Didn't you hear him, Miggie, way off
to the north; didn't you hear him call? God did, and helped him, I
reckon, for he got up and came and bent over me, kissing me so
much, and whispering, 'My wife, my Nina.' It was sweet to be so
kissed, and I fell away to sleep; but Arthur must have knelt
beside me the livelong night, for every time I moved I felt his
hand clasp mine. The next day he told me that Richard saved you
from the river, and his lips quivered as if he feared you were
really lost."
Alas! Nina had come nearer the truth than she supposed, and Edith
involuntarily echoed her oft-repeated words, "Poor Arthur," for
she knew now what had preceded that cry of more than mortal
anguish which Arthur sent to Grace after hearing first of the
engagement.
"Nina" she said, after a moment's silence, "before that time of
which you speak, there came a night of grief to me--a night when I
wished that I might die, because Richard asked me to be his wife--
me, who looked upon him as my father rather than a husband. I
can't tell you what he said to me, but it was very touching, very
sad, and my heart ached so much for the poor blind man.
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