The Cincinnati daily star. [volume] ([Cincinnati, Ohio]) 1875-1880, 1880-01-31
My First Ball, and What
Came ofIt.
CHAPTER VII CContinued.y


sThere. is no use making long story
Of 1t" he resumed. IL found cut. my
mistake only too SOON found out it was
my meney she wanted, not myself, as l.,
hl my blind vanity, had imagined. We
were eonsidered,toolyoung to marry then,
but she was sure Of her game; having
my promise she was content to wait.
But she has changed her mind lately;
and to-day she wrote from London,
where she and her neither are staying at
present, asking me to join them, and im-
plying that arrangements for the we'd
ding had better be begun at once. And
now, Katie,' he went on, with sudden
change of voice, turning as he speks,,
and Selling my hands in q firm clasp,,
lit lies with you, to say, what answer
shall give to that letter. Only say that
you love me, that you will be my wife,
and l. will break the bonds. that have So
long held me, and, be oncs mere free
man. O, my danIing, don't hesitate!
/. Think how happy eur lives would be to-
gether, how miserable apart! How can
We bear to be- separatsd or worse still,
10 meet. only to feel that we are more
completely sundsred than if seas divided
usl' o.s>
His hands tightenef their clasp on
mine. His pleading eyes looked into my
own with q great loving tenderness in
their depths. All was silent, around us,
but the faint low murmrr Of the sea, the
soft darkness of the sslmmernight seemed
to close aroun and dshroud us from every
other living thing ltremained with me
to- decide whether we should be always
together, or forever parted. It was
terrible temptation. This, woman be
speke of did not love him; his loss would
not. cost her pang Why should he
keep this pledge when ,hise, heart was
mine, and we were all" ilzslalf to each
other? ~. y u ~ - ts;spr., "a =
I reasoned thus bliadly catching q.
each shadow Of hope, as a drowning man
clutches at q straw. In the midst of
this chaos Of thought q picture I had
seen short time previously rose before
my mental vision-a picture Of a,young
girl and her lover standing together on
the ave Of the awful day Of ST Barthol-
omew, she trying to faaten ON his arm a
badge that would. insure his safety, be-
cause it was the symbol Of a faith for
sworn. 7 saw again the tender but firm
look on, the face of the lover as he put
aside the dimpled hands that sought to
save him by dishonor; the agony Of
knowing that when be parted from Der,
went to his death, mingled with the glo-
ry of martyrs resolve that he would
not even for her sake sully his soul with
untrnth. Ifelt (though I tried hard to
suppress the thought) that if / yielded
and married this man, who was dearer
to me than all the world beside, he could
nobbe so dear to me in the future as if
we were parted now.
"Icould not love thee, dear. so much,
Loved not honor more"
My mind was made up. Ithink Alan
saw my decision in my eyes; for he grew
deadly paleAand reeled slightly where ht
stood. MY lips blt so parched and dry
that at first could not utter word; but
with greal effort said:
"Alan, we must say good-by."
"You can not mean 1t, Katia. Thinl
over it again. Child, you do not know
what you are doing" ,,4sofE
A deadly faintness came over me as he
spoke.. The struggle had been too.in
tense for my strength, and I could hard
ly speak. r''''s'''---'''..' ''-.''''' '''''' s
II ksve thought Of IT." I said at last
"and Lean not alter my determination
O, Alan, how could We be- happF il I
broken VOW was the means of uniting
usT' 5 T. A E3 &
II know you are right, my, dazzling
but how can give you up? Myowr
true-heartsd; love, can You forgive me fol
oil the misery l have caused you? But
did not mean it, Katie. 0ftsn did / re
solve to go out Of the way of temptation
but I was coward, and postponed th'
evil day. rrT 4 in nm urrA L
His voice sounded indistinetly in nj
ears, my head began to reel and I .shou !
have fallen had he not caught me in hi
arms and held me close to bis heart j
knew that this was our farewell. \
"God bless and keep you, my ews
love- he whispered. "Geed-by, Katie
you are the only woman ] ever loved
Parting from yeu is worse than DEATH"
Ico1ld not answer him; / could onI,
free myself from him and turn away
he followed, and we both remained q
lent until we rejoined our party. Ihear,
the sound Of voices mingled with thei
gay laughter, but I felt as if in a dream
Al the hall-door they remained for som
time, arranging . boating party for th'
next day. Theard Alan trying to excus
himself on the plea of business; but hi
excuses were overruled, and all prelimin
! aries settled. alsrll a. -.
At last l got away to- the, solitude 0
nv own room, and opening the window
leaned forward into the balmy all
though I could not feel the beauty @
that calm summer night. The Aapp
dream in which I had lived for month
was ended, and I knew that the joy Q
life was over too, that the only thing tha
could bring happiness tome I had RI
fused; and yet I felt glad that no n
morseful memory would wound me wit
its sting. How that night passed
never Knew; but at last | fell into