Forgetting to use the tablets, Calvin spoke aloud, but not in as high a
key as formerly:
"Mr. Salter, Agnes Wilt has no heart. She was a step-niece of the late
Mrs. Zane--her brother's daughter. The girl's father was a poor
professional man, and died soon after his child was born, followed at no
great distance to the grave by his widow. While a child, Agnes was cold
and subtle. She professed to love me--that was the understanding in our
childhood. She has forgotten me as she has forgotten many other men. But
she is beautiful, and I want to marry her. You can help me."
"What do you want with a cold and calculating woman?" wrote Duff Salter
stiffly. "What do you want particularly with such a dangerous woman--a
demon, as you indicate?"
"I want to save her soul, and retrieve her from wickedness. Upon my
word, old man, that's my only game. You see, to effect that object would
set me up at once with the church people. I'm told that a little
objection to my prospects in the governor's church begins to break out.
If I can marry Agnes Wilt, she will recover her position in Kensington,
and make me more welcome in families. I don't mind telling you that I
have been a little gay."
"That's nothing," wrote Duff Salter smilingly. "So were the sons of
Eli.
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