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Page 73
To this there could, of course, be no objection on the part of Claire.
He promised to confer with Fanny, and let Jasper know, in a day or
two, the result.
Now came a new trial for Claire and his wife. They had taken Fanny,
when only four years of age, and taken her so entirely into their home
and affections, that she had almost from the first seemed to them as
one of their own children. In a brief time the earlier memories of the
child faded. The past was absorbed in the present; and she loved
as parents none other than those she called by the tender names of
"father" and "mother." The children with whom she grew up she
knew only as her brothers and sisters. This thorough adoption and
incorporation of the child into their family was not, in any sense,
the work of design on the part of Claire and his wife. But they saw,
in the beginning, no reason to check the natural tendency thereto.
When little Fanny, of her own accord, addressed them, soon after her
virtual adoption, as "father" and "mother," they accepted the child's
own interpretation of their relative positions, and took her from that
moment more entirely into their hearts.
And so Fanny Elder grew up to womanhood, in the full belief that she
was the child of Mr. and Mrs. Claire. The new trial through which this
excellent couple were now to pass, the reader can easily imagine.
The time had come when Fanny must know the real truth in regard to
herself--must be told that she had no natural claim upon the love of
those whose love she prized above all things.
It seemed cruel to take away the conscious right to love and be loved,
which had so long blessed her. And yet the truth must now be made
known, and Mrs. Claire took upon herself the task of breaking it as
gently as possible.
A woman in age and stature, yet with all the gentle deference of
a daughter, Fanny moved by the side of Mrs. Claire with a loving
thoughtfulness, daily sharing her household duties. Some months before
she had left school, but was still taking lessons in music and French,
and devoting a portion of time to practice in drawing, for which she
had a decided taste.
On the day after Mr. Claire's interview with Jasper, Mrs. Claire said
to Fanny, with a seriousness of tone and manner that brought a look of
surprise to her face--
"Come to my room with me, dear. I have something to say to you."
Fanny moved along by her side, wondering to herself what could be in
her mother's mind. On entering the chamber, Mrs. Claire shut the door,
and then, as she sat down, with an arm around the young girl's waist,
she said, in a thoughtful, earnest voice--
"Fanny, I want you to tell me the first thing you recollect in life."
"The first thing, mother?" She smiled at a request so unexpected, and
Mrs. Claire smiled in return, though from a different cause.
"Yes, dear. I have a reason for asking this. Now, let your thoughts
run back--far back, and recall for me the very first thing you can
recollect."
The countenance of Fanny grew thoughtful, then serious, and then a
half-frightened look flashed over it.
"Why, mother," said she, "what can you mean? What do you want to
know?"
"Your first recollection, dear?" returned Mrs. Claire, with an
assuring smile, although her heart was full, and it required the most
active self-control to prevent her feelings from becoming manifest in
her voice.
"Well, let me see! The first? The first? I was playing on the floor
with a dear little baby? It was our Edie, wasn't it?"
"Yes--so far your memory is correct. I remember the time to which you
refer as perfectly as if but a week had passed. Now, dear, try if you
can recall any thing beyond that."
"Beyond that, mother? Oh, why do you ask? You make me feel so
strangely. Can it be that some things I have thought to be only the
memory of dreams, are indeed realities?"
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