She felt this with an
intuition that was overwhelming. She could not utter another
syllable, much less speak of the sacred love of the past. "O God!"
she moaned in her heart, "the man has become a living grave in
which his old self is buried. Oh, this is terrible, terrible!"
As the truth grew upon her she sprang away, wringing her hands and
looking upon him with an indescribable expression of pity and
dread. "Oh," she now moaned aloud, "if he had only come back to me
mutilated in body, helpless! but this change--"
She fled from the room, and Nichol stared after her in perplexed
consternation.
CHAPTER XIV
"FORWARD! COMPANY A"
When Mrs. Kemble was left alone with Captain Nichol's parents in
the sitting-room, she told them of Helen's plan of employing the
photograph in trying to recall their son to himself. It struck
them as an unusually effective method. Mrs. Kemble saw that their
anxiety was so intense that it was torture for them to remain in
suspense away from the scene of action. It may be added that her
own feelings also led her to go with them into the back parlor,
where all that was said by Nichol and her daughter could be heard.
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