crouched in the corner, fearing, yet
eager to see him enter with the new happiness in his eye, the new
elasticity in his step. I saw him grow brighter and gayer; and as he
whistled or sang at his work I have fled away in helpless agony. Yet he
had not forgotten me; and in the midst of the new life that was
thrilling through him I was still dear to him. I cannot pretend to
understand a man's love, nor to tell you how faithfulness to an old
affection, and desire for one that is new, can dwell in the same heart.
He thought of me tenderly. I was a part of a past too dear to be
forgotten; but I did not belong to the present. He had lived without
me, and I was no longer necessary to him, but this younger love was
very near and real to him.

"At last he brought her home, and with many smiles and happy glances he
led Nellie to her new mother. It seemed very proper to the people who
filled the house that her grace and youth should mate with his dignity
and reputation, and that they should love each other; but none of them
saw, few thought of the disembodied wife who was still chained to his
side by links he had helped to forge, and who, standing unsuspected in
their midst, cursed--not the bride nor her husband--but her own
immorality.

"Yet as I watched the merriment with a most bitter scorn of my
suffering, and a fancy how Philip might well paint a love dancing on a
coffin for his next picture, I yet felt glad to know that I had not
been the one who was false to that dreadful night of vows and prayers.
If he had died, _I_ would have been faithful. My need of love would
have been as great; I might have longed for protection, for even bread;
but I would have had no other husband. I was glad, for it is well to be
faithful. A new love may bring new sweetness and content, but constancy
has its own sweet rewards, and the widowed heart would seek no strange
hand if it did but know what remains to those who are true.

"This was years ago as you count time; but until to-night I have
lingered around my home--my old home that was changed and beautified
for another mistress. I have nothing to tell you of their life, that
does not seem to men to be pleasant. They have been prosperous. They
have known many joys and few sorrows. They have travelled. He is famous
and he is also rich. Is that not enough? And Nellie, too, has been
content. Esther has not allowed the child to miss me; and although
other children claim equal love from her fath