"
I spoke these words with a sort of desperation, as though they contained
my last hope of justice or protection from a fate which, however
obscurely, seemed to threaten me, as we feel the thunder-storm brooding
in the tranquil atmosphere of summer.
"Christian Garth!" she repeated, looking at me over her tortoise-shell
spectacles, and, quietly drawing out a snuffbox of the same material,
she proceeded to fill her narrow nostrils therewith. "Why, that
shaggy-looking old sailor, and the girl, and the old negro woman and
child, went on shore at daylight this morning. He hailed a Jersey craft,
and they all left together. It is perfectly understood, though, that the
child is to be returned to you if you desire its company, but, if I were
situated as you are, and sure of its safety, I would never want to see
it again. It would be better off dead than living anyhow, under the
circumstances, poor, deformed creature--better for both of you."
The words came to me distinctly, yet as if from an immense distance, and
I seemed to see the small chamber lengthening as if it had been a
telescope unfolding, and the sallow woman with her hateful smile and
tightly-knotted, brindled hair seated in diminished size and
distinctness at its farthest extremity.
So had I felt on that fearful night when Evelyn had made her revelation
and received mine, and I did not doubt, even in my sinking state, that I
was under the influence of a powerful anodyne.
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