The Golden Slipper, and Other Problems for Violet StrangeGreen, Anna Katharine
General
The Golden Slipper, and Other Problems for Violet Strange
Green, Anna Katharine
Detective and mystery stories, American
But when I had done this and embraced the first opportunity which
offered to visit her, I found that she had moved away in the interim,
leaving everything behind in payment of her rent, except such small
things as she and her husband could carry. This was discouraging as it
left me without any clue by which to follow them. But I was determined
not to yield to her desire for concealment in the difficult and
disheartening task I now saw before me.
Seeking advice from the man who has since become my employer, I entered
upon this second search with a quiet resolution which admitted of no
defeat. It took me six months, but I finally found her, and satisfied
with knowing where she was, desisted from rushing in upon her, till I
had caught one glimpse of her husband whom, in the last six months,
I had heard described but had never seen. To understand her, it was
perhaps necessary to understand him, and if I could not hope to do this
offhand, I could not fail to get some idea of the man from even the most
casual look.
He was, as I soon learned, the fetcher and carrier of the small ménage;
and the day came when I met him face to face in the street where they
lived. Did he disappoint me; or did I see something in his appearance
to justify her desertion of her father’s home and her present life of
poverty? If I say Yes to the first question, I must also say it to the
last. If handsome once, he was not handsome now; but with a personality
such as his, this did not matter. He had that better thing--that
greatest gift of the gods--charm. It was in his bearing, his movement,
the regard of his weary eye; more than that it was in his very nature or
it would have vanished long ago under disappointment and privation.
But that was all there was to the man,--a golden net in which my
sister’s youthful fancy had been caught and no doubt held meshed to
this very day. I felt less like blaming her for her folly, after that
instant’s view of him as we passed each other in the street. But, as I
took time to think, I found myself growing sorrier and sorrier for her
and yet, in a way, gladder and gladder, for the man was a physical wreck
and would soon pass out of her life leaving her to my love and possibly
to our father’s forgiveness.
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
Reviews
Reviews
No reviews yet
Be the first to share your thoughts on this work.
Elsewhere in the archive
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account