It was so long ago, Lucy, that it cannot be
laid to my blame if I speak of it now. Your husband, I see, has an
honest heart, and will not misunderstand either of us. The same
thing often turns up in life; it is one of those secrets that
everybody knows, and that everybody talks about except the persons
concerned. When I was a young man, Lucy, I loved you truly, and I
faithfully meant to make you my wife."
"I thought so too, for a while," said she, very calmly.
Farmer Meadows looked at his wife, and no face was ever more
beautiful than his, with that expression of generous pity shining
through it.
"You know how I acted," Samuel Flint continued, "but our children
must also know that I broke off from you without giving any reason.
A woman came between us and made all the mischief. I was
considered rich then, and she wanted to secure my money for her
daughter. I was an innocent and unsuspecting young man, who
believed that everybody else was as good as myself; and the woman
never rested until she had turned me from my first love, and
fastened me for life to another.
Pages:
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182
183
184
185
186
187
188