"
The girl had promised and right faithfully had she kept her word, but at
what a cost to herself! She was thinking now of her promise and of how
she had kept it. She was thinking, too, of her mother's serious illness
which had followed that night, an illness from which she had recovered,
it is true, but which left her blind for life. What a terrible calamity
her mother's blindness had appeared to be at that time, and yet, there
came a day, that dreadful day two years ago, when she had thanked God on
her knees for the affliction which enabled her to conceal the trouble
which had come upon them.
Once more she lived through that day two years ago, the day when those
awful letters had come, one from Philippe, one from the lawyers. She had
read them at first without comprehending their meaning. Then as the
truth began to dawn upon her, she cried to herself that it could not be
true, it could not be. There was some terrible mistake somewhere. But
there it was before her in black and white; Philippe's own confession,
the lawyers' letter confirming all the facts. They were ruined,
penniless, and Philippe had done this thing; Philippe, her tall handsome
brother, the pride and darling of their mother's heart. But worse than
poverty, worse than ruin faced them. Philippe was a disgraced man,
sentenced to jail for fifteen years.
Pages:
114
115
116
117
118
119
120
121
122
123
124
125
126
127
128
129
130
131
132
133
134
135
136
137
138