Show A DA D LIFF 0 by MAMON HARnON HARLAND HAilL ANID C V y 1 international PRESS association li ir CO ED she had kept her heart alive upon nothing else tor for eight years dreams of home and love and appreciation ot of liberty to speak out what she had hal never lisped since her mother died die d an I 1 of being once again joyously and w with ith out reserve herself there are no harder specters to lay than these same dreams memories however dear an I 1 sacred are more easily forgotten or dismissed or smothered by the gron grow th of later ones it if she bade them fire well now it was for a lifetime A lifetime she repeated shivering with a sick chill and crouching lower over the register maybe ten maybe twenty who knows but forty years it Is a tedious slumber of one s heart and a loveless marriage is a loathsome sep tor ones one s better and real self A lifetime life timet and I 1 can have but one but one if it this step shoula be ruin and misery there can be no redemption this side of the grave his grave per haps just as probably mine tonight to night this very houi hou she must resist the glittering temptation to tore fore swear her womanhood or murder with her own hand the dear visions that had come to be more to her than reality ohp winter twilight had fallen early it was the season best loved by her dream visitors she had not lied in decla declaring r in to her inquisitor that she had r never m er been in love but she confessed thai that she bad had equivocated as the shadowy figure of her ideal lover stood beside her in the friendly gloom mrs romaine would have questioned her sanity had she guessed how the girl had mobbed her into quiet upon his bosom how talked lowly but audibly to him of her love and the comfort his presence pre senco brought she had never looked into his face but she should know him in an instant should they two ever meet in the flesh as they did now dally in spirit somewhere in the dim and messed blessed future he was waiting tor for her and she had borrowed patience from the hope she was to be his wife the m mother other of children as unlike the agles of cepres repression ion that lined two sides 0 of f her tier brother brothers s table as cherubs to puppets she welcomed them to her arms in these twilight trances they lolled upon her knees slept in her em brace strained eager arms about her neck dappled her cheek with their kisses unsubstantial posses possessions these but cherished as types ot of gool things to come other women had suca riches women with faces less fair and affections less ardent than hers if V the great father was good and were arnert ful and the of them who put their trust in him a true and loving parent who rejoiced in the happiness of his creatures creature sall all these must be hers at last if she resigned them now it was a final separation and I 1 can have but one lifetime she moaned again thwarted and fruit less thus tar far but still all she had the one idea recurred to her with the pers persistency stancy of a presentiment the ike lve which god had given the heart he had endowed if some one stronger and wiser than I 1 would only take the responsibility of decision from my soul would hedge me in on the right and left I 1 would go forward As it Is I 1 dare not I 1 dare not she sobbed and wrung her bands hands in the agonies of irresolution you told constance about the tele gram grama it was her brother speaking in the library below the sound arose plainly through the open register I 1 did pa hit it I 1 regret to say that she Is not yet li ao 10 AS frame of mind we could wish her to carry to the interview with mr withers said mrs romaine she always expressed herself with delab erate precis on even in conjugal tete a tete noa constance heard the rustle ot of the evening paper as charles laid it down and the creak of his chair as he confronted hia his wife what Is the mat ter some overstrained ideas of the beau ty tv aad and propriety of reciprocal devotion I 1 belleve believe she looks for a hero in a husband and mr withers has nothing heroic in his appearance or om tion he is worth more than halt a mil lion all accumulated by his own tal enta and industry returned mr ro ito cannot be such an egregious simpleton as not to perceive the manifest advantages advant agis of this connee tion to her I 1 have never complained of the burden of her maintenance but I 1 have often wondered her own sense of justice and expediency did not urge her to put forth some bowe effort at self sup port there Is but one way in which she can do this she Is not sufficiently thorough in any branch of literature or any accomplishment to become a successful teacher in the event of m my y death or failure in business she aou would 1 d be driven to the humiliating resource of taking in sewing tor for a livelihood or to eek the more degrading position of a saleswoman in a store her future has been a source of much and anxious thought with me this marriage would I 1 hoped quiet my apprehend by ia ua ding cling her handsomely in life if she refuses withers I 1 shall be both angry and disappointed she Is oil ol 01 enough to leave off school girl sen tir ent allty rhe a lib listener tener put out her foot and shut ane register noiselessly she auld had a surfeit of ot disagreeable truth for that time yet it was truth every word of it kie ke k ie was a mean spirited hanger on to her brother she was incapable of earning a livelihood by other means than those he had named her mode of 0 life from her antney in incy had unfitted her tor for toil toll and privation such aa as must be h hers ers w were ere her plain spoken benefic t tor or t to 0 de die to morrow nor it or had she the moral nerve to defy public opinion to debar herself from accustomed assoria eions and pleasures by entering the ranks of paid laborers hesitation was at an end bend the v w ish that had been ai al most a prayer in solemn sincerity was answered ans vered tearfully fearfully soon and she would offer no appeal her destiny was taken out of other her hands there was no more responsibility no more gling hedges to the right and to the left lef bristled with thorns sharp charp and thick as porcupine qu ils but one path lay la open to her feet a short and straight course coure that condu ted her to elnathan nathan Ei withers arms CHAPTER HI III ALF past five I 1 wrote to harriet to have dinner ready at six we shall be just in time said mr withers as he took his seat in the carriage that was to convey him with 6 his bride from the depot to their home constance was jaded by her fort night s travel and dispirited almost be yond her power of concealment but she bad had learned already that her lord dis liked to have whatever observation he was pleased to make go unanswered she Is your housekeeper I 1 suppose she replied languidly no that is ehe she does not occupy the position of a salaried interior inferior in my establishment I 1 must surely have spoken to you of my cousin harric field not that I 1 recollect I 1 am sure that I 1 never heard the name until now her mother continued mr air with era ers in a pompous narrative tone was my fathers father a sister lett left a widow ten years prior to her decease she accept ed my invitation to take charge of my house she brought with her only child the harriet of whom I 1 speak and the two remained with me until our ur family group was broken in upon by death harriet would then have sought a situation as governess but for my objects objections ons she Is a woman of thirty five live or thereabouts and I 1 pre tailed over her scruples the propriety of her continued residence under my roof by representing that her mature age even more than our relationship placed her beyond the reach of scandal for eighteen months she has superintended my domestic at fairs to my entire satisfaction that I 1 have not alluded daree directly aly to her before during our acquaintanceship Is only to be accounted for by the circumstance that we have had so many other and more engrossing topics of conversa tion he raised her gloved hand to his lips in stiff gallantry and constance smiled constrainedly in reply his endearments albeit he was less profuse of them than a younger and more ardent bridegroom would have been were yet frequent enough to keep his wife in unfailing remembrance of his claims and her duties he was ap patently parent ly content with her passive sub mission to these seemed to see in her forced complaisance evidence of her pleasure in their reception he ile was too sedate as well as too gentlemanly to be openly conceited but his ap precia tion of his own importance in society and in business circles was too pro found to admit a doubt of the supreme bliss of the woman he had selected to share his elevated position without being puppyish he was without being ill III tempered he was te Is in the extreme of his dignity and the respect he considered due to this had her mood been lighter con stance would have been tempted ti 0 smile at the allu allusion slon to his cousin s age his own exceeding it by three years as she had accidentally learned through the indiscretion ol 01 a common acquaint ance he was sensitive upon this point she had likewise been informed she had yet to discover upon how many others most young wives would not have relished the idea of finding this inval enval bable relative installed as prime man ager in her new abode it mattered lit tie tle to her constance said still languid ly who ruled and who obeyed she had given up so much within three months past that resignation had be come a habit sacrifice w was as no longer an effort having nothing g to hope tor for she could sustain no further loss how long this nightmare of apathy would continue was a question that did not present itself in her glay kusins having once conquered nature and held inclination under the heel of re solve until life seemed extinct she an no resurrection she did not know that no single battle however long and bloody constitutes a cam laign that length of das and many sorrows are needed to rob youth of elasticity that the guest who lingers longest in the human heart clinging to the shattered shelter from which all other joys have flown is hope it Is doubtful if ehe she thought with any dis ness at this period she was less actively miserable than in that which immediately preceded her engagement that was amputation thia this reactionary weariness hov how shea ehe would tare fare ba b and by when the wound had become a scar sear she thought et lot least of all it was a han handsome dome carriage in which she rode at the masters right hand A pair of fine horses pranced before it and a liveried coachman sat on the box she had sometimes envied other women the possession of like state she ought to derive delight from these outward symbols of her elevation in the world it was an imposing mansion too before which the equipage presently paused and a tall footman opened the front door and ran briskly down to the sidewalk to assist the travelers in alighting none of her aso associates clates married or single lived in equal style she reflected with a stir of exultation as she stepped out between her h bisband and his lackey mr withers address dampened the jiing glo v this Is our home my dear deax you will find no cause of discontent with it I 1 hope he said ia benign patronage handing her up the flight of stone steps thank you she replied coldly it Is ts a part of the price tor for which I 1 sold myself she was meditating I 1 must not quarrel with my bargain miss field met them in the halla hall a wasp like figure surmounted by a small head her neck was bare and crane like her face very oval her skin opaque and chalky her hair blach and shining the front in long ringle tsi ner eyes jet beads that rolled and twin kled incessantly my dear cousin she cried effusively embracing her patron patrons s hand and winking back an officious tear it la Is like sunshine to have iou ou home again how are youa you well thank you harriet or I 1 should say in tolerable health re turned mr withers magnificently condescending allow me to introduce my wife mrs withers miss field swept a flourishing cour tesy constance as the truer lady of the two offered her hand it was grasped very slightly and instantly relinquished ed charmed to have the honor I 1 am sure murmured miss field I 1 trust I 1 see mrs withers quit quite well but you cousin did I 1 understand you to intimate that you were indisposed with strained solicitude A trifling attack of indigestion not worth mentioning to any ears excepting yours my good nurse miss field smiled indulgence in this concession to her anxiety and constance who now beard heard of the indis position for the first time looked from one to the other in surprised sl lence perhaps mrs withers would like to go directly to her apartments pur sued harriet primly with anothy courtesy by all means mr withers replied for her As it Is I 1 fear your dinner will have to wait for her it if as I 1 presume Is the case you are punctual as li Is your custom could I 1 fall tall in promptitude upon thia this day of all others queried harriet sentimentally arch and preceded the bride upstairs TO US |