The Flower of the Flock, Volume 1 (of 3)Egan, Pierce
General
The Flower of the Flock, Volume 1 (of 3)
Egan, Pierce
Fiction
Upon the evening of the second day, he returned to Mr. Harper’s
residence, and laconically informed the old goldsmith that he had been
successful in securing a furnished house; he proposed, therefore, at
once to remove himself and his daughter thither, that they might no
longer prove a burden to those who had so unexpectedly such an addition
made to their numbers, but who had played the part of Samaritans so
nobly.
The announcement was listened to with regret by at least one person
present, but no objection could be interposed, and before the hour of
midnight had arrived, Flora found herself wooing the coy embraces of
slumber upon a down bed, in an elegantly furnished bed-chamber, one of a
suite in a handsome villa mansion in the Regent’s Park.
She had parted with Hal quietly: neither had displayed emotion: what
they felt was concealed from the eyes of all present. Their words were
few, but each seemed to wish the other to understand that lightly to
forget would not be possible.
It was some compensation to Hal for the rude shattering of the ideal
fabric he had so blissfully reared, to receive from Mr. Wilton the
assurance that the doors of his house would ever be open to him, that
he had a right to enter whenever he pleased, and that he might, in fact,
view it as a second home.
“The saviour of my child deserves no less at my hands,” he added.
When Hal Vivian encountered poor Lotte Clinton, he had therefore no
hesitation in conveying her direct to the new residence of Flora Wilton.
Flora had frequently inquired after her, and had hoped that she would
visit her, for she had not forgotten her display of womanly sympathy
when she was distracted by a combination of troubles, and she was
anxious to express her grateful sense of Lotte’s kindheartedness, and
her hope that some day she might be able to repay it.
But Lotte came not. Flora imagined that her brother had conveyed her
to some place of residence near his own, and though at times uneasy
thoughts would rise and suggest that she might have escaped the horrors
of the burning house only to fall into new dangers, still she hoped that
she should see her again, smiling and cheerful, as she had been, and in
a better position than ever.
Hal knew this, and decided that he could not do better than conduct
Lotte to her when he found her in a condition of despair and destitution
which had given up all other hope of relief but what self-destruction
would afford.
As the cab pursued its way, Lotte sat with her face buried in her hands,
weeping. She wished to restrain the violence of her emotions--to attain
a calmness which would enable her to speak to Hal with some degree of
steadiness--but in vain; she had not power to resist the torrent--the
floodgates were borne away, and she could only lean in the corner of the
vehicle, and let her tears pursue their impetuous course.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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