The Charleston daily news. [volume] (Charleston, S.C.) 1865-1873, 1866-12-25

had been alive 0 my God my God |! my
heart is broken at last
Lady Hautain was shocked and alarmed;
this was burst Of hysterical grief on the
part Of her companion which she had never
: Witnessed before, and the violence Will.
.whiah ii nov manifested itself very: mIchia
aba 5srssSed Bef Wild
have soothed child; and as the hysterical
frenzy Of her grief began to abate, she sob
bed upon the good woman's breast. =....
& eff i had:bat had amother like you, We
might have both of us been--spared this;.
but | have never realized before that it was.
possible that he was lost to us forever"
"You must teach me to hope still, An
gel; it is the privilege of youth. I must go
and lie down now. Will you come with me,
or stay here u .s=s' -. z5==s.==.. =, -.
II will stay here unless you want me; it
was in this room, and on this very, day, that
I sealed my own fate; it is here that will
pray Heaven that, if possible, it might not
have included his in its. own bitterness.
He must have forgotten me now, surely,
Lady Hautain 2"
II cannot say, my love- Your fault has
been repented Of and cruelty atoned; it is
not for us to forestall the judgments of
Heaven. Pray for him, dear child, for
yourself, for us all, and I will pray that
your prayers may be heard"
So Angel was left in her solitude to shed
bitter tears over the fate of the man whom
she had never ceased to love more madly
than ever since the time that her own wick
ed and ambitious act had driven him from
her side forever.
The evening of the day, which had been
bright, frosty, and seasonable, closed up on
the sold Court in the splendor of q winter
sunset, and still Angel fingered in the oriel
window, not however, gazing out upon the
scene, which in all its beauty was full OF
sadness for her. She was on her knees,
With her slender white hands crossed on the
black folds Of her dress, and her head
bowed ii ii selfhumiliation while from her
beautiful eyes the heavy tears fell like rain
upon the polished oak boards on which she
knelt. sNOh, Steenie, Steenie! !" she mur-
INJURED softly undersher breath, aoome back
to me, or Isshall die;amy heart is breaking
fast. If he is dead, Tam his murderess.
Oh, Steenie | cannot pray!
As she uttered the last words, the door
opened softly, and a voice said, "Here is
Lady Hautain, sir; if you take the respon-
sibility upon yourself, can only warn you
not to startle hersuddenly, for she is great
invalid. - sa.a. .5s =. t.5S..=.
It was the voice of Mrs. Merthyr, the
house keeper, and the words were pro
nounced slowly and distinctly, as though to
give time to the inmates Of the chamber to
prepare themselves for surprise, and the
warming was intended for tho aged Lady
Hautain, Whose absence from her usual
position ID her armchair the deepening
darkness Prevented from being apparent.
The door closed as softly as it had OPEN
ed-closed upon the newly y-found possessor
Of the barony Of Hautain, upon Stephen,
the long-lost heir, whose eyes, keener than
those Of the old house-keeper, discovered at
once the sable-draped figure in the window,
and recognized the well-known outlines OF
her form at once.
"Angel" said low voice, that seemed to
speak to her in solemn tones from beyond
the region Of the grave-"Angel, am
come back! Have you warmer welcome
for me than you had four years ago, or is
even sisterly love dead within your bosom
You need not shrink from me; am your
brother now"
| ,Sha.had not shrunk from him as he in.
saa the sinking movement of hel
ESSls|Sht and wasted frame, that, after reed
(lEsbwaying motion to and fro, sank upon
| the aoorhF his feet. She had tainted; the
sudden realization Of her hopes had been
too much for her in her weakened state o1
health, and she. had fallen into fearless
swoon. Then the words Of warning which
he had. neglected came too late to his ears
'for her ladyship is a great invalid ano
filled him with remorse, be believing thai
they had been applied to her, to biz
brothers widow, the youthful Lady Hau
tain, for dearly as he loved his aunt, it hac
not been to her that his thoughts had aowr
on the occasion of his first visit to his unex
pected inheritance.
II have killed her at lastY he uttered
aloud. "My love my darling! Oh, speak
to me, Angel, once again! | will be true
brother to you; will never speak again o.
the love that is killing me! Oh, Angel, say
that you forgive mel Speak to me look
at me = And he pressed his lips on thai
cold, shtue-likc brow, as though his OWL
i aaan;oASIa ,anornoaa oonld nndou II viii