Excerpt from The Down-Easters, &C. &C. &C, Vol. 2 of 2Such was the "terrible letter"! such the very words of a part which fell upon me, with a power which no language can describe. And yet, I do believe I showed no emotion before the girl who brought me the message of death - I mean what I say - the message of death; I believe too that I spoke in my usual voice, and I know that I did not shed a tear, and that I have not shed a tear since - I hope never to shed one while I breathe, for the perfidy of that woman. It was not - oh no! - it was not the losing a marriage with her, it was not even the losing of her heart, for I could have borne both, I believe, with a smile, if she had treated me as I deserve to be treated by those I love - no - no! - it was neither - it was the losing of my faith in her that I was ready to worship - and now I remember a passage in her letter which I had forgotten before - "I know that you love me," said she. "This will be a terrible blow, for you had set up an image in your heart for worship" - and so I had! and she broke that image to pieces; and with it, every hope I had on earth, for every hope I had on earth was connected in some way or other with my belief in her exalted virtue, her generosity, and her truth.And how did I reply? May I be judged hereafter as I judged that woman! - I ask for no more - even while my heart was labouring and reeling with the shock her letter gave me.

About the PublisherForgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.comThis book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.