Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1873-03-13

seen her wear for months. Mrs. Summerville
was overpowered at the sight-she felt every
hope of a future reconciliation die within her
During the next few days she observed still
greater change in Florimond's demeanor
which brought her to the unavoidable conclu'
sion that Mrs. cambridge was relieved-nay
glad that her husband was languishing in a
Northern fortress. Day by day she grew more
cheerful, and that intense detection which had
so long characterized her delicately formed
spiritueNe features, gave place to look Of
calm serenity and content. This utter heart
lessness, as it appeared to Mrs. summerville
put her in quite state of Indignation against
Florimond. So, one day, when the young
mother was playing with her child in state,
for her, of boisterous merriment, Mrs. Sum
mervile remarked to her-"Florimond, |
have noticed great change in you since the
news of poor Albert's Imprisonment reached
US. Can it be possible you have allowed your
evil passions to get so much the advantage OF
your better nature, as absolutely to rejoice in
his misfortune?"
ut is such satisfaction" said Florimond,
shutting her ears to the severe tone Of her
grandmother's voice; "such great satisfac-
ton to know he cannot come home now to
annoy me with his presence, for long time, l
hope"
"For shame !" exclaimed Mrs. Summer
Vile, deeply incensed; "and he the man you
promised to love, honor and obey, until death
do you part!"
"No, he is not the man," said Florimond,
coldly "the Albert cambridge to whom, fol-
lowing the dictates of first and pure affec-
tion, gave my young heart, my life-and my
money; whose worldly estate gladly, proud
ly promised to share, was man of nobility
and worth. A man who was not to be insen-
sblc to my holiest, tenderest affections; who
was never to slight or neglect me; one who
was to be a faithful friend, guide and protector,
and who would love and cherish me to the
end of our lives. Such was the man mar
ried-or such I thought him and he, over
whose prolonged absence I rejoice, he is none
of this"
"Nonsense," said Mrs. Summerville. "He
is none of it, because you will not let him be-.
He says those letters he wrote you after
Berta's birth, breathed nothing but the kind
est sentiments. That no man could have
written more affectionate words to woman,
or humbled his pride more than he has done
to you"
"Those letters suere aAectionate, grant" u.
said Florimond; "but with only the forced af-
fection of an awakened remorse-a sort of love
for conscience sake I will have none of it !
This affection, neither in quality nor quantity,
can make adequate atonement for past cold
ness. For tyranny Ger word and thoug ht,
for neglect, for taking sides against me with
those whom, even in Holy Writ, man is en-
Joined to leave and cleave to his wife. And
do you think this lukewarm affection, which
as I have said before, has its existence only in
remorse, do you think it can atone to me for
the lost empire of my maiden happiness and
freedom? All! the gladness, the joy, the
music of those lost hours, when hope was un-
dimmed in my young heart, and Love still a
deity
"'These are JOYOUS things, forever
Dead, or fled, for me!
On the wind there means forever
One word only, which the river,
Murmuring, murmurs to the shore;
And the flocks, with chilly bleat,
Evermore that word repeat,
And that word is-nevermore!
Florimond repeated these lines in a tone
and manner impossible for US to convey.
Their pathos would have touched any heart,
and proved to any hearer that Florimond had
inherited from her grandmother that rarest Of
all gifts, delicious, irresistible voice.
my dear child" said Mrs. Summerville,
"your morbid feelings on this subject exag-
gerate and pervert the truth. The fact is,
you have been disappointed in your ideal ;
but this is no reason why all the kind and
noble impulses of your nature should be
warped, why all pure and generous emotions
should be withered. Even if Albert were
your bitterest enemy, it is but mean nature
which can rejoice in the misfortunes of an
other"
"Ascribe not such sentiments to me" said
Florimond, in an agitated voice. "There is
another reason. Whether he love me or not,
in any case, better Imprisonment than to be
shot on the battle field,
"And shoveled up into bloody trench,
Where, no one knows
And Florimond, subdued by emotion and
blinded by tears, lost, momentarily, the stony
impenetrability of the last few months. She
tried in vain to stem the torrent of her agita-
ted feelings, but finding she could not COM
mand herself, precipitately quilted the room.
This evidence of an undercurrent of feeling
convinced Mrs. Summerville there was still
hope for better state of things. Florimond
fed to the privacy of her own chamber, whence
she did not emerge for hours. Indeed, she
spent the greater part of her time there now,
and Mrs. Summerville, remembering her pre-
vious social habits-in fact, her seeming de-
pendence on the society of others for enter
ainment--wonderedh how Florimond coutrived
to pass so many long hours alone. One day,
when she had been longer invisible than usual,
she resolved to solve the mystery. Accord
ingly, she made her way to Florimond's door,
knocked, and on being admitted, found her
seated in front of large table, a book before
her, pencil in hand, and sheet of foolscap
-. - ,,,, ,r.;t;rc. IN Ju