The Democratic advocate. [volume] (Westminster, Md.) 1865-1972, 1869-05-13
Select Storu.
NELLIE'S REPENTANCE.
al ,eiU not, Norman !'

-h"' N'N'S " s'u o'ouBht hcf Ittlc
foot down uponthe carpet with force
that shook all her bright golden hair
from under its little lace morning cap,
and sent it rolling in golden shimmering
waves over her shoulders
There was light in her blue eyes
which her husband had never before
seen there, aud the fresh red lips which
had always greeted him with smiles
were parted over the white teeth with
an expression Of unmistakable scorn.
at is cruel and exacting of you,
Norman, when you know how much,
how very much, like Mrs. May, aud
how found she is of me- 1t is selfish
to ask me to give up the society of my
best friend, just to crafty capricious
whim of yours"
Aud Mrs. Weld burst into tears.
II was not in Norman Yields nature
to see womans tears, uumoved. II is
scarcely that Of any man, when the tears
are those of his own wife, aud that wife
one so fondly loved aud tenderly cher.
ished rs Nellie.
His habitually grave aud quiet voice
was full Of troubled tenderness now, as
he bent over her, and said in tones Of
gentle remonstrance:
"Nellic p
"Don't Norman" was the pettish an-
swer, as she turned away from the CO.
ressipg t,uch Of his haud upon her soft
golden hair. ~ am not child, TO be
tyrannized over one moment, aud coaxed
into good humor the next"
Selfish, cruel, tyrannical. It was too
much.
Mr.. Weld taok his hat with that 10.
discribable air which injured husbands
know SO we'll how TO assume, aud left
the room. With a slow step he passed
down the stairs and the street.
Was it wrong, he asked himself, for
him to win this bright young life to
gladden. his quiet home, aud diffuse the
sunshine Of her buoyant spirits over his
graver, maturer, life ? For though
there was n difference Of but ten years
in their respective ages, many cares had
made Norman Weld older at twenty
seven than most men at thirty live. He
thought Of il now with something like
contempt for himself. He might have
known that he could never make her
happy; he, with gravity Of demeanor
that was almost steruuess; aud she, with
her joyous, loving disposition, for Mel.
lie was good.tempcred and affectiouate
generally, in spite Of her wiliullness.
But he had not meant to be tyranni.
cal. No, no! He loved his wife too
well for that Many fair women looked
kindly upon the brilliant lawyer, the
wealthy Mr.. Weld, Qacenly heads had
dropped, and fair cheeks flushed at his
approach, but the childish Nellie, with
her winning demonstrative ways, undis.
ciplined and uugovcrpable as she was,
had drawn him 10 her by strange,
sweet fascination, when more beautiful
and more intellectual women had failed
TO make any impression upon his heart
Aud after all his efforts to make her
happy, she had treated his first request
with such unreasonable childish anger.
Something weightier than the great
law suit Of Hobart rcrsus Long pressed
upon the spirits Of Mr. Weld as he
walked slowly down the street that win.
ter morning; and his copying clerk,
Richards, 70 whom an honest lawyer
was a paradox, and law a sublime mys.
terry, Thought, as he watched him FROM
the Office window, that some now legal
stratagsm must have takco possession
Of his braiuto make him walk at that
pace. whpn the thermometer stood lwen.
" degrees below zero.