Litchfield enquirer., 1880-10-07
which must be taken in connection with it, I

| think. -...- .a.r 81
| AS he spoke he heldup strip of faded, mar
row blue ribbon, from which depended q
heart-shaped locket in furnished silver; you
may see many such, of brass or tin, round the
necks of French peasant women. Then he
read J. The letter, like the journal, was writ
| ten in French, with a tender 'stuto iement" of
thou" and thee written ina different
hane .'peat feminine
$50 thou vert Jealous, and thou didst
think thy Jacqneline cared not to come to the
vintage dance to meet thee +? Now shalt thou
| hear the truth. ......s
81 's'She had saved all her allowance to buy
thee little keepsake, and she had not where
withal to buy the new shoes she needed.
Thou shoulds't not be Jealous If thou art at
| the great Cross on the hillside tomorrow af-
ter vespers, perhaps thou shalt have thy keep
| sake, whichis indeed nothing but a tiny sill
uer heart slung by a scrap of ribbon so that
| it may rest against thine. And perhaps thou
wilt find something in it that thou hast asked
| fer. A tot, de ceur.
as ssese sfa ~ tJAoQUELINE VERNET.
"sP. S.-They tell me Annette Duval was
at the Dance" .r- .....,. .-....
The reader paused; opened the locket care
| fully. nay, reverently, and displayed little
brown curl of hair tied with faded scarlet
| silk. .. .. .@g ...,i.. ,,..
The two friends looked at it in silence-I
| might have said in awe. They were practical
| hard-hearted nineteenth century Englishmen;
and before, you would have found any maud
| lin sentimentalism in them you might have
| successfully sucked sentiment from the neither
milestone; but here they bowed their heads
| and were silent, for something told them that
they were in the presence of Death-Death in
the saddest and most beautiful of all the sad
and beautiful forms he can assume "a dead
mans dead romance. Al -iaj...N II .'t'-..
! Presently the solicitor spoke again. f.r
| "NoW we have more of the journal" and
he read: -
$50 am to go to Paris to study law and
make my fortune. Am glad? A year agoI
should have been very glad. Paris was. my
aim, my goal. But now-how can leave
her And yet if I go not, how can ever mar
| ry her? And she will wait for me aye she
will wait; no fear for that. And the love of
| her will make me so great, so strong, shall
| succeed must
1.-The next extract is dated in Paris year
after the last
GA whole year gone, whole long year.
and still am in Paris, but oh, it is far, so
very, very far, this beautiful Paris, from Tou-
raine, my own, our own Touraine, and the
pleasant land by the Loire. A whole long
| year and she is true to me still. though she
has wooers enough, they say. But she is true,
and she will be--Our Lady will keep her So
stood to-day upon the Pont Neuf, and watch
ed the Seine flow by, and | thought. ooh,
that this fair flowing Seine were our own dear
| Loire, aud | would set my sweetest, tenderest
thoughts on its bosom, and it would bear
| them far away into the vineland to lay them
at my darling's feet as she sits by the river.
as we so often sat together in the summer
| laVS at home - - T.. ! ''s. ~ .''' .. s"
| Then comes part of letter, in the femi-
| nine hand: $50. f..-.,.. g.,
"'My Dearest-How can l thank thee
enough for thy beautiful present? Never have
| seen such ring, withaits two little hearts
and the true lovers knot. put it on to-day,
and it shall never leave my fiuger. Thou wilt
| bury it with me; wilt thou not But thou
| wilt ruin myself for thy Jacquelne; it is not
right to spend so much money upon.her;;
thou wilt have none for thy pleasures and thy
friends, and thou hast need of both now thy
Jacqueline is not with thee. And yet dearest
she is so selfish thy Jacqueline, she likes best
to think of thee all alone by myself, thinking
of her while she is thinking of thee and,
| most OF all, at that hour when she knows thou
art thinking of her as she is of thee. For did
| we not VOW we would And thou art lonely?
And thou dost not love ike ether students
| Then must thou come quickly home and she
will console thee. and make up for all that is
| wanting ~ n
! CHOW we come to the last letter it is in a
| different hand from either of the other two,
and is dated more than a year after the one
have just read:
"'My Dear, Dear child: May God give
thee strength to bear this great trouble. Alas
| it is but too true. Her ring-thy ring-was
seen on his finger, as we have learnt since,
and the day after the young Englishman left
she disappeared. One who knew her. reports
| that he saw her at Blois with stranger who
| looked like an Engishman. We know no
more than that, except that they say his name
was M. Robert. We pray much for thee;
may the good God keep thee. Thy old friend
and tutor. -. .tr e.. .-.-. - e. r-u.. =.
JEAN BAPTIsTE MALA1s.
''That is the end of the letters and the jour
nal On this sheet of paper is some writing
dated ten years after thatletter, at Vienna.
"'All these years have sought her through
Europe, and have found her not. My money
is well-nigh spent I know not what to do.
But one day shall find her, / shall find her,
| know it well-and she will come back to me,
and love will cast out fear and shame. And
him too l.shall find, and my ring upon his
finger, and then-and then-in that hour when
l do find him, may God have mercy on his
black soul, for verify / win nave none'
"Here is another, five years later, dated at
London. rr.l..rE -1-ta-. y. BE-
"'All my heritage is spent 1 can search
no further for her. | am forced to earn my
bread as servant. 1t seems as though were
never going to find her, but shall, and him
| tool know it, | know it. .G .oi.
London again, written just eighteen months
ago. IT, -'-'f.'.. ".f.,1 's.i' % .'3
'Waiting-always waiting-and the end
seems no nearer. Only l grow weary so
very weary have to toll on as ser
vant and my heart is sick that have" no
money to go back to see Touraine. For Tou-
| raine brought her back to me just as she used
to be. and when looked on the Loire The
paine aud the years were blotted out. But
now shall not see it any more forever. Some
times / think the hour must be at hand for
while could go back sometimes to Touraine1
gathered new strength and hope for the
search but now this is taken from me, and
perhaps it is because at last am to find nay
darling soon.'" 4ti
AS the solicitor read the last words his voice
! trembled. and he put the paper down very
quietly and said: ''That is ALL
For several minutes there was silence in the
room where the two friends sat in the gather
ing twilight. Then the barrister: do you
mean to- take any further steps in the mat
ter?" , ... .-..s e. Fer lttlsss .e
sNo; the past is the past and Gustave Mas
| did not appear to have any friends WHO won Id
care to know that there is anything to be said
that was not said at the trial. Beside, what
do we know z The poor fellow may have
| been off his head-may have been totally mis-
taken as to Reginald Richards The man he
met and killed. may have been utterly innocent
of wroDgng Jaequeline Vernet, if she ever
| was wronged. We gathered that the name
of tile man she fled with was M. Robert"
| THAT may have been assumed" lGI@
"Of course But even if we could prove
anything, What good, would it tlo7 But we
can't; We know absolutely nothing sal'
81 don't think he was mistaken, ''lsaid, the
barrister that is, if Jacqueline Vernet ever
| was wn,nged.9 And believe that sue was
and that the sin found out the sinnersafter all
| those years But still, even if we could prove
| it. it were better to leave. the dead in r1eaca