Ralph Henry Barbour

“ Meanwhile old Walford Forrest had wearied of a pastoral life, undoubtedly a great change from the busy existence he had been leading, and had gone again into politics. I believe he was elected a representative; at all events, he spent much of his time in Washington and in Albany. His young wife—she was but nineteen when her daughter was born—probably found life here at the Hall quite as dull as her husband had found it; there were few neighbors in those days and New York wasn’t a matter of only an hour or so by train. Then Thurlow Hood came home from college. ”

“ After the episode with the match, Gretchen wandered away in search of adventure, and was presently heard barking frantically at a gray squirrel.
“Did you find yesterday dull?” asked Roger.
“No, not at all. I wrote dozens of letters, read a novel and—dreamed in front of a comfy open fire. And you?”
“I tried to work and couldn’t, strolled around the place a bit and—dreamed in front of a comfy open fire.”
“Our tastes seem similar,” she said. “What a storm it was!”
“Yes, I—I wondered if you were alarmed.”
“Frightened silly,” she answered, cheerfully. “I always am in a thunderstorm. Are you?” ”

“ Well, things at windows; and tall, dark things that hide in the hallway between daylight and lamplight and run away when you approach; they aren’t dangerous, but they startle you until you get used to them. ”

“ She left a letter for her husband, and Thurlow wrote him another, offering to meet him when and where he wished, but declaring that nothing but his death should separate him from the woman he loved.
“Meanwhile—let me see, now; have I got this right? Yes, meanwhile Thurlow’s sister had married a New York man and moved away. Well, the story goes that old Walford Forrest never made a sign when he learned of his wife’s desertion. He came back here to the Hall, gave up his political career and settled down here quietly. But one thing he did do. ”

“ His younger sister, Mary Forrest, had married a man named Hood, and the old gentleman had given them as a wedding present five acres of the land, and Hood had built a house and called his place The Beeches. They had two children, Thurlow Hood and Mary Hood. Thurlow was about eighteen when his uncle came home with his bride and was attending college in New York. A year after the marriage Cicely gave birth to a daughter, who was given her mother’s name. ”