“A flower I feign would pluck today,
From the garden above her dust,
Not the pure, white lily of soulless sin,
Nor the blood-red rose of lust,
But the blossom of holy love.”
“‘I shall always be interested in your welfare and shall ever seek to do you good. Yours devotedly,
“‘Lannie.’
“The blow was cruel, but ‘As a man soweth, so shall he also reap.’ The same applies to women.
“The next important event of my life was the announcement of the insolvency of my husband’s estate. He had died leaving me penniless; even the holdings my father had placed with him as security for his loan were swept away into the chasm with the other unrecoverable assets.”