The Down-Easters, &c. &c. &c, Vol. 2 of 2

Excerpt from The Down-Easters, &C. &C. &C, Vol. 2 of 2
Such 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.

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