Confession; Or, The Blind Heart. A Domestic Story

It must be remembered, that, in all this time--amidst all my agonies--my feelings of destitution and despair--I had few or no doubts of the guilt of Julia Clifford. My suffering...

A brief interval now passed over, after my connection begun with Mr. Edgerton, in which time the world went on with me more smoothly, perhaps, than ever. My patron--for so this...

With his departure sunk the spirit which had sustained me. I had not gone through that scene willingly; I had suffered quite as many pangs as himself. I had made my own misery,...

Once more I had sunshine. The clouds seemed to depart as suddenly as they had risen, and that same rejoicing and rosy light which had encircled the brow of manhood at its dawn l...

She continued to improve, but slowly. Her organization was always very delicate. Her frame was becoming thin, almost to meagreness; and this last disaster, whatever might be its...

The hurts of Perkins did not, unhappily, delay the progress of my uncle to that destruction to which his silly wife and knavish lawyer had destined him. His business was brought...

Thus stood the affair between my fair cousin and myself--a condition of things seriously and equally affecting her health and my temper--when an explosion took place, of a natur...

But my share in the troubles of this affair was not to end, though I was no longer my uncle's counsellor. An event now took place which gave the proceedings a new and not less u...

But how to save him? How to approach him? How to keep down my own sense of wrong, my own feeling of misery, while representing the wishes and the feelings of that good old man--...

For three days and nights did I watch beside the sick bed of my wife. In all this time her fate continued doubtful. I doubt if any anxiety or attention could have exceeded mine;...

There was something very unaccountable in all this. I say unaccountable, with the distinct understanding that it was unaccountable only to that obtuse condition of mind which is...

Though confounded with what I had seen of the proceedings of Kingsley, I was yet willing to promote, so far as I could, the purpose for which we came. I felt too, that, unless I...

With these revived suspicions, half stifled, but still struggling in my bosom, did I commence my journey for the West. My arrangements were comprehensive, but simple. I had proc...

Between William Edgerton and Julia Clifford my young life and best affections were divided, entirely, if not equally. I lived for no other--I cared to seek, to know, no other--a...

From this time my intercourse with William Edgerton was, on my part, one of the most painful and difficult constraint. I had nothing to reproach him with; no grounds whatever fo...

The scene that opened upon us was, to me, a painfully interesting one. It was a mere hell, without any of those attractive adjuncts which, in a diseased state of popular refinem...

“This is addressed to you,” he said. “I found it on the table with other papers, and seeing the address, and fearing that if the jury laid eyes on it, they might insist on knowi...

My sleep that night was anything but satisfactory. I had feverish dreams, unquiet slumbers, and woke at morning with an excruciating headache. I was in no mood for an explanatio...

The result of this interview of my rival with the mother of Julia, was afforded me by the latter. The mother had already given her consent to his suit--that of Julia alone was t...

This conviction now began to haunt my mind with all the punctuality of a shadow. It came to me unconsciously, uncalled for; mingled with other thoughts and disturbed them all. W...

In the first gush of my happiness--the ceremony being completed, and the possession of my treasure certain--I had entirely forgotten my Kentucky friend, whom I had locked up, in...

“Who dares bestow the infant his true name? The few who felt and knew, but blindly gave Their knowledge to the multitude--they fell Incapable to keep their full hearts in, They,...

Weeks passed and still William Edgerton was a resident of M---, and a constant guest at our little cottage. He had, in this time, effectually broken up the harmony and banished...

THE fiendish suggestion of the mother, against the purity of her own child, almost divested me, for the moment, of my own rancor--almost deprived me of my suspicions! Could anyt...

It is not improbable that, after a few hours given to calm reflection, my uncle perceived how obnoxious he might be made to public censure for his narrow treatment of my claims;...

I had not the courage to enter my own dwelling! My heart sank within me. It was as if the whole hope of a long life, an intense desire, a keen unremitting pursuit, had suddenly...

“Put money in thy own purse, Clifford. It may be necessary to practise a little ruse de guerre. In playing my game, it may be important that you should deem to play one also. Yo...

I do not know how I got through with the business of that day. Even in my weakness I was possessed of a singular degree of strength. I saw Kingsley, Wharton, and all of the part...

The next day was devoted to an examination of our premises and the neighborhood. The result of this examination was such as to render us better satisfied with the change that we...

Behold me, then, merchandising by day, and conning by night the intricate mysteries of law. Books for the latter purpose were furnished by my old friend, William Edgerton, from...

I little knew myself! This knowledge of one's self is the most important knowledge, which very few of us acquire. We seldom look into our own hearts for other objects than those...

Thus, then, I was once more at sea, rudderless--not yet companionless--perhaps, soon to be so. My relapse was as sudden as my thought. It seemed as if every past misery of doubt...

“But, do not leave me another time--not so long, Edward Do not leave me alone. Your business is one thing. THAT you must, of course, attend to; but hours--not of business--hours...

Heretofore, I have spoken of the blind hearts of others--of Mr. Clifford and his wilful wife--I have yet said little to show the blindness of my own. This task is now before me,...

Mrs Porterfield, good old lady, half blind, half deaf, infirm and gouty, but very good natured, easily complied with my request to accommodate my friend. My friend!--She soon pu...

We will suppose some months to have elapsed in this manner--months, to me, of prolonged torture and suspicion. Circumstances, like petty billows of the sea, kept chafing upon th...

“Julia!” I exclaimed, with a start which betrayed, I am sure, quite as much surprise as pleasure. My mood was singularly inflexible. My character was not easily shaken, and, onc...

Edgerton announced himself to be in readiness, and, at the same time, declared his intention to withdraw at once from our hospitality and return to his old lodging-house. He had...

It was supposed by Julia and certain of her friends that an event so solemn, so impressive, and so unexpected, as the death of Mr. Clifford, would reasonably affect the mind of...

And a spectacle it was! Mrs. Clifford, about to become Mrs. Delaney, was determined that the change in her situation should be distinguished by becoming eclat. Always a silly wo...

Strange and cruel destiny! When everything depended upon my firmness, I was overwhelmed by feebleness. It seemed as if I had not before believed that this terrible moment of con...

In that same moment my pangs were all renewed; my repose of mind departed; once more my heart was on fire, my spirit filled with vague doubts, grief, and commotion. The soft, sw...

“WELL, we may breathe awhile,” said Kingsley, as we found ourselves once more in the pure air, and under the blue sky of midnight. “We have got through an ugly task with tolerab...

The billet which was addressed to my wife was in the following language:--“Lady, on the verge of the grave, having sincerely repented of the offense I have given you, I implore...

These proceedings, the tenor of which was briefly communicated to me in a hurried note from Julia, despatched by the hands of the physician, under a cover, to the friendly aunt,...

Without apprehending the extent of my own weakness, the forms that it would take, or the tyrannies that it would inflict, I was still not totally uninformed on the subject of my...

While I had been wasting the precious hours of midnight in a gaming-house, my poor Julia had undergone the peculiar pangs of a mother! While I had been reproaching her in my sec...

Surely, I then was happy! I can not deceive myself as to the character of those brief Eden moments of security and peace. Even now, lone as I appear in the sight of others--degr...

She was dead. They had found her so when they despatched the servant in quest of me; but they were not certain of the fact, and the servant was instructed to say she was only ve...

Staggering forward under this burden--a burden equally active and heavy--who should I encounter at the head of the stairs, but the liege lord of the lady--my poor imbecile uncle...

If I felt so deeply annoyed at the first morning visit which William Edgerton paid to my wife, what was my annoyance when these visits became habitual. I was miserable but could...

The night did not promise to be a good one. The clouds were scudding wildly from east to west. The air was moist and chill. There was no light from moon or stars, and I strode w...

From the cottage I proceeded to Kingsley's. He was in readiness, and waiting me. We drove directly to Edgerton's lodging-house, the appointed hour of four being at hand. Kingsle...