|
Main
- books.jibble.org
My Books
- IRC Hacks
Misc. Articles
- Meaning of Jibble
- M4 Su Doku
- Computer Scrapbooking
- Setting up Java
- Bootable Java
- Cookies in Java
- Dynamic Graphs
- Social Shakespeare
External Links
- Paul Mutton
- Jibble Photo Gallery
- Jibble Forums
- Google Landmarks
- Jibble Shop
- Free Books
- Intershot Ltd
|
books.jibble.org
Previous Page
| Next Page
Page 51
Revealing, in this extremity, his true position to his
wife, Mr. Heywood declared it to be his intention either
to cross the sea, or to bury himself forever in the
remotest civilized portion of their own continent, leaving
her however, to the undisturbed possession of the property
she had brought him, which would of course descend to
their child.
But Mrs. Heywood would not listen to the proposal. Although
she had much to complain of, and to pain her, all
recollection of the past faded from her memory, when she
beheld her husband in a position of danger, and even in
some degree of humiliation, for she was not ignorant that
even in the eyes of people not over scrupulous, ineffaceable
infamy attaches to the man, who, in a duel, aims with
unfair deliberation at the life of his opponent; and
anxious to satisfy herself that such a stain rested not
on the father of her child, she conjured him to tell her
if such really was the case. He solemnly denied the fact,
although he admitted there were certain appearances
against him, which, slight as they were, his enemies had
sought to deepen into proofs--and in the difficulty of
disproving these lay his chief embarrassment.
The tone--the manner--the whole demeanor of Mr. Heywood
carried conviction with his denial, and his wife at once
expressed her determination to renounce for his sake,
all those local ties and associations by which she had
been surrounded from childhood, and follow his fortunes,
whithersoever they might lead. This, she persisted, she
was the more ready and willing to do, because her daughter's
education having been some months completed, under the
best masters, there was now no anxiety on her account,
other than what might arise from her own sense of the
contemplated change.
Maria Heywood was accordingly summoned to the consultation
--made acquainted with her father's position, and the
necessity for his instant departure from that section of
the country--and finally told that with her it rested to
decide, not only whether he should go alone, but if they
accompanied him, whether it should be to Europe, or to
the Far West.
"Rest with me to decide!" exclaimed the warm-hearted girl
as she threw herself into her mother's arms. "Oh, how
good of you both thus to consult me, whose duty it is to
obey. But do not think that it is any privation for me
to leave this. I cannot claim the poor merit of the
sacrifice. I have no enjoyment in cities. Give me the
solitude of nature, books, and music, and I will live in
a wigwam without regret."
"Dear enthusiast," said Mrs. Heywood, pressing her fondly
to her heart; "I knew well in what spirit would be your
answer. You decide then for the Far West?"
"Oh, yes, dear mamma! the Far West for me--no Europe.
Give me the tall, dense forests of our own noble land!
I desire no other home--long have I pictured to myself
the vast lakes--the trackless woods and the boundless
prairies of that region of which I have read so much,
and now," she concluded, with exaltation, "my fondest
wishes will be realized, and I shall pass my life in the
midst of them. But, dear papa, to what particular spot
do we go?"
"To Chicago, my noble girl! It is the remotest of our
Western possessions, and quite a new country. There I
may hope to pass unheeded, but how will you, dear Maria,
endure being buried alive there, when so many advantages
await you here?"
"Only figuratively, papa," she replied with a pensive
smile stealing over her fine intellectual features. "Have
no fear for me on that score, for depend upon it, with
so much natural beauty to interest, it will be my own
fault, if I suffer myself to be buried alive. What think
you, dear mamma?"
Previous Page
| Next Page
|
|