I think the
knowledge of what he had lost came between us very soon. I know that his
love for me has grown weaker as the years went by, and that I have been
little better than a burden to him. I could never tell you how lonely my
life has been in those great foreign cities, where there seems such
perpetual gaiety and pleasure. I think I must have died of the solitude
and dulness--the long dreary summer evenings, the dismal winter days--if
it had not been for my darling child. She has been all the world to me.
And, O God!' she cried, with a look of anguish that went to my heart,
'what will become of her when I am dead, and she is left to the care of a
selfish dissipated man?'
"'You need never fear that she will be without one friend while I live,'
I said. 'Little Marian is very dear to me, and I shall make it my
business to watch over her career as well as I can.'
"The poor soul clasped my hand, and pressed her feverish lips to it in a
transport of gratitude. What a brute a man must have been who could
neglect such a woman!
"After this I went up to her room every evening, and read to her a
little, and cheered her as well as I could; but I believe her heart was
broken. The end came very suddenly at last. I had intended to question
her about her husband's family; but the subject was a difficult one to
approach, and I had put it off from day to day, hoping that she might
rally a little, and would be in a better condition to discuss business
matters.
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