Weaker than a Woman — page 278: what you’re looking at

Machine-transcribed from the original scan — historical spelling and the odd misread are preserved.

WEAKER THAN A WOMAN. 969 No happier household ever settled for a time in the mod- ern Babylon. Felix took very nice apartments, where his — wife could enjoy London to her heart’s content. Eve was wise in one respect. She never merged the wife in the mother. She never neglected her husband for her child. She was so discreet and wise in the management of her. time that, while she was one of the most devoted mothers in the world, she was at the same time one of the most de- voted wives. Felix never felt, as some husbands do, that he had a rival in his own child. They went to London when Parliament opened, and when May came around the great city wore its fairest dress. They sat at breakfast one bright morning, with “the un- equaled baby,” as Felix called him, rolling on a thick rug at their feet, when a letter was brought addressed to “ Mrs. Felix Lonsdale, 13 Upper Park Gardens,” and, as he placed it in his wife’s hands, Felix recognized the delicate hand- writing, while he smelled a faint odor of violets. Eve opened it quickly, and then, pale and breathless, looked up at her husband. | “Listen, Felix,” she said, after a few seconds, and she read : “My Dear Eve :—I should like to see you and Felix once more. My husband is not well, and the doctors have ordered him to go to the south of France or Italy—we think of going to Florence—and it may be years before I return. Let me see you both before I go. When I read your names among the arrivals, it seemed to me that a breath of Lilford air passed over me. You will not refuse me the last favor I shall ever ask of you? Call at Rokely House at two, o’clock to- day. Ishall wait for you. Ever your friend, VIoLET ROKELY.” Eve looked up again. t “Rokely!” she said. “Why, Felix, is Violet married again ?” | ‘She married the Duke of Rokely three months ago,” re- plied Felix. “I said nothing to you about it. She has mar- ried one of the wealthiest dukes in Kngland.” “She was beautiful enough fOr. a duchess,” said Eve, gently. “She is not so beautiful in my eyes as you, my pearl,” rejoined Felix, and there was truth in his voice. His wife smiled. . “What about the haunted chamber?” she asked. . “It is swept and garnished,” he replied. She smiled proudly. “When I heard what you said about it I made a resolu- tion that I would get into the haunted chamber,” she told Gomicbooks co