Fayette County herald. [volume] (Washington [Washington Court House], Fayette County, O. [Ohio]) 1860-1???, 1880-01-29

"Stella has come to look at her
rival,'' said Mrs. Grandelaw, when
Nina bade her good night. "We feared
that my son would marry Stella some
day. She thought so herself, but / dis
approve of cousins marrying"
"Did she love himP" gasped Nina.
IL dare say she loved him well
enough; but one survives these things"
40, how she must hate mey'' cried
Nina.
But if Cousin Stella hated or loved,
she knew how to disguise her feelings;
nobody could be gayer or SUMMER than
she during those days. She sparkled
with repartee and anecdote, and shook
her listeners with gales of laughter.
Perhaps she was showing Grandelaw
what mistake he had made to choose
this sad, shadOwy woman instead of
herself. ..,.. -l-
"I have been sitting for my por-
trait" she said one evening. Nina's
heart gave little stir; had she not sat
for her picture onceP The moon was
shining in through the long windows
of the drawing-roOm; there was no
other light in the room, except the fit
full blaze behind the fender. Grandelaw
had been called out of town on business
for night or two.
Indeed" said Mrs. Grandelaw.
els it not a tedious affairP'
cit would be, perhaps, if any one
but Victor Blumenthal were painting
! it."
Nina started and dropped her fan.
Had she come to Laurel Lodge to hear
of VictorP
{" And who is Victor BlumenthalP"
asked Stella's aunt =" another flame
of yoursP a-..
81 have seen no symptoms of that
kind" laughed Stella. g l wish |
might. He would make an ideal lover"
"But he is married." spoke Nina
out of the shadow, and there was the
sound of tears in her voice, if any one
had had ears to hear. "He is married,
Stella" ... ."
Then Grandelaw has told you about
himP Yes; it was so romantic-and
sad"
" Didn't the marriage turn out WelP"
asked Mrs. Grandelaw, to whom rO-
nance meant nonsense. ..... u
" That depends" returned Stella.
&C He married his cousin Theodore"
/" have no patience with cousins
marrying" a.rr.~ ..a.-..
d" MOP There was no great need of
patience in this case. BlumenthaPs
grandfather had left all the money to
Theodore and her mother. Victor was
as poor as became an artist to be. l
suppose Theodore had always loved
him, but she insisted upon being mar
ried to him on her death-bed, that he
might inherit her portion of the fortune.
She died an hour afterward." t ~
Nina sat like one stunned by an earth
quake shock; all Grandelaw's perfdy
stood out like the handwriting on the
wall. Victor had loved her after all!
His kiss had not been treachery. She
would 90 to him. She would leave this
prison for ever and ever. How had she
overdreamed of loving Grandelaw some
day? .a~# .u-.....
| L" You have been very kind to me"
Nina said, when she kissed Mrs. Gran
delaw good night. I shall always
bless you for it; but-Stella would make
Grandelaw a better wife, and you a
wiser daughter"
g My son and 1 think differently" re-
piled the mother; but she remembered
afterward that Nina had fingered and
hesitated- just as if she wished to
ask pardon for something" Mrs. Gran
delaw explained; and when Grandelaw
himself returned to Laurel Lodge there
was little three-cornered note on his
library table, in Nina's hand, which
read: .a.. ..H .....-u. .ua. ...
+" If should marry you, Mr.. Anson Gran
delaw, some day, In looking over your file Of
papers, should happen upon one containing
the marriage of Victor Blumenthal to bis
cousin Theodore, and the notice of her death
on the same day, and your deceit would kill
whatever love had learned to bear you.
''S So goodbye, and make Stella happy.
...... .. NINA"
| -HGrper'S BG&Gr. ...