Look deeper still. If thou canst feel
Within thy inmost soul,
That thou hast kept a portion back
While I have stalked a whole.
Let no false pity spare the blow,
But in true mercy tell me so.
Is there within thy heart a need
That mine can not fulfill?
One chord that any other hand
Could better wake, or still?
Speak now--lest at some future day
My whole life wither and decay.
ADELAIDE ANNE PROCTER.
Evelyn Selby stood at the window, one afternoon about three weeks
after Mr. Huntingdon's death, looking out on the snowy gardens of the
square, where two rosy-faced lads were pelting each other with
snow-balls.
She was watching them, seemingly absorbed in their merry play; but
every now and then her eyes glanced wistfully toward the entrance of
the square with the sober expectancy of one who has waited long, and
is patient; but weary.
Erle had once owned to Fay, in a fit of enthusiasm, that Evelyn Selby
was as good as she was beautiful; and it was true. Placed side by side
with Fern Trafford, and deprived of all extraneous ornament of dress
and fashion; most people would have owned that the young patrician
bore the palm. Fern's sweet face would have suffered eclipse beside
her rival's radiant bloom and graceful carriage; and yet a little of
the bloom had been dimmed of late, and the brown eyes had lost their
brightness.
As a well-known figure crossed the square, she turned from the window
with a sigh of relief; "at last," she murmured, as she sat down and
made a pretense of busying herself with some fancy work; but it lay
unheeded on her lap as Erle entered and sat down beside her.
"I am afraid I am very late this afternoon, Eva," he said, taking her
hand. "Mrs. Trafford wanted to speak to me, and so I went up to her
room; we had so much business to settle. She has given me a great deal
of trouble, poor woman; but I think I shall have my way at last."
"You mean about the money?"
"Yes; I think she will be induced to let me set aside a yearly sum for
her maintenance. She says it is only for her children's sake if she
accept it; but I fear the truth is that she feels her strength has
gone, and that she can not work for them any longer."
"And she will not take the half?"
"No; not even a quarter; though I tell her that so much wealth will be
a heavy burden to me. Eight hundred a year--that is all she will
accept, and it is to be settled on her children. Eight hundred; it is
a mere pittance."
"Yes; but she and her daughters will live very comfortably on that;
think how poor they have been; indeed, dear, I think you may be
satisfied that you have done the right thing; and after all, your
uncle wished you to have the money."
"I do not care about it," with a stifled sigh. "We shall be awfully
rich, Eva; but I suppose women like that sort of thing. I shall be
able to buy you that diamond pendant now that you so admired."
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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