His generous nature forgot, too, all anger against Fenton. To the noble
soul, death, by a reasoning which is above logic, seems to settle all
accounts. He remembered the artist's brightness, his quick sympathy,
his keen imagination, and his ready adaptability. The flippancy that
had often shocked him, the treachery to principles which he held sacred
that had wounded him, his kind memory put out of sight, as one wipes
the stains from a crystal; and in the mind of the man he had wronged,
the remembrance of Arthur Fenton remained fair and gracious, and nobler
than the nature whose monument it was.
He went to see Mrs. Fenton, but when he met her he at first could say
nothing. He stammered brokenly, tears choking his voice, holding her
hand in his, and vainly striving to put into words the sympathy he
felt. Then he stooped suddenly and kissed her hand.
"Our boys,"--he said, with awkward phrasing, but with an instinct which
reached to the ground of their deepest sympathy. "It might comfort them
a little to play together."
The widow clung with both her small hands to the large strong one which
had clasped hers; and bending down over it she burst into convulsive
sobs. He stood silent a moment, his lip trembling then with grave
kindness, he said,--
"I know how hard it is; but you have the comfort of being able to tell
the boy that his father was a genius and a noble man.
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