The Tiffin tribune. (Tiffin, Ohio) 1868-1887, 1877-03-22

-. ID.
y Fhemie says, That must be Mis-,
I, COurtensy at the study window. 81,
q Is very much ike you on A smaIIsv
! scale ; and Phemie compares the twr
4 faces as sne walks in at the gsta
9 Both nave the same shade Of dsrE
9 hair, growing low over the forehead
y the same gray eyes a1d well-eut fea
o lures.
; Open the study door, Arthur Cour
9 tensy says Miss SeatOn, my sistel
= Phemie feels q sudden instipetiy,
0 liking for the grave sEeet-faeed wo
: man who rises TO greet her, which
ma5es her say impulsively, "I am .,
7, glad ycu have come -
Si0yi is little Disconnected by this
: giriish caaGOr, bHt is charmed 6y the
: speaker nevertheless and she an
2 swers smiling.
, "Fhank you thst IL more than
: Arthur said when l came last even
Ing Ny greeting was, 4 did not ex-
pecs you for q fortnight He was
| quite sorry, belleve." /"
Arthur laughs at her.
i would have forgiven you n YOU
; had brought the KennicOtss with Won
} ne says Il should like to see them
, very much. l must try and run up
TO Cercombe while they are there !:
you were fortunate in having them
i % travelling companions all tie way
! from Hedgely."
: Pnemie turns to him with su
abrupt impetuOus gesture
Inc kennicotes - she cries. tIs
Mr. Christopher KennieOte gone to
/ Caercombe again ?n
An eager expectaut look comes sfn-
tc her isee, sDd her eyes grow bright
with suddenly renewed hope. Is it
possible that ct last she is to hear
some tidiugs of him Will he come
on from CsercOmOe to ROscorla even
now at the eleventh hour?
Arthur COurtensy and his sister ex-
eh2nge glsnces, with the light OF an
unforeseen revelation in them but
for minute or two neither Of them
answers her then Arthur is the fist
TO speak.
"He-sc has not gone with them
last ~
Just before Christmas we met at
CaeTcOm6e often saw him while I
was there with Uncle Tom but as
you saw some Of his people yesterday,
you ought to know the latest news Of
him, P0emie says, with 3 lame at
\ tempt at Indifference, to Sibyl. But
StbyPS eyes meet hers with a grave
compassion in them, that sends a
chill to Pnemie's heart, which has
Just been beating so fast with re-
awakened hopes. "Whst is it 21 she
cries, in frightened voice, betrayinR
her anxiety, and laying q trem bling
hand on Arthur COurtenay's arm
"tell me ~
II CANT" he answers her #; "Sibyl
must ;" aud thea goes hastily out of
the room, leaving those two alone
standing facing enc another.
! When the door has closed upon
him, Sibyl says diffidently, "Forgive
my asking you such q question, Miss
Seatoa, but am l fight in thinking
\ that you and Mr.. KennicOte were en-
gagged It seems aa impsrtinencs
while l am such q stranger to YOU"
she adds apolOgetieslly, seeing that
/ Phemje bldShes almost painfully,
But l see il is true. Can you bear
the news l h&ve to tell you ? And
Si6yPs face grows very pitiful. she
/ is dead"
All the color fades from Phemie's
face, and her white lips just whisper,
How long ?"
/ Sibyt Courtenay has not tortured
the girl by delay and breaking it to
her gently by degrees, and again she
answers her in little short sentences
that tell her all she wants to know,
without an unnecessary word but it
is from no lack of pity or sorrow for
the pain she is compelled to inflict.
Nearly six months" she says. "He
was thrown from his horse the day
after ne left CaercOnbe he had not
| been at home tWenty-fOur hours.
/ THANK God 20 Phemie says, rever-
emily falling-On her knees beside the
sofs and hiding her face in the eush-
| ions, overwhelmed by strange sense
/ of mingled thsnkfulness and bitter
self-reproach. Ali doubt as TO his
honor or his love for her is at an end
there Is now no shame, no wrong in
loving him and yet she has blamed
him. thought i'll OF him all these
months. Can the dead forgive the
| living their wrong doing and mis-
judgments Phemis cannot tell, ard
is cut to the heart.
| Sibyl looks down upon her in sor-
rOwful amszement.
"DO you understand ?p she asks
dOubtfully.
"Yes," says Phemie; eyes. That
was why l never got my letter he
| had no time to write to me-"
"But he did, SibyI says "at least
l have letter which think must be
for yOn."
What was Chris to you that you
should have my letter ?p Phemie .
cries, lifting her face, stricken by q
sudden Jealous fear of Sibyl Courte-
nay, as she watches her 90 to her desk
and search for the letter she has
spoken OF
"We were very old friends, but I
nave no right to it, know" says
Sibyl, with tremOr in her voice
"Only when his sister and were look
! ing over his papers we found an un-
finished letter, with no name men,
toned in IL by which we could find
out for whom it was intended, and
forward It, so Edith gave it to me-"
So speaking, Sibyl Courtenay only
tells half truth, for Edith KennicOte
had given her the letter, saying:
81 believe be loved you, Sibyl l
can't help thinking that IL he had
lived you would have been my sister,
in spite of this. Who knows how
this woman to whom he writes has
entangled him ? 1t must have been
q mere passing fancy, nothing more,
or we shOuld should surely hsYe
known her name, something about
her; he was only away three weeks
altogether, and Chris never had 3
secret from me in his life BEFORE"
SIT may be 30 partly, but be never
loved me as he loved her. Yet Edith,
| should like this letter for keepsake,
il no one claims it +; will you give IL
to me after a time ~ Slbyl had said.
"If you like. Take it now, it is
three months old 50 don't think /
can have been written to any one
who loved him very much, or she
would have made Inquiries sfter she
saw 'it in the Tunes. o Sibyl, why
wssn't this for you instead OF some
utter stranger ," Edith Keuuicote had
| answered regretfuliy.
I 5ibyl Courtenay says nothing of all
I this she is too tender-hsarted, too
/ gentle to grieye tbis girl by telling
/ her that once, never mind how long
4 ago, Christopher KennicOte had come
so near 10 loving that she had thought
even as Edith did. Let Phemie Sea-
/ ton hold her memory wholly her
own, even as his heart had been In
those last days OF his life. Sibyi is
/ too loyal in her love to speak one
word that might seem TO cast slur
upon the dead; so in silence she gives
his letter into Phemie's Outstretched
I hands, and going 10 the window
stands there looking out, that Pnemie
/ may not see her eyes are full OF tears,
and guess how hard it is for her to
part with the only scrap Of his hand
writing watch she possesses.
/ PnemIe opens the Letter eagerly (; it
/ is dated December 23d, and begins,
f'My dearest" 1t is written on one
| side Of the sheet and few lines into
the next, aud there it ends-the rest
is blank and when she has read 50
far she breaks into bitter crying, as
the knowledge fOrces itself upon her
that now the unfinished page will re-
main unfinished through all time.
While rsading his letter it had been
difficult, almost impossible, to believe
fhae ha haA F.u-r. civ hack