The state rights democrat. [volume] (Albany, Linn County, Oregon) 1865-1900, 1869-11-26

) bcupeS eVeflookcu upOn---fuIiS, YlleS
! and groves, and silver river thread.
, ing close between the green banks.
4 The farmers wife---or such thought
her--cam out with glass and pitcher
! i OF sparkling water in her hands. We
lquenched our thirst.
II Mrs. Vincent, whose eyes had been
fixed intentlyon the little child toddling
at her feet, bent forward suddenly ~
she turned away 10 make some remark
on the beauty Of the scenery, and clos
ed by asking the strangers name.
'Leayitt, ma'am, said the woman,
looking rather surprised ut the ques-
ton, Ieavitt."
/ turned, struck by curiosity, to
i glance at the woman Us she disappear
ed. / saw fair graceful figule, coun-
tenGnce icas stl1lingly beautiful than
Rachel's but fine and winning in its
expression. This, then, knew ut
once, was Robert Leayitt's wife, Rach-
els old lover. Ho'had reconciled HIM
self To his disappointment. stole q
look at her. saw her hand tremb,e
as il held u cluster Of water lilies on
her lap. and her face growing white
under her veil. No one else noticed
her emotion. There were two other
ladies with us, and soon she was chat
ting away gayly MS usual; but we never
came that way again.
! think Rachel and her husband did
not live very happily together Hc had
something Of his mothers impeIious
temper, and think, as | haze said
before, that ne began early TO doubt
the wisdom of his choice.
1.-The next few years were very i'm
portant ones in our home. Ny sister
married. my father died. and our little
household was completely broken mp.
/ heard about that time suddenly of Il
separation between AIr. and Mrs. Vim
cent, and thai the former had sued for
n divorce. OF course everybody took
the gentleman's side. lie had friends
and means-the wife had not q rela-
tive in the world He got his case,
how. ] do not know; but / suppose by
some quibble OF the law. ! cannot
think Rachel was criminal. She did
not go away froIa here II she had
done 50. people would have said she
was with her alleged lover, Captain
Lessington but. on the contrary. she
hired room III the village and took IN
sewing to support herself. She had .
brave heart. Most women would have
shrnnk from such n course, but she
chose TO live scandal down, and took
the only way she could to uphold her
innocence. She had been generous in
her days OF prosperity; no one laid
word or act OF pride against her. and
so there were very few to rejoice IN
her downfall. She had taken her old
name OF Rachel Richards again. /
wonder IL she did not wish she could
SO back 10 thoae dear old days, hnpp:-
CT with all their petty notifications
and griefs than tho gloomy years of
wealth and honors.
aIr. Vincent was not happy. He
had won his case, but how could he
be? / think there was a lingering
tenderness in his heart toward his
wife, after all. He could not convince
himself of her sin, and, though she
had erred, he must have known That
he, too, was in fault. They met some
times in the village streets, the pale
seamstress on foot, the rich country
gentleman IN his carriage
These were bitter meetings, but I
think the husband bore the keenest
pain. You look surprised. / know
that Rachel was poor, and poverty and
labor are no light things when one has
no object but the common bread they
must eat to strive for; still, you for
get that, even in the beginning, the
chains OF her married life were woven
out of very different material from
wreaths of roses, and that, when harsh
words came, as no doubt they soon
did, the bondage might well grow liz
tolernble.
AS for Vincent, he had what his
wife had -recollections of family
honor, and the CONSCIOUSNESS, too,
that he had acted hastily, both in his
marriage itself, and in its late repudi-
alton"
'eWhat became of her?" asked Fan
ny 'cDid they come together again %
''No, stranger thing came about.
After more than twelve years of this
life, when Rachel's dark locks were
thickly woven with silver and the
bloom of youth had quite passed
away, Leayitt, then widower, came
and renewed his suit to her r
why, Mrs. Burgess, how could
he?"
''It was very natural, my dear,
though such romantic events seldom
come around. Mr. Vincent was dead,
and Mr.. Leavitt, knowing her as well
as he once did, never could have be-
lieved the aspersions on her character.
Her life, too, by that time, had lived
them down. !"
''But she refused to marry Mr.. Lea
vitt?"
Yes, and no doubt he felt it keenly
enough, but his own marriage had fol-
lowed afterwards, and he had had an
ample time to lose the freshness of his
modification and anger. She had suf-
fered enough to atone for her error, he
knew that.
How wonderful it was they should
come together at last. I don't think
she deserved so much happiness.
"God knows best, my dear. She
had some excuses for her faults. She
never had any mother, poor thing, to
remember and as I have told you,
her lot with my aunt could not have
been a very happy one. If Mr.. Vim
cent had been more patient, more toll
Grant with her faults, though she never