Show ftp j J J cate g JL L lj IT LIFF tle L JJ HARLAND in f international INTER RATIONAL PRESS association CHAPTER IX opposition waa was futile but constance 3 countenance was so downcast at the prospect oct of the excursion that edward made a pretext before going out to tail call her into the adjoining sitting room how have I 1 forfeited my place in your good graces he began in playfulness that was lost in earnest nees peas before he finished his speech I 1 have tried to persuade myself that your cold avoidance of me tor for weeks past and your reject on of my services ser when ever it Is to possible for you to dispense with them was in part an unfounded fancy of my own and partly the re suit of your absorption in the dear duty that has demanded your time and thoughts I 1 have begun lately to have other tears fears dreads lest I 1 had un wittingly wounded or displeased you do me the justice to believe that if this be so the aeise ottense was uncomely un conaci ous due you have offered none none what ever interposed constance with cold emphasis I 1 am sorry my manner has given rise to such apprehensions that JQ 1 not spoken like the frank sister of a month ago said edward retaining the hand she would have withdrawn 1 will not release you until you tell me what Is the shadow upon the affection that was to me more dear than any other friendship and which I 1 dared hope was much to you be tor for one instant yourself and tell me all she was very pale but in despera derpera tion she tried to laugh you must not pot call me to account for my looks and actions nowadays edward I 1 thi think sometimes that I 1 am not quite sane I 1 have gone through much suffering been the prey of imaginings that al at most deprived me of reason besides enduring the real and present trial and heaven knows how unready I 1 was cor for it all one word my dear girl and my in is over assure me honestly and without fear of wounding me have you ever in your most secret blamed me tor for the cavalty which so nearly widowed youa you I 1 did try as you can bear me witness to dissuade him whom we both love from the eppen ment that cost him so dear the idea that you may have doubted this has pained me inexpressibly dismiss the suspicion at once and forever constance looked steadily into his face and spoke calmly the thought has never entered my mind I 1 blame no one for my trouble except ing myself before she could divine his purpose edward had put his arm over her th and pressed his lips to hers liers let bygones be bygones he sald brightly and fondly we have too nuch to live and to hope tor for to waste time in nursing unhealthy surmises und and fears oh the sharp little interjection came from the threshold of the door leading into the hall where mise miss field was di covered in a fine attitude of bash tul ful apology faintly flavored with prud ish consternation I 1 did not dream you were here I 1 was on my way to my cousins room she continued in 0 prodigious flutter of ringlets and shoulders I 1 beg a million pardons 1 I am sure you need not beg one said the undaunted edward without releasing constance connie and I 1 have been settling a trivial misunderstanding in good boy and girl style have just kissed and made up and we now mean to be better friends than ever he he you are excessively candid to be sure tittered littered harriet hartlet but shaking her black curls mrs with ers knows men and human nature too well to believe quite all you say we must not forget my dear madam that men were dec deceivers elvers ever you speak feelingly said edward carelessly care lessi lessl following constance with hie ee as she moved silently toward her husband s chamber I 1 shall caution the lady of my love should the gods ever bestow one upon me not to sip of the bitter waters of your wisdom had he seen the glitter of the roun I 1 black orbs that pursued his retiring figure he might have made a more thoughtful exit big his run down the stairs been lees less swift we air he hummed as he went less gay he had a pleasant drive constance an hour of mingled sweet and bitter n ness ess it w was as difficult to bear her part in the apparent renewal of the familiar intercourse of other days without re taxing the severe guard she had set upon herself froia from the moment she dis covered the true nature of the senti ment sie olio entertained for her husband s brother she could not help delight ing in his society in the manifold proofs of loving concern for her corn com tort fort and happiness of which she was the recipient yet this secret and fleeting joy was the ever present shame that marked her remembrance of her guilty weakness and the despair ing knowledge that remorse duty and resolve had thus far availed nothing to conquer it she looked jaded rather than refresh ed upon her return although she had curtailed the ride in opposition to ed ward s advice wild rebellious thoughts fought tor for mastery within her all the while she was with him the of an insane familiarity she could not cast out it if I 1 had met him two years ago instead of his brother and he had wooed me the love which la to now my disgrace would have been my glory she was tempted to repeat again and again yet my atnes itne ae to receive his affection and my need of him are the same to day as they were then Is he the less my companion soul the mate god meant tor for me be cause led by other others s counsels I 1 blun dered into a loveless connection with another which Is the criminal bond that ordained by my maker or the corn coin pact which has had no blessing save the approval of cold hearted and mer cenary mortals 7 outwardly we must remain as N e are but who is defrauded it if I 1 dream of what might have been it I 1 love him tor for what he ie in in himself not for what he Is to mea me then shaking off the spell she would loathe herself for the vile suggestions and pray in a blind heathenish way to him who had sent her pain to sus bus tain her under it to keep her from falling into the fouler mire of open de fiance of her husband husbands s claims upon her realty in word and act to hold her fast to the semblance of right and honor parting from edward at the outer entrance with a brief phrase of thanks for his kindness in accompanying her she ran up to her husband husbands s room and opened the door without knocking A gentleman whom she recognized as a prominent city lawyer stood by the lounge with a paper in his hand two oung young men apparently clerks were withdrawn a little into the background and a table bearing hearing writing materials was between them and the others you acknowledge this instrument to be your latest will and testament and in token thereof have set hereto your signature and the lawyer was saying as the door swung ajar and constance stopped unable to advance or retreat mr withers glanced around when he had given his assent come in my dear he said quietly we shall soon be through this little matter CHAPTER X HE dropped into a chair near the door her heart ing with force that beat every drop of blood from her cheel s some sud bud den and awful change must have taken place while she was out to call for the presence of these men her frame was chill as with the shadow of death but the one overpowering thought that smote her was that her husband s approaching de cease was the direct answer of an angov judge to her wicked outcry against her fate and longings to escape it in this grisly shape was the freedom to appear for which she had panted but bh knew that when the cage was torn leown she would feel like a murderess bhe bile never forgot the short lived horror of that moment mr withers dismissed his visitors when the witnesses had affixed their names to the will and they bowed themselves out each noting more or less furtively as he passed the dilated eyes and colorless face of the wife and drawing his own conclusions there from she got up and walked forward at her husband husbands s gesture he was no paler than when she left him and smiled more easily than was his habit when he noticed the signs of her extreme alarm I 1 was afraid you would be frightened it if I 1 talked in dour our hearing of making will he encouragingly to avoid this I 1 ar ranged that mr hall should wait upon me chile alle you were driving he was be hind his time and your are bach back darier than I 1 anticipated I 1 regret the meet ing only tor for your sake perhaps it is ab u well however that I 1 should acquaint 3 ou with some of the provisions of instrument you saw in mr biall u I 1 lane an please do not I 1 cannot bear to hear or speak of it protested con stance the tears starting to her eyes it all seems so dreadful it will not hasten my death one hour mr withers was not quite ready to pass over without rebuke an absurd superstition he considered unworthy a rational being even though the of fender was his wife you shall know this I 1 made another will two years since but circumstances have led me to regard it as injudicious if not un fair we bustnes men are superior to the dread of looking forward to the one certain event of mortality we calculate the probable effect of our demise as we do other changes in the mercantile and social world by the terms of this will as I 1 was about to remark my property with the excel tion of a legacy to harriet field Is dl di vided equally between yourself and ed ward and he is appointed sole ex in the event of my death he will be your nearest connection and sat est adviser I 1 wish you to remember this it 1 Is hardly to be expected that you although a fair judge of character should be as conversant with the atles that fit him to assume these re aa as I 1 am who have been his business partner ever since he was twenty one he was astonished that his wife in stead of rendering a submissive verbal acquiescence to his spoken and writ ten decree began to weep so violently as to hinder herself from listening or replying to his speech she had never conducted herself in this irrational fashion before in his a and he was naturally exceedingly perplexed aware that any attempt to soothe her would be awkward work A ork to him he lay quiet for a minute hoping the emotion would expend itself without his interference finally he adjudged it to be but reas enable that she should set the bounds of her grief at a point somewhat short ot of hysterics or convulsions ata 9 dressed her with the most stringent appeal he could think of really constance your agitation I 1 exciting me most unpleasantly I 1 fear I 1 shall be feverish when the doctor calls it if this sort of thing la is kept up he did not mean to be unkind or selfish he ile believed hia his health to be of supreme importance in her esteem and that the recollection ot of this would set her to rights the experiment succeed ed to a charm the sobbing flow of briny drops was stanched on the in slant stant I 1 beg your pardon stammered con stance straightening herself up I 1 will control myself better hereafter it is time tor for our cordial may I 1 p pour 0 ur it out tor for youa it was inevitable thai that the confession she had meditated while he told her of his arrangements tor for her future be braying with a child s artlessness artles eness the of his trust in hs his brother and in herself the full outflow of pen stence and depreciation and entreaty tor for pardon of which the tears were but the type and premonition should be checked by the querulous re reference ferenc e to his personal discomfort but the sud den and disagreeable reaction induced by it was hardly an excuse for the hard ening of her heart and dulling of the sensibilities just now so tender which filled her mind with sullen resentment against him who had repelled her con he ile will never understand me we are as antagonistic as oil and water she excused this by thinking the more closely I 1 imitate his icy ley propriety the better matched we shall M W I 1 was a fool to imagine anything els and thus slipped by the fairest chance of reconciliation and real union that was ever offered the ill III assorted pair with mr withers returning strength everything seemed to fall back into the old train except that invitations were less frequent as the season waned and that edward arid constance paraded fewer evenings abroad and more at home that mr withers rode to his office every morning and returned at noon to spend the rest of the day upon the sofa an n the library exchanging hie his after dinner for an easy chair in the parlor the mode of life in the house hold varied in no important respect from what it had been prior to his acci dent TO BE 1 P |