The Columbian. [volume] (Bloomsburg, Pa.) 1866-1910, 1877-08-31

1urance to the woman miles away from her
own friends, and coldly ignored by the
friends of the Gorhams, fully aware of her
mercenary treachery.
Yet she endured as patiently as possible,
ill the old man, pining for Jane and Gill
bert, sickened and failed visibly.
twas when all hope was gone that the
young wife cautiously, but very plainly,
urged the necessity of making will. 1t
seemed to her as it all the misery of life
concentrated in the peevish reply
81 have nothing to will. All the property
belongs to Jane! only hold life lease in
my late wife's estate"
"Jane - gasped Myra, remembering the
terms in which she had intimated
to that spinster that she preferred to reign
alone at Fern Nook.
certainly If Gilbert's father had lived
he would have shared in the property, but
it all reverts to Gilbert if Jane dies unmar-
ried"
All Gilbert's? And might have been all
hers.
Myra felt too stunned and miserable even
to cry So that all her base scheming, her
feigned devotion had led her only to this, the
beggared widow of an old man.
But after the funeral was over Mrs. Cor
ham made a few discoveries. First, all the
deep black of her dress, with the fine white
line of her widows cap, the somber Grape
and soft snowy taretan were most becoming
to her brilliant blonde beauty. She studied
her dress to its minute details and when it
was perfect formed her new plans. In her
late husbands desk she found $1,000 which
she appropriated, leaving Miss Jane and
Gilbert, who came to the funeral, to defray
all expenses. She accepted Miss Gorhams
offer of the use Of the house for year, and
when she was left in possession unscrupu-
lously sold many small but valuable articles
there.
When the year was over, and Miss Jane
Gorham once more opened her house to her
friends, she was mute with CONSERVATION
when one day carriage, heavily laden with
N"SS"5e, uio'o up W Hel uooI, Tom WHICH
alighted her fathers widow, who threw her.
self into her arms, sobbing
"Do not send me away. I am dying in
the gloomy seclusion of my dear husbands 5
home. Let me stay with your
She stayed, Of course, Miss James old
fashioned notions of hospitality were too
strong to permit her to turn guest away,
even if unlimited and unwelcome. But she
smiled grimly to see howGilbert's face fell at
the announcement of the visitor.
"She is my fathers widow" said the spin
ster gravely. $50 we must endure hel
for time"
She was a most fascinating widow when
she appeared at the late dinner, in a thin
black dress, all jet and trimming, with some
knots of black ribbon in her profusion o.
golden curls. Her color was softly tinted al
ever, her blue eyes as babyish and winsome
yet when her first evening was over she knew
she had gained nothing in her effort to re
capture the heart she had thrown aside.
But she did not despair. She sang the
old songs that Gilbert had once heard with
rapture. She varied her dress with laces
ribbons and jewelry, till its pretense OF
mourning was mere mockery. She put
herself in Gilbert's way with every dainty
device of feminine needle work. She OBJ
tained permission to prepare his favortt
dishes with her own white hands. And, a,
if to try his constancy, Miss Jane aided anc
abetted this scheme for her nephew's fortune
and spoke but little of Ellen, never inviting
her now to tho house. so that Gilbert wa!
forced to seek her more and more in he
own home, and found her ever more lovely
and winsome from the contrast with the lido
he had proved to be clay. 1t was six months
after the arrival of Mrs. Gorham in her step
daughters house, when Gilbert, returning
from drive with Ella, met his aunt in tn,
hall, and, clasping her in a close embrace
whispered very softly;
ella is mine Wish me Joy ~
"From my heart" she whispered back
Radiant with joy and hope, Gilbert, afte
changing his drving-dress, hurried to tn
sitting-room, to tell Aunt Jane "all abou
it," He had absolutely forgotten their CUES
and it gave him an unpleasant shock, whel
he found her, seated in a low chair, busiet
about some wool work, that showed to grea
advantage her tiny white hands, glitterin
with jeweled rings.
She rose to greet him, and then, to his em
barrassed surprise, she clasped her jewele,
hands, and. bursting into tears, sobbed
"Oh, Gilbert, do not look at me so coldly
! cannot bear it. know deserve nothing
from you but contempt, but if you kne,
how sorely my mother urged me, how i'm
Fortunate your grandfather was, you wou
forgive me. was insane with their perse
cutions, and | thought in my misery that
could still see you, and perhaps-some da
when | was free again-I--"
And here even her effrontery gave GU, AN
she only sobbed convulsively. Taken b
surprise, every gentlemanly instinct urge
Gilbert to comfort this woman so recklessl
offering him what it was once his fonde,
hope to possess. But his whole soul shran
from her, his manly, true heart was onl
outraged by her unwomanly advances.
Gravely he stood, looking down upon h,
as she shrank into the chair, sobbing an
covering her face, and yet furtively watcl
ing him.
"Gilbert, speak one tender word to me
she implored; 'say you do not dispise me
But he did, He sought for words to COZ
vey his meaning kindly, and they would n
come. Blushing like boy, in his conf
sion and pain, he said gently:
81 am very sorry, Mrs. Gorham"-
'It used to be Myra," she sobbed reproac
fully.
"True, but those were days that can ne
er be recalled.
"You are cruel"
/ l.