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Show f ' A entered, life. I NTF. II NATIONAL PRESS ASSOCIATION CIMI'THl 1. W T I always thankics office to jfZ) A l' give a.lvice In thru (r-7l mailers," said Mm. '.A6 -''--r'-Hir. You, & .d I hVe rPVLV "",'M"'1 m" '" V f "'"'I'l l" Influence 'O.eOi you In mix way. iP fun, ,.,.; not , bus r'"r J Igment fa furor of or agiinst Mr Wilier. Von. a the one niiMt marly Intereiied In ehe citioo,uenroa of ymr acceptance r refusal ot his utter', should iuri'1) b able m make up your mind bow to treat It ami him." "I ehould be, aa ycu any," responded the lster-ln-law. "Kul I cannot." i She wm a handsome woman. In the rime of early maturity, whose face eeldom wore. In the presence of others, tote perturbed expression that now bs-gloomed bs-gloomed It. "That doe not affect tha fart ot your duly," anewered Mra. Itnmalne, with oonslderable severity. "There are tlrrm and circumstances In which vacillation la folly criminal weekneas. You bam knowa Mr. Wither lone enough to form a corraot estlmato of hla character. charac-ter. In mcons and In reputation ba la all Uiat could be dcalrod, your brother I says. Klthw you like him well enough to marry blm; or you do not. Your slt-Atlon slt-Atlon In life will be bettered by an ' alliance with him, or It will not. Theen are the questions for your eoneldora-tion. eoneldora-tion. And excuse me for snylng that a woman of your an" should not be at a ton In weighing these." Again Constance hud nothing ready except a weak phrnao of reluctant acquiescence. ac-quiescence. "I frel the weight of your reasoning, Margaret. You ennnot de-, de-, ' aplM me more than I do myself for my ' ohlldtah hesitancy. Mr. Withers any aenalhle and honorable man draerree J different treatment If I could are the way clear before ma I would walk In It. Out, Indeed, I am In a sore dllem-aua." dllem-aua." She turned away, an her voice book on the laat sentence, and affected affect-ed lo be busy with aome papcra upon a land. Mra. Rnmalne wnt just In all her denllnga with her husband's sister, and an nan t. In her way, to be kind. Con-j Con-j etnnco respected her for her excellent J sense, her honesty of purpose and ac- I tloe but ehe woa the laat of her ' friend whom ahe would have seloct- f I d, of her free will, ai the confidante i j of such Joya and anrrowa aa ahrlnk , from the touch of hard nniuree refuse i to bo confessed to unsympathlxlng eara. f Her heart and eyes were very full now, but ahe would etrnngle sooner than I drop a tear while those cold, light orbs V f wore upon her. tj In nonaldcrnllon of the wenkneaa and i rldli'Uloua sensitiveness of her compan- ! , (on. Mm. Itomalne forbore to apeak the t disdain alia fait at the Irresolution and J dlatreea aha could not comprehend. "I I Mr. Wlthnra personally dtsagn eable to you?" ahe doiuandod. In hor strong oon- l tralto voice. V "I liked him tolerably well very I well, In fnct, until he told ma what I brought him here an regularly," Con-1 Con-1 ttanca atammereil. "Now I am ember-j ember-j raeaed In hli proaenre ao uueajiy that t wleh aometlmea ' eeiild never see or bear of blm agnln." 9 "Mere ahynem!" aald Mra. Romalne. 9ich aa would be pardonable In a girl of aeventcoo. In a woman of aeven-end-twenty It la abeurd. Mr. Wllhcra , la highly esteemed by all who know blm. Your dlrrellsh of hla society Is caprice, unletui" the marble gray eyna mora aearchlng "tinleea you bave a prior attachment;" Constance milled drearily. "I hart never teen In love In my life, that 1 know of." "You are none the wome for having eoepe lan Infatuation that has wreck-ed wreck-ed Dior women for time and for eternity eter-nity thin all other delusions combined. A rctlma! marrlnge founded upon tnutuul esteem and tha belief that the soolul and mural condition of the pur-tlea pur-tlea to tha contraot would be promoted promot-ed thereby la the only safe union. The rounK, Ineiperlcnced and hetdatrong, repudiate rhta principle. The mature In age know It to be true. Hut, aa 1 bava aald. It la not my Intention te dl-T dl-T rect your Judgment. This la a tnomen- toua era In your life. I can only hope and prey that you mny be guided , , i aright In your derision." 1 Left to herself to digest this morsel of ploui eneotirnpetncnt, Conatnnre drew a low seat to the hearth register, regis-ter, clasped her hands upon her kneee, and tried, for tha hundrodth time tint 1 day, to weU'h the facta of her position lolrly and Impartially. ' She bad been an orphan for eight '" years, and a resident In the house of I , lier elder brother. Her aenlot by more I than a dozen years, and In tlm eiclt- I Ing swing of auccusaful mercantile life, I ho hkd little leisure for the study of ,! tils sinter's tastes and traits, wbeu eks flret became hla ward, and convolved j tha task to be an unneeranary one, now f that ahe woa to be a fixture In bis fani- lly, and appeared to get on smoothly with bis wife. In truth, It Lever occurred oc-curred to him to lay a disturbing finger npon the tiniest wheel of Oio domestic mathlnery. Ills respeol for his spouse's eiecutlvo and adminltilnitlve uhllltliwi wesj exceedeil only by her confidence In !her own powers. Khe wns nevvr Irascible, Irasci-ble, but he knew that she would have bora 4ow auaulr and er.erKtlally T-- any stteinpl nt InicrfereTe In h-r op-(Millions op-(Millions as m::n;:er of the Intirlr-r-' the ru'erof fie c nl l.Kliinent he, ,r n mncb-abuaed flg.irr of ave:h, cnllH tils hume. A sn.ii; and el. c .nt nto.e Vie m.ntn nf . arrl. I.eV'l ll-.g Con- jtanre n!l drcwe I snd well fc I. habit-uuliy habit-uuliy ch. erful and n:'ver rebe llious, ho .nay he forgiven for not xpe mllng a thought upon her for hour to.ther, in, I whrn ho cli l ren.i ii!,, r h"r. fur dnellliir: the r n . r up"n h: dlsm- errateil lilndneiil In a hc'ploHH l;nn licit li-cit tlinn rp'-culatliii; iipnu lu r pcxvlblo and unntipca.Hcd rp rltu-il niip.'tltcn. Kor thew, sinl for other whimsies, Mrs. Ronialne had little thnunht and no charily. Life, with her, waa a fabric mndu up of duties, various and many, but all doublc-twlned Into hempen strength and woven too closely for a ahlne of fancy or romance to strike through. She hsd coincided readily In her husband's hus-band's plan to take charge of hla young sister when her parents died. "Her brother's house Is ttis fittest asylum for her," aha had aald. "I shall do my beat to render her comfortable and contented." con-tented." She kept her word. Constance's ward-robe ward-robe waa ample and handsome, her room elegantly furnished, and ahe entered en-tered society under the chaperonago of ber slster-ln-lnw. The servants wera trained to respeot ber: the children to regard her aa their elder Bister. What mora could a penullcea orphan require? Mra. Itoraalne waa not afraid to aak tha question of her conscience and of heaven. Her "best" was no empty profession. pro-fession. It waa lucky for her aolf-com-placenry that aha nover suspected what years of barrenness and longing those Ight were to ber protege. Constance waa not a genlusther. for ahe never breathed even to herself: her-self: "I feel Ilka a aeed In tha cold earth, quickening at heart, and longing for the air." Her temperament was 1 not melancholic, nor did her taste run after poetry and marlyrdorn. Fhe woa almply a young, pretty and moderately well-educated women, too sensible not to perceive that her temporal needs were consclsntlousty supplied, and too affectionate to be satisfied with the meager allowance of nourishment dealt out for her heirt and sympathies. While the memory of her fatiier'a proud affection and her mother's cnntisea w.ia fresh upon her ehe had long and frequent apclla of lonely weeping waa wont to resign herself In the seclusion of her chamber to paselonste lamentn-tlone lamentn-tlone over her orphnnSKe and Isolation Isola-tion of aplrtt. Routine wns Mrs. Ho-nialne'a Ho-nialne'a watchword, and In bodily ex-err ex-err 1 f e Conatnnre conformed to ber quiet doupotlsm visited, studied, worked and took recreation by rule. The eyatcm wrought upon her beneficially benefi-cially ao far aa ber physique wns concerned. con-cerned. Bhe grew from a slender, pale girl Into ripe and healthy womanhood; waa more comely at twenty-seven than at twenty-one. ciiapti;h II. CpaB-x UT all thla time she lb J) waa au hungered. pilrX Bhe would cheer- ce I ft) 1 1,11,19 ""'"h'1' (Ju ' M ed to her brother (Wjsj two-thirds of her r j-Yi libera! silowanoe of x"r5-Vr p.;.' , I,,-,, it ha ijTy 'P !"-utd to ber h,JjA with Its quarterly I payment a sentence of fraternal fondness, fond-ness, a token, verbal or looked, that ba remembered whose1 child she wus, and that the same mother love had guarded guard-ed their Infancy. Her sister-in-law would have been welcome to withhold many of her gifts of wearing apparel and Jowclry bad ahe bethought herself now and then bow gralcfuly kuuies fall upon young lips, snd that youthful heads ara often sadly wenry for tha lack of a friendly shoulder, or a loving bosom, on which to rest. She did not accuse her relatives of willful unkind-ness unkind-ness because these were withheld. They Interchanged no such unremuneratlvo demonstratlona among themselves. Husband and wife were courteous In their demeanor, the one to the othor; their children were demure models of filial duty at home and Industry at school: the training In both places being be-ing severe euuugh to quench what feeble fee-ble glimmer of Individuality may have been born with the offspring of the methodical snd practical parents. Constance Con-stance found them extremely tinlntcr-eating, tinlntcr-eating, notwithstanding the natural love for children whic h led her to court their companionship during tho earlier weeks of her domestication In their house. It waa next to a miracle that she did not stiffen In this atmosphere Into a buckram Image of feminine propriety pro-priety a prodigy of atanh snd virtue, such as would have brought calm do-light do-light to the woll remilalcd mind of her exemplar, and effectually cha.'ed all thoughts of matrimony from those ot masculine beholders. Had her discontent discon-tent with her allotted sphere been less active, the result would have been certain cer-tain and deplorable. Kim was. Instead, popular among ber acquaintance of both sexea, and had ninny friends, If few lovore. This hitter deficiency had given her no concern until within two yei'ra. At twenty-live she opened ber eyes In wide nmazn upon Ihe thinning ranks of her virgin associates, and began be-gan seriously to ponder the causes that had left her unsuupht, save by two very silly and utterly lnellg Me swains, whose overture wera, lu her enteem, pre : sumption ttit v nily tin ridiculous to be ln'i:ting. Ker quick wit and Vrowlclic nf the rnr'J hclprd her to a eolutiim of the problem. "I em poor and dcpi'nilont upon my brother's charity," char-ity," she cmrlu.le I, with a nev nnd e ; in ins: nrrlinir of dln'NTne'lon with her condition. "Vcn rarely fill In love elth su.'h--tpnrc rarely woo them." Fhe neer spoke the thought nlond, but It pr-v and strengthene 1 until It received re-ceived a B'nrtlina: blow from Mr. Wither' With-er' proposal of marriage. He wae a wealthy batiKer from a neighboring city, whom business relations rela-tions with Mr. Itunialne drew to hla home nnd Into his eis'er's company. ! iiis courfhlp was nil Mrs. Honialne ct'iild dfslre. Ills visits were not too fiCTuent. and were paid nt .t'atcd Inter- val, as hen-led his hahli.i nf order nnd I punctmillty. Ills manner to Die l:wly j honored by hla preference wss replete w ith stately respect that was the antipodes an-tipodes of aervtia devotion, whilo hit partlnlliy for her society, and admiration admira-tion for her person, were unmistakable, lie paid his sddrewies throurh Mr. Ito-nialne Ito-nialne as hla fair one's guardian, offering offer-ing voluntarily to give his beloved whatever time for deliberation upon the proposal she deslre.1. "You had bolter think It over for a week," advised her brother, when ha had laid tha caaa duly before Constance. Con-stance. "It la too serious a matter to be settled out of hand." After that, neither he nor bis wife obtruded their counsel upon her until the afternoon of the aeventh day. Then Mrs. Itomslne, going to her sister's chamber to communicate the aubatance of a telegram Just received by her husband hus-band to tha elTecl that Mr. Wither would call that evening at 8 o'clock, was moved to grave remonstrance by tha discovery that ahe whom he eame to woo had no answer prepared for him. Constance was no nearer ready after the conversation before mcordel. "I cannot afford to be romantic," ahe bad reminded herself several times. "And who knows but thla Irrational Irra-tional repugnance may pass away when I have once made up my mind to accept ac-cept him? This may be In all likelihood likeli-hood It Is my last chance of achieving achiev-ing an Independent position. It baa been a long time coming, and my charms will be on the wane soon. True, a marrlare with Elnnthan Withers la not the destiny of which I have dreamed, dream-ed, but then dreams are but foolish va-gnrlea va-gnrlea ait or all. Life la real and ear-neat,' ear-neat,' j em as rovTisjrin.i |