He was so young; not as old as you, Miggie, and Sarah Warren urged
us on. I knew afterward why she did it, too. She is dead now, and
I would not speak against her were it not necessary, but, Miggie,
she wanted Dr. Griswold, and she fancied he liked me, so she would
remove me from her path; and she did. She worked upon my love of
the romantic, and Arthur's impulsive nature, until she persuaded
us to run away. While we were on the road, Arthur whispered to me,
'Let's go back,' but I said, 'No,' while Sarah, who overheard him,
sneered at him as cowardly, and we went on. Then father took me
off to Paris, and I dared not tell him, he was so dreadful when he
was angry; and then I loved Charlie Hudson, and loved him the more
because I knew I musn't."
The mature expression was passing rapidly from Nina's face, and
the child-like one returning in its stead as she continued,
"I couldn't bear to think of Arthur, and before I came home I
determined never to live with him as his wife. I didn't know then
about this buzzing in my head, and the first thing I did when
alone with him at the Revere House was to go down on my knees and
beg of him not to make me keep my vow.
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