"Then your father----?"
"Sent me adrift because I refused to marry that woman whose carriage I
stopped to-night."
The doctor made an expression of surprise.
"Yes, it seems strange I should come across her in that fashion, doesn't
it? The sight of her has touched old sores."
Philip Waldron's eyes gleamed as he fixed them on the doctor's face.
"I will tell you something of my story--if you wish it."
"Say on."
"As a young man at home I was greatly under my father's influence.
Perhaps because of his indifference I was the more anxious to please
him. At all events, urged by him, but with secret reluctance, I proposed
and was accepted by that lady whose carriage I stopped to-night. She was
rich, beautiful, but I did not love her. I know my conduct was weak, it
was ignoble--but I did her no wrong. For me she had not one spark of
affection. My prospective wealth was the bait."
Waldron paused, and drew his hand across his eyes. "Then--then I met the
girl who in the end became my wife. That she was poor was an
insurmountable barrier in my father's eyes. I sought freedom from my
hateful engagement in vain. I need not trouble you with all the story.
Suffice it that I left home and married the woman I loved. My father's
anger was overwhelming. We were never forgiven. When my brother died I
hoped for some sign from my father, but he made none. And now my wife
also is dead.
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