The Evansville journal. [volume] (Evansville, Ind.) 1866-1870, 1868-04-08
COUSIN JANE.
CONCLUDED TO MORROW. ]

proud of hun, 1 was happy. y. so
happy Perha ps you remember nat,
even before changing my dress, /
went down to the garden. | had
foolish fancy to gather some Of my
favOrite flowers, aud take them with
me. | thought to be alone there;
but some one had given Mr.. Forbes
letter, on our coming in, and he had
gone TO the garden to read 10. 4 saw
him in the summer house, sitting ln
your chair. his head flung on the Ia
Bile, hisarms clasped above 1t; and 1
heard him grooming as If he were IN
great agony. | turned cold and trem-
bled. / knew it was no physical
panR that wrung those means from
! him. The letter he had been reading
was on the ground by him. | picked
il up and stood with it in my hand,
| looking at him He had net heard,
and did not heed me. II looked just
I az the frsf. words; and when | read
them, Z could not leave off till / had
| finished the whole letter. God help
me 1t was a love-letter, written to
my husband by one who had been
compelled to betray him; but who, at
the eleventh hour, repented her error,
and asked to be forgiven She wrote
| full Of hope and fondness. She had
| suffered so much that he could not,
she said, be long angry with his own
| Anne Yes, she called herself his
own. | was his wife; | had not been
an hour married. | still wore my
white dress. my veil, and my orange
wreath, and another woman wrote
thus to my husbandl He now reused
himself and saw me. | still held the
letter in my hand. and my face, no
/ doubt, told him that / had read 1t;
| for he took it from me and walked
away-both without a word. [ won
/ dered hoWEhe felt. G Was he sorry the
| letter had not come sooner? Would
/ he have given me up, even at the
| altar? | know better now know
| Mr.. Forbes could not be dishonor-
able; but then my mind was not my
own. One thing, however, was clear.
/ He had wished to marry me IN order
to punish the migrate, and to hurry
| our marriage in order to forestali
hers and show how little he felt her
| faithlessuess.r He had taken me.
| poor, plain and unattractive, that l
might owe him much, and he, the
rich, handsome gentleman, owe me
very little. That was it, and cousin
| William, it was very bitter.
You now know why we are not
and cannot be happy. 1t is because
| I read that letter. / am like Psyche,
/ and, like her, | pay for my error. If
liz had remained ignorant, l should
| have been content. Mr.. Forbes would
| have acted his part to the end, and to
| the end | should have thought that /
| had fascinated him. But my poor
| little pride has had a fall, and little
| cousin Jane has been sorely humbled.
| She knows, what you knew all along,
| that she was never loved, but merely
made the instrument of an angry
lover : revenge. Still, must be Just
to him. [ am sure he meant to make
me very happy-to be generous, kind,
and attentive, aHd, perhaps, in the
end, he would have liked me. Only,
you see, now he cannot. l know too
much. As he Is In your presence. so
is he in private perfect gentleman.
I, wh9 meant to ybeI,sO good, so de-
voted, so dutiful, even, never find a
kword to say to my husband an
swer when he speaks, and that is all.
i / am as. cold as a. statue When heis
| by | feel it, | know it, and | cannot
sIhelP it, that Annie is ever between
us, and she freezes me. l have never
kseen her; [ do not know who she is,
or what she is like; but sometimes
4 lie awake at night and think, 1T he
were to find me dead tomorrow
| would he be- very sOrry?--he could
I marry his Annie " a<r
Poor little Jane My heart ached
for her, and it ached all the more
that l. fapoied she was fond of her
| husband. Ell
Jenny. Jenny said I, with a
I sigh, " / will tell you why you can do
hnothing to win Mr Forbes; it is be-
cause you ike him.
She. bid her face IN her hands, and
saw her forehead, her neck, even,
turn crimson. tatJ -gs. ta aul
=" Yes, that is it" she said, at
+. length, looking up and turning pale
! again. l like him-I who re-
preached myself for not caring
enough about him when we married
4 /, who meant. to try 50 hard to get
! that liking like him. He does not
i see it. be never will see j.; but if he
should, | shall be the most wretched
Of women. 1tris the Thought Of my
Indifference that reconciles him to
his 77lot: if he knew thoF truths be
/ would find it uncomfortable
-a"" How do you know that2'a askeds
much startled.
I cannot tell you, but IaknDw it.
II nearly betrayed myself once, and [
cannot forget 4isrlook cobnnaasiness
I and alarm.
Jane, ypuslandegyour husband !