The Orangeburg news. [volume] (Orangeburg, S.C.) 1867-1875, 1874-03-07
The Secret of the "Blue dloset."o

pier little home than George Burton
bad, seldom falls to the lot OF fhny man
His Annette and tho cheessy, bli she
some cottage of which she wak the Mi.
tress, so wonderfully became css,k other
and got to be so associated in his fancy.
that it is hard to tell which hf thought
smiled upon him the sweetest iwelc ,m
on his return to them for rest|Rf.er the
burdensome labors of the day. fd3aa ,
George Burton was har9.workine
lawyer Day in and day oat he vas
busy studying and trying casesf It.was
only at home, in the eveninGA, chat he
could call his time his own, land spent
it as he chose, which was Usually in
reading or talking to Annette. But
even then he kept "don' supplied
with law-books and other Implements
for work, whittier he would retire, ou
occasion, to consult with soghe impor-
tunate client.
That room was Annette'si aversion
When George shut himself UP in it he
was lost to her for the rest sf the even
ing. She called it the "Blus Closet ;"
but, unlike the haplass Fatimas she felt
no wish to explore it's secrets.f Perhaps
it might have been differelSt had her
husband kept the door looked and the
key l6 his pocket. 31aaoC
1t was one Of Georges working even
ings, and Annette went td spend an
hour with her chatty LITTLE neighbor,
Mrs. Cherrup, hoping herr husband
would be disengugcd by tho time she
got back. But on her return, the door
of the Blue Closet was still shut, and a
light streamed through the kssyhole.
With sigh of disappointment, An
nette was passing on to the ilittle parlor
to wait till Georges worf was done,
wien she heard the sound .iees; one
of tsiem a wonan's, broken with sobs,
the other that Of taer husband, in low
and earnest tones She distinguished
the words "deceiver" and "villain -.
uttered by the fnrmer, followed by some
thing that sounded like remunstranc ce
on Georges part.
Annette had never known what it
was to be jealous, and was not more
curious than the average of her sex
but for once she felt an unaccouutablc
desire to penetrate the secrets of the
Blue Closet. 1t is hardly probable she
would have pceped through the keyhole,
though possibly she might have stayed
to listen longer if the opening Of the
door had aot put her to fight.
She heard the footsteps of George
and his visitor along the passage, aud
the opening and closing OF the hall-door
as they went out together. What could
it all mean? No lady clients had ever
called there before. Then the sobs, the
passionate exelumations, Georges earn
est remonstrauce-all taken together
perplexed her entirely.
She sat down and tried to read, but
the words had no meaning. Half an
hour elapsed, and George did not re
turn. She began to feel uneasy, yet
wouldn't admit as much to herself.
What was there, after all, in Georges
going out with. the strange lady? At
that hour it would have been rude not
to see her safe where she was going
Still, Annette would have much pre-
ferred it had George been at her side
at that moment.
She hardly knew what impelled her
toward tho door Of the Blue Closet
Somehow it possessed strange fasciua
tion for her. 1t stood open, aud light
was burning within. She entered, aud
approached her husbands writing-desk
On it lay an opened letter. Between
her and George there were no secrets,
and she took it up mechanically. The
words were traced in yoman hand,
and purported to be written by an
absent wife to her husband. "Dear
George" the letter began and, after
going On to announce the writer's inten
ton soon to rejoin him from whom she
had been SO long unhappiy separated,
it wound up with "Y yur Affectionate
Wife,"
Annette staggered as if under blow
She had not known George long before
their marriage. He had come from a
distant city, and they had met as stran
Xor. put bo hcd obnwn h;moale in II