Beatrice's joy knew no bounds; and as for Mr. Hartley, he was
perfectly satisfied to know that his wife was happy. In a few days
they made preparations for a journey to the South, and ere long
Mrs. Hartley had the satisfaction of seeing her mother snugly
ensconced at her own fireside, living as it were over again, and
enjoying in the care of her daughter's child, the maternal pleasure
which had hitherto been denied her. Ere leaving Montreal Mr. Hartley,
at his wife's request, erected a handsome monument in Mount Royal
Cemetery to the memory of the humane man, who, regardless of the
jeers and scoffing of gossiping scandal mongers, had braved public
opinion, and saved to the world a good wife, an affectionate
daughter and a loving and tenderhearted mother.
During all this time, it may be asked, what had become of Jack Rogers,
one of the principals in my narrative?
Jack was fairly wild at the thought of his sweetheart going into an
institution. He would have married her on the spot and braved all
his father's anger. But the girl showed equal self-denial, and was
much more sensible; she saw that, by consenting to marry a penniless
gentleman, she would certainly injure him, without in any way
benefiting herself. She knew his father sufficiently well to feel
sure that, were he aware of his son's relations with her, not one
but _both of them_, would be ignominiously turned out of doors.
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