登陆注册
19633600000030

第30章 CHAPTER X(2)

But I will write out his wonderful escape in full to-morrow or next day. Of course the physicians will not let me tell him now that our Laura is indeed his child--that must come later, when his health is thoroughly restored. His case is not considered dangerous at all;he will recover presently, the doctors say. But they insist that he must travel a little when he gets well--they recommend a short sea voyage, and they say he can be persuaded to try it if we continue to keep him in ignorance and promise to let him see L. as soon as he returns."

The letter that bore the latest date of all, contained this clause:

"It is the most unaccountable thing in the world; the mystery remains as impenetrable as ever; I have hunted high and low for him, and inquired of everybody, but in vain ; all trace of him ends at that hotel in New York ; I never have seen or heard of him since, up to this day; he could hardly have sailed, for his name does not appear upon the books of any shipping office in New York or Boston or Baltimore. How fortunate it seems, now, that we kept this thing to ourselves; Laura still has a father in you, and it is better for her that we drop this subject here forever."

That was all. Random remarks here and there, being pieced together gave Laura a vague impression of a man of fine presence, abort forty-three or forty-five years of age, with dark hair and eyes, and a slight limp in his walk--it was not stated which leg was defective. And this indistinct shadow represented her father. She made an exhaustive search for the missing letters, but found none. They had probably been burned; and she doubted not that the ones she had ferreted out would have shared the same fate if Mr. Hawkins had not been a dreamer, void of method, whose mind was perhaps in a state of conflagration over some bright new speculation when he received them.

She sat long, with the letters in her lap, thinking--and unconsciously freezing. She felt like a lost person who has traveled down a long lane in good hope of escape, and, just as the night descends finds his progress barred by a bridge-less river whose further shore, if it has one, is lost in the darkness. If she could only have found these letters a month sooner! That was her thought. But now the dead had carried their secrets with them. A dreary, melancholy settled down upon her.

An undefined sense of injury crept into her heart. She grew very miserable.

She had just reached the romantic age--the age when there is a sad sweetness, a dismal comfort to a girl to find out that there is a mystery connected with her birth, which no other piece of good luck can afford.

She had more than her rightful share of practical good sense, but still she was human; and to be human is to have one's little modicum of romance secreted away in one's composition. One never ceases to make a hero of one's self, (in private,) during life, but only alters the style of his heroism from time to time as the drifting years belittle certain gods of his admiration and raise up others in their stead that seem greater.

The recent wearing days and nights of watching, and the wasting grief that had possessed her, combined with the profound depression that naturally came with the reaction of idleness, made Laura peculiarly susceptible at this time to romantic impressions. She was a heroine, now, with a mysterious father somewhere. She could not really tell whether she wanted to find him and spoil it all or not; but still all the traditions of romance pointed to the making the attempt as the usual and necessary, course to follow; therefore she would some day begin the search when opportunity should offer.

Now a former thought struck her--she would speak to Mrs. Hawkins.

And naturally enough Mrs. Hawkins appeared on the stage at that moment.

She said she knew all--she knew that Laura had discovered the secret that Mr. Hawkins, the elder children, Col. Sellers and herself had kept so long and so faithfully; and she cried and said that now that troubles had begun they would never end; her daughter's love would wean itself away from her and her heart would break. Her grief so wrought upon Laura that the girl almost forgot her own troubles for the moment in her compassion for her mother's distress. Finally Mrs. Hawkins said:

"Speak to me, child--do not forsake me. Forget all this miserable talk.

Say I am your mother!--I have loved you so long, and there is no other.

I am your mother, in the sight of God, and nothing shall ever take you from me!"

All barriers fell, before this appeal. Laura put her arms about her mother's neck and said:

"You are my mother, and always shall be. We will be as we have always been; and neither this foolish talk nor any other thing shall part us or make us less to each other than we are this hour."

同类推荐
热门推荐
  • 把握当下

    把握当下

    把握当下就是要对自己当前的现状满意,要相信每一个时刻发生在你身上的事情都是最好的,要相信自己的生命正以最好的方式展开。
  • 盛宠之帝尊邪皇

    盛宠之帝尊邪皇

    意外穿越,她变成黄昏大陆四大古家族之首墨家的独女墨可清。人前纤弱温和;人后阴险狡诈有仇必报。她可以笑着无视并原谅他人的挑衅和错误,但也绝对会有仇必报!啥,你说标准是什么?当然——看本小姐心情如何!
  • 一生恋,半世仙魔

    一生恋,半世仙魔

    恋多磨消,一生之恋,仙魔一念间。心多焦憔,破碎磨合不复原。一个懵懂的小女孩经历了血的历练变成了孤傲的人。穿越过后,她决定要重活自己的人生,活出最精彩的自己,可结果冰冷的心开始融化的时候,爱与背叛卷土重来。堕落为魔,羽化成神的她,还能再爱吗?活得轰烈,爱的潇洒,为的就是这句话。这条路她或许会这么走下去吧......
  • 信无

    信无

    辉煌与灭亡的故事,不同种族之间的阴谋与仇恨,不同立场之间的对立与背叛,幽玄死星宿命的抗争。。。。。————————————————本书不悲剧,气场足。第二卷写得很废,大家可以无视,我边更新边修改一些。————————————————————新书《极品少将》,你们要鄙视的尽情鄙视吧,小苏全部接受了。我也没办法,风格改变,喜欢的去看看,不喜欢的。。。。。。也去看看吧,谢了。
  • 至尊归来之盛世妖后

    至尊归来之盛世妖后

    一代天骄突变众所周知的废物,且看她如何拨弄风云、睥睨天下,夺回属于她的一切。重新回归之后,花卿言悬在霓尘宫上空,用看蝼蚁一般的眼神看着下方面色铁青的花无忧,言语狂妄:“妖界第一人又怎样?你趋之若鹜,我不屑一顾!既然你想要,给你玩玩又如何?”
  • 周山往事

    周山往事

    通过主人公陆大爽的经历,对周山往事的记忆,其中发生很多生离死别,神仙鬼怪的故事,阅读时,要做好心理准备。本故事纯属虚构,如有雷同,纯属巧合。
  • 腾格里狼王

    腾格里狼王

    他,是孛尔贴赤那蒙语:“苍狼”,是腾格里最英勇的战士。他,是查干巴日蒙语:“白虎”,是“白鹿”命中的守护者。她,从未踏上过古老辽阔的草原,灵魂里却流淌着草原原始的血液。腾格里的召唤,命定的轮回,生生世世的姻缘,灵魂最终的归宿。
  • 空山2

    空山2

    作家在“表现一个村庄秘史”的现实态度极为明确,它不是单一民族的,也不是牧歌式的,传奇的、作家对藏族村庄有着极为深厚的文化、宗教,自然和社会的体验,说它是“秘史”,并非披露其神秘,而是用特别的手法将被人漠视麻木的伤痛揭示出来。唯其如此,才形成了小说宏大的格局。重大而庄严的主题,厚重而深刻的内容,随心而掌控的结构,对于人与自然,政治与文化、宗教社会和谐与进步,有着更为深刻的思考。这是一部充满阳刚之美的现实力作,一扫当下文坛萎靡,琐细,颓废之风。
  • 极限雇佣兵

    极限雇佣兵

    不怕流氓会打架,就怕流氓有文化;不怕兵哥会犯怂,就怕兵哥有异能。金木水火土,五行奇术我独掌,啥高手都要被老子踩在脚下唱征服。你说海豹突击队和三角洲?嗤,在老子眼里统统是战斗力只有5的渣!至于泡妞儿,对不起,这个我不专业,因为咱从来不泡妞儿,都是被小妞儿们泡。〓〓〓〓〓〓〓〓〓〓〓〓〓〓〓〓〓〓〓Ps1:百度贴吧已经建立,进吧搜索书名即可,欢迎大家灌水,盖楼。Ps2:锐金之力佣兵团221479589,积极招募中。
  • 无限之现实梦境

    无限之现实梦境

    本来只是想泡个马子的姬无伤,眼睛一睁一闭就进入生化危机的世界了!“没人能给我解释一下吗?或者至少给个提醒也行啊,魂淡!”好吧,被丢进恐怖片的世界也就算了,至少咱不是第一个倒霉蛋。但剧情世界里的人物怎么还能反穿到“元”世界,我真的凌乱了呀!“究竟是世界进入了我的梦,还是我就身处梦的世界中,谁能告诉我啊!”