Litchfield enquirer., 1877-09-13
"was lis s61vyeai very sad, thsn9'I one Of us us

| DS S'oAJ Sous UA0A! - OAo OA us e Ah,F very. And we were all so youngl 1 will tell you all about it; always said
 would. l do not mind speaking of 1t now;
 It Is all as If were speaking of some one else They were three brothers," she said afterR moment, ssand they were all
 my lovers, and IT loved the oldest. He
 was my lover as said; but sometimes ] have doubted If he loved me as he loved those bfothers of his, half dozen years their senior. He had been father and
 notheEs stO them, and he compassed heaY-
 en and earth for their wishes. Ah,, we'll,
 wellt so, noble being never lived before.
 Greater love hath no man-hath no man.
 She paused & moment again, her voice trembling. "Row strange, "she resumed,
 presently, "that should be telling, this
 so calmly! Oh, it s0Gs a storm-it was a sstorm!n and her old hands clasped and
 unclasped nervously. ssWhatsa dark and
 dreadful time of horror, and anow 80
 tranquil But I will tell you. You always
 do seem so like my own. children might
 have bean all but Mir. Stephsns mean, P
 she said, with quick laugh. that restor-
 cd her to herself. as'One day we were in
 a boat together alone upon, the ittla riv-
 CT. How remember it all--the green lboughs meeting overhead, the shadows
 underneath. the sunlight sitting through,
 and his passionate face, as he said some
 simple words that let me know, not that
 he loved me, but that he wished to
 know if I loved him -as if that had al-
 ways been understood that he ex-
 pected me soon to be his wife. loved him
 oh how loved himp said the oldlady clasp
 ing and unclasping her hands again. ''But
 some evil spirit seized me. was 8 CO.,
 quette; I answered him lightly. How
 did he know,' I said,, but that was al-
 ready plighted to Ralph?' We had hung close to the shore, beneath the great
 boughs. and looking up as spoke, saw
 Mark, the second brother, sitting in the boughs-oh. so strange his face looked thenl beckoned him mischievously, and in moment he had parted all the leaves and sprays, and was threatening to spring and swamp the little boat if we did not let him in. That night, at the home of the three brothers, there was fearful contest Il the cause. Ahl this soft sweet sum- nner night who could believe it? and could l ever have believed I should sit here calmly and tell of it to those who were not born? They had grappled; Ralph vas killed; his eldest brother was found red When Mark came home from his ramble, the officers were carrying that brother to prison. He never opened his lips concerning it from that day." said Mrs. Dalrymple, with sob in her voice. ''He employed no lawyer, although the court appointed one; he refused to plead guilty or not guilty. will hurry. He was sentenced to death; his sentence was to imprisonment for life. AS for me, I would not believe it; never be- lieved it."
 ''Never?" said MT. Stephen, hoarsely.
 ''Never. I sent Mark to procure me admission to the prison; he came back saying 1t was refused. I wrote; Mark brought mo back the letter unopened. His brother, he said, would have no fur ther communication with us. At length, as if worn out with my importantly, Mark exacted of me pledge of secrecy. There was no needl There was no needl He ;old mo that with his own eyes he had seen the blow struck. and had gotten away that he might not be used as evi- lence. But did not believe it then. I gathered all my ready money; I went to he prison and gave 1t to the keeper, in ny ignorance thinking it necessary. It vas the day of the sentence. I was taken
 0 the cell and left. He stood up hurried y to meet me. So changed! so changedl White as death. but his great eyes burn he held out his arms to me. waited one moment, one fatal moment. Tell me first cried-'oh, just say your- lf'that you are innocentl' His arms fell. You tool he said, and he folded his arms lpon his breast, and stood there, his head allen, surveying me from under his eye ,rows. You tooP Oh. don't know what here was in the words, but I fell upon he floor, fainting dead away, and never aw him again. Nothing made any differ nee to me then. Mark was very tender o me in those days. I felt as if he ought l o hate the sight of me. It was five years 'efore I married him. I never loved him; ut he was nearer than any one else. I hould never have married him but for messages of something little short of
 atred that he brought me from the pris- n. Why do tell you all this, my
 ears?" she said, suddenly stopping. "And lr. Stephen too? Only, perhaps, because l ou are part of my life now-you and e-and this life is as real to me now as hat. That? No, that is a dream: as the | ying do not weep, so the old do not sui or Tn reliving the past. It is no longer | ay story; there is no sacred secret about | ]; 1t IS the story of that young girl of | 1hom l spoke to you. Well-to go on. | 'erhaps it was because he knew did not | ove him; perhaps he wearied of me: per- aps to see me only recalled to him his | rlme. We've were not happy together. | Ve lived long life of wretchedness. Yet, 'eing his wife, tried-yes,I I tried-nev- r to fail in my duty. I bore with him.
 nursed him faithfully in those final ears of nervous illness that wore him to l is death and nearly ruined me. It was he last day that, pillowed in his bed, his hastily face like death re. animated, he old me his secret. All his life he had wed in luxury; his table had been sumpt- ous with meats and .wines;his horses had cen fleet; his bed had been of down; he ad married the woman he loved; he had l ,ealth. freedom, all mems honor. His | rother," she said. again with that dry | ob, ''nad prison cot. prison fare, sOli- | lde, labor, chains. all mems contumely | nd contempt; yet. of the two, his broth- r lot had been the best: he had lain on | oses where Mark had lain on red-hot | oais. Let grief and loss and want have cen his-he had had the proud inward onsciousness of innocence. For it was lark who was the felon,. who was the lurderer. It was my husband who had l filed Ralph. His elder brother, in that reat love of his, had taken all the bur- en. and Mark had let him do it.'' Mrs. 'alrymple was silent again, and we did | ot disturb her. ''Oh, it was hard to for i've himl" she cried. ''Have I forgiven i'm? l do not know. But with what mad aste wrote out the statement, called for
 illnesses, read it to him before them, lade him sign it with his dying hand. 7as it cruel2 Oh, he had been doubly cuell The pen dropped from his fingers ith the, last faint stroke. I bent and issed him then, and took his head on my reast. He looked up in my face with lch relief in his tortured eyes--and then 3 was dead. Unpublished I that statement p and down. I went to the prison to | III his brother, and to make prepara ton 'r his freedom; for although we were oth so old--sixty sad years had we seen least-there a was time yet for little aDDineSs in the bittar world HA had |