Northern Ohio journal. [volume] (Painesville, Ohio) 1872-1896, 1873-11-29

for q young woman whom |
the hour and place had lifted into the |
fine atmosphere of sentiment and ideali- |
ty. He was sturdy, solid sensi Ole to vtlie |
core, man we'll 1on the western slope
Of his fifties, but of good presence, a |
man, too, who possessed the one desid- |
eratnm before which everything else |
paled, in the eye of my relatives at
least. He haf1Ta large fortune, he had |
made it himself, while still not too old
to enjoy it, although his long residence
in the East Indies, where he had been
engaged in large commercial specuia-
sions, had Drowned him like nut, and
made him hopelessly bald. s
L was n woman. 1 knew from the be-
ginning, that Rolfe Renard liked me.
He had been a widower forever twenty
fortune, and drifting slowly beyond his
prime, he had returned to his native
land, intent in setting himself in hand
some home with a wife equal to doing
its honors gracefully. Aunt Madge be-
gan to feel that all her trouble was to
have its full recompense now. In her
perspective, was the mistress of the
elegant home of the returned East ~
dian, and what would badness and
brownpess, and years that doubled my
own-nay. what was far more than all
these, what would any inherent antag-
onislns Of soul and temperament weigh
in the scales of this mans wealth? Not
feather. As for me it would be diff
cult to convey any idea of my feelings
at this time. / was not certain of them
myself. I knew Fought to be very hap
py over the prospect of having achieved
the highest destiny of woman; but
| was There was the rub! overheard
Aunt Madge say to Uncle Jacob:
| "My dear, I had kind of Fremont
ton that, q golden plum was to fall in
Honora's lap" <-t -...
ssShe will be lucky if she draws that
fish into her net, my. uncle replied.
! His mind was mostly of the imagina-
! tive type; and when his fancy rose or
| fell into metaphors, they were certain
| to be of the coarse, or at least saliently
/ kept up sort of shifting weather vane
of talk, little puffs of light jests, com
ing and going like bleatings of the
i wind, and that these often went down
into long minutes of silence. Think
that Aunt Madge had some notion of
| what was to transpire that night, for
just as we were starting out she came
and threw a light shawl about my
shoulders, saying, with a rather unusu-
j al air of tenderness: "You are care
Hess child, HonOra, and never remember
/ the dews, are heavy at Featherhead. A
stray wind plucked at the fleeces of my
shawl. Mr.. Rennard stopped and ar
ranged it for me, and somewhere in the
process my fingers got into his, and to
get them away again, his grip was so
, Efrm. would have involved little strug-
4 gle on my part.
:, .sAiss Trumbull,n he said, 81 have
something to ask you tonight
eyes. I know it, I answered. SCI
have been expecting It ever since we
|, came out" and It seemed, after all, that
! my own lips spoke the words less than
; something which rose out of my soul
and uttered thena He held back and
, fon the part of my cavalier.
az think you do not understand me,
.. Miss Trumbull."
eyes, Z do,1 will be beforehand with
you." I was at that moment above and
, below myself. A swift desperation, a
!, great self-loathing possessed me. Fof
, chat instant whatever I was courageous
|. to the death. 1 faced my fate without
!, fiinching. " -s-s>
You were going to ask me to be
your wife, Mr. Rennard."s L believe
, amazement took away his breath for a
!, moment. A man must be very much in
: love with a woman to stand speecl
like that, but his answer was not long
! Eyes, That is precisely the question
|, which i, Was about to ask you, Mis-
! TruInbull." =
1t was generous Of him. Even in tht
!, wild tumult Of the moment, even then
1 felt this, seeing L had placed my.
4 self with such unmaidenly reserve IL
= The moonlight was on his face I
: : was OH mine. The soft trickling Of
Z waves upon the sand at our feet. Ant
;. then I turned. and fronted him, ane
7 though the lips that spoke were still my
+ own, it seemed as though some force in
I. side of me, carried me outside of my.
y self and compelled my utterance.
v 81 must be frank with you, for once
e at any scost, at any humiliation to my
l. self. You are a good man and yo,
n meant to give me the best that was il
e your power to give-too good a man t.
IS be cheated by such woman as l am
{, for. 1 have done my best to bring you t.
d this avowal. / have fiirted, and coquet
!. ted, and used all my feminine arts, b.
i. they more or less, to have you fall il
h love with me-that's what I've beel
/, about all summer, and did it-withOu
!. one particle of affection for you, bu
l. simply because you were a rich man
/ and they told me 1 would make splen
d did match if L secured you, and wa
d SICK Vi uCpcuueuCc diut tifCu OI poverty
,r l wanted a home, and ease. and luxury
II such as with my hand you would b.
3. certain to bestow upon me. You mus
. despise me forever, for what l have toll
Il you tonight; yet if youknew what m,
u life had been-what poverty is to wo
10 man when the way is all hedged abou
q her; what have seen it in my poor mo
Ie ther's case--I should not, perhaps, b
y go utterly despicable in your eyes as
,e. must seem now. Perhaps I shall
It sorry that I told you the truth, to-mor
:. row, but tonight, alone with you her
IyJ under Gods sky, with. His moon an,
stars above us, and His sea before us,
,e had to tear away the lies and the dis
r. guises, and show you my own soul, an
ty how, if you mademe your wife, Ishoul
be bought and paid for, Rolfe Rennart
o. like any other slave"
f. There stopped; the fire was in IN
r. veins. Since that night have under
m stood how delicate shrinking women
ts have risen when the hour struck, to th
8, Eleyel of mighty courage, and gon
se frequently to dreadful deaths of scaffol
lesIsapd stake. C srs
ne The moonlight was ON his face and o
n mine. I had drawn my hand away
Of and could see a white stunned loo
ty growing on him while I talked.
in Then he wentoff without speakin
let a word, walking mp and down anon
az wet heaps of sea-weed. and left m
ld standing there alone; with the soft tick
ed ing of the waves upon the sands at 10
le, feet.
a less How long he walked there upon tn
1t, Isands land sea-weed, do not know
h Minutes or: hours were much the sam,
he as stood there facing the white glitte
ut Of the incoming sea. I seemed all a1on
l. in the world, and my old life droppe
z.s away from me; and Ihardiy knew m.
ks self; but through all the rest there was
ne kind of fierce joy and sense of freedo
Id within mc-I had told the truth, as
se- would tell it at the court of Heaven.
I'm = At last MIR. Rennard came back. sH,
nora." he had never called me this b
he fore, you have been al. honest lit
mt girl. There is not another woman
ed the world who would have the coura.
~ to face the truth Tonight as you ha7
he done. Il honor yo,is for it.: i will
led content with what friendship you cs
lu- give ne. / will try to make you hapt
&C, my child: VIII you be my wife?"