"If I could only ask her advice in the matter," thought he, "what a
relief it would afford."
But the words froze upon his lips, and Marguerite remained as before
in utter ignorance of the failure.
"Why do such questions arise," murmured the young man sadly, and his
thoughts reminded him of the renowned son of Jupiter dying of thirst
with the tempting element raised to his chin, but could not partake
of a single drop. "Ah! there's many a modern Tantalus," said Phillip
wearily, "many a Tantalus."
Marguerite had received several letters from Mrs. Arnold, but they
were vague, unsatisfactory and suppressed. There was an attempt at
concealment that gave the girl much concern, yet she did not
communicate the fact to Mrs. Verne.
"Poor mamma has enough to think of," thought she, "and as they say,
it is no use to be borrowing trouble, so I'll hope for the best."
Could one have glanced into Mrs. Montague Arnold's private life what
a picture would be presented to us--one anything but pleasing to
look upon--where alike was depicted disappointment, disgust, anger,
sullen resentment and hate.
Add to this dissipation, an utter disregard for the home duties of
woman, and one can form some idea of the unenviable position of this
fashionable creature.
Pages:
405
406
407
408
409
410
411
412
413
414
415
416
417
418
419
420
421
422
423
424
425
426
427
428
429