Vermont watchman and State journal. [volume] (Montpelier, Vt.) 1836-1883, 1869-08-04
Vol. 64.-8277. No. Al.

" want 70 tell you that yOu nave done
right You have refused me the only thing
| cared for in life You have sent me out
into the world a waylarcr, without hope or
interest, but you have done right We shall
be thankful, both Of us, when we come TO
death and judgment. God bless you, and
forgive me-"
He was gone before she could answer him,
and she heard him saying good bye TO her
husband in the yard Was she never 10 see
that handsome, loving face again in all time?
never TO hear again that voice which had
spoken to her words Of such strong tender
ness Was it her destiny to 90 on in the
old cold life, till she was an old old woman
Why, she might live to be cighty-people
did sometimes, and she was only eighteen
now. The late July was warm and bright
out Of doors, but she felt strangely cold. She
got a shawl and wrapped herself ia il, aud
then some idle tears, Of which she was hardly
conscious, fell, till they had somehow eased
by little her woe
Mr.. Hannalord was wise enough to stay
away from her all the afternoon. Before tea
she tried to make herself fresh and bright
for him She would not half do her duty.
| When the meal was over, she saw with
surprise that her husbands favorite fast horse
and light wagon stood in front Of the gate.
viii you 20 over to Danbury with me ?"
he asked, following the direction of her eyes
Can you get away? | thought at this
time of day you were always 20 busy"
"Ycs, but the busiest days are over. The
hay crop is almost all in The rest can get
along with the work withoutme and | should
like to see little more of my wife, now that
| have her all to myself again
She tripped up stairs for her shawl and
her turban hat feeling more light of heart
than she would have believed, two hours ago,
could be possible.
Have | made you understand Alright,
wonder, this little woman's not uncommon
/ type Of character | f she had had strong
er and deeper individuality, she would have
been less easy to content Now she asked
only for enough love. She had nature
which needed summer days aud sunshine
lips ripe for kisses fond, smiling eye cling
ing fingers Love, per Sc, was more to her
than any particular lover and, as she had
said, she had loved her husband FIRST But
love she must have, or life to her was utterly
without hope or SAVIOR. She had intellect
enough to understand Warnings tastes but in-
tellect was not her speciality. She had lit
tie originality, and could never make of her
mind kingdom. But she was pure and
sweet, with a native-horn conscientiousness
which would be likely to carry her safely
through places which might have been full of
peril for far stronger women and a capaci-
ty for self.devotion if she could only be loved
tenderly enough to call it forth, which in it.
self was infinite.
She remembered how sad Waring might
be at this hour, and felt herself an unfeeling
monster because her heart was growing so
glad, as she bowled along by her husbands
side over the pleasant country roads, with
the sunset light upon the fair, new-mown
fields, and the clouds opening gates of fame
into the celestial kingdom.
When they reached home at last, after
moon and stars had risen, her husband lifted
her out, and held her moment in his arms
while he kissed her. She felt herself blush
ing like girl. As for him, in this strife to
! win her heart anew there was more Of excite
ment and endeavor than he had ever known
in the easy days when he was her lover
Having felt himself near losing her, he began
! to understand how much keeping her was
worth his while.
! She went indoors quite at fault about her.
self Whom, then, did she love ? Could it
be that she was so weak as to be constant
, only to what was present? Had Hugh War
ngs strong tenderness taken such slight hold
: on her light nature that she could be happy
: with another on the very day he had gone
away sorrowful Then she reflected that
this other was her husband, in whom only
, her happiness ought to lie. What then She
would not think out her puzzle. Instead,
with hope young again in her heart she made
her hair smooth, her dress tasteful and went
3 down stairs to sit in the moonlight beside the
/ man from whose GOODNESS, only last night, she
had been tempted to flee away.
Do not ask me for running commentary
: on my story | show you a woman as she
was. If you cannot comprehend her, or ac-
I count for her moods, be sure that you are no
! worse off than she was, for she did not at all
comprehend herself.
5 For few days her husbands newly-born
r devotion made her happy. Then reaction
4, came over her, and she was wretched. The
better satisfied she became with him, the
: more dissatisfied she was with herself. Not
4 caress did he give her that she did not
think" Would he do this, and this, if he
, knew how near had come to loving some
one else ~ She grew at last to shrink secret
| ly from every demonstration of his love and
e he, watching her keenly, felt that somehow
e the past was raising barrier between them,
and wondered sadly if his best endeayors
}, were to fail, and this wife Of his heart was
1 never again to be fully and freely his own.
+ As for her, she grew thin aud pale. Her
c bright lips werc bright no longer, her eyes
had dark rings under them. Night after
I, night she lay awake and thought, and thought,
= coming always to the same concusion-she
t had no right to his love until he knew all /;
e and if he knew all, he himself would with
e draw it from her She was not ready to
trust him, because he had been so old for his
G years, so fixed in his ways, so unimpassloned,
l. during all the first months Of their married
g life, that she could not believe it would be in
!, his power either to understand or to forgive
IS her. SO she went on, bearing her burden
: through slow days and silent nights, until the
: anniversary Of their wedding day came round.
= Through the day her uncle and his wife
II were with them and a few other friends. The
y little festival was of the husbands planning,
e and the wife felt that in barely living through
e It, in hearing and answering congratulations
n upon her happy fate she had gone to the ut
is termost limit Of her endurance. The guests
le wondered at this white, still wrath, this un-
,r wifelike bride, this woman whom a single
d year seemed to have turned to stone. Joseph
4. Ilanaalord's heart sank within him. Was
y nothing, then, left for him but to plant rose
ie mary over the grave Of bis hopes How
n thankful he was when the last guest was gone.
ID lle came then and stood beside his wife, and
'r drew ring from his pocket.
:, 81 don't know that you will caro- for it
II now, he said but got this ring to give
e you as the token of new bridal. If you
could love me to-day as well as you did one
ie year ago, | think could make you happier,
>, for / understand better what love means to
J women"
" She drew away the hand he had taken. A
! brilliant color famed in her checks, and her
. heart throbbed chokingy, but a courage