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Page 13
"We are in the world, and we must do as it does. We must take it as it
is, not as it should be."
So he mused with himself, in a self-approving argument. Yet he could
not banish the accusing spirit; he could not silence the inward voice
of warning.
Once there came a strong revulsion. Good impulses seemed about to
gain the mastery. In this state of mind, he took from his pocket his
ill-gotten gains, and threw them into the money-box, which had already
been placed in the fire-closet.
"What good will that do?" said he to himself, as the wave of better
feelings began to subside. "All the sales-entries have been made, and
the cash balanced; Jasper made the balance himself. So the cash
will only show an excess to be accounted for; and from this may
come suspicion. It is always more hazardous to go backward than
forward--(false reasoner!)--to retrace our steps than to press boldly
onward. No, no. This will not mend the matter."
And Claire replaced the money in his pocket. In a little while
afterward, he left the store, and took his way homeward.
CHAPTER IV.
As on the previous evening, Mrs. Claire was alone for some time later
than usual, but now with an anxious, almost fearful looking for her
husband's return. Suddenly she had taken the alarm. A deep, brooding
shadow was on her heart, though she could not see the bird of night
from whose wings it had fallen. Frequently, during the afternoon,
tears had wet her cheek; and when an old friend of her mother's, who
lived in the country, and who had come to the city in order to make
a few purchases, called to see her, it was with difficulty she could
hide her disturbed feelings from observation.
The absent one came in at last, and with so much of the old, frank,
loving spirit in his voice and manner, that the troubled heart of Mrs.
Claire beat with freer pulsations. And yet something about her husband
appeared strange. There was a marked difference between his state of
mind now, and on the evening before. Even at dinner-time he was silent
and abstracted.
In fact, Edward Claire was, for the first time, acting a part toward
his wife; and, as in all such cases, there was sufficient over-action
to betray the artifice, or, at least, to awaken a doubt. Still, Edith
was greatly relieved by the change, and she chided herself for having
permitted doubt and vague questionings to find a harbour in her
thoughts.
During tea-time, Claire chatted freely, as was his custom; but he grew
serious as they sat together, after the table was cleared away, and
Edith had taken her sewing. Then, for the first time, he thought out
of himself sufficiently to remember his visit to the house of death in
the morning, and he said--
"I witnessed something this morning, dear, that has made me feel sad
ever since."
"What was that, Edward?" inquired the wife, looking instantly into his
face, with a strongly manifested interest.
"I don't think you knew Mr. Elder or his family--Ruben Elder?"
"I have heard the name, nothing more."
"Mr. Elder died last week."
"Ah! What family did he leave?"
"A wife and one child."
Mrs. Claire sighed.
"Did he leave them comfortably off in the world?" she asked, after a
brief silence.
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