And yet I was not conscious of being jealous--especially when I thought of the poor creature's miserable death.

Still, Eustace ought not to have kept _that_ secret from me, I used to think to myself, at odd times when I was discouraged and out of temper.

What would _he_ have said if I had been a widow, and had never told him of it?
It was getting on toward evening when I returned to the cottage.
Benjamin appeared to have been on the lookout for me.

Before I could ring at the bell he opened the garden gate.
"Prepare yourself for a surprise, my dear," he said.

"Your uncle, the Reverend Doctor Starkweather, has arrived from the North, and is waiting to see you.