"I've got to tell
him,--he'll never forgive me." Her lips quivered piteously.
"He knows," said Miss Rose, soothingly. "I told him. I thought it
better to explain quickly what had happened, and not let him be
expecting to find them too."
She did not tell of the scene there had been when first he had heard
of the loss, nor the difficulty they had had in persuading him to see
his wife, and be kind to her. "I don't want her; 'twas the horse and
van I wanted," he said, cruelly.
He was not really as cruel, though, as he appeared. He seemed quite
touched when he heard of his wife's starving state when she came in
search of Huldah, and of her condition now, and expressed a desire to
see her. "I won't say nothing to upset her," he promised, when they
seemed to hesitate.
Huldah's face had turned even whiter than Emma's, when she heard who
was near, and what he wanted, her fear of him had been so increased
since he carried her away by force that night. But when she saw how
eager her aunt was to see him, she did try to overcome her fears.
Within a few moments of Miss Rose's telling of her "news," he was
there, in their midst. To pale, trembling Huldah, whose every nerve
had been set quivering by the mere sound of his step on the stair, he
threw only a cool nod, as, awkwardly enough, he made his way to his
wife's bedside, and sat down beside her.
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