Gloucester County Democrat. (Woodbury, N.J.) 1878-1932, 1880-04-29
was internationally done on my part,

i
assure you."
ga man married is not a man ban
ished forevermore from the good graces
of all womankind, is hep" laughed
| Will. If SO. take it as being very
hard lines fallen in the hardest sort oil
places.n
i HAnd would treasonably wish your
self a bachelor again." rejoined Rose.
Yes and no" he replied, still laugh
ing, with something of a serious look in
his dark gray eyes.
Neither saw Grace standing pale and
still, in the doorway. She Lad only
heard Rose say, in her lowest and musi-
cal tones, wish yourself a bachelor
again - and his evasive reply, yes and
nol' but it was enough.
/ Grace was quite satisfied now that she
was an unloved wife. Will should be
free Rose was better suited to him.
It were folly for her to suppose that he
ever really loved her. Men were SO
tickle and false hearted! She had seen
how it would be from the first. and all
that was left her to do was to die as
| soon as she could, aud find rest and for
getfulness in the grave.
Having come to this wise conclusion,
Grace went up to her room, locked her
self in, and cried comfortably for a whole
hour.
Will came whistling upstairs, and was
i surprised to find the door locked. Still
more was he surprised when Grace, in a
smothered voice, denied him admittance,
| saying she had headache and did not
wish to be disturbed.
Puzzled and somewhat angry withal,
as he had reason to be, Will went away
| to hic fffsoa fools,nr hn opual q
fast disappearing, and his wife, aft er all,
was but pretty, perverse, provoking
! child, whom time and experience alone
could ever teach to be woman.
An hour after her husbands depart
ure, Grace, in a plain gray travelling
dress, and with thick veil tied closely
over her tear-stained face, stealthily left
| the house; and before Rose, who, from
| her window, saw her hurrying along
the road to the railway station, could
clearly divine her purpose, she was
| gone.
This was a nice predicament for one
| to be placed in, truly! Miss Wood
wards Indignation, for the moment. got
| the better of her pity, and she could lave
| shaken Grace well for her senseless alb
surdity.
There was but one thing for her to do,
and that was to pack her trunks with
all possible dispatch and leave on the
next train, which she did, to the infinite
amazement of Biddy, who did not know
what in the world to make of her sudden
departure, not dreaming that her mis-
tress had also taken flight, and was al
ready many miles from home
When Will came home to dinner at
six O'Clock. and learned the true state
of things, he grew as pale as death and
staggeI ed to a chair as quickly as if a
shot had struck him in the heart.
Grace had left a note on the bureau in
her room, in which she stated, in
kind of hysterieal Enoch Arden-hke
manner, that she was goi ng back to her
mother. and he might be assured that
neither himself nor Rose would ever be
troubled by seeing or even hearing from
her again. 1t was her earnest wish to
die, and over her early grave, perhaps,
some gentle thought of her might stir
his cold, forgetful heart into passing
throb of tenderness.
With the note crumpled convulsively
in his hand, Will Thornley, seized his
hat and rushed from the house. 1t
mattered not where he went, OF what
he did now, and ere the next days sun
sands of soldiers marching bravely to
the front, to fall, maybe in the battle,
with face turned unfinchingly toward
the foe, or die miserably in some prison,
like Gagged beast, his heart broken, and
death welcome release from pain, and
grief, and hopeless wretchedness.
The setting sun was rapidly sinking
To, 1rif1 cd fol, od fho
west, when Grace walked up the grassy
path to the little white gate, where she
and Will had often stood in the old,
happy days of their counting, and
watched the fading light steal duskily
down among the softly whispering
leaves of the naples.
A letter for you, Mrs. Thornley,"
said Mr.. Parkhurst, a near neighbor.
!" | happened to be passing this way, and
l thought you might like to have it"
"Oh, yes, thank your she replied, in
trem bling voice. You are very
kind
Mr.. Parkhurst gave her the letter, and
went on.
Grace recognized the handwriting in
moment, and with glad "Oh, it's
from Will, and he has forgiven meln
she tore open the envelope, and hastily
ran her eyes over its contents. The
smile faded; the glad look left her eyes,
and with a low, piteous cry, she fell on
her knees-aye, to the very earth, and
sobbed out the bitter, remorseful an
guish of her stricken soul:
"Gone-Will gomez Oh, no, no! 1t
cannot be- And yet this cruel, cruel!
letter-only four little iinesr'
You have chosen your way and
have chosen mine. All desire in this
world is speedy and brave death, and
/ go to meet it as joyously as ever
bridegroom went to meet his bride"
That was all. No name, no date, but
she knew only too well its meaning.
She pressed it to her lips, her heart
She covered it with tears, all tie while
uttering the poor, pitiful cry:
"Oh, Will, Will. forgive me! You
must forgive me-you must come back
to me, or let me go to youI'
But alas, her repentance came too
late! Will was hundreds of miles
away, and between him and Grace's
peaceful home cannon were laundering
their dread alarm. and wars heroic
victims were falling by the tens of thou
sands.
They found her lying unconscious
and apparently lifeless under the naples,
with her still, white face all wet with
| the night-dews, and her poor cold hands
4 !.