He Fell In Love With His Wife by Edward Payson Roe (best books to read for students TXT) đ
- Author: Edward Payson Roe
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doing a good deed. But what does your wife say to adopting such a cherub?â
âWeâre not going to adopt her or bind ourselves. My wife took the childâs
part and plead with me in her behalf, though I could see the young one almost
made her sick. She thinks itâs her duty, you know, and thatâs enough for
her.â
âBy jocks, Holcroft! She donât feel that way about you, does she?â
âWhy shouldnât she?â
âWhy should she? I can take about anything from Angy, but it wouldnât do for
her to let me see that she disliked me so that I kinder made her sick.â
âOh, thunder, Tom! Youâre getting a wrong impression. I was never treated
better by anybody in my life than by Mrs. Holcroft. Sheâs a lady, every inch
of her. But thereâs no reason why she should dote on an old fellow like me.â
âYes, there is. I have my opinion of a woman who wouldnât dote on a man
thatâs been such a friend as you have.â
âOh, hang it all, Tom! Letâs talk about business. Sheâs too gratefulâthatâs
what worries me. By the way she took hold and filled the house with comfort
she made everything even from the start. Sheâs been as good a friend to me as
I to her. Sheâs done all she agreed and more, and Iâll never hear a word
against her. The point Iâve been trying to get at is this: If Mrs. Mumpson
will agree never to come near us or make trouble in any way, weâll take the
child. If she wonât so agree, Iâll have nothing to do with the girl. I donât
want to see her mother, and youâd do me one of the kindest turns you ever did
a man by stating the case to her.â
âIf I do,â said Watterly, laughing, âyouâll have to forgive me everything in
the past and the future.â
âI will, Tom, for Iâd rather have an eye tooth pulled than face that woman.
Weâre all rightâjust as we used to be at school, always half quarreling, yet
ready to stand up for each other to the last drop. But I must have her
promise in black and white.â
âWell, come to my office and weâll try to arrange it. The law is on your
side, for the county wonât support people that anyone will take off its hands.
Besides Iâm going to shame the womanâs relations into taking her away, and
theyâll be glad thereâs one less to support.â
They drew up a brief, strong agreement, and Watterly took it to the widow to
sign. He found her in great excitement and Jane looking at her defiantly. âI
told you he was the one who enticed away my offspring,â she began, almost
hysterically. âHeâs a cold-blooded villain! If thereâs a law in the land,
Iâllââ
âStop!â thundered Watterly. His voice was so high and authoritative that she
did stop, and with open mouth stared at the superintendent. âNow, be quiet and
listen to me,â he continued. âEither you are a sane woman and can stop this
foolishness, or else you are insane and must be treated as such. You have
your choice. You canât tell me anything about Holcroft; Iâve known him since
he was a boy. He doesnât want your girl. She ran away to him, didnât you?â
to Jane, who nodded. âBut heâs willing to take her, to teach her something and
give her a chance. His motive is pure kindness, and he has a good wife
whoâllââ
âI see it all,â cried the widow, tragically clasping her hands. âItâs his
wifeâs doings! She wishes to triumph over me, and even to usurp my place in
ministering to my child. Was there ever such an outrage? Such a bold,
vindictive femaleââ
Here Jane, in a paroxysm of indignant protest, seized her mother and began to
shake her so violently that she could not speak.
âStop that!â said Watterly, repressing laughter with difficulty. âI see you
are insane and the law will have to step in and take care of you both.â
âWhat will it do with us?â gasped the widow.
âWell, it ought to put you in strait jackets to begin withââ
âIâve got some sense if mother aint!â cried Jane, commencing to sob.
âItâs plain the lawâll decide your motherâs not fit to take care of you.
Anyone who can even imagine such silly ridiculous things as sheâs just said
must be looked after. You MAY take a notion, Mrs. Mumpson, that Iâm a
murderer or a giraffe. It would be just as sensible as your other talk.â
âWhat does Mr. Holcroft offer?â said the widow, cooling off rapidly. If there
was an atom of common sense left in any of his pauper charges, Watterly soon
brought it into play, and his vague threatenings of law were always
awe-inspiring.
âHe makes a very kind offer that you would jump at if you had senseâa good
home for your child. You ought to know she canât stay here and live on
charity if anyone is willing to take her.â
âOf course I would be permitted to visit my child from time to time? He
couldnât be so monstrously hard-hearted asââ
âOh, nonsense!â cried Watterly impatiently. âThe idea of his letting you come
to his house after what youâve said about him! Iâve no time to waste in
foolishness, or he either. He will let Jane visit you, but you are to sign
this paper and keep the agreement not to go near him or make any trouble
whatever.â
âItâs an abominableââ
âTut! Tut! That kind of talk isnât allowed here. If you canât decide like a
sane woman the lawâll soon decide for you.â
As was always the case when Mrs. Mumpson reached the inevitable, she yielded;
the paper was signed, and Jane, who had already made up her small bundle,
nodded triumphantly to her mother and followed Watterly. Mrs. Mumpson, on
tiptoe, followed also, bent on either propitiating Holcroft and so preparing
the way for a visit, or else on giving him once more a âpiece of her mind.â
âAll right, Holcroft!â said Watterly, as he entered the office, âhereâs the
paper signed. Was there ever such an idâââ
âOh, how do you do, Mr. Holcroft?â cried the widow, bursting in and rushing
forward with extended hand.
The farmer turned away and looked as if made of stone.
Changing her tactics instantly, she put her handkerchief to her eyes and
moaned, âYou never can have the heart to say I canât come and see my child.
Iâve signed writings, âtis true, under threats and compulsions; but I trust
there will be relentingsââ
âThere wonât be one relent!â cried Jane. âI never want to see you again, and a
blind post could see that he doesnât.â
âJane,â said Holcroft sternly, âdonât speak so again. If strangers can be
kind and patient with you, you can be so with your mother. She has no claims
on me and has said things which make it impossible for me to speak to her
again, but I shall insist on your visiting and treating her kindly. Goodbye,
Watterly. Youâve proved yourself a friend again,â and he went rapidly away,
followed by Jane.
Mrs. Mumpson was so taken aback by Holcroftâs final words and Watterlyâs stern
manner as he said, âThis is my office,â that for once in her life she
disappeared silently.
Holcroft soon purchased the articles on his list, meanwhile racking his brains
to think of something that he could buy for Alida, but the fear of being
thought sentimental and of appearing to seek a personal regard for himself,
not ânominated in the bond,â restrained him.
On his way home he was again sunk in deep abstraction, but the bitterness of
his feeling had passed away. Although as mistaken as before in his
apprehension of Alida, his thoughts were kinder and juster. âIâve no right to
find fault or complain,â he said to himself. âSheâs done all I asked and
better than she agreed, and thereâs no one to blame if she canât do more. It
must have been plain enough to her at first that I didnât want anything but a
housekeeperâa quiet, friendly body that would look after the house and dairy,
and sheâs done better than I even hoped. Thatâs just the trouble; sheâs
turned out so different from what I expected, and looks so different from what
she did, that Iâm just sort of carried away. Iâd give half the farm if she
was sitting by my side this June evening and I could tell her all I feel and
know she was glad. I must be just and fair to her. I asked her to agree to
one thing and now Iâm beginning to want a tremendous sight moreâI want her to
like not only her home and work and the quiet life she so longed for, but I
want her to like me, to enjoy my society, not only in a friendly, businesslike
way, but in another wayâyes, confound my slow wits! Somewhat as if she was
my wife in reality and not merely in name, as I insisted. Itâs mighty mean
business in me, who have been so proud of standing up to my agreements and so
exacting of others to do the same. I went away cold and stiff this afternoon
because she wasnât silly and sentimental when I was. Iâm to her an
unpolished, homely, middle-aged man, and yet I sort of scoffed at the
self-sacrifice which has led her to be pleasant and companionable in every way
that her feelings allowed. I wish I were younger and better looking, so it
wouldnât all be a sense of duty and gratitude. Gratitude be hanged! I donât
want any more of it. Well, now, James Holcroft, if youâre the square man you
supposed yourself to be, youâll be just as kind and considerate as you know
how, and then youâll leave Alida to the quiet, peaceful life to which she
looked forward when she married you. The thing for you to do is to go back to
your first ways after you were married and attend to the farm. She doesnât
want you hanging around and looking at her as if she was one of her own
posies. Thatâs something she wasnât led to expect and it would be mean enough
to force it upon her before she shows that she wishes it, and I couldnât
complain if she NEVER wished it.â
During the first hour after Holcroftâs departure Alida had been perplexed and
worried, but her intuitions soon led to hopefulness, and the beauty and peace
of nature without aided in restoring her serenity. The more minutely she
dwelt on Holcroftâs words and manner, the more true it seemed that he was
learning to take an interest in her that was personal and apart from every
other consideration. âIf I am gentle, patient, and faithful,â she thought,
âall will come out right. He is so true and straightforward that I need have
no fears.â
When he returned and greeted her with what seemed his old, friendly, natural
manner, and, during a temporary absence of Jane, told her laughingly of the
Mumpson episode, she was almost completely reassured. âSuppose the widow
breaks through all restraint and appears as did Jane, what would you do?â he
asked.
âWhatever you wished,â she replied, smiling.
âIn other words, what you thought your duty?â
âI suppose that is what one should try to do.â
âI guess you are the one that would succeed in doing it, even to Mrs.
Mumpson,â he said, turning hastily
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