Mrs. Todd Page #2

"Mrs. Todd's Sisters" by Sarah Orne Jewett is a poignant short story that explores themes of family, rural life, and the passage of time through the experiences of Mrs. Todd, a widow living in a quiet New England town. The narrative unfolds as Mrs. Todd reflects on her life, her relationships with her sisters, and the intricate connections within their small community. Jewett's rich descriptions and deep characterizations capture the essence of the landscape and the emotional undercurrents of Mrs. Todd's existence, offering a touching insight into themes of loss, memory, and the endurance of love.

• Short story

								

out a penetrating odor late in the evening, after the dew had fallen,
and the moon was high, and the cool air came up from the sea. Then Mrs.
Todd would feel that she must talk to somebody, and I was only too glad
to listen. We both fell under the spell, and she either stood outside
the window, or made an errand to my sitting-room, and told, it might be
very commonplace news of the day, or, as happened one misty summer
night, all that lay deepest in her heart. It was in this way that I came
to know that she had loved one who was far above her.

“No, dear, him I speak of could never think of me,” she said. “When we
was young together his mother didn’t favor the match, an’ done
everything she could to part us; and folks thought we both married well,
but ’twa’n’t what either one of us wanted most; an’ now we’re left alone
again, an’ might have had each other all the time. He was above bein’ a
seafarin’ man, an’ prospered more than most; he come of a high family,
an’ my lot was plain an’ hardworkin’. I ain’t seen him for some years;
he’s forgot our youthful feelin’s, I expect, but a woman’s heart is
different; them feelin’s comes back when you think you’ve done with ’em,
as sure as spring comes with the year. An’ I’ve always had ways of
hearin’ about him.”

She stood in the centre of a braided rug, and its rings of black and
gray seemed to circle about her feet in the dim light. Her height and
massiveness in the low room gave her the look of a huge sibyl, while the
strange fragrance of the mysterious herb blew in from the little garden.
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