'Way Down East: A Romance of New England LifeGrismer, Joseph Rhode
General
'Way Down East: A Romance of New England Life
Grismer, Joseph Rhode
New England -- Fiction
"Anna, Anna, to think of our coming to this!" she would wail a dozen
times a day--or, "Anna, I can't stand it another minute," and she would
burst into paroxysms of grief, from which nothing could arouse her, and
utterly exhausted by her own emotions, which were chiefly regret and
self-pity, she would sink off to sleep. Anna had no difficulty in
accounting to her mother for the extra comforts with which Lennox
Sanderson's money supplied them. Mrs. Standish Tremont sometimes sent
checks and Mrs. Moore never bothered about the source, so long as the
luxuries were forthcoming.
"Is there no more Kumyss, Anna?" she asked one day.
"No, mother."
"Then why did you neglect to order it?"
The girl's face grew red. "There was no money to pay for it, mother.
I am so sorry."
"And does Frances Tremont neglect us in this way? When we were both
girls, it was quite the other way. My father practically adopted
Frances Tremont. She was married from our house. But you see, Anna,
she made a better marriage than I. Oh, why was your father so
reckless? I warned him not to speculate in the rash way he was
accustomed to doing, but he would never take my advice. If he had, we
would not be as we are now." And again the poor lady was overcome with
her own sorrows.
It was not Mrs. Tremont's check that had bought the last Kumyss. In
fact, Mrs. Tremont, after the manner of rich relations, troubled her
head but little about her poor ones. Sanderson had sent no money for
nearly a month, and Anna would have died sooner than have asked for it.
He had been to Waltham twice to see Anna, and once she had gone to meet
him at the White Rose Tavern. Mrs. Moore, wrapped in gloom at the loss
of her own luxury, had no interest in the young man who came down from
Boston to call on her daughter.
"You met him at Cousin Frances's, did you say? I don't see how you can
ask him here to this abominable little house. A girl should have good
surroundings, Anna. Nothing detracts from a girl's beauty so much as
cheap surroundings. Oh, my dear, if you had only been settled in life
before all this happened, I would not complain." And, as usual, there
were more tears.
But the wailings of her mother, over departed luxuries, and the poverty
of her surroundings were the lightest of Anna's griefs. At their last
meeting--she had gone to him in response to his request--Sanderson's
manner had struck dumb terror into the heart of the girl who had
sacrificed so much at his bidding. She had been very pale. The strain
of facing the terrible position in which she found herself, coupled
with her own failing health, had robbed her of the beautiful color he
had always so frankly admired. Her eyes were big and hollow looking,
and the deep black circles about them only added to her unearthly
appearance. There were drawn lines of pain about the mouth, that
robbed the Cupid's bow of half its beauty.
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.
Join the Discussion
Join the discussion
Sign in to leave a comment or review.
Sign InorCreate an account