Only one love : $b or, Who was the heirGarvice, Charles
General
Only one love : $b or, Who was the heir
Garvice, Charles
Dime novels; English fiction
Is it all a dream in her eyes, dimmed as they are by happy tears? Can it
be true that Jack is all her own--that these good friends and true are
really clustering round her, bidding her Godspeed and yet hindering her
going as if they were loth to let her go? Perhaps she does not realize
it all until they part and let her pass to where the old bent figure of
Stephen's mother stands waiting to see the last of the girl whom she has
loved and still loves as a daughter.
Then as Una takes the trembling figure in her arms and kisses the pale
face, she realizes it all, and through sobs she hears the faltering
voice murmuring:
"God bless you, my darling! God bless and keep you!"
And as the broken benediction falls from the trembling lips, the crowd
stand back, silent and tearful, and Jack and his bride are allowed to
enter the carriage at last. Then breaks forth the cheer from outside
the gates, and so, wafted around by blessings and good wishes, they
commence their real life. A month later they will come back to find
those friends who saw them depart, eager to welcome them back.
"No coming home to a silent house, my wild bird!" says Jack. "We'll have
them all here, everyone of them. I'd have all the world to see my
darling, if I could."
"My darling! my darling! they might take all the rest if they would
leave me you."
And Stephen? There is no difficulty in finding Stephen--he is too public
a man. You can see and hear him any evening during the month of
charitable meetings, if you will but go to the proper places.
There amongst philosophers and social reformers, you will see a tall,
thin gentleman, with a white face and spotless linen, who, when he comes
forward to make his speech, is received with deafening cheers, and who
never fails to draw tears from the audience by his pathos and
tender-souled eloquence; and when the meeting is over, if you wait
beside the private entrance to the hall, you will see another tall,
thin, black-coated man, who is like a reflection of the great
philanthropist for whom he is waiting, and who, when he emerges, will
take him by the arm and lead him to his brougham. For, excepting when he
is before the public, Stephen is an injured, broken-down man, only at
times able to whine out the story of the wrongs wrought him by the hands
of those he most trusted. By his own account he has been robbed of his
wife, his estate, his all, and left to the charity of a generous public;
and it is only Slummers, besides Stephen himself, who knows that a check
arrives punctually each quarter from Jack's lawyer for the support of
the man who returns forgiveness and generosity with undying hate and
calumny. Yes, Stephen Davenant is regarded as a deeply injured man, and
when he appears, with his pale face, and soft, mournful voice, there is
always a show of handkerchiefs.
But Jack and Una are quite content, and whenever his name is mentioned,
it is with more pity than anger. There is no room for aught else in
their hearts but love.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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