Northern Ohio journal. [volume] (Painesville, Ohio) 1872-1896, 1874-02-07
CHI APTER III.-coNTINUEp.
fCONTNUED.l

RSA% tCoN1ANoEo'l
s. - s SHE very i'll, charlotte7'
NNA very iii, indeed
@ Alwyn ! Looked ok q thoroughly as,, mi mis-.
Had he shown his grief less. or strug-
gied against it more, would have been
more satisfied. AS it was, felt to a
horrible degree that uncertainty Of ac-i
ton in which right and wrong seem to
change places, till one hardly knows the
one from the other.
Fate, or circumstance, or his own err
ror, had led my brother into position
whence his next movement must -inev-:
itably create misery aud wrong to some
person-loubtless to more than one. A
choice only. lay offthe lesser misery.
the lesser wrong.
? II he had then, or even had had, any
prior attachment, if his temperament
had been sterner, and not, as l. knew it
to be, inclined to love every huMan be-
ing who cared for him, there could not
be the slightest doubt chat he was not
bound-in fact, it would have been an
absolute sin--to marry Marjory Blair
As matters stood, I wavered. He was
fond and yielding in bis nature, his
conscience tender, his sense Of honor
keen, and to be loved was q necessity of
his existence. Besides. he would need
so much devotion, SO much forbearance
throughout life; safer, | thought, for.
him to marry woman who loved him !
than a woman whom he loved. vsis s4is
Whether my theory grew out Of evil
dence, or i found. evidence to suit my.
| theory, l can hardly tell, but reasoned
thus: No one will question the fact
that mans love, however passionate
and intense, must, from its very nature,
after marriage, become calmed and set
| tied down, often temporarily cooling,
| until the new bond, watch has in 1t
more OF affectionate friendship than
passion, is formed between the pair
this baud which, once formed endures
! forever; while, on the other hand, al
| most invariably, the wife's love grows,
becomes more deep, more patient. more
fond. than ever the girls could be. Ro-
nance changes into household tender
ness, exacting caprice is merged into the
| hum blest devotedness. Out of ten men
| who have. married in state of inaddest
alteration, would engage to fiud, at the
end of the second year, ut least eight
| couples where the wife loved the hus-
band more than the husband loved the
| wife.
began to question whether my broth
er might notdo worse than save from
lasting sorrow the foolish, faithful heart
of Marjory Blair. .es
'What are you thinking of p said he to
me, when for half an hour I had been
pretending to sew aud he to read, till OIL
looking up we found it was preteuce on
either side.
I paused moment, then dashed at
once into the honest truth: Il was
thinking ,,s Of poor Marjory.'
what about her?'
| 'That she must be of even more deli
| cate constitution than feared. Such a
trivial thing-a mere slip in a snow drift
Ito produce such a serious Illness
r. WAS silent. "a "a sE
Are you quite sure it was nothing
more seriouss Did you not tell me Il
was that, and only thatr
No, never did. 1t would have beer
telling falsehood.' .-
i Charlotte, you are cross with me
about something
Not cross with you, only very miser-
able on account of you. Oh, Alwyn
why did not nature make you All ugly
commonplace, harmless fellow, like tbs
generality of mankindf' "a 3 =
And putting back his hair I looked
into his 7nobles handsome face, with {
vague sense of pity for all womankind
The more SO as lie looked up in real un
icotlld not but forgive him, for half rth'
mischief he did, sprang from his owT
!, entire humility. - .9a -Lait.s
Don't talk nonsense, Charlotte; an
far too sad for that, Talk of poor Mis-
Blair. How soon will she be hersel
again ~ s2r
God knows!'