Anne -- Anne -- I can see it now . I shall always see it . Anne , all I ask of heaven is that that recollection shall be blotted out of my memory . O my God ! '' `` Leslie , do n't speak of it . I know the story -- do n't go into details that only harrow your soul up unavailingly . It WILL be blotted out . '' After a moment 's struggle , Leslie regained a measure of self-control . `` Then father 's health got worse and he grew despondent -- his mind became unbalanced -- you 've heard all that , too ? '' `` Yes . '' `` After that I had just mother to live for . But I was very ambitious . I meant to teach and earn my way through college . I meant to climb to the very top -- oh , I wo n't talk of that either . It 's no use . You know what happened . I could n't see my dear little heart-broken mother , who had been such a slave all her life , turned out of her home . Of course , I could have earned enough for us to live on . But mother COULD N'T leave her home . She had come there as a bride -- and she had loved father so -- and all her memories were there .
Even yet , XXXXX , when I think that I made her last year happy I 'm not sorry for what I did .
Anne God Leslie bride father heaven memories mind mother story