With what keen delight would the bank attorney have looked upon that scene of anguish and despair.
The first paroxysms over, Mrs. Merritt became more calm, and listened attentively to the end. That day of gloom was closed by fervent supplication to the High Source of all hope and consolation, for strength and support against the tempest that awaited them.
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CHAPTER V.
A MEETING.
In due time Mr. Merritt’s effects were levied upon, and advertised for sale. When it was known that he was ruined, envy and jealousy triumphed, and the vile tongue of slander was unloosed upon his reputation. People who had envied his prosperity heretofore, gloried in his ruin. It descended even to the children, and a stout, malicious boy, threatened to whip George the very next time he went to school. So certain is misfortune to meet with taunt and insult every where.
During this period, so fruitful of evil to the Merritt family, young Warden, though before a frequent visiter, did not cross their threshold. Emma could not help wondering where he had gone, or why he had not said good-bye, or whether he had really forgotten her.
Emma was returning from an afternoon visit, some half mile from her father’s, and with a view to escape observation, she turned down a by-path, and walked slowly homeward. Soon she heard the sound of approaching footsteps, and she felt a strange and unaccountable agitation, although she neither turned her head nor quickened her pace. They came near, and a voice called, “Emma?”
It was no stranger’s voice that brought the blood rushing unbidden to that fair girl’s cheek. William Warden was at her side.
Emma, a little piqued by his long absence, could not resist playing the woman, and she drew herself up rather coldly, “Good evening, Mr. Warden.”