The Rock Island Argus. (Rock Island, Ill.) 1877-1885, 1882-10-24
HER MOTHERS SECRET
By MRS. S0UTHWORTH
AUTHOR OF 1.-THE HIDDEN HAND, ssTnE
UNLovED WIFE" ETC. ETC.
CHAPTER L.

THE MISTRESS OF MoNDREER.
1 There is a wound within her-'tis wound
( That lies too deep for tears; and many q while
When all that is around her seems to smile,
Within her heart OF heart kneIl doth sound
| ISAAC WILLIAMS.
I sMotherl Oh, motherl it will break my
heartr' walled Odalite, sinking at the lady's
feet and dropping her head into her hands,
face downward to the carpet.
I The lady gently raised her child, took
her in her arms and tenderly caressed her,
murmuring softly:
| NO. my ownl hearts never break, or one
| heart, know, must have broken long ago.
Besides" she added, in a firmer tone
| |sHonor must be saved. though hearts be
| sacrificed
Honor mother, dear? I do not un-
derstand. do not see what honor has to
do with it. Or if it has, should think
| that honor would be better saved by my
keeping faith with LIE than by breaking
| with him. Oh, mother. mother, 1t will
| kill mer' moaned Odalite.
MY child. my dear girl, hear mel listen
| to reason! Leonidas Force has no claim to
be remembered by you. You have never
been engaged to him. You were but a
I little girl of thirteen when he went to sea
on his first voyage, three years ago. and
you have not seen him since. What posi-
betrothal exists between YOU" gently ques-
/ toned the lady, tenderly running her fin
gers through the dark tresses of the young
head that leaned upon her bosom.
.'Oh, mother" replied the girl with q
heavy sigh, II know that there was no
formal betrothal between LIE and myself
but-but-we allknew. you and father and
LIE and I-all knew-and always knew,
that we two belonged to each other and
would always belong to each other all our
lives. lie and L never thought of any other
fate"
idle, 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 murmured the lady, pressing
her ripe, red lips upon the pale brow of her
darling.
s'Oh, mother do not want higher
destiny! do not want any destiny apart
from lie. And these are not childish fan
cies, and not trivial to mel Oh, think,
mother, lie and were playmates as far
back in my life as | can remember. We
loved each other better than we loved any
one else in the whole world. You and
father used to laugh at us and pretend to
be jealous; but we saw 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 in
separable we two were: so much the bet
ter; / hope their hearts will not be estrang-
ed when they grow upF And our hearts
have never become estranged from each
otheri"
"Oh, yes. dearest, know that there was
some speculative talk when you were
children of uniting you and Leonidas, SO
that the name of Ferce might not die out
from Mondreer. But I never really ap-
proved of marrying cousins, Odalite, mere
" 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 cous-
ins-only fourth or fifth, | think-that
that objection could never be raised. Oh,
mother! dear motheri do not compel me to
break with Lei can notl / can notl Oh,
indeed, cannotp she cried, burying her
face in the 1ady's bosom.
Elfrida Force caressed her daughter in
silence.
Presently Odalite lifted her head and
pleaded:
He is coming home so soon now, and
so full of hopel He expects to be here by
Christmas; and he expects-oh, yes, know
by his last letter that he expects Toto
to" The girls eyes fell under the COM
passionate yet scrutiniZing gaze of her
mother, and her voice faltered into silence.
ITO marry you early in the new year, /
suppose you mean, dear.
Yes mother"
HE did not say So"
mo. 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 he did, and even tried to tease me
about the New Years wedding asking me
how many hundreds / should need to buy
my wedding clothes"
What was it 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
letter"
'sOnly this, mother, but it was very sig
nifcant. He wrote that now he had in
herited Greenbushes 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; but
that he could stay home, repair and refur-I
nish the house, improve the land, and farm
it on all the new principles, and make the
place paradise for us to live in He
wrote. mother, dear, as of certain fixed
facts"
''He was very presumptuous, my dear
little girl, for there is nothing certain in
this world of changes gravely commented
the lady