His voice failed there, and he walked fast through the room, as if the memory of that bitter day was still unbearable.  Christie could not speak for very pity; and he soon continued, pacing restlessly before her, as he had often done when she sat by, wondering what unquiet spirit drove him to and fro: 

“That was the beginning of my trouble; but not the worst of it:  God forgive me, not the worst!  Father was very feeble, and the shock killed him; mother’s heart was nearly broken, and all the happiness was taken out of life for me.  But I could bear it, heavy as the blow was, for I had no part in that sin and sorrow.  A year later, there came a letter from Letty,—­a penitent, imploring, little letter, asking to be forgiven and taken home, for her lover was dead, and she alone in a foreign land.  How would you answer such a letter, Christie?”

“As you did; saying:  ‘Corne home and let us comfort you.’”

“I said:  ’You have killed your father; broken your mother’s heart; ruined your brother’s hopes, and disgraced your family.  You no longer have a home with us; and we never want to see your face again.’”

“O David, that was cruel!”

“I said you did not know me; now you see how deceived you have been.  A stern, resentful devil possessed me then, and I obeyed it.  I was very proud; full of ambitious plans and jealous love for the few I took into my heart.  Letty had brought a stain upon our honest name that time could never wash away; had quenched my hopes in despair and shame; had made home desolate, and destroyed my faith in every thing; for whom could I trust, when she, the nearest and dearest creature in the world, deceived and deserted me.  I could not forgive; wrath burned hot within me, and the desire for retribution would not be appeased till those cruel words were said.  The retribution and remorse came swift and sure; but they came most heavily to me.”

Still standing where he had paused abruptly as he asked his question, David wrung his strong hands together with a gesture of passionate regret, while his face grew sharp with the remembered suffering of the years he had given to the atonement of that wrong.

Christie put her own hand on those clenched ones, and whispered softly: 

“Don’t tell me any more now:  I can wait.”

“I must, and you must listen!  I’ve longed to tell you, but I was afraid; now, you shall know every thing, and then decide if you can forgive me for Letty’s sake,” he said, so resolutely that she listened with a face full of mute compassion.

“That little letter came to me; I never told my mother, but answered it, and kept silent till news arrived that the ship in which Letty had taken passage was lost.  Remorse had been tugging at my heart; and, when I knew that she was dead, I forgave her with a vain forgiveness, and mourned for my darling, as if she had never left me.  I told my mother then, and she did not utter one reproach; but age seemed to fall upon her all at once, and the pathetic quietude you see.