Grant County herald. [volume] (Lancaster, Wis.) 1850-1968, 1881-09-22

George Morton Dean" and "Hil-
are The rest had been torn away,
so that only the Christian name remained.
with what appeared to be the upper part
of capital G, the initial letter of the
surname Graeme
In the opinion of the police this was
| sufficient to fasten the crime upon poor
Hilarie, and it was generally believed
that in her wild, unrestrained youth she
had been lead into misalliance with
/ the murdered man, whose appearance
was decidedly plebeian, and his coming
to Beech Hall to claim his wife had
aroused her dormant passion, and that
| in her dread of exposure she had first
| tried to obtain possession of the proof
of her marriage, and stained her soul
with murder.
In the doctors opinion the crime had
| been committed during the afternoon of
the day upon which the body was dis
| covered. Like flash of fire there came
to me the remembrance of that meeting
with Hilarie and her hasty concealment
| OF the scrap Of paper. | remember her
guilty flush, her confused replies, and
Heaven forgive me, for one brief moment
L trembled lest she should be guilty of
| the horrible crime imputed to her 1
drove the mad thought from me as I'M
worthy my manhood and my love, and
redoubled my unceasing efforts to estab-
| ish her innocence. Hilarie from the
first had refused to see me. | had writ.
len, imploring her to speak, If only one
word that might prove her innocent; but
she wrote: !" L can say nothing. /
pray only that you may be happy with
Clare" And the terrible dark days fol
lowed swiftly one upon the other, each
adding to the subtitle web of evidence
they were weaving around my darling,
until sometimes [ fancied it must be
some horrible dream from which / must
surely soon awake. Yet there was Mr..
Beresford's bitter wailing for the dis
grace upon her house, and CIares terri
bic pallor and mute, sorrowful despair.
gave me an additional pang that / had
brought double trouble upon her.
There remained but one day " b.
fore that on which Hilaie was to apre If
IN the felon's dock, and on the morning
OF that day Glare came to mo with the
old wistful tenderness of manner. and
pressing her cold, white cheek to mine.
SO that could not see her face, she said
In slow, sad voice, "Gerald, il Hilarie
dies, what will you do?"
Hilarie must not die /" / exclaimed
passlonately. Unheedlng my WORDS,
Glare continued:
could you not love me again, Ger
ald?"
Perhaps my silence answered her, for
with long, sobbing sigh she stopped
and kissed my hand but, when would
have taken hers in mine. she turned
from me swiftly and hurried from the
ROOM
never looked upon her living face
again. Late that night they brought
her home, white and dripping, from the
Mere, near Alton Woods, aud with
letter addressed to me. [ opened it with
shaking hands, and there fiuttered at
my feet the missing fragment of her
marriage certificate. Yes, hers ; for,
when Joined, chat which was thought to
form part of the letter G was in reality
part of the initial G III the name of
Glare. Hilarie Glare Beresford =
Poor, sinful Glare, whom we had always
called by her second name until we had
forgotten that she too. was Hilarie.
In her letter she told how she had
grown to hate and fear the man VINO naG
been the hero Of her thoughtless school
days, and had lured her into that fatal
marriage low her love for me and dread
Of him had conquered all sense of right
and wrong, until his threat of exposure
had impelled her to commit the crime
for which Hiiarie Graeme stood accused.
Sine told how Hilarie had met her COM
ing from the scene OF the murder, and
knew her to be guilty how she had
| - 7 l.
spared all pain and shame, and how,
finding Hiiarle had won the love Glare
had slnned for, she had determined to
seek rest and oblivion in the dark waters
of the Mere.
Need | dwell on the Joy of that time
which followed, when Hllal1e 5 innocence
was procl aimed and she was free to re-
turn to the home she had never thought
to see again ? She wept bitterly for
poor Glare, and devoted all her tine to
the bereayed parents, until they grew to
love her as their saving angel, and as
the months rolled on peace and happi-
ness returned to Beech Hall, and that
was proud and blissful day to me when
sweet Hllarie Graeme became Mrs.
Gerald Forester.
The previous morning Hilarie had
blushingiy placed in my hand scrap OF
crumpled paper on which was written in
Hilarie's delicate caligraphy few lines
containing a passionate avowal of love
for certain "Gerall," which brought
wildly TO my mind the moment when
had surprised Hilarie in the grounds of
Beech Hall.
"And was this the paper, Hilarie p
"Yes, Gerald" she answered, blush
ing roster than before.
"Oh, darling, why did you not show
it to me then q l asked, remembering
that ugly doubt that once tempted me.
NAY, DEAR" she whispered; "how
could | let You know l loved you so"
Aud somehow her answer contented
me. Chicago Tribune.