It had grown almost dark, and the lights were beginning to shine in the houses along the way. There was little said between them, for both were too deeply stirred by the sad events of the day to talk much.
Finally Meg broke the silence. With a little catch in her voice, she said: “I am so wicked! When poor Charlie told me that Ada would have fifty thousand dollars, my first thought was that there were many men whom that amount of money would tempt.”
As there was no reply, she said, with attempted lightness, “Will you absolve me?”
Meeting her mood, though both their hearts were heavy, he answered, “There is no need of absolution where there is no sin.”
Nothing more was said until her gate was reached, and she cried: “It doesn’t pay! It doesn’t pay to love, and marry, and be separated by death!”
[CHAPTER XI.]
“Domestic Happiness, thou only bliss
Of Paradise that has survived the fall!”
About a week after Charlie’s funeral, Meg and Robert chanced to meet at the Walker home, where both had gone to see the desolate young widow.
As they walked home together, both were silent. When within a block of Meg’s home they passed a little cottage, plainly the home of people in moderate circumstances. When they were just opposite the gate, a comely young woman came out of the door and called, “Supper’s ready.”