* * * * * *
One by one the grey December days went by, and Christmas fires
were kindled on many a festal hearth. Then the New Year dawned
upon the world, and still the thick, dark curtains shaded the
windows of Edith's room. But there came a day at last, a pleasant
January day, when the curtains were removed, the blinds thrown
open, and the warm sunlight came in shining upon Edith, a
convalescent. Very frail and beautiful she looked in her crimson
dressing gown, and her little foot sat loosely in the satin
slipper, Grace Atherton's Christmas gift. The rich lace frill
encircling her throat was fastened with a locket pin of
exquisitely wrought gold, in which was encased a curl of soft,
yellow hair, Nina's hair, a part of the tress left on Edith's
pillow. This was Richard's idea,--Richard's New Year's gift to his
darling; but Richard was not there to share in the general joy.
Just across the hall, in a chamber darkened as hers had been, he
was lying now, worn out with constant anxiety and watching.
Pages:
325
326
327
328
329
330
331
332
333
334
335
336
337
338
339
340
341
342
343
344
345
346
347
348
349