Edgefield advertiser. [volume] (Edgefield, S.C.) 1836-current, 1868-03-04

cut Margaret PerciYal needed them not; for
within her heart light roster than chat of
dawn, richer than the sunsetgIow, was begin
ming TO shine. T. 9a'.er2 i''o aas ,tiee3sa
|.S;sr es.rs za-, s.- 7lA ~ aal;,e,sys
Three days later, she stole to Derwents
sdesaud said falteringl :.a -,
my .hpsband-what Of him2 / have
wished and yet dreaded to ask you"
"He has been very ILL.," replied Wallace !;
land is still feeble. He needs the care of q
wife," ....-,-.-. -. ,...-s
:, Margaret's cheek burned, and tears filled
her eyes. as she said:
|aA'n He might have had it, had he been kind
/ and generous. Is be penitent Z? Does he re-
gret that he proved so cruel, so false2" .
"Cruel he was in many respects" resumed
Dcrwent; "but he was never false"
Margaret shook ber head ldissentingly.
2 '"I seem to be living it all over this morn.
ing" shessaid ). /" ours was a hasty marriage,
as you perhaps 9know. I'VE met at q water.
I.ing. g.place, where. he had firted several sum-
,mers, but that was my first season. Tas not
beautiful, but they called me brilliant | was,
too. the daughter Of higb-born and high
bred, yet decayed family. He was of plebe-
ian origin, and have since been told that ne
coveted patrician bride to give eclat to his
wealth. We had not been acquainted three
months when We went to the altar; we did
not understand each other, and L was too
young to know the duties and responsibilities
of wife. What could have been expected
but dissersion and strife? We were both In
fault; first there was pickering, then open
quarrels, thenicy coldness aud distrust:?
F" But through the WHOLE interposed wal
lace, he suffered as we'll as you. An enemy
deceived you into the belief that he was ialse,
and poisoned his mind by insinuating that
you had married him for his wealth. These
facts know, end l know, too, that ne loves
you yet" :.
Margaret Percival bowed her head and
wcpt, but those, were blessed tears-theey
Were, tears of,joy. : :,s-zts 3 s :
/ That afternoon Richard Lincoln was alone
in his grand drawing room.,s Very luxurious
were the velvet cushions on which he lay /;
very Pleasant the light falling through those
rose coiored curtains; very rare the pictures
and sculpture on which his eye rested when,
ever it rovcd around. But he wsslonely and
i'll at ease; and his thoughts dwelt regretiully
on, his long. lost. wife aud child.
Papa, dear papa," murmured a sweet
voice.
The nan started could this DC lingering
fantasy Of his illness? No; before him stood
o graceful girlish shape and the face of his
beloved daughter was actually smiling upon
him.
Bessie, nv darling, my pet, my treasurer
he cried, folding her to his heart in wild
embrace. "Oh Bessie, how have longcd
to sec you!'
And my mother" r"-said the girl, "wou!d
she be wecome?"
ooh yes. yes, Bessie, a thousand times J
As he spoke faded woman in plain
Shakeri>h garb tottcred towards him. For
an instant the husband and wife stood look
ing into each others eyes then Richard Lin
coin sank al Margaret's feet.
"If your place is in the dust of humilia-
tion mine is beside you,' falered the woman,
and she flung herself down at his side.
He gathered her in his arms, his tears
rained over her pale face, and then all was
confessed, and forgiven. leave my reader
to picture their subsequent life, peaceful and
harmonious, and stretching on into green
old age, when both waited not without hope
of re rnion on high, for the angel who should
"loose the silver cord" and shatter the gold
en- bowl.
Three years after her fight from Canter'
bury when Bessie Lincoln had matured into
beautiful womanhood. she became the wife o.
Wallace Derwent, and in their pleasant home
they still live to talk of the time when they
nsed to correspond, with the school-house
door stone for post Office; Bessie, too, oc
casionally gathers her long. bright curls un
der close cap, relic Of by-gonc days ant
standing prlr, and dcmure by her husband
sings the Shaker songs.
There was great excitement a! the Shaker
settlement when it was ascertained that Mar
garet and her child had absconded but thei'
fight was shrouded in mystery for severa
weeks. Then letter, addressed to DAME
Pearson, shed light upon tho matter it raT
thus:
"Encosed please find $4,000, the amount yo'
paid me for my labor did not como among yo'
for money. but for higher ol,jsct-to win tn
heart and hand of Bessie Percival. She and he
mother fed under my protection and arc now sal
in their former homc Yours. &c,
WALLACE LYsLE DERwENT,
/ alias Jouy HUDSON"
IA pretty trick he has served us" NUT
tered Daniel, and FASTENED TO lay the lette
hnforo the Elders.