'John,' she said, growing very pale, 'here are all the letters you ever
wrote me from your earliest boyhood.
wrote me from your earliest boyhood.
Yeats
Then I heard that Howard had lost his curacy, and asked him up.
I just left them alone and did not go near Margaret much. I knew they
were made for each other. Do not let us talk of them,' he continued,
eagerly. 'Let us talk about the future. I will take a farm and turn
farmer. I dare say my uncle will not give me anything when he dies
because I have left his office. He will call me a ne'er-do-weel, and
say I would squander it. But you and I--we will get married, will we
not? We will be very happy,' he went on, pleadingly. 'You will still
have your charities, and I shall be busy with my farm. We will surround
ourselves with a wall. The world will be on the outside, and on the
inside we and our peaceful lives. '
'Wait,' she said; 'I will give you your answer,' and going into the
next room returned with several bundles of letters. She laid them on
the table; some were white and new, some slightly yellow with time.
'John,' she said, growing very pale, 'here are all the letters you ever
wrote me from your earliest boyhood. ' She took one of the large candles
from the mantelpiece, and, lighting it, placed it on the hearth.
Sherman wondered what she was going to do with it. 'I will tell you,'
she went on, 'what I had thought to carry to the grave unspoken. I have
loved you for a long time. When you came and told me you were going to
be married to another I forgave you, for man's love is like the wind,
and I prayed that God might bless you both. ' She leant down over the
candle, her face pale and contorted with emotion. 'All these letters
after that grew very sacred. Since we were never to be married they
grew a portion of my life, separated from everything and everyone--a
something apart and holy. I re-read them all, and arranged them in
little bundles according to their dates, and tied them with thread. Now
I and you--we have nothing to do with each other any more. '
She held the bundle of letters in the flame. He got up from his
seat. She motioned him away imperiously. He looked at the flame in a
bewildered way. The letters fell in little burning fragments about
the hearth.
I just left them alone and did not go near Margaret much. I knew they
were made for each other. Do not let us talk of them,' he continued,
eagerly. 'Let us talk about the future. I will take a farm and turn
farmer. I dare say my uncle will not give me anything when he dies
because I have left his office. He will call me a ne'er-do-weel, and
say I would squander it. But you and I--we will get married, will we
not? We will be very happy,' he went on, pleadingly. 'You will still
have your charities, and I shall be busy with my farm. We will surround
ourselves with a wall. The world will be on the outside, and on the
inside we and our peaceful lives. '
'Wait,' she said; 'I will give you your answer,' and going into the
next room returned with several bundles of letters. She laid them on
the table; some were white and new, some slightly yellow with time.
'John,' she said, growing very pale, 'here are all the letters you ever
wrote me from your earliest boyhood. ' She took one of the large candles
from the mantelpiece, and, lighting it, placed it on the hearth.
Sherman wondered what she was going to do with it. 'I will tell you,'
she went on, 'what I had thought to carry to the grave unspoken. I have
loved you for a long time. When you came and told me you were going to
be married to another I forgave you, for man's love is like the wind,
and I prayed that God might bless you both. ' She leant down over the
candle, her face pale and contorted with emotion. 'All these letters
after that grew very sacred. Since we were never to be married they
grew a portion of my life, separated from everything and everyone--a
something apart and holy. I re-read them all, and arranged them in
little bundles according to their dates, and tied them with thread. Now
I and you--we have nothing to do with each other any more. '
She held the bundle of letters in the flame. He got up from his
seat. She motioned him away imperiously. He looked at the flame in a
bewildered way. The letters fell in little burning fragments about
the hearth.
