I was free for a few hours, for my lover was gone to Dublin. He had
taken a cottage in the neighbourhood, because he had once heard me
express a liking for it. It was a pretty little place, enclosed by high
walls which held within them many beauties. It would have been an
exquisite place for a pair of happy lovers; and he was making it very
fine and dainty for me. It had been unoccupied for some years; and he
was having it newly decorated and furnishing it with the prettiest
things money could buy. He had said that I was not to see it till it was
ready for me; and it occupied as much of his time as he could spare from
me. In Dublin he was picking up all manner of pretty things in the way
of antique furniture and china and glass and silver and pictures. We
were to stay at the cottage a few days after our marriage, before we
went abroad; and afterwards it was to be our home till such time as I
desired a finer one.
He was so generous that at times I felt ashamed that he should do so
much for an unwilling bride; and if I could have felt less aversion for
him I would gladly have done so. I used to feel that if I could watch
him lavishing everything on another woman--for he squandered his love as
well as his money on me--I could have liked and admired him.
Pages:
158
159
160
161
162
163
164
165
166
167
168
169
170
171
172
173
174
175
176
177
178
179
180
181
182