The Vermont transcript. [volume] (St. Albans, Vt.) 1864-1870, 1864-11-25

that he had consulted the most emil
: nent doctors without getting any hope,
! and the emotion, rare enough in him,
that he displayed, told me he loved
Marion. / said no word TO him about
it, / knew better but L saw with
what dreadful doubt he was preplexed
2 Excitement might shorten Marion's
!, lifensuch an excitement as o declara-
: ton OF love from him might DO Of mate
o rial injury; and even if it did not
O prove so, how could he condemn him
self to the prolonged torture Of seeing
the life Of q beloved wife ebb away day
10y day? Besides, he did not think
she cared for him. /, who had
watched her ceaselessly, knew that
she loved him with her whole heart
He struggled with himself fercely
but he won the fight. He left home
for some weeks and returned, looking
older and paler; but he had learned
TO mention her name without his voice
quivering, and to touch her ndwith-
out holding his breath hard She
was pining away under the influence
of his changed manner, and l dared
not help my two darlings to be happy.
An unexpected aid soon came. Mr.
Cameron, who was in bad health when
we first saw him, died suddenly. Poor
Marion's grief was terrible to see.
Her father was dead; Stephen, as she
thought, estranged; and there was no
one else, who cared whether she lived
or died, except myself l brought
her home with me, and was with her
hourly till Mr.. Camerons funeral.
How We got through that time l hardly
know. Then came the necessary in
qurv into his affairs He had died
not altogether poor, but in reduced
circumstances, leaving Marion an an
nuity that would scarcely give her the
Injuries her state of health required.
And where was she to live and what
to do? Stephen was the soul execu-
tor the one adviser to whom she
could look. He took two days and
nights to consider, and then offered hei
his hand and home. At first she
could not believe that his offer arose
from anything but pity and compass
sion; but when he had told her the
story Of the last few months, and
called me to bear witness to it, great
light seemed to come into her eyes
and wonderful glow of love- such as
I had never seen, over her face.
left them to themselves that evening,
tll stephen tapped at the door o
my room and told me all-nothing, il
fact but what / knew long before. II
their case there was little cause fo
delay. Trousseaux were not the i'm
portant matters in my day that the.
are in my grandchildrens, and Marion
was married to Stephen, in her blacl
gown, within month of her father
funeral
The next few months were happ,
time for all of u.s. Marions healtl
cs. improved greatly. The worried, fright
ened look she used to wear left he
face as she recovered from the depres
h sion caused by her constant anxiet
n about her father, and the loss of res
n she suffered in attending upon him a
r. night. 1t seemed as if she was en-
h. tirely recovering; and Stephen, if h
is did not lose his fears, at least was nc
" constantly occupied with them. HOY
m happily we used to look forward t
rs the future, for stephen was beginnin
lis to save money; and how many wer
a our day-dreams about professions
oh eninence for him, and fashionabl
no life in London, partly for Marion, bu
TO- mostly for me- have tried fash
10 ionable life in London since, but neV
IRIS er found it so happy as our days intha
Die dear old Surrey village
pc, Well, our happy time did not las
ne. long. Marion caught cough an
ost cold as the winter came on, and wa
he soon so i'll as to be taken to Londo
ey- for advice. Stephen came back alon
hit with weary, dea hly looking fac
nut Marion had broken a smallblood We
ore sci on the journey anything 81
be- rious in itself, but ominous enough
lex They were to go at once to a warni'
not climate not day to be lost. SO
ave rowfully / packed up the necessai
or things. and went with Stephen to Loo
clip don the next day to say goodbye
tile Marion, who had been forbidden to {
nee thome. The same afternoon they we
for on board trading vessel bound !
!, a Leghorn. Luckily, Marion was
SIN. good sailor and we'll used to ships, 4
sss, she had made more than one .yoyaI