“And a broken heart! ah, grandmother!”
“No, his heart was not broken. What he felt I never knew, for he learned my marriage before he came back, and we never met for years. My children, my story will have been told you quite in vain, if it does not show you that hearts must live and act, and fulfill present duties, with what fortitude they may, and not break—nor ‘brokenly live on.’ God gave me the strength for which I prayed, to perform my duty to my husband and children, and to set aside from my heart an image which no longer fitted such a temple. I have long ago ceased to look at him with any eyes but those of friendly interest, though the recall of so much that is connected with grief is of course painful, and you see yourselves that he is both gay and social, and by no means inclined to play the despairing lover.”
“We see!” they again spoke in a breath.
“Yes, you have seen him this afternoon. Edward—Colonel Edward Morgan. And here we are at home, my loves, an hour past dinner-time.”
FAIR WIND.
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BY J. T. FIELDS.
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O who can tell, that never sailed