At Fault Part 5

"Perhaps--but there can be no question about the weight of David's.

I'm not a bit selfish about him though; poor fellow, I only wish he'd marry again."

Melicent's last words stung Therese like an insult. Her native pride rebelled against the reticence of this man who had shared her confidence while keeping her in ignorance of so important a feature of his own life. But her dignity would not permit a show of disturbance; she only asked:--

"How long has his wife been dead?"

"Oh," cried Melicent, in dismay. "I thought you knew of course; why--she isn't dead at all--they were divorced two years ago."

The girl felt intuitively that she had yielded to an indiscretion of speech. She could not know David's will in the matter, but since he had all along left Mrs. Lafirme in ignorance of his domestic trials, she concluded it was not for her to enlighten that lady further. Her next remark was to call Therese's attention to the unusual number of glow-worms that were flas.h.i.+ng through the darkness, and to ask the sign of it, adding "every thing seems to be the sign of something down here."

"Aunt Belindy might tell you," replied Therese, "I only know that I feel the signs of being very sleepy after that ride through the woods to-day. Don't mind if I say good night?"

"Certainly not. Good night, dear Mrs. Lafirme. Let me stay here till David comes back; I should die of fright, to go to the cottage alone."

VII

Painful Disclosures.

Therese possessed an independence of thought exceptional enough when considered in relation to her life and its surrounding conditions. But as a woman who lived in close contact with her fellow-beings she was little given to the consideration of abstract ideas, except in so far as they touched the individual man. If ever asked to give her opinion of divorce, she might have replied that the question being one which did not immediately concern her, its remoteness had removed it from the range of her inquiry. She felt vaguely that in many cases it might be a blessing; conceding that it must not infrequently be a necessity, to be appealed to however only in an extremity beyond which endurance could scarcely hold. With the prejudices of her Catholic education coloring her sentiment, she instinctively shrank when the theme confronted her as one having even a remote reference to her own clean existence. There was no question with her of dwelling upon the matter; it was simply a thing to be summarily dismissed and as far as possible effaced from her remembrance.

Therese had not reached the age of thirty-five without learning that life presents many insurmountable obstacles which must be accepted, whether with the callousness of philosophy, the revolt of weakness or the dignity of self-respect. The following morning, the only sign which she gave of her mental disturbance, was an appearance that might have succeeded a night of unrefres.h.i.+ng sleep.

Hosmer had decided that his interview with Mrs. Lafirme should not be left further to the caprice of accident. An hour or more before noon he rode up from the mill knowing it to be a time when he would likely find her alone. Not seeing her he proceeded to make inquiry of the servants; first appealing to Betsy.

"I don' know whar Miss T'rese," with a rising inflection on the "whar." "I yain't seed her sence mornin', time she sont Unc' Hi'um yonda to old Morico wid de light bread an' truck," replied the verbose Betsy. "Aunt B'lindy, you know whar Miss T'rese?"

"How you want me know? standin' up everlastin' in de kitchen a bakin'

light-bread fu' lazy trash det betta be in de fiel' wurkin' a c.r.a.p like people, stid o' 'pendin' on yeda folks."

Mandy, who had been a silent listener, divining that she had perhaps better make known certain information that was exclusively her own piped out:--

"Miss T'rese shet up in de parla; 'low she want we all lef 'er 'lone."

Having as it were forced an entrance into the stronghold where Therese had supposed herself secure from intrusion, Hosmer at once seated himself beside her.

This was a room kept for the most part closed during the summer days when the family lived chiefly on the verandas or in the wide open hall There lingered about it the foreign scent of cool clean matting, mingled with a faint odor of rose which came from a curious j.a.panese jar that stood on the ample hearth. Through the green half-closed shutters the air came in gentle ripples, sweeping the filmy curtains back and forth in irregular undulations. A few tasteful pictures hung upon the walls, alternating with family portraits, for the most part stiff and unhandsome, except in the case of such as were of so remote date that age gave them a claim upon the interest and admiration of a far removed generation.

It was not entirely clear to the darkies whether this room were not a sort of holy sanctuary, where one should scarce be permitted to breathe, except under compulsion of a driving necessity.

"Mrs. Lafirme," began Hosmer, "Melicent tells me that she made you acquainted last night with the matter which I wished to talk to you about to-day."

"Yes," Therese replied, closing the book which she had made a pretense of reading, and laying it down upon the window-sill near which she sat; adding very simply, "Why did you not tell me long ago, Mr.

Hosmer?"

"G.o.d knows," he replied; the sharp conviction breaking upon him, that this disclosure had some how changed the aspect of life for him.

"Natural reluctance to speak of a thing so painful--native reticence--I don't know what. I hope you forgive me; that you will let it make no difference in whatever regard you may have for me."

"I had better tell you at once that there must be no repet.i.tion of--of what you told me last night."

Hosmer had feared it. He made no protest in words; his revolt was inward and showed itself only in an added pallor and increased rigidity of face lines. He arose and went to a near window, peering for a while aimlessly out between the partly open slats.

"I hadn't thought of your being a Catholic," he said, finally turning towards her with folded arms.

"Because you have never seen any outward signs of it. But I can't leave you under a false impression: religion doesn't influence my reason in this."

"Do you think then that a man who has had such misfortune, should be debarred the happiness which a second marriage could give him?"

"No, nor a woman either, if it suit her moral principle, which I hold to be something peculiarly one's own."

"That seems to me to be a prejudice," he replied. "Prejudices may be set aside by an effort of the will," catching at a glimmer of hope.

"There are some prejudices which a woman can't afford to part with, Mr. Hosmer," she said a little haughtily, "even at the price of happiness. Please say no more about it, think no more of it."

He seated himself again, facing her; and looking at him all her sympathetic nature was moved at sight of his evident trouble.

"Tell me about it. I would like to know every thing in your life," she said, feelingly.

"It's very good of you," he said, holding a hand for a moment over his closed eyes. Then looking up abruptly, "It was a painful enough experience, but I never dreamed that it could have had this last blow in reserve for me."

"When did you marry?" she asked, wis.h.i.+ng to start him with the story which she fancied he would feel better for the telling.

"Ten years ago. I am a poor hand to a.n.a.lyze character: my own or another's. My reasons for doing certain things have never been quite clear to me; or I have never schooled myself to inquiry into my own motives for action. I have been always thoroughly the business man. I don't make a boast of it, but I have no reason to be ashamed of the admission. Socially, I have mingled little with my fellow-beings, especially with women, whose society has had little attraction for me; perhaps, because I have never been thrown much into it, and I was nearly thirty when I first met my wife."

"Was it in St. Louis?" Therese asked.

"Yes. I had been inveigled into going on a river excursion," he said, plunging into the story, "Heaven knows how. Perhaps I was feeling unwell--I really can't remember. But at all events I met a friend who introduced me early in the day to a young girl--f.a.n.n.y Larimore. She was a pretty little thing, not more than twenty, all pink and white and merry blue eyes and stylish clothes. Whatever it was, there was something about her that kept me at her side all day. Every word and movement of hers had an exaggerated importance for me. I fancied such things had never been said or done quite in the same way before."

"You were in love," sighed Therese. Why the sigh she could not have told.

"I presume so. Well, after that, I found myself thinking of her at the most inopportune moments. I went to see her again and again--my first impression deepened, and in two weeks I had asked her to marry me. I can safely say, we knew nothing of each other's character. After marriage, matters went well enough for a while." Hosmer here arose, and walked the length of the room.

"Mrs. Lafirme," he said, "can't you understand that it must be a painful thing for a man to disparage one woman to another: the woman who has been his wife to the woman he loves? Spare me the rest."

"Please have no reservations with me; I shall not misjudge you in any case," an inexplicable something was moving her to know what remained to be told.

"It wasn't long before she attempted to draw me into what she called society," Hosmer continued. "I am little versed in defining shades of distinction between cla.s.ses, but I had seen from the beginning that f.a.n.n.y's a.s.sociates were not of the best social rank by any means. I had vaguely expected her to turn from them, I suppose, when she married. Naturally, I resisted anything so distasteful as being dragged through rounds of amus.e.m.e.nt that had no sort of attraction whatever for me. Besides, my business connections were extending, and they claimed the greater part of my time and thoughts.

"A year after our marriage our boy was born." Here Hosmer ceased speaking for a while, seemingly under pressure of a crowding of painful memories.

"The child whose picture you have at the office?" asked Therese.

"Yes," and he resumed with plain effort: "It seemed for a while that the baby would give its mother what distraction she sought so persistently away from home; but its influence did not last and she soon grew as restless as before. Finally there was nothing that united us except the child. I can't really say that we were united through him, but our love for the boy was the one feeling that we had in common. When he was three years old, he died. Melicent had come to live with us after leaving school. She was a high-spirited girl full of conceits as she is now, and in her exaggerated way became filled with horror of what she called the mesalliance I had made. After a month she went away to live with friends. I didn't oppose her. I saw little of my wife, being often away from home; but as feebly observant as I was, I had now and again marked a peculiarity of manner about her that vaguely troubled me. She seemed to avoid me and we grew more and more divided.

"One day I returned home rather early. Melicent was with me. We found f.a.n.n.y in the dining-room lying on the sofa. As we entered, she looked at us wildly and in striving to get up grasped aimlessly at the back of a chair. I felt on a sudden as if there were some awful calamity threatening my existence. I suppose, I looked helplessly at Melicent, managing to ask her what was the matter with my wife. Melicent's black eyes were flas.h.i.+ng indignation. 'Can't you see she's been drinking.