The Wheeling daily register. [volume] (Wheeling, W. Va.) 1864-1878, 1865-01-07
From the London Family Hersidf s
FIRST AND THIRD MARRIAGE


Thus YOU see, my own HOrtense, tina,
Imust leave YOU. I shall provide ann
come of a hundred louis for your ex
nenses Look forward constantly to my
return: and when fortune again smiles
unon me, shall come back never again
to be separated until death" II - ". q,
The weepingswife could not be com,
forted. 1t was hard that so soon afteI
her marriage, when the world seemed SO
bright and gay, and when wealth an1
fortune smiled so serenely upon hsr, al
should be swept away, and she LETT IKE a
lone widow to protect herself; Inc nus
band was almost distracted with the
thought of leaving her. HIS heart had
been bound up in his beautiful hortenSe'
She had been his idol from boyhood-the
bright dream of his existence, and when
he had attained the distinction OF one OF
the merchant princes of Montreal, he
married her and placed her IN the very
heart Of luxury.
Misfortunes came on swift wings to the
happy pair. One by one his possessions
left him, and worse than that, others
were involved 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
not wrong any one for the world. They
that lost by his ill-fortunes admitted that
Mr.. Valentine was a strictly honest man.
and that is great praise from those who
are injured by mans i'll luck. People
are too apt to call it dishonesty.
There was but a single bright spot be,
fore Mr.. Valentin. Australia cleaned
up, warm and golden; aud with despe-
J ration born of love to his wife and JUS
tice to his creditors, he secretly embarked
for the land of promise There was
nine DAYS wonder as to where he was
gone and to what purpose; and then he
died out of the thoughts of the commu-
nity rs thoroughly as if he 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 rela.
tives, Hortense dropped aud pinned, until
the beauty which her husband so praised
was changed into dinness. She never
heard from Mr. Valentin Not a single
word had ever cheered her solitude since
he left her AS month after month
dragged its slow weight along, and no
,idings reached her. her heart utterly
sank within her, and she believed him
dead What, indeed, could she think Z!
1t was better to think so than believe him
unmindful of her, and day after day she
watered his memory with tears OF gen.
nine sorrow, as one sorrows for the be-
loved dead. '''
She put OH the deepest mourning, kept
her room for months, and when she
finally went out again, and that only to
church, her sorrow was written plainly
in the face, which, if it had lost some of
It's beauty, was yet most deeply interest
iug. So at least thought the young Eu-
gene Stanbury, an Englishman Of un-
6lemished character and prosperous bust
ness. He saw her at church, devised
some ingenious cxpedient to be intro
duced, and begged the privilege of wait
ing on her, The, lady pleaded her inabil-
ity to entertain company, the impropri-
ETY. of her receiving gentlemen, and
thousand reasons why he could not visit
her.
He overruled them all, besought her to
waive all ceremony with him, to consider
him as Il deeply attached friend, broth
er, anything, in short, if he might be
permitted to see her sometimes; and
Hortense;; weary of her monotonous life,
M last consented
Once having renewed the delicious
consciousness of protecting presence,
she found it hard to give it up for the
mere punctilious fear of what the world |
would say of her Indeed, she had long
since shaken hands with the world, and |
parted from it. She owed it no favor !
1t had no right to criticise her conduct |
Thus she reasoned while listening to Eu- |
genes imprisoned entreaties that she |
would lay aside her SORROW for the dead,
and become his wife. If-..-1-
Still she hesitated.. She truly believ-
ed in her husbands death; for would he |
not have written had he been living
OF the many letters she had written him,
the many inquiries she had instituted, no |
answer could be obtained No one knew |
anything of Mr. Valentin.
In an hour of more than usual loneh- |
ness and trouble, she whispered to her
self, that, should Eugene press his suit
anew, she would consent to marry him.
CuC tDffC " % VI hSi
own life, Gagged and cribbed as she was;
she longed for freedom from the restraint
that poverty and widowhood were con-
stantly imposing upon her; and these
combined operated wonderfully in Eu-
genes favor The marriage was strictly
private; ana Chaf of Mr. { Stanbury's
friends had no suspicion that she had
ever married at all until she became his
wife. -
He took her to a pleasant home, as
comfortable, if not quito as luxurious, as
the one she had shared with Mr. yalentin;
and that all she had could ask for was
showered upon her with generous profu-
sion. Their dwelling, two or three miles
from the heart of Montreal, was sur
rounded with trees and howery shrubs
of very-liscription. Inside. there was
every comfort that living heart could
suggest The heart of Hortense awoke
to life, ia love, to happiness; and ~ see
her thus, Tejbiced that of her husband.
Two years of almost unmingled bliss
went by; but the third year. conpepced
with some alarm for the health Of Eugene
Twice had Hoytsass yseen. him draw a
handkerchief from his lips, which was
stepped in blood; and often his nights
We're s ~ bsta fsgsJ