Jerome, A Poor Man: A NovelFreeman, Mary Eleanor Wilkins
General
Jerome, A Poor Man: A Novel
Freeman, Mary Eleanor Wilkins
New England -- Social life and customs -- Fiction
As for Miss Camilla, she felt as if tripping over her own inaccuracy
of recollection of him. "I never saw such a change in any one, my
dear," she told Lucina the next day. "I could scarcely believe he was
the little boy who used to weed my garden, and with so few advantages
as he has had it is really remarkable."
"Father says so, too," remarked Lucina, looking steadily at her
embroidery.
Miss Camilla gazed at her reflectively. She had a mild but active
imagination, which had never been dispelled by experience, for
romance and hearts transfixed with darts of love. "I hope he will
never be so unfortunate as to place his affections where they cannot
be reciprocated, since he is in such poor circumstances that he
cannot marry," she sighed, so gently that one could scarcely suspect
her of any hidden meaning.
"I do not think," said Lucina, still with steadfast eyes upon her
embroidery, "that a woman should consider poverty if she loves."
Then her cheeks glowed crimson through her drooping curls, and Miss
Camilla also blushed; still she attributed her niece's tender
agitation to her avowal of general principles. She did not once
consider any danger to Lucina from Jerome; but she had seen, on the
day before, the young man's eyes linger upon the girl's lovely face,
and had immediately, with the craft of a female, however gentle, for
such matters, reached half-pleasant, half-melancholy conclusions.
It was gratifying and entirely fitting that her beautiful Lucina
should have a heart-broken lover at her feet; still, it was sad, very
sad, for the poor lover. "When the affections are enlisted, one
should not hesitate to share poverty as well as wealth," she
admitted, with a little conscious tremor of delicacy at such
pronounced views.
"I do not think Jerome himself wants to be married," said Lucina,
quickly.
Miss Camilla sighed. She remembered again the young man's fervent
eyes. "I hope he does not, my dear," she said.
"_I_ do not intend to marry either. I am never going to be married at
all," said Lucina, with a seeming irrelevance which caused Camilla to
make mild eyes of surprise and wonder sadly, after her niece had gone
home, if it were possible that the dear child had, thus early, been
crossed in love.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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