“Poor soul, how she struggled for breath while Arthur with his face buried in the white linen sobbed his heart out.
“Then she said, ‘Now the baby.’
“He took the baby and placed her on the bed as she requested, where she could pat and caress her.
“‘And now you come, too, Virginia.’
“And there, with death stealing in on the bright rays of sunlight, we knelt one on either side of the baby.
“With a look of love which I shall always cherish, she began by addressing me:
“‘Virginia, I know all; he, Arthur, my Arthur and your Arthur, dear, has been good and truthful, and baby, God bless you, you have a real papa now and one of your choice. Listen—Arthur—Virginia⸺,’ her breath now came in gasps,—‘I’m—going to our little Arthur—see—see—he is watching us—and he’s waiting—for—me. Promise—Arthur—promise—Vir-gin—ia, that when I am gone—you will marry—for the baby’s—sake—and—my—sake—promise.’
“The sun crept through the blinds and lighted the smile that flitted over her face as I closed the bloodless eyelids.
“As soon as Arthur could arrange his business affairs in California, he went to New York, where baby and I were to join him.
“We were married quietly there a month after Nannie died. Quietly, because the world would have censured us for lack of respect had it known just that much of the affair.