Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1877-09-06
The DESERTED BRIDE.

Upon his large estate, in remote
province of Wales, lived Lord Cover
Accustomed to the splendor and reti-
nue. of court, he had suddenly aban.
doned them all and removed to this
sequestered spot, taking with him his
only daughter, the Lady Isabel, then
lovely child of eleven summers.
The castle had long been unoccupied.
and required much care and labor to
restore it to anything like its former
elegance and when all had been done
it vet looked lonely and forbidding.
Built upon ledge of rocks close
by the sea, tho fierce winds howled
like wolves among its turrets, and the
uneasy waves forever fretted and
moaned beneath its battlements.
Many wondered that the old lord,
with a daughter FAST growing up to
womanhood, should have chosen to
reside in a place at once SO isolated
aud so unattractive. 1t was not,
however, generally known that great
shadow had fallen upon the family. A
murder had been committed, and the
son, who was a wild, reckless fellow,
had been suspected of completely ;
and finding himself unable to disprove
the charge, was obliged to flee for
safety. In vain he had pleaded his
innocense.
Previous wrong-doing had prepared
Lord Cover to believe the worst OF
his misguided son; and he warned
him, upon peril of his life, never to
return to the home he had so signally
dishonored. Only the little Isabel
had kept faith in him, and, with true
woman instincts, loved him the more
because of his utter friendlessness.
Her new home, solitary and seclud
ed as it was, did not tend to forgetful'
ness. Naturally sensitive, and pos
sessed of q vivid imagination, the
trouble affected her almost morbidly
and she came to look for the white
terrified face of her brother in the
floating clouds, and to fancy that the
winds shrieked to him in warning
and the waves moaned and sobbed
because of his great sorrow.
Very beautiful she grew, though {
touch of shadow rested upon the fail
face, and the violet-blue eyes were al
ways heavy with unshed tears.
Others saw this, but her father tool
no notice. His son exiled and disin.
herited, he had fallen into habit o
gloomy silence. Not that he intend
ed to neglect the motherless Chile
who remained TO him. The best o
goyernesses were provided, and faith
| full servants attended to her physica
wants; only the love which, to mos
children, is as necessary as food ant
raiment, was denied her.
Required to 60 through routine
of lessons, neither threat nor entreaty
could compel a love of study. Onl!
music she cared for, and that became
an absorbing passion. Possessing {
rarely melodious voice, she devoted
herself to its culture, aud no lady il
the land played so skillfully. Espe
cialy she loved the harp, ant
made it the interpreter of he
soul; all her hopes and fears, her re
grets and longings, finding utteranc'
through its tender harmonies.
Lady Isabel was in her sixteenth
year when the young Count Rudolph
distinguished for his comliness ant
his valor, in travelling through tina
portion of tie country, sojourned a
her fathers castle.
The fair-hared girl dawned upor
him like vision of enchantment-;
picture of perfect loyliness. Fascina
ted with her besuty and intelligence
he was no less charmed with her mu
sic. Day after day he fingered, anC
the shadow lifted from the fair face
apd the violet-blue eyes shone like
twin stars. Moreover, the gloom anC
lonliness of the old castle was dispell
ed. The birds builded in the caves
and in the chimneys, and swoopet
and sang about its windows: ant
flowers doomed within and without
Gradually the faces in the clouds
came TO look peaceful; and the men
acing voices of the wind blended into
a grand diapason; and the lamenting
waves frolicked in the sunlight. lisa
bel felt the change, and marveled, moi
knowing it was herself had changed
that Love, the great necromancer, had
touched all things with his wonderful
wand.
The count was not slow to perceive
the impression he had made, and
pressed his suit with much ardor; in.
deed, so persistent was he, that the
old lord finally yielded consent, and
they were to be married on the brides
nineteenth birthday.
Cheered by the frequent visits Of
her lover, she still could not forget