The St. Cloud journal. [volume] (St. Cloud, Minn.) 1866-1876, 1871-06-22

"--S1s A~Je yAe p,.
- :. .u!ntx S.-oea - 10 y x;
/: ""Yowt t4bnot.earsS ii66ore for him ;;ttdsh
I cared fd&a fdaRbi1 u bi1liard Stanton, yet he
proved to be unworthy the regard of
any honorable woman" a.. - |
"Esther! Esther! There wrAu1ease
been sor' dreadful mistakep I silc.-'@@
lated iu+pain und astonishuelt:~ ~n', -; ,od I,
"No-the'e was no mistake. .sWsald
to God there bad been -! The, psocf - !
clear and convincing. .!aug ,dAssnJa
doubt the evidence K ff r. Ri, 2tc aa1n;es"
II cannot underatand:at .Fg1 I re-
Piled, hardly knowing wtsati to think,
only feeling sure offbas3gz%k %kthing, and that
was that there s0asra mist.ke some
where, if one could ouly find where 1t
was. There was nothing equivocal or
untruthful about this woman her word
was good as gold, and I:evould not be.
lieve that Willard Stanton Was such
man as she thought him.
II cannot understand at ALL
"No; you cannot understand until l
begin at the beginning. You remem
ber that accident l wrote you about
when papa was thrown from the car
rage? Dr.. Stanton attended him. He
was skillful physician, as you know,
and papa liked and trusted him more
than any man who ever came to the
house-nos even excepting Louis.
"You remember his way with wo.
men-gentle and courteous always,
whether he was speaking to a servant
or Presidents wife. To me be SEEM
ed different from all other mcn-bet-
ter, and | learned to watch for his COM
ing, to listen for his step in the hall, to
be sorry when he went away, and look
forward to the time when he was to
come again.
"Be was man, and, having eyes,
could not help seeing these tokens Of
preference, I suppose, though I never
guessed what the signs meant. But one
day I was helped to view of my own
heart.
"Papa's library was very large and
fine one, and Or. Stanton had standing
invitation to spend as much time as he
chose in it.
II happened to 90 into this room one
day, not knowing that the doctor was
there, or that he was in the house at
ALL He was absorbed in'his book, and
in spirit Of mischief I stole up behind
his char, and putting my haudF over
his eyes, bade him guess who it was.
"'Mi<s Esther he said and quick
as fash, before I could get away, he
turued halfway round, passed his arm
about my waist, and kissel me. l tried
to break away from him, but he held
ne fast tor an instant, then suddenly
released me, whispering: Il will not
hold you against your will. Do you
want to leave me, darling ?"
II stood still, little way from him,
covering my burning face with my
hands. He did not offer to touch me
again-only looked at me with his dark,
earnest eyes, saying tenderly:
"'1 am waiting for you, dear. If you
love me, come ,"
II knew then that did love him. I
longed to belong to him, to be with
him always. Oh! Louise, these are
shame III words for nle to say, but they
are the truth God forgive me how l
loved that man And all the tine
oh Louise, I can't tell you that
yet.
"It had known then what I knew
afierward, I should not have done what
[ did then-went to him and laid my
head on his shoulder. His arms closeu
about me tightly be drew me down en-
his knee, giving me passionate kisses,
that thrilled down, down to my heart
I didn't know then, Louie, that: his
kisses were infamy, shame to me"
Was she going mad, my poor Esther
OR what did these strange words
mean l.? Her checks were crimson, her
eyes burning, ard her hot hands held
mine so tightly that I could almost
have cried ont with pain. But I would
not interrupt. I must hear the end Of
this strange story.
"He made me kiss him, and then
not beforc-he told me in words how
we'll he loved me. A woman had de-.
ceived him once, he said, and he had
vowed that he would never again make
declaration Of love until the lady had
first confessed her affection for bin, but
now be was the happiest man in the
world,
"1'm telling you this, Louise, ss if it
was all true. I thoug int it was true
then. believed him when he said it
with his arm around me, and his heart
beating so close that 1 could feel every
throb. don't know how long We sat
there only know he said that I was
to be his cherished wife, II papa would
give me to him-hc would a: k him as
soon as he was little better,-and
murmured something in my ear, term
of endearment that made me somehow
draw closer to him with kind of still
happiness. Oh! Louise, he seemed SO
true then, and I found him so false!
"The very next morning woman
called to see me, bringing with her a