at tea, to
which Grace insisted on my staying. His dress was as neat and as
carefully arranged as ever, and he was cordial enough toward me; but he
did not kiss Grace when he came in, and hardly looked at the baby. He
laughed a good deal, and told several amusing incidents of his newspaper
experience. I noticed that his old habit of looking at one's chin or
cravat instead of at one's eyes when he spoke to one had grown upon him.
He excused himself soon after tea on the ground of having to be at the
office, and went away smoking a cigarette.
"Grace complained of the way in which his work kept him up nights. He
was never home until after midnight, she said, and sometimes not before
morning. She was afraid it was telling upon his health. 'You must come
and see me often. George.' she said, as she gave me her hand at parting.
'I see very little of my husband now, and, if it were not for Nannie, I
feel as if I should be almost unhappy. Then he would have to do some
other work, though he likes journalism so well.' That was the nearest
she ever came to complaining to me, though I soon knew that she had
plenty of cause. She was not entirely deceived by Herbert's assertions
and excuses. I learned before long, for I made a point of finding out,
that he was never obliged to be at the office after nine o'clock, that
he gambled and drank, and was looked on with unpleasant suspicions by
his employers, so that he might at any time find himself without a
position. He owned no property, and Grace's little patrimony had
disappeared, even to the money they had received for the house, without
leaving the slightest trace. Herbert's ill reputation was common
property in the town, and he and Grace went nowhere together. She had
even given up going to church, that she might be with him for a few
hours on Sundays; and now and then if he took her for a walk and pushed
the baby-carriage through the Capitol-grounds for an hour, she cared
more for it than for a whole stack of Mr. Gittner's sermons. She had no
friends at all, and but few acquaintances, and altogether had much to
bear up under. Right nobly she did it, too; never a word of complaint to
any one: I believe not even to herself would she admit that she was
treated basely.
"They kept on in this way for a year after I opened my office. I heard
from Phil now and then,--brief notes that he was alive and well,--and on
the 11th of June, the date of the old captain's death, Grace always
received a long letter from him, full of references to their childhood,
but telling little of himself. Herbert's reputation became worse and
worse, and he deserved all the evil that was said of him. The tradesmen
refused him credit, and the carpets and furniture of their little
cottage grew old and thread-bare and were not replaced. I have seen him
play pool at Sudden's for half a day at a dollar a game, and perhaps
lose his week's wages. He was hand in glove with the set that lurked
about the 'club-room' over the saloon, and almost any night could be
seen at the faro-table fingering his chips and checking off the cards on
his tally-sheet. Nobody but strangers would sit down to a game of poker
or casino with him: he had grown much too skilful. He was what they
called a 'very smooth player:' though I never heard of his being openly
accused of cheating.
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