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valentine's eve in Norwich. 397
Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
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Note: This text has been automatically extracted via Optical Character Recognition (OCR) software. The text has not been manually corrected and should not be relied on to be an accurate representation of the item.
Additionally, when viewing full transcripts, extracted text may not be in the same order as the original document.
- V "The Stranger Who Visits Norwich, Do...
Giles' of Norwich , as our St . Giles' may be considered the St . James ' s . ) A room on the ground floor is the widow ' s homefor her boy is
, lame and could not mount stairs , but though poor it is decent and cared forThe draughts are carefully excludedthe invalid ' s chair is
well stuffed . with cushions / and the hearth is very , clean , though the fire is none of the largest for a cold evening in February . The
widow sits darning stockings as near as she can get to tlie solitary candlebut there is an unwonted smile on lier lips , perhaps the
more observable , from her efforts to conceal it . If you look carefully you will detect a somewhat similar expression on the white
face of the son as he stoops down to stretch his lean hands over the kindl eyeas y little he say blaze s so . innocentl Yes , there y iC is Ther certainl e seem y a roguish to be a g great leam in many his
, , knocks and rings in the neighborhood to-night . " " Yesdear , it is Valentine's Eve . "
, The "Is it widow really chuckles ?" to herself to think that she at rate had any
not forgotten Whmother the day there . is a at our door sure Valentine would rap ;
y , , not come to us . " " And whnot ? " says the widowopening the doorand
bringing in a parcel y done up most carefull , y in an old handkerchief , . The corners are untied—the pure flower-shaped vase stands revealed
In all its beauty , more elegant still amidst the homeliness of the surrounding objects . The invalid turns red with pleasure as he
surveys Who it could , and have the mother sent it ? as Sl she l surveys he catches him . the handkerchief yy up
and points to the initials S . J . " Sarah Johnson ! ah , mother dear , who should it be but you ? How lovely!—but all your _earnings
must have gone to get me such a beauty !—I ' ve seen nothing to equal it for long enough . "
He was still admiring it when another rap came from a stout set of knuckles outside .
" This time it is a trick , and no mistake , " says the widow , going much more heavily to the door . No ; another parcel , directed to her
this time . A small tea-chest , but no ordinary affair—no Birmingham lacquer . It is carved all oversomewhat roughly perhaps , and
, on the lid is a wreath of heartsease surrounding her initials , S . J . If John had been surprised at his present , what was his mother at
hers ? Neither did it take away from the wonder , that she read on the
countenance of her son that he was the donor—he who had no —he who had never stirred from that room—how could he
money have procured her so splendid a present ? Much she wonderedmuch she questionedAnd so it came out thatduring her
neces-. , sary absence at her work , he had for a long time practised carving
with ing an his art knife which on mi any ght wood relie he ve could his mother obtain , from in the , th hopes e burden of acquir of his
Valentine's Eve In Norwich. 397
valentine ' s eve in Norwich . 397
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Citation
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English Woman’s Journal (1858-1864), Feb. 1, 1862, page 397, in the Nineteenth-Century Serials Edition (2008; 2018) ncse.ac.uk/periodicals/ewj/issues/ewj_01021862/page/37/
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