Woodstock, set to
work to find a means of earning his living. This he was fortunate
enough to discover without any great delay; he obtained a place as
assistant in a circulating library. The payment was small, but be
still had his evenings free.
Ida did not conceal her disappointment when Abraham conveyed this
news to her; she had been hoping for better things. Her intercourse
with Waymark between his recovery and his leaving the house had been
difficult, full of evident constraint on both sides. It was the
desire of both not to meet alone, and in Mr. Woodstock's presence
they talked of indifferent things, with an artificiality which it
was difficult to support, yet impossible to abandon. They shunned
each other's eyes. Waymark was even less at his ease than Ida,
knowing that Mr. Woodstock observed him closely at all times. With
her grandfather Ida tried to speak freely of their friend, but she
too was troubled by the consciousness that the old man did not seem
as friendly to Waymark as formerly.
"This will of course only be for a time?" she said, when told of
Waymark's new employment.
"I don't know," Abraham replied indifferently. "I should think it
will suit him as well as anything else.
Pages:
446
447
448
449
450
451
452
453
454
455
456
457
458
459
460
461
462
463
464
465
466
467
468
469
470