The Princeton union. [volume] (Princeton, Minn.) 1876-1976, 1879-06-18
A CONVICT'S SISTER.

~ A CONNECTS SISTER,
II have told you there is secret il
nv life can share with no one. Let nj
90 my way and you yours, for we could
never be happy with a cloud of myster!
between u.s. ~1 y 45 *%5@8 s%a
I'm other words you refuse me"
There was quick resentment in Alfred
Graves tone, for the refusal of the woman
he loved to be his wife sent a blow al
once to his heart and vanity. He was not
a conCcitetl man, but when he offered his
hand to his sisters governess he certainly
did not expect q refusal There had been
many meetings before he spoke, and in
some of them he had thought Hester STREET
tons face betrayed her love for him in
spite of the cold manner that was habit
ual to her. .... .-. ....
Scarcely a man to measure his own
merits by the le1gth Of his purse, Alfred
Graves could not quite forget that he was
the owner Of a fine estate in the country,
several houses in town and five thousand
a,ycar, while Hester Stretton was his sis
ter's coverness. She had come to Mrs
Evans from a female seminary, with let
tiers of introduction; had proved herself
trustworthy with children; and no one
had any desire to pry into her pr ivate
affairs during the whole of the first two.
years. - Ii .. B.
Mrs. Evans considered her Il treasure,
and the children were much attached to
her and progressed rapidly.
Then Alfred came back from abroad,
and his sister, offering him the hospi-
talty OF her house at Guildford, sudden
ly made several discoveries. First, she
found out that although the family had
thought and spoken Of her brother as an
old bachelor, after all at forty he looked
Younger than some men under thirty.
Next, that Hester Stretton, though she
was reserved, was wonderfully far, and
could converse with Alfred long after the
topics were quite beyond the elder lady's
comprehension.
The old, old story progressed, day after
day. and she could find no good reason
for sending Hester away, and surely
house. Mrs. Evans was constantly devls
ing schemes for shutting Hester in the
school-room, for sending her long brands
and employing her time in needlework.
But if Alfred would lounge into the
schooI-room and insist on hearing his
nephews and nieces recite long poems
while he made pencil sketches of Hester's
profile; if he would join her just as she
started on the long errands, and was
seized with the desire to read in the very
room where the needlework was in pro-
gross, what could a prudent sister do
more?
twas some comfort that the ''infatua-
tion,' as Mrs. Evans mentally termed it,
was all on one side; that the pale face
never flushed at his coming, or the
soft, dark orbs never wooed him to her
side. But Mrs Evans could not believe
it possible for Alfred to offer his hand
and fortune to any woman and be re-
fused. So she fretted secretly, while
Alfred wooed patiently, till on the sum-
mer morning when he found Hester in
the garden, for wonder, free from the
attendance Of a juvenile Evans, and made
his declaration in explicit terms.
And without one flush of her white
cheeks-if possible; even paler than
usual, Miss Stretton had told him there
was a secret in her life that kept her out
side the ranks of happy married women.
Still he pleaded, till she owned it was
no crime or fault of her own that separ-
ated them; and again he urged his suit
only to meet the repetition of her declar-
alton.
In other words, you refuse me-" he
said, with angry emphasis.
The color flushed then over Hestcr's
face, for there was keen pain as we'll as
resentment in Alfred's tone. For the
first time she touched his arm, lifting
her soft, dark orbs to his own There
was thrill in her voice as she said,
steadily, but in low tones: ''Because I
love you, Alfred. II I had no affection
for you I would put my hand in yours
and share your wealth, for my life of
drudgery is a weary burden to me. But
| love you, and so 1 bid you 60 from me
and seek to forget me IN happier
smile.'
Something in her tone and face awed
her lover from any demonstration. of
pleasure at her frank confession. He
prisoned the little white hand she had
placed upon his arm and said: ''Confide
in me then. Tell me your secret, or, if
you will, keep it, and rest assured will
never try to surprise it" III .1Ea'
Il cannot. Nothing but death can free
me, and your life is too useful, too noble,
to be spent in waiting for me- Forget
me, Alfred.
She was gone before he could say
more, and he knew her decision was
final. Mrs. Evans delight at her broth
cr's escape was certainly tempered bysin-.
disnation that Hester had dared efuse5
him { s%$l
."Whom on earth did she. expect to-
marry" the matron thought. %
But Hester, bordering over it all, ac-
copied the pain as one more sorrow in her
Swallowed life, and made no moan, look
ed for no sympathy. -
1t was hard to see the face that had
been ever full Of sympathy and tender
ness turned coldly away hard to hear the
children wonder "why Uncle Alfred new
or came to see them any more;' but the
rOutine Of 1i1fu fil1o1 oooh Co1, owl +Lo.o