The Dreamer - A Romantic Rendering of the Life-Story of Edgar Allan Poe by Mary Newton Stanard
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page 11 of 353 (03%)
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the chair's high back, was slender and girlish,--childish, almost, in
its low-necked, short-waisted, slim-skirted, "Empire" dress, of some filmy stuff, the pale yellow of a Marshal Niel rose. Her face was a pure oval with delicate, regular features. Her reddish-brown hair, parted in the middle, was piled on top of her small head, and airy little curls hung down on her brow on either side of the part. Her eyes--the color of her hair--were gentle and sweet and her mouth was tenderly curved and rosy. With her imploring attitude, the sweetness of her eyes and mouth and the warmth of her plea, her fresh beauty glowed like a flower, newly opened. All unmoved, John Allan repeated, "You will have no one but yourself to blame." Her ardor undimmed by the chariness of the consent she had gained, she showered the lowering brow with cool, delicate little kisses until it grew smooth in spite of itself. "Oh, I know I never shall regret it, John," she cooed. "He is such a beautiful boy--so sweet and affectionate, so merry and clever! Just what I should like our own little boy to be, John, if God had blessed us with one." "I grant you he seems a bonny little lad enough, Frances. But I realize, as it seems you do not, the risk of undertaking to rear as your own the child of any but the most unquestionable parentage. I confess the thought of introducing into my family the son of professional players is extremely distasteful to me." "But John, dear, you know these Poes were not ordinary players. The father was one of the Maryland Poes and I understand the mother came of |
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