Spirit of the age. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 1849-1865, 1857-06-10
JUNE 10, 1e57. .

conscious that he cherished it, but it was Just !
enough to make him feel disappointed that
she yielded without a murmur to his wishes,
ana ne regarded this as an additional proof q
that she had never loved him. l
You willoblige me by drawing upon Bar {
rett q 20. whenever you need money, and as '
freely as ever. They will receive orders from '
me to furnish you with whatever funds you
,;fals = aSeS, md for half hour they sat in
sllence, scarcely os,..~a;ous &c +ba lsnsa of
time. At Length AdeiaidHss 20. o. sns ,apse "a
endure it TO longer, and she sess, e.1,,,
her chair
Have you any thing further to say to me.
Mr.. Fletcher?'
Nothing more was the answer. A cold
bow was exchanged between them, and thus
the husband and wife parted.
1t is all Over-oh, nv God, why hast thou
forsaken me?' cried Adelaide, as she reached
her own chamber and fell almost fainting
upon the bed Kate, Kate, you warned and
counseled me, but | would not heed you.-I
In my headstrong folly would not listen to
your entreaties, and now it is too late, and
you are not here to comfort me! Would L
/ were at rest beside you, Kate-that my poor
/ heart would break at once, and forever!
! On, mamma, mamma warbled a sweet,
childish voice, see pity towers Katy find in
the garden = and the1ittle creature climbed
up on a chair, and thence to the bed, and
stroye to remove the hands that covered her
mothers face.
Adelaide dreW the little one to her heart,
and wept more calmly than before. She had
yet something TO live for.
Months rolled slowly by. Mr.. Fletcher
and Adelaide seldom met save in the social
circle and at the table. and there they were
never alone. Day by day their alienation
became more perfect-lay by day their hearts
grew further and further apart and the cloud
that hung over them more dense and dark
They were very wretched both of them ,
butheither party read Alright the feelings Of
the other. Mr.. Fletcher did not realize how
impossible it was for Adelaide to mako the
least advance toward a reconciliation, while
she was conscious that no words she
could utter Would be sufficient to outweigh
the evidence of the past-of those years that
her husband thought were years Of hypocrl-
sy and deceit.
You married me because | was rich
you sold yourself for my cursed gold!' those
words were constantly ringing in her ears
She knew that they had rot been spoken
careleSsly and unmeaningl ngly-they had beer
breathed in tones that expressed the deepes
4 conviction, and she could not wonder that th'
charge had been Brought against her |; hu
what could sAa der Calling, humiliating a
- only as the lrice of her tr ssL. 81,
ouie not exonerate herself: she could sa
noGnIng IN her own defence -
Inen, gradually, as day after ciay her I,n,
Oand continued, as at first cold, formal. an
dlstantly polite, the conviction forced itse
upon her mind, that be had lost all love fo
her-that their eStraEr3ment had ceasad :
De matter OF the J It concern TO him
And SO she avoided h: more studiously thai
ever. She held herseis still more coldly alooi
snlnklng that he loathed her very presence
i1er nome was deSolate. In the lonr even
lings, after little Katy was fast asleep. it wa
her fortune to sit alone in her room: +
hear her husbands step in the library: t
know that he was so near her in LONELINESS,
and bitterness of spirit, and yet feel that the,
were as efectually separated as if the water
Of an ocean rolled between them.
80 she fled from the solitude and drearines
OF her own chamber, and mingled more free
~ than before In the circles of gayety an,
fashion. She tried 20 forget her misery. b,
plunglng into a whirlpool of excitement
There, too, she occasionally met her husband
ana sometimes she could steal away into som
quiet corner, and gaze upon h;m unobserve,
with none to mark the starting tears.
1t had been Mr.. Fletchers wish that tbei
unhappy difficulties might not become matte
for gossip and speculation with the worl,
about them, and he accordingly never neg
4lected any attention that the usages Of socie
ty prescribed.
But he thought her frivolous and heart
less. He did not know that the smiles b.
saw were worn only because, to conceal he
tgrlef, she was forced to assume the mask O
gayety. He did not know that often, in th,
darkness and silence of night, she had stoleI
to the door of his room, listening intently i
haply she might catch the faintest echo Of :,
sigh; and then, shivering and trembling
crept back to her coach again, to weep ant
moan until the morning. lie did not know
that once she had found the door aiar, anC
knowing by his quiet and regular breathin.
that he was asleep, had glided softly into tn,
room, and watched him through her blindin,
tears lie did not know that she had ben
over him, until her raven hair had mingled
with his own; that, carried away by an ir
resistible impulses sac had stopped until he
lips touched his, and that then, frightene,
and abashed, she had flown away like a starr
led bird. He dreamed Of her that night
lie thought that she was in his arms. show
erlng soft kisses upon his lips and brow
All had he but known that it was not all
dreamp
There was now but one connecting lin
between them, and that was their child :
Her they both Worshiped. The happiest me
ments Mr.. Fletcher knew were those in whic
he sent for little Katy, and snatching her u
in his arms bore her to the library, and KEEP
her for hours together listening 10 her arl
less prattling, and receiving and returnin
her fond caresses.
One day, while he was playing with her
she burst into tears for some trfling cause
and her father reproVed her, telling her j
was naughty to cry
No, not naughty, mamma cry. Mamm
not naughty said the child, shaking he
bright curls very decidedly.
Mamma eriesl What does ncamma or
forP asked Mr. Fletcher, while his hear
beat quickly.
Katy not know. Mamma kiss Katy. an
mamma cry-oh, very bad 2 she repliet
clasping her small hands together. Poo
mammal Kate sorry-papa.sorry, too p
Mr.. Fletcher clasped the little- teIl-tale
his heart, but he could draw nothing mol
from her. Perhaps if she had looked close
in her fathers face, she might have thougI
papa, cried,' too.
: The little fairy was the only eonnectir
link between them, and at length that W,
also broken.