An Outcast; Or, Virtue and FaithAdams, F. Colburn (Francis Colburn)
General
An Outcast; Or, Virtue and Faith
Adams, F. Colburn (Francis Colburn)
Conduct of life -- Fiction; United States -- Social life and customs -- 19th century -- Fiction; Vice -- Fiction
are satisfied with my services." The detective pauses, and again wipes
his face.
"My gratitude for your perseverance I can never fully express to you. I
owe you a debt I never can repay. To-morrow, at ten o'clock, I will meet
you at your house; and then, if you can leave me alone with her--"
"Certainly, certainly, everything will be at your service, Madame,"
returns the detective, rising from his seat and thanking the lady, who
rewards him bountifully from her purse, and bids him good night. The
servant escorts him to the door, while Madame Montford buries her face
in her hands, and gives vent to her emotions.
On the morning following, a neatly-caparisoned carriage is seen driving
to the door of a little brick house in Crosby street. From it Madame
Montford alights, and passes in at the front door, while in another
minute it rolls away up the street and is lost to sight. A few moments'
consultation, and the detective, who has ushered the lady into his
humbly-furnished little parlor, withdraws to give place to the pale and
emaciated figure of the woman Munday, who advances with faltering step
and downcast countenance. "Oh! forgive me, forgive me! have mercy upon
me! forgive me this crime!" she shrieks. Suddenly she raises her eyes,
and rushing forward throws herself at Madame Montford's feet, in an
imploring attitude. Dark and varied fancies crowd confusedly on Madame
Montford's mind at this moment.
"Nay, nay, my poor sufferer, rather I might ask forgiveness of you." She
takes the woman by the hand, and, with an air of regained calmness,
raises her from the floor. With her, the outer life seems preparing the
inner for what is to come. "But I have long sought you--sought you in
obedience to the demands of my conscience, which I would the world gave
me power to purify; and now I have found you, and with you some rest for
my aching heart. Come, sit down; forget what you have suffered; tell me
what befell you, and what has become of the child; tell me all, and
remember that I will provide for you a comfortable home for the rest of
your life." Madame motions her to a chair, struggling the while to
suppress her own feelings.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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