She never got any reply , nor did she write again . People had given up talking about the matter and asking Theodosia when she was going out to Wes . Heatherton had grown used to the chronic scandal within its decorous borders . Theodosia never spoke of her husband to anyone , and it was known that they did not correspond . She took her youngest sister to live with her . She had her garden and hens and a cow . The farm brought her enough to live on , and she was always busy . * * * * * When fifteen years had gone by there were naturally some changes in Heatherton , sleepy and ; unprogressive as it was . Most of the old people were in the little hillside burying-ground that fronted the sunrise . Old Jim Parmelee was there with his recollections of four generations . Men and women who had been in their prime when Wesley went away were old now and the children were grown up and married . Theodosia was thirty-five and was nothing like ! the slim , dimpled girl who had stood on the porch steps and watched her husband drive away that morning fifteen years ago . She was stout and comely ; the auburn hair was darker and arched away from her face in smooth , shining waves instead of the old-time curls . Her face was unlined and fresh-coloured , but no woman could live in subjection to her own unbending will for so many years and not show it . Nobody , looking at Theodosia now , would have found it hard to believe that a woman with such a determined , immoveable face could stick to a course of conduct in defiance of circumstances . Wesley Brooke was almost forgotten . People knew , through correspondents of Greene and Cary , that he had prospered and grown rich . The curious old story had crystallized into accepted history . A life may go on without ripple or disturbance for so many years that it may seem to have settled into a lasting calm ; then a sudden wind of passion may sweep over it and leave behind a wake of tempestuous waters .
Such a time came at last XXXXX Theodosia .
as at by in like on that to with within