Haldane did not receive Mrs. Arnot"s first letter. He was at sea with his regiment, on his way to the far Southwest, when the events in which he would have been so deeply interested began to occur. After reaching his new scene of duty, there were constant alternations of march and battle. In the terrible campaign that followed, the men of the army he was acting with were decimated, and officers dropped out fast. In consequence, Haldane, who received but two slight wounds, that did not disable him, was promoted rapidly. The colonel of the regiment was killed soon after their arrival, and from the command of the regiment he rose, before the campaign was over, to command a brigade, and then a division; and he performed his duties so faithfully and ably that he was confirmed in this position.
Mrs. Arnot"s first letter had followed him around for a time, and then was lost, like so many others in that time of dire confusion. Her second letter after long delay reached him, but it was very brief and hurried, and referred to troubles that he did not understand. From members of his old regiment, however, rumors reached him of some disaster to Mr. Arnot, and wrong-doing on his part, which had led to imprisonment.
Haldane was greatly shocked at the bare possibility of such events, and wrote a most sympathetic letter to Mrs. Arnot, which never reached her.
She had received some of his previous letters, but not this one.
By the time the campaign was over one of Haldane"s wounds began to trouble him very much, and his health seemed generally broken down from exposure and overexertion. As a leave of absence was offered him, he availed himself of it and took pa.s.sage to New York.
Three or four letters from his mother had reached him, but that lady"s causeless jealousy of Mrs. Arnot had grown to such proportions that she never mentioned her old friend"s name.
The long days of the homeward voyage were pa.s.sed by Haldane in vain conjecture. Of one thing he felt sure, and that was that Laura was by this time, or soon would be, Mrs. Beaumont; and now that the excitement of military service was over, the thought rested on him with a weight that was almost crushing.
One evening Mr. Growther was dozing as usual between his cat and dog, when some one lifted the latch and walked in without the ceremony of knocking.
"Look here, stranger, where"s yer manners?" snarled the old gentleman.
Then catching a glimpse of the well-remembered face, though now obscured by a tremendous beard, he started up, exclaiming,
"Lord a" ma.s.sy! "taint you, is it? And you compared yourself with that little, peaked-faced chap that"s around just the same--you with shoulders as broad as them are, and two stars on "em too!"
The old man nearly went beside himself with joy. He gave the cat and dog each a vigorous kick, and told them to "wake up and see if they could believe their eyes."
It was some time before Haldane could get him quieted down so as to answer all the questions that he was longing to put; but at last he drew out the story in full of Mr. Arnot"s forgery and its consequences.
"Has Mr. Beaumont married Miss Romeyn?" at last he faltered.
"No; I reckon not," said Mr. Growther dryly.
"What do you mean?" asked Haldane sharply.
"Well, all I know is that he didn"t marry her, and she ain"t the kind of a girl to marry him, whether he would or no, and so they ain"t married."
"The infernal scoundrel!" thundered Haldane, springing to his feet.
"The--"
"Hold on!" cried Mr. Growther. "O Lord a" ma.s.sy! I half believe he"s got to swearin" down in the war. If he"s backslid agin, nothin" but my little, peaked-faced chap will ever bring him around a nuther time."
Haldane was stalking up and down the room in strong excitement and quite oblivious of Mr. Growther"s perplexity.
"The unutterable fool!" he exclaimed, "to part from such a woman as Laura Romeyn for any cause save death."
"Well, hang it all! if he"s a fool that"s his business. What on "arth is the matter with you? I ain"t used to havin" bombsh.e.l.ls go off right under my nose as you be, and the way you are explodin" round kinder takes away my breath."
"Forgive me, my old friend; but I never had a shot strike quite as close as this. Poor girl! Poor girl! What a prospect she had a few months since. True enough, Beaumont was never a man to my taste; but a woman sees no faults in the man she loves; and he could have given her everything that her cultivated taste could wish for. Poor girl, she must be broken-hearted with all this trouble and disappointment."
"If I was you, I"d go and see if she was," said Mr. Growther, with a shrewd twinkle in his eyes. "I"ve heerd tell of hearts bein" mended in my day."
Haldane looked at him a moment, and, as he caught his old friend"s meaning, he brought his hand down on the table with a force that made everything in the old kitchen ring again.
"O Lord a" ma.s.sy!" e.j.a.c.u.l.a.t.ed Mr. Growther, hopping half out of his chair.
"Mr. Growther," said Haldane, starting up, "I came to have a very profound respect for your sagacity and wisdom years ago, but to-night you have surpa.s.sed Solomon himself. I shall take your most excellent advice at once and go and see."
"Not to-night--"
"Yes, I can yet catch the owl train to-night. Good-by for a short time."
"No wonder he took the rebs" works, if he went for "em like that,"
chuckled Mr. Growther, as he composed himself after the excitement of the unexpected visit. "Now I know what made him look so long as if something was a-gnawin" at his heart; so I"m a-thinkin" there"ll be two hearts mended."
Haldane reached the city in which Mrs. Arnot resided early in the morning, and as he had no clew to her residence, he felt that his best chance of hearing of her would be at the prison itself, for he knew well that she would seek either to see or learn of her husband"s welfare almost daily. In answer to his inquiries, he was told that she would be sure to come to the prison at such an hour in the evening since that was her custom.
He must get through the day the best he could, and so strolled off to the business part of the city, where was located the leading hotel, and was followed by curious eyes and surmises. Major-generals were not in the habit of inquiring at the prison after convicts" wives.
As he pa.s.sed a bookstore, it occurred to him that an exciting story would help kill time, and he sauntered in and commenced looking over the latest publications that were seductively arranged near the door.
"I"ll go to breakfast now, Miss," said the junior clerk who swept the store.
"Thank you. Oh, go quickly," murmured Laura Romeyn to herself, as with breathless interest she watched the unconscious officer, waiting till he should look up and recognize her standing behind a counter. She was destined to have her wish in very truth, for when he saw her he would be so surely off his guard from surprise that she could see into the very depths of his heart.
Would he never look up? She put her hand to her side, for antic.i.p.ation was so intense as to become a pain. She almost panted from excitement.
This was the supreme moment of her life, but the very fact of his coming to this city promised well for the hope which fed her life.
"Ah, he is reading. The thought of some stranger holds him, while my intense thoughts and feelings no more affect him than if I were a thousand miles away. How strong and manly he looks! How well that uniform becomes him, though evidently worn and battle-stained! Ah! two stars upon his shoulder! Can it be that he has won such high rank? What will he think of poor me, selling books for bread? Egbert Haldane, beware! If you shrink from me now, even in the expression of your eye, I stand aloof from you forever."
The man thus standing on the brink of fate, read leisurely on, smiling at some quaint fancy of the author, who had gained his attention for a moment.
"Heigh ho!" he said at last, "this stealing diversion from a book unbought is scarcely honest, so I will--"
The book dropped from his hands, and he pa.s.sed his hands across his eyes as if to brush away a film. Then his face lighted up with all the n.o.ble and sympathetic feeling that Laura had ever wished or hoped to see, and he sprang impetuously toward her.
"Miss Romeyn," he exclaimed. "Oh, this is better than I hoped."
"Did you hope to find me earning my bread in this humble way?" she faltered, deliciously conscious that he was almost crushing her hand in a grasp that was all too friendly.
"I was hoping to find _you_--and Mrs. Arnot," he added with a sudden deepening of color. "I thought a long day must elapse before I could learn of your residence."
"Do you know all?" she asked, very gravely.
"Yes, Miss Romeyn," he replied with moistening eyes, "I know all.
Perhaps my past experience enables me to sympathize with you more than others can. But be that as it may, I do give you the whole sympathy of my heart; and for this brave effort to win your own bread I respect and honor you more, if possible, than I did when you were in your beautiful home at Hillaton."
Laura"s tears were now falling fast, but she was smiling nevertheless, and she said, hesitatingly:
"I do not consider myself such a deplorable object of sympathy; I have good health, a kind employer, enough to live upon, and a tolerably clear conscience. Of course I do feel deeply for auntie and uncle, and yet I think auntie is happier than she has been for many years. If all had remained as it was at Hillaton, the ice around uncle"s heart would have grown harder and thicker to the end; now it is melting away, and auntie"s thoughts reach so far beyond time and earth, that she is forgetting the painful present in thoughts of the future."
"I have often asked myself," exclaimed Haldane, "could G.o.d have made a n.o.bler woman? Ah! Miss Laura, you do not know how much I owe to her."
"You have taught us that G.o.d can make n.o.ble men also."