The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1877-08-29

ideal was near him.

ideal was near him.
And while these old residents of
Fern Nook were quietly gathering
up broken threads of life. 10 weave 4
more perfect web of content, MIRA
Gorham Was eating out her heart 10
bitterness. Instead Of an old. indu'-
gent husband. ready To hum1r every
whIm, to give her idolatrous deyo-
tioo, she found herself tied 10 a
querslOus invalid, who had been se
customed to the unqnesiioning ab-di-
ence and devotion of his daughter
aud grandson, and who exaeted a
similar care from bis reluctant wife
In place of balls, concerts and oper-
as, the gay life Of tie metropolis.
Mrs. Gorhsm fouBd herself shut ap
in country house, certainly suili
cienily handsome and well appointed
to meet the most fastidious taste, but
lonely beyond endurance to the wom-
an miles away from her own friends.
and eoldly ignored by the friends of
the Gorhams, fully aware of her mer-
eeaary treschery.
Yet she endured 1t as patiently as
possible, till the old man, pining for
Jane and Gilbert, sickened and failed
visibly.
1t was when all hope was gone,
that the young wife cautiously but
very plainly urged the necessity Of
making a will IL seemed to her as
if all the misery Of life concentrated
in the peevish reply:
II have nothing to will. All the
property belongs to Jane cnly
hold life lease on my late iie's
estate"
Jane" gasped Msra, remember
ing the insulting terms in which she
had iniimated 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 unmarried.
All Gilbert's, and might have been
all hers.
Myra felt too stunned and misera-
BILE to cry. To think that all her
base scheming, her feigned devotion
had led her only to this,..tbe beggared
widow of an old man
But after the funeral was over
Mrs. Gorham made few discoveries.
First, all the deep black of the dress, |
with the white line of her widows
cap, the sombre Grape and soft snowy
tarletan were most becoming TO her |
brilliant blonde beauty She studied |
her dress to its minutest detail, and |
when it was perfect formed her new
plans. In her late husbands desk |
she found FIVE thousand dollars,
which she appropriated, leaving Miss
Jane and Gilbert who came TO the /
funeral, to defray the expenses. she |
accepted Miss Goraam's offer for the
use Of the house for a year, and /
when she was left in possession un-
serupulously 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 one day, when a
carriage heavily laden with bag /
gage. drove up to her door, from
which alighted her fathers widow,
who threw herself into her arms, sob
bing:
"Do not send me away ! am
dying in the gloomy seclusion of NV
dear husbands home. Do let me
stay with youn
She stayed of course Miss James
notions of hospitality
were too strong to permit her to turn
\ guest away, even if unlimited and
But she smiled grimly
10 see how Gilbert's face fell at the
of the visitor.
"She is my fathers widow" the
'pinster said gravely. 80 we must
endure her for time
She was q most facinating widow
when che appeared at the late dinner,
q thin black dress, all jet and trim
ming, with some knots of black rib
BON in the profusion of her golden
urls. Her color was softly tinted as
.ver, her blue eyes as babyish and !
vinsome yet when the FIRST even
ng was over she knew she had gain
d nothing in her effort 10 recapture
he heart she had thrown aside.
But she did not despair She sang /.
be songs that Gilbert had once ,
Iesrd with rapture. She varied her
Iress with laees, ribbons and jewelry,
i'll its pretense Of mourning was a
nere mockery. She put herself in
iilbert's way with every dainty de-
ice Of feminine neeGlew0rk. She =.
ntreated permission to prepare bis
,voriie dishes with her own white
ands. And, as if TO try hisconstau-
y, Miss Jane aided and abeited this
rhemer for the nephew's fortune, and :
poke but little of Ella, neyer inviting |,
er now to the house, SO that Gilbert
ras forced TO seek her more and !,
lore 10 her own home, and found !.
er ever more lovely and winsome :
'om the contrast with the idol be 7
ad proved TO be clay. IL wss six
lontns after the arrival Of Mrs. Cor !,
am in her step-dsnghter's house, :
hen Gilbert, returning from q drive \
ilh Ella, met his aunt in the hall, :,
nd clasped her in close embrace, :
hispered softly: y
Ella Is mine. Wish me Joy, ~ :
:. From my very heart, she whisper : :,
back "
Radian, with joy aud hope, Gil !
.rt, after changing his driving dress, ! !
irried TO the sitdng-room 10 tell !
unt Jane ~aIl about it." He had :.
,solutely forgotten about their = =
lest, and ii gave him an unpleas- y =
1t shock when be found her seated =
low chair busted abou, some : :
ool work, that showed 10 great !,
Vantage ber tiny white hands. gilt !,
ring with jeweled rings =
She rose TO greet him, and then. To :, =
) embarrassed surprise, she elssped q q
sr jeweled hands, and, bursting 10 = =
tears, sobbed: :.
"Oh, Gilbert. do not look at me 50 er