He watched her for a moment. She seemed absorbed in reading, and he could
not see that the downcast eyes were too full of tears to distinguish one
letter from another.
He left the room without another word, and hardly had the door closed on
him when she flung the book from her, ran into the dressing-room, and
throwing herself on a couch, cried as if her heart would break.
"He's all I have, all I have!" she moaned, "and he's beginning to be cruel
to me! Oh, what shall I do! what shall I do! Papa, papa, why did you die
and leave your darling all alone in this cold world?"
She hoped Edward would come back presently, say he was sorry for his
brutal behavior, and try to make his peace with her by coaxing and
petting; but he did not, and after a while she gave up expecting him,
undressed, went to bed and cried herself to sleep, feeling that she was a
sadly ill-used wife.
Meanwhile Edward had returned to the library for a time, then gone into
the family parlor, hoping and half expecting to find Zoe there with the
rest; but the first glance showed him that she was not in the room.
He made no remark about it, but sitting down beside his mother, tried to
interest himself in the evening paper handed him by his grandfather.
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