Zoe took a sip of the coffee, tasted the omelet, found a coming appetite,
and went on to make a tolerably hearty meal, growing more cheerful and
hopeful as she ate.
But grief overcame her again as she went about the solitary rooms; it
seemed as if her husband's presence lingered everywhere, and yet as if he
were dead and buried, and she never to see him more.
Not quite a year had elapsed since her father's death, and the scenes of
that day and night and many succeeding ones came vividly before her; the
utter forlornness of her condition, alone in a strange land with a dying
parent, with no earthly comforter at hand, no friend or helper in all the
wide world, and how Edward then flew to her assistance, how kindly he
ministered to her dying father, how tenderly he took her in his arms,
whispering words of love and sympathy, and asking her to become his wife
and give him the right to protect and care for her.
And how he had lavished favors and endearments upon her all these months;
how patiently he had borne with petulance and frequent disregard of his
known wishes, nor ever once reminded her that she owed her home and every
earthly blessing to him.
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