Still, I was not
disheartened. Before I went East many things had been put away, but
West had unpacked and polished the silver several days before, and the
glass was shining and the china closets in perfect order, all of which
had been attended to with my own hands. Besides, the wife of one of
the sergeants was to come the next morning to dust and clean the
little house from top to bottom, so there was really nothing to worry
about, as everything would be in order long before time for the stage
to arrive that would bring Mrs. Rae.
But after the chill came a fever, and with the fever came dreams, most
disturbing dreams, in which were sounds of crunching gravel, then
far-away voices--voices that I seemed to have heard in another world.
A door was opened, and then--oh! how can I ever tell you--in the hall
came Faye's mother! By that time dreams had ceased, and it was cruel
reality that had to be faced, and even now I wonder how I lived
through the misery of that moment--the longing to throw myself out of
the window, jump in the river, do anything, in fact, but face the
mortification of having her see the awful condition of her son's
house!
Her son's house--that was just it. I did not care at all for myself,
my only thought was for Faye whose mother might find cause to pity him
for the delinquencies of his wife! First impressions are indelible,
and it would be difficult to convince Mrs.
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