_Extract 1st--Mr. McDonald's._
Well, that matter is over, and I can't say I am sorry, for the
expression in that Thornton's eye I do not care to meet a second time.
There was mischief in it, and it made one think of six-shooters and cold
lead. I never quite indorsed the man--first, because he was not as rich
as I would like Daisy's husband to be, and, second, because even if he
had been a millionaire it would have done me no good. That he did not
marry Daisy's family, he made me fully understand, and for any good his
money did me, I was as poor after the marriage as before. Then he must
needs lose all he had in that foolish way, and when I found that Daisy
was not exceedingly in love with married life, it was natural that, as
her father, I should take advantage of the laws of the State in which I
live, especially as Tom is growing rich so fast. On the whole, I have
done a good thing. Daisy is free, with ten thousand dollars that
Thornton settled on her, for, of course, I shall prevent her giving that
back, as she is determined to do, saying it is not hers, and she will
not keep it. It is hers, and she shall keep it, and Tom will be a
millionaire if that gold mine proves as great a success as it seems now
to be, and I can manage Tom, and, as I said before, I've done a nice
thing after all.
To-day, for the first time, we have hopes that my brother will live;
but, oh! how near he has been to the gates of death since that night
when he came back to us from the West, with a fearful look on his face
and a cruel stab in his heart. I say us, for Julia Hamilton has been
with me all through the dreadful days and nights when I watched to see
Guy's life go out and know I was left alone. She was with me when I was
getting ready for Daisy and waiting for Guy to bring her home--not to
Elmwood--that dear old place is sold and strangers walk the rooms I love
so well--but here to the brown cottage on the hill, which, if I had
never had Elmwood, would seem so pleasant to me.
And it is pleasant here, especially in Daisy's room, which we shall
never use, for the door is shut and bolted, and it seems each time I
pass it as if a dead body were inside. Had Guy died I would have laid
him there and sent for that false creature to come and see her work. I
promised her so much, but not from any love, for my heart was full of
bitterness that night when I turned her from the door out into the rain.
I shall never tell Guy that--never, lest he should soften toward her,
and I would not have her here again for all the world contains. And yet
I did like her, and was looking forward to her return with a good deal
of pleasure. Julia had spoken many a kind word for her, had pleaded her
extreme youth as an excuse for her faults, and had led me to hope for
better things when time had matured her somewhat and she had become
accustomed to our new mode of life.