Part 11 (2/2)
”We will go and see him,” she said. ”On Monday we will go and see him, Faith, you and I.”
Faith looked up eagerly.
”And you will believe in him then, won't you?” she asked. ”If Mr.
Shawyer tells you that it is all right you will believe in him, won't you?”
Mrs. Ledley took the girl's eager face in her hands.
”Do you love him--very much?” she asked rather sadly.
Faith echoed the words vaguely.
”Love him? Who do you mean?...”
”I mean this man--your husband.”
Faith looked away across the room, and there was a little frown between her eyes.
”I don't know,” she said hesitatingly. ”I don't think I've ever thought about it. He's very kind--n.o.body has ever been so kind to me before.”
Mrs. Ledley gripped the girl's hand.
”Faith, if you don't love him, why did you marry him?” she asked.
Faith raised her brown eyes.
”I told you,” she said. ”For you and the twins.”
CHAPTER V
John Shawyer looked across his paper-strewn table at Faith's mother and smiled indulgently.
”I really don't think there is any need for you to be so alarmed,” he said kindly. ”I have known Mr. Forrester for a great many years, and have every reason to believe that he is an honourable man. He came to see me only last Friday and told me all about his romantic marriage.
Unfortunately he has had to go to America, as you know. I think at the last it worried him considerably that he had not seen you before he left and been able to explain things. The marriage is perfectly in order, but you can go to the registrar yourself if you would prefer to do so....”
Mrs. Ledley broke in tremblingly.
”It all seems so extraordinary. Mr. Forrester had only seen my daughter three times before he married her, and ... and if he is as rich as you say, surely he would have looked higher for his wife?”
Poor woman! She could remember more than twenty years ago when she had made her own runaway match, the tortures of inquisition through which she had been put by her husband's relatives, and the complete ostracism with which the miserable affair had finally ended.
She had known herself incapable of ascending to his position in the world, and he had loved her well enough to sink into obscurity with her.
Was history about to repeat itself in Faith's marriage?
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