Lincoln, the unknown

248 • LINCOLN THE UNKNOWNand, eager to win his love, she longed to make herself beautifulfor him. Although she had worn nothing but the deepest blackfor fifteen years, she would, at such times, slip down to thestores in Springfield; and, according to her physician, she purchasedand piled up "large quantities of silks and dress goodsin trunks and by the cart load, which she never used and whichaccumulated until it was really feared that the floor of the storeroom would give way."In 1882, on a peaceful summer evening, the poor, tired,tempestuous soul was given the release for which she had sooften prayed. Following a paralytic stroke, she passed quietlyaway in her sister's house where, forty years before, AbrahamLincoln had put on her finger a ring bearing the words: "Loveis eternal."