She shall see that she is not forgotten."
Ida tried to eat a little to please him, but she soon came and sat
beside him on her sofa, saying, as she buried her face against his
shoulder, "Father, I shall have to lean very hard on you now."
"I won't fail you, Ida," was the gentle and simple reply, but they
understood each other without further words. With unspoken sympathy
and tenderness he tried to fill the place her mother could not,
for if Mrs. Mayhew had gained any knowledge of Ida's feelings, she
would have had a great deal to say on the subject with the best
and kindest intentions. With heavy touch she would try to examine
and heal the wound twenty times a day.
Mr. Mayhew was right when he said the Van Bergs were a proud race,
and this trait had found its culmination, perhaps, in the hero of
this tale. He was justly proud of his old and unstained name; he
was proud of those who bore it with him, and he honored his father
and mother, not in obedience to a command, but because every one
honored them; and if his sister was a little cold and stately, she
embodied his ideas of refinement and cultivation; he was proud of
his social position, of his talent--for he knew he had that much,
at least--and of the recognition he had already won in the republic
of art.
Pages:
647
648
649
650
651
652
653
654
655
656
657
658
659
660
661
662
663
664
665
666
667
668
669
670
671