As may be gathered from the following pages, my title was obtaineda a number of years ago, and the story has since been taking formand color in my mind. What has become of the beautiful but discordantface I saw at the concert garden I do not know, but I trust thatthat the countenance it suggested, and its changes may not proveso vague and unsatisfactory as to be indistinct to the reader. Ithas looked upon the writer during the past year almost like the faceof a living maiden, and I have felt, in a way that would be hardto explain, that I have had but little to do with its expressions,and that forces and influences over which I had no control weremoulding character.
The old garden, and the aged man who grew young within it, are notcreations, but sacred memories.
That the book may tend to ennoble other faces than that of Ida Mayhew, is the earnest wish of
E. P. Roe.
Cornwall-on-the-Hudson, N. Y.
Contents
Chapter I: A Face……………………………………….11Chapter II: Ida Mayhew…………………………………..22Chapter III: An Artist's Freak……………………………35Chapter IV: A Parthian Arrow……………………………..42Chapter V: Spite………………………………………..51Chapter VI: Reckless Words and Deeds………………………60Chapter VII: Another Feminine Problem……………………..71Chapter VIII: Glimpses of Tragedy…………………………85Chapter IX: Unexpectedly Thrown Together…………………..96Chapter X: Phrases too Suggestive………………………..108Chapter XI: A "Tableau Vivant"…………………………..118Chapter XII: Miss Mayhew is Puzzled………………………126Chapter XIII: Nature's Broken Promise…………………….137Chapter XIV: A Revelation……………………………….145Chapter XV: Contrasts…………………………………..159Chapter XVI: Out Among Shadows…………………………..172Chapter XVII: New Forces Developing………………………184Chapter XVIII: Love Put to Work………………………….195Chapter XIX: Man's Highest Honor…………………………203Chapter XX: A Wretched Secret that Must be Kept……………209Chapter XXI: A Deliberate Wooer………………………….216Chapter XXII: A Vain Wish……………………………….225Chapter XXIII: Jennie Burton's Remedies…………………..232Chapter XXIV: A Hateful, Wretched Life……………………239Chapter XXV: Half-Truths………………………………..246Chapter XXVI: Sunday Table-Talk………………………….251Chapter XXVII: A Family Group……………………………262Chapter XXVIII: Rather Volcanic………………………….268Chapter XXIX: Evil Lives Cast Dark Shadows………………..278Chapter XXX: The Deliberate Wooer Speaks First…………….284Chapter XXXI: An Emblem…………………………………293Chapter XXXII: The Dangers of Despair…………………….303Chapter XXXIII: "Hope Dies Hard"…………………………311Chapter XXXIV: Puzzled………………………………….324Chapter XXXV: Desperately Wounded………………………..335Chapter XXXVI: Temptation's Voice………………………..350Chapter XXXVII: Voices of Nature…………………………360Chapter XXXVIII: A Good Man Speaks……………………….369Chapter XXXIX: Van Berg's Escape…………………………387Chapter XL: Van Berg's Conclusions……………………….397Chapter XLI: The Protestant Confessional………………….403Chapter XLII: The Corner-Stone of Character……………….424Chapter XLIII: A "Heavenly Mystery"………………………435Chapter XLIV: "The Garden of Eden"……………………….443Chapter XLV: Problems Beyond Art…………………………470Chapter XLVI: A Resolute Philosopher……………………..486Chapter XLVII: The Concert Garden Again…………………..500Chapter XLVIII: Ida's Temptation…………………………518Chapter XLIX: The Blind God……………………………..538Chapter L: Swept Away…………………………………..555Chapter LI: From Deep Experience…………………………569Chapter LII: An Illumined Face…………………………..589Chapter LIII: A Night's Vigil……………………………601Chapter LIV: Life and Trust……………………………..615