And so it did, to a certain extent; for Edith got upon his knee, and, putting her arms round his neck, kept peering with those eyes into the very pupils of her father's, till the light of innocence, softening the rigid nerve, enabled them to regain somewhat of their natural lustre.
"What did Trott, the crazy girl who spaes fortunes, give you, Edith?" and coruscations began again to mix with the softer light.
"A card," replied the girl, as she undid her embrace, and, casting her head to a side, viewed him timidly.
"She has been frightened," thought I, "by some consequences resulting from the same question put at some former time."
"And what was the name of the card?" he continued.
But the girl was now on her guard. She hesitated, and struggled to get away.
"The ten of diamonds," cried she; and no sooner were the words out than she fled, like a beam of light chased by the shadow of a tombstone.
"You see how it is," continued Graeme, getting into his former expression: "through this channel, this innocent medium, this creature the fruit of my loins, the idol of my heart, is the lightning of reproof hurled. A wandering idiot is prompted by the very inspiration of her imbecility to put into the hands of my child the emblem of my wickedness, that she in her love might place it before my eyes, there to develop the sin-print in the dark camera of my mind. No wonder she is alarmed at the mention of the words, for she read the horror produced in me when she held up what she called the pretty picture in my face. But, thank God! thank God!"----
And he fell for a moment into meditation.
"For what?" said I, as my wonder increased.
"That her mother, who is within a week of her confinement, knows nothing of this mystery."
I was silent. I might have said, "What mystery?" but I would only have irritated him.
I started. I was looking into the fire, with my ear altogether his, yet the strange mention of my name startled me.
"What could infamy--infamy, with just a beam of consciousness to tell it was infamy, and no more but that beam--think and feel to be worshipped by purity and love? I have shrunk from the embrace of that woman with a recoil equal to that produced by the enfolding of a snake."