| OCR Text |
Show I Epistdlftf Echoes W ottdeh m (Copyrlsht, 1906, by Dally Story Pub, Co.) I. Tho New Ulng and tho Old Love. Dear Hlchard: In tho old days 1 would have written "dearest." but today to-day another man acquired flrst mort-gago mort-gago on that title by virtue of placing a diamond ring on a certain finger of what you once called "tho fairest hand lu the world." Why 1 Bhould choose you a man nnd n former lover as my confidant, and honor you with tho first news of my engagement, I know not. Perhaps it Is becnuso of memories mem-ories which will not down, even though tho flashing eye of his ring seems to reproach me for not letting tho dead oast bury Its old love. Is this letter treason to him? I do not think ho would o consider It, for ho has told me: "I do not ask that you love your former admirers less, If you will lovo mo more." Thnt Bpeech won for him my hand If not my henrt. Leonard is not Jealous and In thnt ho Is unllko you. Jealousy may bo flattering flat-tering to a woman's vnnlty, but It Is destructive to her penco of mind. Yet a woman loves with her heart, not with her mind, and whore tho heart Is concerned a woman does not think: sho feels. So I sometimes wish that Ix;onard were loss phlegmatic, that ho had moro blood In his veliiB nnd loss of Ice; that ho were moro llko you I That Is treason, and yet my bonds nro still too young to teach mo discretion. dis-cretion. Do you know whnt a temptation tempta-tion a diamond ring Is to n woman? Hut for thnt I might have waited waited for you. Would you have cared? Itachel walling for her Jacob gavo evidence evi-dence of no greater patience than mine. Aro nil Now Knglanders llko John Alden: too bashful to speak for themselves? Hut I will not compare you to John Aldcn. You have a higher senso of honor than thnt unjustly-lauded unjustly-lauded Puritan, for you would not bo-tray bo-tray your friend. Perhaps If you woro that kind ot a man, 1 would not bo writing this letter. Yot In penning this eplstollc echo of Eden, I p.rovo that I ant but an erring daughter ot Eve. Are you a son of Adam? Tomorrow To-morrow may tell. Ah, mo, 1 wish tho morrow wore to-day, and yet I dread tho morning's dawn. Would I lovo you moro on a pedestal towering to tho clouds nnd unattalned, or kneeling at my feet all initio own, but with tho dirt of doslro on tho hands you reach forth to clasp mlno? Who can read a woman's heart and bo suro? Even she herself cannot do that. Can I, then, dare to hope you will understand these heart-throbs trickling through my pen In inky Indiscretions? In-discretions? If you do not understand should ono reproach tho text book beeauso ho does not read Its' meaning aright? Spare mo lu your reproaches, for In love tho end sanctifies tho means. In what on earth have yon faith, If not In me? If doubts distress you now, what mean the protestations of tho past? I can say no more: my selfishness nnd my hope grow dumb; my heart brims over with silence. Tho Deity enn Invent no greater purgatory than will he mine If you rannot forgive your I.H.IA. 11. The letter Which Kouchod Him. j My Dearest Dick:-May I not call you by that sweet old pet name onco , more, even though a few days must ! Dear Richard, olupso before tho law will confer upon mo the right to own you boforo tho world? "My dearest" that first word claims you mlno, tho second tells you that you are still tho dearest of all men to mo. 1 am hysterical, silly, delirious with Joy to know that I may soon glvo my-solf my-solf lo you. Tho fnct that I am married mar-ried and Its accompanying man I had qulto forgotton. May God forglvo mo; you already havo, for If I err, it is bo-causo bo-causo of you, of my lovo for you. Whethor I eoi'-'nl forphcB ino doos not matter; nothing matters now so long ns wc two lovo and may begin to live. 1 am dating this letter the lit St time lu throo yenrs, for since we pari erf there have been no dates in my life; nothing but a blank, n blank only you can help the future to ill! nnd make pregnant with promise. In a few dnys my bonds will bo broken. Leonard preferred a separation, separa-tion, but has consented not to opposo my application for n divorce which already al-ready has been made. Thero is to be no scandal; the utmost secrecy Is to bo observed. The Judgo hns oven rashly promised lo keep tho enso out . iiilnii, . - . I never needed you co much as now. ot tho nowspapers. When tho law severs the old bonds, It will tlo another an-other nuptial knot ns soon as you wish. With you as my lord and master, bondage would bo sweet. I havo been a wifo In no moro thnu nnme. Since Ix-onard found mo crying cry-ing over your letter on our wedding night, wo havo lived our separato lives, meeting only at dinner and In socloty. Oh, Dick, why did Fato and Uncle Sam fall to deliver my former mcs-Bago mcs-Bago to you? Doubtless It Is now In tho Dead Letter olllce, that cemotory of Unrlcd hopes. 1 havo como to bo thnnkful that, llko tho writer, my letter let-ter went astray. I would not havo you say In tho coining years, as did tho flrst occupant ot Eden, "Tho woman i tempted me." Your fall but arouses I the mother Instinct: I long to kiss away your hurt as did my own parent I lu tho days before you tuino to bo tho embodiment of my Ideal. My deml-! deml-! god, yet son of Adam, you shall no longer sue at my feet. Let mo look levelly Into your eyes; together wo will rise to sunlit heights nnd forgot tho shadows lurking In tho valleys of -our past. Edith tells mo you will return homo Sunday. I hunger for a sight of you. For two years you havo kept away your ubsenco was hard to boar, but perhaps It was us well: I could not havo remained truo to tho man the world called my husband had you been nearby. Truo? Havo I boon truo to him? Alas! my thoughts havo been traitor, for nono belonged to him. 1 wronged him In that I had no lovo to glvo him. In aught oIbo, God Is my judge. He you merciful nnd together we will atono for tho past, not lu sorrowing sor-rowing penance, but In Joyous living. Daro I como to see you nt your homo nnd so defy conventions and your mother? For you I doro all things, even to laying my heart bare, even to tearing away a woman's most sacred attribute, her modesty, und showing myself to you with soul naked but tin-' tin-' ashamed. You need not forbid mo. I shall como. Your slstor loves me, ns , you know, only loss than sho loves her I brother. Yet I do not need oves lr as an advocate. Let your own heart plead for mo und I do not fear Its Judg-1 Judg-1 inent. I never needed you so much as now. 1 nm weary; fold mo away from tho world In your arms, Let us for-! for-! got, In the dawning of a better dny, I tho hideous dream of thoso missing years. I am overwrought, nervous; tho sudden sud-den drip of salty tears has blinded my oyos und tho pago Is a blur boforo mo. 1 know not whethur my pen Is loyal to my henrt. Hut you you understand under-stand when I only hint at what I daro i not glvo a volco. Thero aro boiiio i things so sacred thnt to rcduco thorn to words would bo desecration. I j await you. Onco before I bald "come," i and yon heeded not. This tlmo I know you will oboy, for this message will reach you. Heaven nnd all Its angels will seo It safely to ltt Journey's end. My lovo, from Your love, LILt A. |
