The stranger raised his hat and said: “Permit me to ask your name?”
“Salome Owen. And yours, sir, is—”
“Ulpian Gray.” Page 10.
—Vashti.
VASHTI
orUNTIL DEATH US DO PART
By AUGUSTA EVANS WILSON
(Augusta J. Evans)
Author of “Beulah,” “Macaria,” “Infelice,”
“St. Elmo,” “Inez,” etc., etc.,
“There is nothing a man knows, in grief or in sin
half so bitter as to think, what I might have been.”
A. L. BURT COMPANY, Publishers
NEW YORK
Entered according to Act of Congress in the year 1869, by
GEORGE W. CARLETON,
In the Clerk’s Office of the District Court of the United States for the SouthernDistrict of New York.
Entered according to Act of Congress, in the year 1897, by
MRS. AUGUSTA J. EVANS WILSON,
In the office of the Librarian of Congress at Washington, D.C.
Vashti.
TO THE HONORED MEMORY OF MY
Beloved Father,
WHOSE DEATH HAS RETARDED THE COMPLETION OF A WORK
WHICH, IN THE BEGINNING, WAS BLESSED
WITH HIS APPROVAL,
I REVERENTLY DEDICATE THIS BOOK.
“Every man has his own style, as he has his own nose; andit is neither polite nor Christian to rally an honest man abouthis nose, however singular it may be. How can I help it thatmy style is not different? That there is no affectation in it, Iam very certain.”
Lessing.
“Yea, I take myself to witness, Matthew Arnold. |
“I can hear the sullen, savage roar of the breakers, if I donot see them, and my pretty painted bark—expectation—isbearing down helplessly upon them. Perhaps the unwelcomewill not come to-day. What then? I presume I should notcare; and yet, I am curious to see him,—anxious to knowwhat sort of person will henceforth rule the house, and go inand out here as master. Of course the pleasant, peaceful daysare at an end, for men always make din and strife in ahousehold,—at least my father did, and he is the only one Iknow much about. But, after all, why borrow trouble?—theinterloper may never come.”
The girl stood on tip-toe, shading her eyes with one hand,and peering eagerly down the winding road which stretched atright angles to the avenue, and over the hills, on towards theneighboring town. No moving speck was visible; and, witha sigh of relief, she sank back on the grassy mound and resumedthe perusal of her book. Above and around her spreadthe wide branches of an aged apple-tree, feathered thicklywith pearly petals, which the wind tossed hither an