English fiction -- 19th century; Labor unions -- Fiction
One morning at breakfast the post brought him a large envelope from
Hillsborough. He examined it, and found a capital “L” in the corner of
the envelope, which “L” was written by his man Lally, in compliance with
secret instructions from his master.
Coventry instantly put the envelope into his pocket, and his hand
began to shake so that he could hardly hold his cup to his lips. His
agitation, however, was not noticed.
Directly after breakfast he strolled, with affected composure, into the
garden, and sat down in a bower where he was safe from surprise, as the
tangled leaves were not so thick but he could peep through them.
He undid his inclosure, and found three letters; two were of no
importance; the third bore a foreign postmark, and was addressed to
Miss Carden in a hand writing which he recognized at a glance as Henry
Little's.
But as this was not the first letter from Henry to Grace which he had
intercepted and read, perhaps I had better begin by saying a few words
about the first.
Well, then, the letters with which Coventry swam the river on the night
of the explosion were six, viz., to Mr. Bolt, to Doctor Amboyne, to Mr.
Baynes, to Jael Dence, to Mrs. Little, and to Grace Carden. The
letter to Grace Carden was short but touching, full of devotion, hope,
resolution, and grief at parting. He told her he had come to take leave
that afternoon, but she had been out, luckily; for he felt he ought to
go, and must go, but how could he look at her and then leave her? This
was the general purport, and expressed with such anguish and fortitude
as might have melted a heart of marble.
The reader may have observed that, upon his rival's disappearance,
Coventry was no happier. This letter was the secret cause. First it
showed him his rival was alive, and he had wasted a crime; secondly,
it struck him with remorse, yet not with penitence; and to be full of
remorse, yet empty of that true penitence which confesses or undoes the
wrong, this is to be miserable.
But, as time rolled on, bringing the various events I have related, but
no news of Little, Coventry began to think that young man must really
have come to some untimely end.
From this pleasant dream he was now awakened by the second intercepted
letter. It ran thus:
“BOSTON, U. S., June 20th.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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