The daily dispatch. [volume] (Richmond [Va.]) 1850-1884, 1882-10-24

Wmh,n her heart OF hearts kneli doth sound;
"""'' nv "' ISAAC WILLIAMS.
~Mother. oh, mother! 1t viii break
INV hearth walled Odalite, SINKING AZ .nc
ady's feet and dropping her head in'o hoi
hands. face downward 10 'ne carPv'; iooL
her In her arms, and tenderly caressed her,
Enurmuring softly:
% No. nv own! hearts never break, or
one heart, know. must have broken long
ago. Besides" she added, In tirmer tone,
1honor must be saved though hearts DC
sacrificed
"'Honor,' mother. deary ] do not un-
dcrstand. ] do not see what honor has 10
do with Il. Or II il has, j should thinR
that honor would be better saved by my
keeping faith with lie than by breaking
with him, oh, mother mother! II VIII
Kill me :" moaned Odalitc.
"My child. my dear girl, hear me
listen 10 reason! Leonidas Force has no
claim to be remembered by you. You
have never been engaged 10 him. You
were but a little girl OF thirteen when ne
went to sea on his first voyage, three years
AGO, and YOU have not seen him slnce'
What possible claim can he have upon you:
since no beirothal exists between you
gently questioned the lady. tenderly run
ming her fair fingers through The dark
tresses Of the young head that leaned upon
her bosom. -,
"Ob. mother" replied the girl, with a
heavy sigh. II know that there was no
formal bctrothal between lie and myself
buf-but-we all knew, YOU and father and
Leland I-aH knew-and always knew, that
we two belonged to each other and would
1l,ndus belong TO each other all our lives.
LIE and never thought OF any other fate.
"Idle, childish fancies, my poor little
yirI-too trivial to cause you these tears
Wine them away, and look clearly at the
higher destiny, more worldly OF your birth
and beauty" murmured the lady, pressing
her ripe, red lips upon the pale brow OF her
darling.
"Oh, mother. | do not rant higher des-
tiny! | do not want any destiny apart
from lie. And these are not childish IAN
cics, and not trivial to me! Oh. think,
mother, lie and | were playmates as fan
back i'm my life as | can remember. We
I owed each other better than we loved any
one else in the whole world. You and
father used 10 laugh at us and pretend TO
be Jealous: but we sur 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 insep-
arabic we TWO were: 80 much the bet
ter: | hope their hearts Will not be
estranged when they grow up!' And
our hearts have nCCer become estranged
from each other !"
"Oh, YES, dearest, know that there
was some speculative talk when you were
children Of uniting you and Leonidas, so
that the name OF Force might not die out
from Mondreer. But l never really ap-
proved OF marrying cousins. Odalite, mere
ly TO keep the family name on the family
estate"
"But, mother, darling, lie and | never
thought OF the family name and estate; we
only thought Of one another. And, be-
sides, we are such very, very distant cou-
sins-only fourth or fifth, | think-that
that objection could never he raised. oh,
mother. dear mother! do not compel me
to break with lie! / can not | can not !!
oh, indeed, cannot - she cried, burying
her face i'm the lady's bosom.
Elfrida Force caressed her daughter in
silence.
Presently Odalite lifted her head and
pleaded:
"lIe is coming home so soon now, and
so full OF hope! He expects TO be here by
Christmas, and he eXpccts-oh, yes,
know by his last letter that he expects to-
TOTO" The girl's eyes fell under the
compassionate Va scrutinizing gaze Of
her mother, and her voice faltered into si-
lence.
"To marry you early in the new year, |
suppose you mean, dear"
"Yes, mother"
"He did not say So"
"No, mother, dear, he did not say so in
so many words. but from the whole tone
of his letter he evidently meant so. Father
thought ne did, ana even tried to teaZe me
about the Ncw-lear wedding. asking me
how many hundreds | should need to buy
my wedding-clOthes."
"What was il he said in his letter that
leads you TO suppose he has any such eX-
pectations! | confess that | saw nothing
Of such an intention when | read the let
ter"
"Only this. mother; but ii was very sig.
nifcant. lie wrote that now he had inhe.
rited Greenhouses and all his Aunt Laura's
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; bu
that he could stay home, repair and refur
nish the house, improve the land, and farm
il on all the new principles, and make tn,
place a paradise for us TO live in. liz
wrote, mother, dear, as OF certain fXeC
facts"
"He was very preslimptuOus, my deal
little girl, for there j. nothing certain in
this world Of changes" gravcly commented
the lady.
s.But Les heart has not changed, no
has mine"
.'My poor darling" said Elirida Force
smoothing her daughters dark hair with
gentle hand, "my precious child!
gricves me to do SO, but | must prepare
you for what seems inevitable. You mus
forget all this youthful folly and think o
Leonidas Force only rs II cousin. You d,
not really love him AS betrOthed nader
should love her alianced husband. Yol
only fancy that you do. In reality YOU
Know nothing OF such love as that. l.,
was brought up in the house with YOU
You have no brother. lie has no sister
You therefore love each other as brothe
and sister. by and by YOU both may dis
cover-but not for each other-the higher
deeper, stronger love which untes In
husband and the wife in a true marriage
such a love is | could wish might crow
my darling's life with lasting jOy-such
love rs you might find in a union will
Angus Anglesea, ii YOU would but Civ
him the opportunity Of winning YOU
heart"
"Madam!" exclaimed the girl. startina
TO her feet, and gathering her black brow
over black eyes that blazed with indgna
ton, 81 hate Colonel Anglesea! | hat
him and fear him! And would rather
die this day and never behold the face OF
lie again than listen TO Colonel Anglesea -