Turning her face toward him, and laying both her hands on his
bowed head, she said,
"May the Good Father bless you, Arthur, even as you prove true to
Nina. I have loved you, more than you will ever know, or I can
ever tell, and my poor, bruised heart clings to you still with a
mighty grasp. It is so hard to give you up, but it is right. I
shall think of you often in your beautiful Southern home, praying
always that God will bless you and forgive you at the last, even
as I forgive you. And now farewell, MY Arthur, I once fondly hoped
to call you, but mine no longer--NINA'S Arthur--go."
She made a gesture for him to leave her, but did not unclose her
eyes. She could not look upon him, find know it was the last, last
time, but she offered no remonstrance when he left, upon her lips
a kiss so full of hopeless and yearning tenderness that it burned
there many a day after he was gone. She heard him turn away, heard
him cross the floor, knew he paused upon the threshold, and still
her eye-lids never opened, though the hot tears rained over her
face in torrents.
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