The Lake County star. [volume] (Chase, Mich.) 1873-current, 1875-02-11
LOVES SACRIFICE AND REWARD


"And is this. your final decision?"
"It is"
The full, lustrous eyes, looked un.
waveringly into his; there was no sign OF
tremor in the ripe, curving lips.
III thought loved a true woman;
find that / am mistaken" said Richard
Boughton, bitterly. 'fYou are false"
Her gesture was half entreaty, hall
command.
Spare your comment; this converse
tion is distasteful to me. Let us end it,"
Richard BOughtOn bowed coldly, and
turned away. She watched him as he
went down the garden walk, his proud
head thrown back, every motion express
ing powerful manhood, tense and nerved
by sudden controlling passion. He lifted
his hat mockingly, bowed low, and strobe
firmly down the road.
With choking cry and dimmed eyes,
Maria Warton turned and fed to the
privacy of her room.
"Oh, Charlie-brother Charlie |" she
mOaned, "what have you done? Must !
lose all now-all hope, joy, love? Oh,
how / have thirstcd- for love how
have hungered for some one who should
absorb every feeling, emotion, and give
equal passion in return And to lose il
now, after years of waiting; to go back
to the husks and poverty of divided
hearts-to feel the bitterness of lonely,
solitary existencel Heaven, it is more
than can bear r!"'
She wrung her hands despairingly.
The pride that had sustained her was all
gone now. She was woman, wretched,
solitary, stripped of woman's primest
need-love.
"And to be condemned by him
Looked upon as false, trihing, guilty (!
Condemned, and yet unable TO reveal the
truth But am true, Richard Bough-
ton.-true as life!"
She looked up proudly through her
tears. She was no weak k.hearted, senti-
mental girl, Maria Warton; but a glori-
GUS wOman-resOlute and assertive.
After that first concession to suffering
womanhood, she put aside weakness, and
was Maria Warton again. $500,
Thirty-four years had crowned her
with queenly grace-a form full, rounded,
and commanding, regal head. and a
truthful, noble face. Weak, presuming
dandies had dashed their vanity against
her selfreliant nature, and pronounced
her heartless; strong, noble men had
caught glimpses of her true worth and
nature, and gone sorrowfully away be.
cause they were unable to stir its deepest
impulses; and at thirty-four she was
Maria Warton still. 3
But Richard Boughton that summer
in the country had gained what many
nnged for. Maria Warton found in him
what her heart craved, and her surrender
was complete and entire.
1t seemed like dream to her that this
man, courted, fattcred. and honored by
his fellows, should come and Law all at
her feet, fame, heart, and supreme love.
In return she yielded her most perfect
love; all the longing of lonely years
found complete satisfaction in his love
every thought, feeling, emotion, and de-
sire in him.
Maria WartOn's nature was proud and
strong; and like all selfreliant natures
when she succumbed, her submission was
perfect and total.
Now, let us explain something.
Quietly entering the shaded parloi
some days before, she heard voices outside
the window-Richard Boughton convers
ing with his friend, Frank Wilbur.
II would never marry a poor girl,
said Boughton; "I should always dis.
trust her love, and fear that she married
for money. To retain my love, woman
must be beyond suspicion"
Maria Warton laughed softly. sDeaI
Richard" she said to herself, "yeu car
never suspect me of doing that. Nv
fortune Is large enough to make me in.
dependent of that consideration"
How carelessly she heard the words
then; how unimportant to her they
seemedl But how chillingIy they came
back afterwardi
How cruelty she remembered them
when Charlie--fair-haired, irresolute
dissipated Charlie, resemblance of his
weak mothcr-her only brother, wrote to
her from the fashionable resort where he
was scjourning with his helpless baby.
wife, that his fortune was gone, that he
was penniless. And worse still-aIas
this was the most bitter of all-he had
proved unfaithful to his trust, and the
fortune Of an orphan ward intrusted To
his care was 50 wandered. -
Weak, selfish Charlie, how earnestly
he implorcd her 20 relieve him ! Hi
trust must be accounted FOR; exposure
was at hand would she not save him
Give him her fortune, ne wrote, and he
could escape exposure, restore the trust
and be safe. He wopld care for hei