What a saint allows my little daughter may
accept," said Mr. Dundas mockingly.
"No," said Leam with pathetic solemnity, "if the saints forget mamma,
I will not."
"My dear, you are a fool," said Mr. Dundas.
"You may call me what you like, but madame shall not be my mother,"
returned Leam.
"Madame will be your mother because she will be my wife," said
Mr. Dundas slowly. "Unfortunately for you--perhaps for myself
also--neither you nor I can alter the law of the land. The child must
accept the consequences of the father's act."
"Then I will kill her," cried Leam.
Her father laughed gayly. "I think we will brave this desperate
danger," he said. "It is a fearful threat, I grant--an awful
peril--but we must brave it, for all that."
"Papa," said Leam, "I will pray to the saints that when you die you
may not go to heaven with mamma and me."
It was her last bolt, her supreme effort at threat and entreaty, and
it meant everything. If her words of themselves would have amused
Mr. Dundas as a child's ignorant impertinence, the superstition of an
untaught, untutored mind, her looks and manner affected him painfully.
Pages:
238
239
240
241
242
243
244
245
246
247
248
249
250
251
252
253
254
255
256
257
258
259
260
261
262