He ate very heartily,
as was his custom; and, moreover, persisted in stuffing the children (as
old gentlemen will do sometimes) until their mother was compelled to
interfere to prevent their having a bilious attack in consequence. Whilst
the gentlemen were sitting over their desert, Mr. Garie asked his uncle, if
he had not a sister, with whom there was some mystery connected.
"No mystery," replied uncle John. "Your aunt made a very low marriage, and
father cut her off from the family entirely. It happened when I was very
young; she was the eldest of us all; there were four of us, as you
know--your father, Bernard, I, and this sister of whom we are speaking. She
has been dead for some years; she married a carpenter whom father employed
on the place--a poor white man from New York. I have heard it said, that he
was handsome, but drunken and vicious. They left one child--a boy; I
believe he is alive in the North somewhere, or was, a few years since."
"And did she never make any overtures for a reconciliation?"
"She did, some years before father's death, but he was inexorable; he
returned her letter, and died without seeing or forgiving her," replied
uncle John.
"Poor thing; I suppose they were very poor?"
"I suppose they were.
Pages:
133
134
135
136
137
138
139
140
141
142
143
144
145
146
147
148
149
150
151
152
153
154
155
156
157