Dodgeville chronicle. [volume] (Dodgeville, Wis.) 1862-current, 1867-12-13
tace fingered and we talked. had a


tace fingered and we talked. had a
nervous habit Of twisting my fingers when
avenging Nemesis made me fdget with
them then? My thoughts were so er.ire-
ly engrossed, that I quite started when
/ Lord Rutherford suddenly exc laimed,
"Mind, Magdalen; you have dropped a
| ring" He stopped, and, to my horror,
took up the pearl circlet. "Ah, that re-
4 minds me have forgotten the case of
1 pearls my mother sent you. What deli.
| cate little affair didn't give you this,
did I?' ..ss 4s.. 81 I,17. gsis 6aa esa, =
mo" replied family and then as he
| still held it admiringly, I added daringly,
Papa gave it me years ago. 78a so =
| Perfectly satisfied, he slipped it on my
| finger, saying, 81 wish had remembered
my mothers gift. Well, never mind; all
will soon be yours Good night, dearest."
! | had never told Eustace q fiat untruth
before, though had not hesitated to de-
ceive him; and felt anything but COM
/ Portable as retired to bed that night.
| was very much excited; nevertheless
could not help being haunted by an un-
| comfortable dread of tomorrow, and direct
! ly got to my room carefully locked up
that fatal ring. i * = ri ~
/ I was not surprised that the whole of the
1 next day passed without Eustace making
his appearance, for / knew he was very
busy with servants and tenants; but as
the evening drew on I grew little
| uneasy. ~ b. fzsa 5zssa : aN..T
| This uneasiness increased when, Just as
| we were going to sit down to tea, my
father suddenly summoned Alice out of
L ~ 81 .
| Had anything occurredg I. My. heart
beat so that | could hear it above the tick
ing of the clock. ssa. ,4.1sH !; a.
/ "A quarter of an hour passed, and them,
| to my intense relief, the door opened, and
Alice returned. She was deadly pale,
and coming up to me, she seized my hands,
and almost dropped down on the stool be-
fore me. t,a SIS l. St rs
/ Something has happened P" exclaimed
calmly, for felt Desperate" something
has happened, Alice? do not keep me in
| suspense. It's about Eustace?" %'-s
I sit Ii" she answered, family. 80, Mag
| dalen, what have you done?'as = lw
II have been foolish, know; but" e
Worse, worse p she exclaimed. "You
have been mad. You have given room
for Guy Deyoril's Boosting" e
| turned pale. se 49,. sl
"What DO you mean, Alice p tell me out
plainly what has occurred" y u &
II scarcely know the whole of the story
myself; but it appears that some chance
brought Lord Rutherford and Captain De-
yeril together late last night in company,
where it angered Eustace to hear Guy
| speak Of you with the freedom he did, He
| bOasted, Magdalen, that he had more in
| f1uence over you than your betrothed, and
that it was the coronet alone which made
I you accept Rutherford. Finally, as words
got higher. he declared that you wore his
gage d'amour on theisame finger with that
of your engaged ring. Lord Rutherford
gave him flat contradiction, declaring it
was false; and you may guess the rest" IL
a challenger i whispered family.
And Alice burst into tears. fa
Icannot distinctly remember all that
passed that miserable evening. was like
one in some terrible dream. Somehow !
found myself out In the night air, running
between the e-hedges and distinctly
see the scene, even now, of summer stars
cleaning here and there through the
foliage of the trees And then stood in
the great library of Rutherford House.
Lord Rutherford was sitting by the table,
with the light falling on his face, writing;
but as l entered he looked up. What
said I know not,--whether made full
confession and besought pardon, or wheth-
er gasped out few accusing sentences,
and lett Eustace to guess the truth,-I
never distinctly knew. Some words Of
his, though, stamped themselves on my
heart, and haunted me for years. 81
| Tell me one thing, Magdalen," . he said
| sternly,-' that ring, was it Captain De.
verils gift?". a e ~
Eyes" l answered family. q
Then you told me q fasehood; gou,
| Magdalen, stopped to the degradation of
untruth. have indeed been deceived"
| There was q silence-a deadly silence
| during which Eustace Rutherford stood
looking down on me from his tall height
with an expression Of stern resolution. I
knew / was condemned; my judge was
| Just but merciless. ,'tf2
Il will grant your request, at length he
| said in clear, low tones; IL will apologize
to Captain Deyeril he spoke truth; and
then he turned and walked out of the
room. and left me- IS S
| never saw him ain,-indeed never
Twas very Ill after that, and it was weeks
before | recovered complete consciousness,
or could comprehend the few lines of fare
well he had left for me before starting for
the Continent. He did not reproach me
for the past, but he only said that we
ought both to feel thankful that before,
rather than after, marriage we had discov-
cred how totally unsuited we were to make
each others happiness. Il
Guy Deveril left the neighborhood dur
Ing my illness. You see, Mabel, my pun
ishment was not undeserved but. 1t was
heavy. And now what cay you to the
pearl ring9 Think you that it is an
arlspicious bridal gift? Is