The White Rose of MemphisFalkner, William C. (Clark)
General
The White Rose of Memphis
Falkner, William C. (Clark)
Memphis (Tenn.) -- Fiction
“‘Good night, Heartsell, don’t fail to come early.’
“Harry went to his room, but found it useless to try to sleep; therefore
he spent the night in arranging his plans for the morrow.
CHAPTER XXIII.
“I was in my office early the next morning after I had the difficulty
with Harry. I had passed a sleepless night--a miserable, wretched night,
and was nervous and irritable when I arrived there. I had not been at
the office five minutes when a little negro boy came hurriedly in and
handed me a letter. I saw in an instant it was from Lottie; I broke the
envelope and read it eagerly:
“‘DEAR EDDIE--For Heaven’s sake, keep out of Harry’s way to-day! He
is crazy with passion--refuses to listen to reason. I have never
known him to exhibit such ungovernable rage before. He makes the
most horrible charges against you, and swears he will kill you.
What on earth does it all mean? Poor boy! he did not sleep a wink
last night, but walked the floor all the time, muttering curses
against you. There is some awful secret at the bottom of it
all--some strange mystery. I fear some scheming enemy of yours has
been planning your destruction. By all means avoid a meeting with
Harry until the matter can be investigated. I was on my knees the
live-long night, praying for you and my poor brother. My reliance
is on God, and let me beg you to trust in Him, too. He will clear
the dark clouds from our sky, if we put our faith in Him. Harry is
so different from what he used to be--so completely metamorphosed.
He used to be so gentle, so kind, always grieving for others’
troubles, never thinking of himself--so devoted to you--so loving
to me; but, alas! what is he now? All passion--terrible
passion--gloomy, irritable, suspicious, jealous and querulous; and,
poor boy, I am afraid he is losing his reason. I thought I was
brave--I imagined no misfortune could overcome me, but this blow
has been too heavy for me; this awful suspense is more than I can
bear. If you see stains on this sheet of paper, you know what made
them. My eyes have not been dry since the sad occurrences of
yesterday. They have been trying to make me believe my darling is
untrue to me, but they never can do that--I am not a bit jealous--I
think I know all the goodness of his noble heart, and I never shall
believe that he would deceive me. But I must close now, for my time
is limited. Again I beseech you not to meet Harry to-day. Your
true, faithful
“‘LOTTIE.’
“I had scarcely finished reading Lottie’s letter when Mr. Heartsell
walked into the office and, without speaking, handed me a note from
Harry. If a bolt of thunder had knocked the roof off of the house over
my head, it would have startled me less than the contents of the note;
but I have it here now, and will read it to you,
“‘DOCTOR EDWARD DEMAR:
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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