II
“The spring sunshine gilded the tops of the park trees. Here and there the branches of the tall elms spread their tinted green; while the maples and chestnuts glowed in almost the full glory of their new leaves.” Scarlet blossoms, on the otherwise apparently naked shrubs bedded in the green lawns, facades of the brown stone mansions and glass-fronted shops, could be seen everywhere, on either side of the drive.
The scenes through which she now passed—looking upon, yet seeing dimly—aroused within her a miserable consciousness that the memory of her husband, who had once so much loved these very scenes, had also faded with the spring gladness into an amazing dimness.
So Grannan had sent her the horse! In the first year of her widowhood she had, by chance, met Grannan. It was on the occasion of the anniversary of her twenty-second birthday. She had a relative—an old aunt—who had visited her from San Francisco. She knew Grannan in her home there, and, meeting him in the city had invited him to her house to dine. In the beginning of the second year of her widowhood, Grannan had offered himself; but, the look that she had then given him, froze the declaration of love upon his lips, and caused him to feel and know the utter hopelessness of his offer. She had not seen him since then. And now, just at the end of the second year of widowhood, he had offered her the gift.
She had, at first, intended to keep it. Her husband had been intensely devoted to horses, and she, through his influence had cultivated a fondness she had always had for them, and which had steadily increased; but, the words of Thomas caused her to dismiss any idea she might have entertained toward harboring the gift.
The brougham stopped in front of the lawyer’s office. Presently that gentleman stepped forward and greeted her at the window. He soon verified the truthfulness of the statement of Thomas concerning the sale, adding that, despite the vehement protests of the trainer, he had deemed it unwise to reject the very extraordinary offer of Mr. Grannan.
Mr. Grannan, though, he continued, was known as an exceptionally fine judge of horses, and enjoyed a most enviable reputation among horsemen for the prodigious success his skill had achieved for him.
She informed him of her determination now, to absent herself from the city for perhaps an unusual time, and requested that all necessary letters of credit should be at once prepared and forwarded to her.
Then, signaling the footman and designating the cathedral, she bade the attorney adieu.