Hylda looked long. "She was exquisite," she said, "exquisite."
"My father I never knew either. He was a captain of a merchant ship. He
married her secretly while she was staying with an aunt at Portsmouth. He
sailed away, my mother told my grandfather all, and he brought her home
here. The marriage was regular, of course, but my grandfather, after
announcing it, and bringing it before the Elders, declared that she
should never see her husband again. She never did, for she died a few
months after, when I came, and my father died very soon, also. I never
saw him, and I do not know if he ever tried to see me. I never had any
feeling about it. My grandfather was the only father I ever knew, and
Faith, who was born a year before me, became like a sister to me, though
she soon made other pretensions!" He laughed again, almost happily. "To
gain an end she exercised authority as my aunt!"
"What was your father's name?"
"Fetherdon--James Fetherdon."
"Fetherdon--James Fetherdon!" Involuntarily Hylda repeated the name
after him.
Pages:
358
359
360
361
362
363
364
365
366
367
368
369
370
371
372
373
374
375
376
377
378
379
380
381
382