The Richmond palladium. [volume] (Richmond, Ind.) 1855-1875, 1858-12-23
An Gttellfnt Storp.
First and Third Marriage
A Canadian Romance.

! ..Thus you see, my own Hortense. that l
must leave you. / shall provide aD income
Of a hundred louis for your expenses. Look
forward constantly for my return; and when
fortune again smiles upon me. | shall CONF
back never again to be separated until
death
The weeping wife could not be conf rted.
It was hard that 50 soon after her marriage,
when the world seemed so bright and gay.
and when wealth and fortune smiled
renely upon her. that all should be swept
away, and she left like lone widow to pro-
tect herself The husband was almost dis
tracted with the thought of leaving her
His heart had been bound up in his beauti-
ful Hortense She bad been his idol from
boy )od-the light dream Of his existence;
and when he had obtained the distinction of
one of the merchant princes of Montreal, he
married her and placed her in the very Eeart
of luxury.
Misfortunes came on swift wings to the
happy pair. One by one his possessions left
him, and worse than that. others were invol-
we'd in his affairs. who were less able to lose
than himself. He could not look upon the
ruin Of those around him, for he had kind
heart, and would no: wrong any one for the
world. They who lost by his ill-fortune ad-
mitted that NJ Valentin was strictly hon
est man; and that is great praise from those
who are injured by another's i'll luck. Peo-
pie are but too apt to call it dishonesty.
There was but a single bright spot before
NJ. Naentin- Australia CLEANED up warm
and golden, and with desperation born Of
love to his wife and justice 20 his creditors,
he secretly embarked for the land of prom
Use. There was nine days wonder as TO
where he had gone, and to what purpose, and
then he died out OF the thoughts OF the com
munity as thoroughly as if lie had been dead
and buried.
The weeping Hortense removed to another
locality; the fashionables who had strained
every nerve to get invited to the house of the
rich merchant. never paused to ask after his
wife; and lonely and miserable, without
friends or rea ives Hortense dropped aad
pined, until the beauty which her husband
so praised. changed into dimness. She
never heard from NJ Valentin No single
word had cheered her solitude since he left
her. As month after month dragged its
slow weight, and no tidings reached her. her
heart utterly sunk within her, and she believ-
ed him dead What indeed, could she think?
1t was better to think SO than to believe him
of her, and day after day she wa
tered his memory With tears of genuine s-r-
row, sorrow for the beloved dead.
She put the deepest mourning, kept her
room for months. and when she finally went
,ut again, and then only to church, her sor-
'ow was plainly written in her face, which,
t it had lost some of its beauty, was Yet
most deeply interesting. SO at least thought
he young Eugene Stanbury, an Englishman
of unb'emishcd character and in prosperous
business. He saw her at church. devised
some ingenious eXpedient To be introduced,
and begged the privilege Of waiting upon her.
The lady pleaded her inability to entertain
the improperly of her receiving
gentlemen, and thousand reasons why he
should not visit her.
He overruled them all. besought her to
waive all ceremony with Him, to consider
him as deeply attached friend. brother,
anything in short, il he might be permitted
to see her sometimes aud iortense. weary
OF her monotonous and dreary life, a. last
Once having renewed the delicious con
sciouSns~' of a projecting presence, sh found
il hard 10 give it up fer mere punctlios of
Whist the world would say of her. Indeed.
she bad long since shaken hands with the
world and parted from it. She owed it 10
favor 1t had no right to criticise her con
duct. Thus she reasoned while listening to
Eugene's imprisoned entrea;es that She
would lay aside her sorrows for the dead, and
become his wife.
Still she heSitated. She truly believed 10
her husbands death, for would he not have
written had he been living? OF the many
letters she had written to him, the many in
quires she had instituted. and no answer
could be obtained. No one knew any thing
of NJ. Valentin.
In an hour of more than usual loneliness
aud trouble, she whispered TO herself that
should Eugene press his suit anew, she would
consent to marry him. She liked him, she
was weary OF her own life, Gagged and crib
bed she was. she longed for freedom from
the restraint that poverty aud widowhood
were constantly imposing upon her, and all
these combined. operated powerfully in Eu-
genes favor. Tde marriage WAS strictly prl-
vste, and halt N. Staabury's friends had no
sus picion thai he had ever intended to marry
at ali. uutil she became his wife
He took her to pleasant home, as com
Portable, II not quite as luxurious. as the ore
she shared with NJ Vaentin. and all that she
could ask for was showered upon her with
generous profusion.
Their dwelling was two or three miles
from the heart Of Montreal, was surrounded
with trees and Towering shrubs of every de-
Inside, there was every comfort
that living heart could suggest. The heart
of Hortense awoke to life, TO love, 10 hsppi-
ness and to see her thus, rejoiced her hus-
bani.
Two years Of almost unmingled bliss went
by, but the third year commenced with some
alarm for the health OF Eugene. Twice hai
Hortense seen him draw q handkerchief from
his lips. which were stepped in blood; and
often his nights were passed in coughing. uE-
til nature was exhausted, and the morning
sleep found him drenched in terrible sweats
which SO surely por;end consumption. Hor-
tense struggled against this new and terrible
sorrow. Ii was the frst time that she had
watched over one dear TO her II was the first
time thst she had seen the effects of this insi-
dious disease, and hope and fear alternsted
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