The banner-enterprise., 1883-06-14

J dil ouooO hiOhbilO INV iOfO JOus L
want you to be my wife. Your mother
has given me permission to address
you, and given me some little reason
to hope that you will listen to me.
Tell me, Edith, can you or do you care
little about me?"
For a minute or two Edith was
silent, then she told him all the truth,
how they were situated, how she had
liked Jack Clifford, but for six years
had not heard anything of him, and
how, if she consented to be his wife,
he must be content with mere esteem
and affection, for she had no love to
bestOw.
"You are honest, Edith, and truth
full" he said in a very low voice, "and
l thank you for the confidence you
have reposed in me, but l must think
this matte, ~oyo.. l love you far too
well to risk your happiness in any way.
Six years is a long time to be faithful
to silent lover, Edith"
I'VE were scarcely lovers, doctor"
she replied, with sad little smile.
"Jack just said, III come back Edith;
will you waltz and l said | would
that was all. But poor papa was alive
then, and we were rich now every
thing is so different. For myself, am
content as l am, but the children p
"Ah, yes, the children-something
must be done for them. They are far
too much for you. Did you say Jack
Clifford went to the Cape, Edith, and
that you never heard from him?"
"Yes, he said he was going to make
his fortune in the diamond fields, but
he never wrote, SO dare say he was
not successful, poor fellow Indeed, l
think he must be dead.'
9"I think not DR.. AshbyIreplied,
thoughtfully. "Once more, Edith, l
thank you heartily for your candor and
confidence, and I will come to you for
your final answer at the end of a
month. Till then, goodbye" and the
doctor lifted his cap, and turned down
by-path that led to the Dingle, and
poor Edith went home more perplexed
than ever.
4 4 4 4 4
"It's a whole month since we've
seen DR., Ashby-whatever did you say
to him, Edith?' Mrs. Bertram said
one evening; "the house has seemed
wretchedly dull without him. You
did not surely refuse him point
blank"
"No, did not refuse him." Edith
replied, YEARLY; she had answered
nearly the same question every day for
four weeks, and was tired of it. She
was looking pale and worn, but Mrs.
Bertram never had eyes for any ones
illness but her own.
Mamma" Eva cried, bursting into
the room, "here's the doctor and an
other gentleman !"
And Mrs. Bertram smoothed her
fluffy hair and put on her amiable
smile, while Edith's heart began to
beat fiercely. She had thought the
matter over from every point of view,
add at length came to the conclusion
that it would be positively wicked to
marry the doctor while Jack Clifford
was so much in her thoughts, and,
come what might, she would not do it.
Presently he came in alone, and,
after few moments conversation, he
asked her to walk with him for few
minutes in the garden. She went at
once, longing to have the interview
over, and burst into the subject di-
rectly. al cannot be your wife, DR..
Ashby; / think it would be wrong of
me to accept your proposal, feeling as
l do. Please try and forgive me and
let me 60"
"First, let me introduce my FRIEND"
he said, laying his hand on her arm,
"and my new assistant-the work of
Ashmead is rather too much for me-
Miss Bertram-Mr Clifford"
"Jack!" In a moment she was in
bis arms, her face hidden on his
shoulder, all the long years of absence
and silence forgotten. She only felt
that he had returned, and she was
still free. Later she learned how it
had all come about-how DR.. Ashby
saw an advertisement in the paper,
and guessed that "Jno. must mean
Jack Clifford, lately returned from the
Cape, and several old letters he dis
covered in a drawer in one of the
rooms of the Dingle convinced him
that there was treachery at work
somewhere. So he just engaged Jack,
and then tod him all about the Ber-
trans, and how Edith was still faith
full to him, though she never received
one of his letters.
The result was a very quiet wedding
in Ashmead church, and on that day
DR.. Ashbv handed over the Dingle ard
the practice to his partner, and went
to travel in South America, promising
to return about the time Blanche was
seventeen. Both the children he placed
atschool, and Mrs. Bertram, feeling very
much ashamed of the part she had
played in intercepting Jacks letters,
left Ashmead, and in few years
married a retired merchant at
Brighton. and so never troubled her
stepdaughter further.
Jack Clifford is fast becoming the
most popular doctor for miles around,
and when Seymour Ashby returns, If
he ever does. he will find the practice
greatly extended. Edith is perfectly
happy in her old home, the Dingle,
and never for a moment has regretted
her perfect faith in Jack.