There is Sorrow on the Sea | Page 8

loved
me, and, oh, a dreadful feeling came into my heart, and I drew back,
and could have sunk upon the ground in misery, but that there came a
thought of your safety! He was safe, but you--you were here, where
reward was posted for you. I begged you to come into the house, that I
might hide you there, but you would not. You had come for one thing,
you said, and only one. An hour or two, and then you must be gone for
London. And so you urged me to the beach. I was afraid we might be

seen, but you led me away from the cottages near to the little bridge
which crosses the dyke. By that way we came to the sands, as we
thought unnoted. But no, who should it be to see us but that canting
Baptist, Solby! And so the alarm was given. You had come, dear
Cousin Dick, to ask me one thing--if I loved you? and if, should you
ever be free to come back, I would be your wife? I did not answer you;
I could not answer you; and, when you pressed me, I begged you to
have pity on me and not to speak of it. You thought I was not brave
enough to love a man open to the law. As if--as if I knew not that what
you did came out of a generous, reckless heart. And on my knees-- oh,
on my knees--I ought to have thanked you for it! But I knew not what
to say; my lips were closed. And just then shots were fired, and we saw
the coast-guards' lights. Then came Lancy Doane stumbling down the
banks, and our parting--our parting. Your bitter laugh as you left me
has rung in my ears ever since.
"Do not think we have been idle here in your cause, for I myself went
to Earl Fitzwilliam and told him the whole story, and how you had
come to help Tom Doane that night. How do I know of it all? Because I
have seen a letter from Tom Doane. Well, the Earl promised to lay your
case before the King himself, and to speak for you with good eager
entreaty. And so, it may be, by next time I write, there will go good
news to you, and-- will you then come back, dear Cousin Dick?
"And now I want to tell you what I know, and what you do not know.
Tom Doane had a wife in Mablethorpe. He married her when she was
but sixteen--a child. But she was afraid of her father's anger, and her
husband soon after went abroad, became one of Prince Charlie's men,
and she's never seen him since. She never really loved him, but she
never forgot that she was his wife; and she always dreaded his coming
back; as well she might, for you see what happened when he did come.
I pitied her, dear Cousin Dick, with all my heart; and when Tom Doane
died on the field of battle in Holland last year, I wept with her and
prayed for her. And you would have wept too, man though you are, if
you had seen how grateful she was that he died in honourable fighting
and not in a smuggler's cave at Theddlethorpe. She blessed you for that,
and she never ceases to work with me for the King's pardon for you.

"There is no more to say now, dear Cousin Dick, save that I would have
you know I think of you with great desire of heart for your well-being,
and I pray God for your safe return some day to the good country
which, pardoning you, will cast you out no more.
"I am, dear Cousin Dick,
"Thy most affectionate Cousin,
"FANNY."
"Afterword--Dear Dick, my heart bursts for joy. Enclosed here is thy
pardon, sent by the good Earl Fitzwilliam last night. I could serve him
on my knees for ever. Dick, she that was Tom Doane's wife, she loves
thee. Wilt thou not come back to her?
"In truth, she always loved thee. She was thy cousin; she is thy Fanny.
Now thou knowest all."

*** END OF THE PROJECT GUTENBERG EBOOK SORROW ON
THE SEA, PARKER ***
******* This file should be named gp82w10.txt or gp82w10.zip
*******
Corrected EDITIONS of our eBooks get a new NUMBER,
gp82w11.txt VERSIONS based on separate sources get new LETTER,
gp82w10a.txt
This eBook was produced by David Widger
Project Gutenberg eBooks are often created from several printed
editions, all of which are confirmed as Public Domain in the US unless
a copyright notice is included. Thus, we usually do not keep eBooks in
compliance with any particular paper edition.
We are now trying to