But she must make the attempt,
and must go on making it, till God in his mercy should take her to
himself.
And yet but a few months since life had been so sweet to her! As she felt
this she was not thinking of those short days of excited feverish bliss,
in which she had believed that all the good things of the world were to be
showered into her lap; but of previous years in which everything had been
with her as it was now--with the one exception that she had not then been
deceived. She had been full of smiles, and humour, and mirth, absolutely
happy among her friends, though conscious of the necessity of earning her
bread by the exercise of a most precarious profession, while elated by no
hope. Though she had loved the man and had been hopeless, she was happy.
But now, surely, of all maidens, and of all women, she was the most
forlorn.
Having once acceded to the truth of Lady Fawn's views, she abandoned all
hope. Everybody said so, and it was so. There was no word from any side to
encourage her. The thing was done and over, and she would never mention
his name again. She would simply beg of all the Fawns that no allusion
might be made to him in her presence.
Pages:
898
899
900
901
902
903
904
905
906
907
908
909
910
911
912
913
914
915
916
917
918
919
920
921
922