It would be ridiculous to make him such a post-mortem
gift now, now that he had not only money enough, but a wife that
satisfied him, and a child.
She wondered whom to leave her money to. Jim Dyckman's name kept
recurring to her and she smiled at that, for he had more money than
he could use. Besides, the mention of his name in her will would
confirm the public belief in their intrigue. She had nobody to
inflict her inheritance upon but a few relatives, mostly rich
enough. She decided to establish a fund for her own orphans, the
children of other women whom she had adopted.
Making a will is in sort a preliminary death. Making hers, Charity
felt herself already gone, and looked back at life with a finality
as from beyond the grave. It was a frightful thing to review her
journey from a lofty angel's-eye view.
Her existence looked very petty. Now that her hope and her senses
were ended, she felt a grudge against the world that she had got so
little out of. She had tried to be a good woman, and her altruism
had won her such a bad name that if Dr. Mosely should preach her
funeral sermon he would feel that he had revealed a wonderful spirit
of forbearance in leaving it unmentioned that she was an abandoned
divorcee.
If she had been actually guilty of an intrigue with Jim Dyckman
Dr. Mosely would have forgiven her even more warmly, because it was
a woman taken in actual adultery who was forgiven, while Charity
had tactlessly fought the charge and demanded vindication instead
of winsomely appealing for pity.
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