Hazelton, was
unable to perform that evening, and begged to be excused. Grandison
was to have gone home with the lecturer to supper, but he said he
considered Mrs. Hazelton would be the better of a little quiet, and,
stammering out some excuse, slunk away in the direction of his own
home.
Mr. Hazelton found his wife reclining on a sofa in the drawing-room,
and he at once exerted himself to alleviate her suffering, and
gratify her every whim. He propped her up with pillows, and ordered
the maid to prepare whatever delicacies the larder afforded, blaming
himself as being the cause of all her sufferings. His solicitude in
her behalf made her only the more miserable; she had never loved,
and never could love, him, but his uniform kindness and attention
had excited within her a feeling of gratitude which made her remorse
all the more bitter as she thought how he had been duped by the
woman who had sworn to love and honor him. The next day was one of
those appointed for receiving her singing lessons, but she sent a
messenger to Mr. Grandison, telling him not to call for a few days,
as she was unequal to even that slight exertion. Mr. Hazelton called
to see me in great alarm, informing me that his wife's first child
was prematurely born, and that he dreaded a recurrence of that
terrible calamity.
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