Toilers of Babylon: A NovelFarjeon, B. L. (Benjamin Leopold)
General
Toilers of Babylon: A Novel
Farjeon, B. L. (Benjamin Leopold)
Inheritance and succession -- Fiction
He went up to his wife's room, the room in which he had deposited all
the mementoes of her silent life which he had brought home with him.
Her jewels were there, her desk, and an old trunk which from sentiment
she had preserved from the days of her maidenhood. In her desk he
found a bunch of keys, and one of these fitted the trunk, which now
lay open before him. He had never before looked into this trunk, and
he could not have told what he expected to find there; but what he saw
now stood witness against him. From the grave in a foreign land came
the accusation.
Nothing of his dead wife's was in the trunk, nothing that she had worn
or that he had given her. Everything it contained had belonged to
Kingsley. Portraits, school-books, articles of dress, and many items
insignificant and worthless in themselves, but deeply precious in
their spiritual significance. Here was the mother's heart portrayed,
here the record of her inner life and sufferings, to which she had
never given utterance. All the more potent now in their silent
testimony. The proud man read in these trifles his condemnation. With
a little quivering of his mouth, which he made no effort to control,
he closed the trunk and locked it, and left the room, treading softly.
In the passage he lingered a few moments, wrestling with an inward
urging to visit the room which Kingsley used to occupy, and which was
situated on the floor above. With something of his old masterfulness
he wheeled suddenly round, and returned to his own apartment. There,
however, the desire manifested itself more strongly, and yielding to
it he soon found himself in Kingsley's room, which he had not visited
since the day on which he had conducted Nansie thither, with the
endeavor to impress upon her the great sacrifice which she would force
Kingsley to make if she did not herself take steps to separate from
him. Here, again, Mr. Manners was confronted with accusing testimony,
for, from surrounding evidence, he saw that his wife had been in the
habit of sitting in this room, and frequently occupying it after their
son's departure. These signs of suppressed suffering, of anguish borne
in silence, could not fail to impress him; nor could he fail to be
impressed by the once familiar objects in which Kingsley took pride.
The books, the bed, the articles of taste and value, the pipes, even
some bits of jewelry--it seemed as if nothing had been removed or
disturbed. Mr. Manners was both surprised and touched; these things
were Kingsley's own, and he might have taken them and converted them
into money, which the father knew had been sadly needed. "Kingsley was
never mercenary," thought Mr. Manners, with a pitiful smile of mingled
pride and humiliation. "The soul of honor and generosity!"
He returned again to his room, and had not been in it a minute before
he heard the sound of a step on the stairs. He threw open the door,
and Mark Inglefield appeared.
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