It would have
been impossible for Mr. Chester alive to keep away from his wife for
four years--they were devoted to each other. Furthermore, the exact
manner of his death is not known--although it must have been a
murder--and for these reasons I used the word 'supposed.' But, really,
so far as human judgment can go, the whole matter is a certainty. I
have not the slightest doubt in the world that Mrs. Chester so
considers it, and yet, as she does not positively know it--as she has
not the actual proofs that her husband is no longer living--she
refuses in certain ways, in certain ways only, to consider herself a
widow."
"And what ways are those?" I asked, in a voice which, I hope,
exhibited no undue emotion.
"She declines to marry again," said Mrs. Larramie, now taking up the
conversation. "Of course, such a pretty woman--I may say, such a
charming woman--would have admirers, and I know that she has had some
most excellent offers, but she has always refused to consider any of
them.
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