She would have
wept--for nature speaks from the heart in tears; but she would have
blessed God that He had removed the innocent cause of her distress from
being a partaker of her guilt, a sharer of her infamy, a lasting source
of regret and sorrow.
Mary Mathews had looked forward with intense desire for the birth of
this child. It would be something for her to love and cling
to--something for whose sake she would be content to live--for whom she
could work and toil; who would meet her with smiles, and feel its
dependence upon her exertions. She thought, too, that Godfrey would
love her once more, for his infant's sake. Rash girl! She had yet to
learn that the love of man never returns to the forsaken object of his
selfish gratification.
The night before this event took place, violent words had arisen between
Mary and her brother. The ruffian was partially intoxicated, and urged
on by the infuriated spirit of intemperance, regardless of the
entreaties of the woman Strawberry, or the helpless situation of the
unfortunate girl, he had struck her repeatedly; and the violent passion
into which his brutal unkindness had hurried his victim produced
premature confinement, followed by the death of her child, a fine little
boy.
Godfrey was absent when all this occurred; and though the day was pretty
far advanced, he had not as yet returned.
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