Buchanan County bulletin. [volume] (Independence, Iowa) 1869-1891, 1877-06-08
rising from her knees, and her slight

rising from her knees, and her sligh,
figure swaying.
Mr.. Kyrle caught her in his arm.
and with one hand turned up hel
face toward him so that he might
scrutinize it.
"Child, do you love some Other
man?" he questioned gravely, with a
keen glance. But her eyes looked
back at him with frankness in their
limpid depths.
81 wish l did," she replied earnest
ly; "for 1 would appeal to him to
save me from this fate, since you re
fuse to do so. No; it is only that
hate-loathe-this Mervyn Tyrrellv
"But why? He is not one should
have picked out for your husband:
but he is well-looking, and 1 sup.
pose true and honest in the love he
processes for YOU"
"What matters If he be true and
honest, or if he loves me or not,
since abhor him with my whole
heart and soul? Father she
clasped his arm with both her hands
and gazed piteously at him-"do you
really mean that there is no escape
for me-that l must become his
wife?'
chester, child Of NINE must not
be called jilt and dishonored by
the world, and it would be dishonor
on your part to draw back now
Mr.. Kyrle answered pompously, IN
a hard voice.
"Then, God help me, since you
won't! Oh, that l might die before
tomorrow" she murmured, with a
heartfelt pathos.
"Hesterw
For once the "father" shone out
of the steely gray eyes, and misty
look came over them. The sight
touched her at once.
"Forgive me for worrying you,'
she pleaded. 81 suppose you are
right, and that everything should be
sacrificed to honor. l will try and
resign myself" and she turned quiet
ly to go away.
Mr.. Kyrle stopped and pressed a
kiss on her forehead. He was not a
demonstrative man, and the caress
was SO rare that the girl looked up
at him wistfully and in astonishment.
"My poor childr' he taltered.
care you sorry for me, father?-
1t is at any rate 4 comfort TO know
that you pity me, if you cannot help
me-" she said, with faint effort at a
smile that ended in sob.
When she was gone, John Kyrle
went back to his chair, and bent over
an open book; but the muscles round
his mouth twitched nervously, and
he brushed away with a shaky hand
a drop that glittered on the page
before him.
chester, you are late," Mrs. kyrle
remarked in petulant voice, as she
swept into her daughters room on
the morning of the wedding.
chester" did not seem to be con
scious if she was late. She leant
listlessly against the easement in a
loose wrapper; her long golden hair
was unbounded, and her face was
very pale and wan. But it was her
eyes that were strange; they wore a
scared look, and deep luster shades
underlined them.
cam I?' was all she answered.
without moving from her position:
and the tone of her voice struck
painfully on her mothers ear
Mrs. Kyrle-foolish, frivolous and
underbred Mrs. Kyrle-had plumed
herself on having achieved stroke
Of diplomacy; and the serious tone
Of her daughters voice depressed her
exultation to an unpleasant degree
She had maneuvcred and managed
with that wonderful skill that espec-
tally belongs to cunning and unscrup-
ulous feminine nature to force Hes
ter into marriage to which her in
clinations were violently opposed
And she had felicitated herself i'm
mcnsly on the success Of her scheme
Yet there were sparks OF maternal
feeling lying at the bottom OF her
heart, although they were incrusted
in mass of worldlincss and selfish
ness. The suffering that had been
lcglbily written on Hester's face du
ring the latter days had brought a
few qualms to her conscience now
and then, and not all the speclous
arguments that egotism finds to jus.
tify itself to its worshipers could
quite smother the approach of the
still, small voice that would assert
itself.
81 am acting for her good, and she
will thank me for it hereafter" was
the stereotyped phrase by which she
sought to salve the whispers OF con
science.
"Turn, Hester, and let me see il
you are looking your best, as you
are in duty bound to do to-day
There was no answer. The girl
did not heed OF even appear to hear
the words, but stood gazing vacantly
up into the blue sky, where some
feathery clouds were floating slowly
by. .
cit is time that you were dressing,
Mrs. Kyrle went on, in accents that
had grown sharper through Hester's
silence.
eyes," answered the voice; but
the figure never stirred.
"Leave her to me, Mrs. Kyrle;
and girl in bridesmaids gear came
forward from the other end of the
room. ''Trust to me that Hester
shall be ready by the time the clock
strikes eleven"
"Thank you Maude. l will leave
you to your task: and it seems to
me that you will find it difficult
one;" and Mrs. Kyrle rustled angrily
out of the room.
chester, you must dress!" and
Maude Wymer threw her arm around
the girl and tried to draw her round.
"Very well;" aud this time the
figure did move. Hester walked
firmly across the room, and deliver
ed herself into the maids and
Maude's hands; and in little while
she stood arrayed in her satin dress,
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