Morning journal and courier., 1882-10-24

Il her arms and teadal.l!y caressed her, mur- nuring softly: "N0, my own. hearts nev>>r break, or one l heart, know, must have broAsen long ago. Besides" she added, in finer tonE-:Ho must be saved, though hearts be saGr1hced " l
 "'Honor,' mother, dear? do not ul. der l stand. do not what honor has to o2 l with it. Or if it has, I should think that ! honor would be better saved by my keeping 1 faith with Le than by breaking with him Oh, mother. mother It will kill me-" Odalite
 'My child my dear girl hear me listen to reason! Leondas Force has claika to be remembered by you. You have never been engaged to him. You were but 8 little girl of thirteen when he went to sea on his frst voyage, three years ago, and you have not seen him since. What possible claim can he have upon you, since no betrothal exists be- tween you ?'' gentle questioned the lady, ten derly running her fair fingers through the dark tresses of the young head that leaned upon her bosom.
 ''Oh, mother" replied the girl, with 6 heavy sigh. q know that there was no for nal betrothal between Le and myself-but -but-we all knew, you and father and Le and I-0U knew-and always knew, that we two belonged to each other and would a1acays belong to each other all our lives. Le and never thought of any other fate"
 ''jdle, childish fancies, my poor little girl. too trivial to cause you these tears. Wipe them away, and look clearly at the higher destiny more worthy of your birth and beauty" nurmured the lady, pressing her ripe, red lips upon the pale brow of her darling.
 'Oh mother, do not acant 8 higher des- tiny! do not want any destiny apart from Ls And these are not childish fancies, and mot trivial to me. Oh, think, mother, Le and I were plagmates as far back in my life as l can remember. We loved each other better tboy, n1ca in v5h world. You and father used to laugh at and pretend to De jealous but saao that you were pleased all the time for you both intended us for each other, and we knew it, too, for father used to say when he saw how inseparnble We two were: 50 much the bet ter hope their hearts will not be estrang- ed when they grow up.' And our hearts have neUer become estranged from each oth- er!"
 "Oh, yes, dearest, know that there was some speculative talk when you were chil dren of uniting you and Leonidas, so that the name of Force might not die out from Mon dreer. But I never really approved of marry ing cousins, Odalite, merely to keep the fam fly mama on the family estate" "But, mother, darling, Le and I never thought of the family nams and estate; we only thought of one another. And, besides fourth fifth, I think-that that objection could never be raised Oh, mother dear ! mother do not compel ms to break with Le! oaao not I caa not! Oh, indeed, oannot!'' ! she cried, burying her face in the lady g bosom.
 Elfrida Force caressed her daughter in si- \ Ience.
 Presently odalite lifted her head and ! pleaded
 ! 'He is coming home so soon now, and so ! full of hope He expects to be here by Christ \ mas; and he expects-oh, yes, I know by his ! last letter that he expects to-to-to-" The ! girls eyes fell under the compassionate yet l scrutinizing gaze of her mother, and her 1 voice faltered into silence.
 ! ''To marry you early in the new year, I ! suppose you mean, dear"
 "Yes, mother"
 ! ''He did not say so.''
 1 "No, mother, dear, he did not say so, in SC l many words, but from the whole tone of his l letter he evidently maea7st so. Father thought ] he did, and even tried to tease ne about the ! New Years wedding-asking me how many ! hundreds l should need to buy my wedding ! clothes.''
 What was it he said in his letter that leads
 you to suppose he has any such expectation
 confess that saw nothing of such an in
 tention when l read the letter" ! "Only this, mother, but it was very signi ficant He wrote that now he had inherited ! Gresnbushes and all his Aunt Lauras money | he was rich enough to resign from the Navy ] and he need not go to sea any more, nor ever
 part with me again but that he could sta I home, repair and refurnish the house, i'm ! prove the land, and farm it on all the new principles, and make the place paradise fol ' us to live in. He wrote, mother dear, O. ! certain fixed facts''
 'He was very presumptuous, my dear lit
 tie girl, for there is nothing certain in thi
 world of changes" gravely commented th ! lady,
 s'But Ls's heart has not changed nor ha ! mine"
 My poor darling" said Elfrida Force
 smoothing her daughters dark hair with
 gentle hand, ''my precious child It erieve
 me 10 do so, but must prepare you for wha seems inevitable. You must forget all thi youthful folly, and think of Leonidas Fore
 only as cousin. You do not really love hir as g bet trothed maiden should love her aff
 anced husband You only fancy that you dc In reality you know nothing of such a love a that Le was brought up in the house wit 1 you. You have no brother Le has no sif ! ter. You therefore love each other as broth CT and sister. By and by you both ma 1 discover-but not for each other-the highe, l deeper, stronger love which unites the hui l band and the wife in true marriage-such ! love as I could wish might crown my da, you might find in a union with Angus Angle sea, if you would but give him the opportt l nifty of winning your heart"
 Madam !" exclaimed the girl starting t l her feet and gathering her black brows owe I black eyes that blazed with indignation. q l hate Colonel Anglesea hdte him and I feo
 him And I would rather die this day an
 never behold the face of Le again than ziste ! to Colonel Anglesea !''
 ''Odalite. Odalite, my child! You a, l talking to your mother. Come to my hea
 again, and calm your excitement" said tt 1 lady, holding out her arms.
 And the young girl fell weeping upon tE l bosom of her mother.
 ! The lady allowed some time to pass ! which the girls paroxysm of tears exhauste ] itself, and then caressing her gently, she b 1 gan, in q soothing tone:
 ! My precious child, do you doub. yo, | mothers love or truth ?"
 "Oh, no, no, no! How could you as | such question of your own child, mother | earnestly protested Odalite. Do you doubt that dalty is to be h e | above all other considerations ?' | No! Oh, no ID
 l "Well, then have something to tell yo l my darling, which will make you forget 6 l selfish aims, and even also the wishes of yo, :l old playmate Come with me to your ow bed chamber, where we shall be most secu :l from all interruption. I will tell you of sl fatal episode in my youth, when I ws T younger even than you are now. Oh, that A should have to tell such tale to my daug 8 ter But, Odalite, when you have heard - you will learn just what you have to do in o
 der to save us all, and especially to save yo,
 noble. generous, honorable father from ru
 and disgrace. And Men, Odalite, when ye
 have learned all, you shall do exactly as yt | please. Not one word of coercion, not 8
 other word of persuasion, will I utter.
 will leave our fate in your hands, and ye
 will be absolutely free to act. Come wi
 mo now"
 She took her daughters arm and th
 arose from the sofa.
 For moment they stood, quite accide
 tally, facing tall mirror between two wi
 dows the opposite side of the room ar
 that mirror for the moment reflected tv
 beautiful forms, of which it would be dit
 cult to decide which should bear off the pal
 for beauty.
 The elder lady, Elfrida Force-wife
 Abel Force, the owner of Mondreer, one
 the finest old places on the western shore
 Maryland-was tall, stately blonde, with
 superbly rounded form, rich compls4io
 and an affiuence of golden brown hair, ri
 bling all over her fine head, and gathered in
 mass at the nape of her graceful neo
 She wore an inexpensive, closely fitting dre
 Of dark blue serge, whose very plainness S
 ] off the nerfectiOn of her figure and enbanc