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Gissing, George, 1857-1903

"The Unclassed"


And, in the same hour, Maud was upon her knees, in the silence of
her own chamber, shedding tears which were at once both sweet and
bitter, in her heart a tumult of emotion, joy and thanksgiving at
strife with those dark powers which shadowed her existence. _She_
had do doubts of the completeness and persistency of her love. But
was not this love a sin, and its very strength the testimony of her
soul's loss?


CHAPTER XXVIII
SLIMY'S DAY


Waymark had written to Ida just after her imprisonment began, a few
words of such comfort as he could send. No answer came; perhaps the
prison rules prevented it. When the term was drawing to a close, he
wrote again, to let her know that he would meet her on the morning
of her release.
It would be on a Tuesday morning. As the time drew near, Waymark did
his best to think of the matter quietly. The girl had no one else to
help her; it would have been brutality to withdraw and leave her to
her fate, merely because he just a little feared the effect upon
himself of such a meeting. And the feeling on her side? Well, that
he could not pretend to be ignorant of, and, in spite of everything,
there was still the same half-acknowledged pleasure in the thought.


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